My iphone 3gs dies unexpectedly

my Iphone 3gs dies unexpectedly. It will say that it has 39% or so and just goes black and is off, sometimes it will start later, sometimes I have to plug it in and then it will start after a while. Does anyone know what is wrong?

Sounds like a hardware problem - possibly with the battery or something else.
If you live near an Apple store,  make an appointment to have this checked where a hardware dignostic can be run on your iphone to determine where the problem lies.

Similar Messages

  • IPhone 3Gs dies on almost full battery

    So, my iPhone 3Gs is about 2 years old, and has worked without any issues, until about 3-4 months ago. The phone tends to die on very high battery life, depending on what apps I'm using, how many texts i'm receiving, if I'm listening to music as well. If I use the facebook app, it will die almost immediately, I try turning the phone back on, but it dies again before reaching the home screen, unless it is plugged into a charger. However, the battery life generally remains the same as before it dies. It may die on 99%, and when it comes back on it may be the exact same, or a little bit less, say 95%. The phone no longer has warranty either. Initially I thought it may have been a virus of some sort, through an app, so I restored the phone to factory settings, deleted all apps (just to be sure), at first I was able to text and go on facebook without it dying for about half an hour, right when I thought it was over, it died. Also, sometimes the phone will not understand when it is connected to a charger, they are the apple iPhone chargers, so I do not understand why not, It says on the screen "this product is not compatible" or something along those lines. The iPhone 3Gs has the latest software (5.1.1). It generally dies quite soon after it shows the loading symbol near the wi-fi bar at the top of the screen. If anyone can help me it would be much appreciated. I plan on getting the iPhone 5 when it becomes available, but as it has yet to be announced, I have no idea how long I will have to put up with these 3Gs issues.

    Yes, I have the same problem. But I think I know whats the problem. When I charged my phone it said 100% in 10 minutes. What I think is the battery is just dead. Once its 100% then the battery meter will communicate to the phone and say no i dont want any charge. But its actually around 10%. What I suggest is that you buy a new battery. New battery=new life to the phone. Try my suggestion and see what happens. This is what I am going to do now. I hope this helps!

  • IPhone 3GS dies within 10 min and heats up

    My iPhone charges overnight and will die in the car playing music. The only time i can use it if it is charging. What can i do to fix this issue? Also i dont use my phone too often and i am on 4.2.1 iOS

    Sounds like a battery going bad.
    Basic troubleshooting steps.
    Check out the new remodeled MacOSG website! 24-hour Apple-related news & support.
     MacOSG: An Apple User Group  iTunes: MacOSG Podcast  Follow us on Twitter: MacOSG

  • Iphone 3GS won't activate after update - asks for itunes, which just quits unexpectedly every time!

    I updated my iphone 3GS and now when I turn it on it just asks to be connected to itunes. Problem is when I do this, itunes unexpectedly quits every time. I've updated the laptop and it makes no difference, and I am left without a phone...really not impressed and can't wait for my upgrade to get rid of it.

    Try this:
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1808
    This put's an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch in recovery mode.  Should solve the problem if it is phone related.  If not, you may want to post in iTunes support as well.  I had a similar problem recently with an iPod touch and this fixed it.

  • HT3302 iphone 3gs shutting off unexpectedly

    my iphone 3gs has been shutting off for no reason even after charging for 6 hours i cant even plug it out or it will turn off please help

    The exact same thing happens to my phone. I am looking at something, online or an app, and the screen suddenly goes dark. When I check the battery, it indicates that it is dead. However, a few seconds after I plug it in, the battery will show a lot more life (like over 60% at least).
    I'm going to try and restore the phone tonight, but I have no other ideas. I guess I'll try going to the Apple store if that doesn't work.

  • I have an IPhone 3Gs and the IOS 6 locked up my phone 100% whats my next move? wont turn on just the apple and download bar or black screen thats my only options at this point? HELP!

    I downloaded the new IOS 6 on my IPhone 3Gs as it prompted me to do so. so that took 45 mins then told me to connect to Itunes in which i did, then it took 39 mins for itunes to "restore" my phone and after the 39 mins it told me Apple unable to restore IPhone and shut me out. Next a screen popped up on my computer screen and said that i could report the problem to Apple if i wanted to. But at this point my phone is completly locked out. So all i get from my phone right now is the Apple on the screen and the download bar under it and or a block screen if i unplug it and the battery dies. which when i did the upgrade my phone was just off a fresh charge! i need help like ASAP i leave out of town on thursday it is monday and i need a phone with GPS and that can make calls! i am pregnate and have a 2 year old i am traving with and we have no house phone so my phone is very important! THANKS!

    No. You have no alternative but to plug it into a computer running iTunes and restore it.

  • IPhone 3GS Charging/Battery Problem: Hardware, Software, or Both?

    Hello everyone,
    I'm a long time Apple user, but this is the first time I've ever posted on the Apple Support forums. I hope you will please excuse the length of my post, as I believe that relaying the approximate sequence of events here is important in determining the cause (or causes) of the problem I am currently facing.
    I've trawled the entire internet and I cannot find any reports of a problem that is actually identical to my own. There are many, many similar problems, but none of the exact nature or complexity that I am experiencing. I sincerely hope that someone who really knows their stuff will take the time to read through my story and offer some guidance, as this is my first iPhone and I want to be able to keep it!
    I purchased the iPhone 3GS second-hand on eBay approx 3 weeks ago, to replace my old Nokia (which had finally given up the ghost), and although I initially got the 'charging is not supported with this accessory'  error - I remedied this problem by using a whole range of different chargers and USB cables which I had accumulated over the years, and so initially, I always managed to get the battery charged one way or the other.
    For the record - the iPhone was in very good condition, but had been factory-reset by the seller, and so I upgraded to the latest compatible software (IOS 6.1.3) when I received it.
    Anyhow, these charging methods included three different USB cables (OEM Apple ones), two different 3rd party (non-OEM) wall-chargers of differring design, and three different OEM Apple USB Power adaptors. You know - the Wall Socket with the USB slot in it.
    There seeemed to be no discernibe pattern as to which charging device or combination of cables and sockets was the 'correct' or 'best' one to use, as the results were random. One charger would work one day, whilst another would work the next, and vice versa. I continued to swap chargers, plugs, and cables in order to get the thing charging. Despite any errors or problems, I would always manage to get it charged somehow, at least for the first week or two.
    The only pattern I did discern was that the oldest of my USB cables, from a 2005 iPod Mini, did appear to be somewhat more reliable than the other, more modern cables - though at the same time, the newer cables did work (and charge the phone) on various occasions.
    As things progressed though; the 'charging is not supported with this accessory'  error appeared on a more regular basis, though I was often able to get around it by changing plugs and/or leaving the device overnight. As many of you will undoubtedly know; this error message was said to be a 'software bug' - one which would typically appear once the battery's charge level was under 20%, and not before. Common advice on Mac forums was to never allow your battery level to drop below 20%, which would prevent the problem from occuring. 
    However in my case, this error message was now showing up more regularly, often when the phone had more than 20% charge left, leaving me unable to charge the phone quickly and successfully when needed. 
    And as many of you will also know, the 'official word' across all the different Mac forums is that even when this charging error message is showing, and the phone's battery indicator appears empty or declining, the battery will continue to charge, albeit at a much, much slower rate. This appeared to be true, as I was able to leave it overnight, with the error message displaying, and return to find that the battery had charged - though only to a marginal degree and never to full capacity. At this point, I was still able to use the phone, although on a somewhat limited basis, as the battery was always running out of juice too quickly.
    However the situation worsened, whereby the phone started to reject all of the chargers and cables; either failing to recognize them at all, or giving me the aforementioned error message. Its battery would die,  and I would have to leave it plugged in overnight (approx 8-10 hours) to get any response out of it at all. If I left it long enough, it seemed that I would at least get some charge out of it, though the maximum charge level was rapidly decreasing despite the amount of time it had been charging for, making the phone become less and less usable by the day.
    Still, things continued to worsen - the 'charging is not supported with this accessory'  error now appeared regardless of how much charge the battery had left in it, or what type of cables or plugs I was using - leaving me with no choice but to let the battery run down, and watch as the phone switched itself off..
    Things have now reached the point where the phone is essentially unusable.
    Strangely enough though; when completely dead or switched off, it will recognize the Apple USB to Wall Socket Charger, and will indicate that it IS charging - with the thin red line representing low battery levels, and a 'lightning bolt' logo underneath to signify the transfer of electrcity to the battery. Suffice to say, under these circumstances, the phone will charge, albeit very, very slowly, and only to a certain level (5-10%)
    However - as soon as the phone is switched on again (either manually, or automatically - once it has reached a certain charge level) - the 'charging is not supported with this accessory' error appears immediately, and the phone immediately starts to lose power again, switching itself off again within a matter of minutes.
    And so the cycle starts again - the phone is dead, it will accept the charger and indicate that it is charging (very slowly) until it comes back on again, at which point it rejects the charger (via the error message), runs out of power, and dies again. For every 4-5 minutes of use I get out of this phone before it dies again - I am having to charge it for hours and hours at a time; during which time the battery indicator never increases or gets beyond the red and into the green.
    To confirm: when switched off - it appears to recognise the charger and will charge very, very slowly, but once switched on again - it rejects the charger and dies almost immediately due to lack of accumulated charge, regardless of charging time. The reason I explained the entire sequence of events here is that this did not just happen overnight, but rather progressively, with lots of random occurances and apparent technical contradictions along the way.
    Another factor to consider is that I recently tried to charge it using the Apple USB Power Adaptors of two friends (both whilst the device was completely dead), to test whether my chargers and cables were somehow all at fault. The charger/adaptor for a new iPhone 4S did not work - but the charger for an older iPod Touch worked flawlessly, and gave me an immediate and efficient charge which lasted longer than any other, despite the limited amount of time I was able to leave it charging.
    Having said that, due to the random behavior of this phone, I am uncertain whether this was simply a random occurance, or something technical relating to the charging equipment I was testing at the time.
    It should also be noted that throughout this entire process - the phone will always register with iTunes when plugged into my laptop and switched on. I have had absolutely no trouble with the transferring or music or apps, or the updating of software since I got the device. Even today, where I managed to get a few minutes of 'on-time' out of the phone - it immediately registered with iTunes, despite simultaneously giving me the charging is not supported with this accessory' error, before promptly running out of power and dying again.
    It will occasionally charge when connected to iTunes, but only at random and for extremely short periods of time.
    If it's of any consequence, I am using a 2nd/3rd generation Macbook Pro from 2007, with a 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of RAM, running OS X 10.5.8 (Snow Leopard). Snow Leopard has only recently been installed, and when installing it  - I did opt for a partial 'Time Machine' restore from a backup drive, which included key files and applications - but which did not restore my complete profile from the previous 'Leopard' OS.
    Suffice to say - I am pulling my hair out here. You simply can't get by in today's world without a mobile phone, and I had only just bought this phone as a replacement for my old one. I had really come to depend on it, and would hate to think that I'd have to say goodbye to it because it required some kind of replacement part or repair that cost more than the phone itself (£65)
    The only real, discernible pattern with these problems is that they continue to get worse. I've tried booking an appointment at my local 'Genius Bar' but their booking system has been down for a while, presumably due to high demand, and I also know that their policy is to try and sell you a replacement product or accessory before recommending or exploring any alternative solutions. Their policy is that they will not see you without an appointment anyway.
    I have a feeling that although this may be hardware related on some level, with a potentially delicate or damaged charging port on the device itself - I've also read in many places that this is a software bug - which some of my experiences and observations would appear to confirm - especially as the phone can withstand lengthy and intensive procedures like the iTunes restore process (both in and out of recovery mode) without running out of power and dying. It seems to be getting fed enough power during these procedures, but not in any other situation - and will randomly charge in some circumstances, while not in others.
    Thus far, I have tried:
    - The 'Battery Doctor' App - which recognizes when the phone is charging, but doesn't alter the fact that it never seems to charge beyond about 5-10%, and has done nothing to change the fact that whilst apparently 'charging', the phone is still losing power and proceeds to die.
    - A
    - Cleaning the cables, adaptors and charging port with a toothbrush and some compressed air.
    And still - the phone will appear to be charging when switched off (though it never seems to get beyond about 10%) and will stop charging as soon as it's switched on, leaving me with about 5 minutes of usage before I have to go through the whole process again.
    Any advice whatsoever would be greatly appreciated - and again, my apologies for such a lengthy post!!
    Thanking you in advance,
    Adam

    I have had your exact problem with my old 3GS, now I cannot even get it to turn on, I still see that it is supposed to be charging though, but it never charges any so it seems.
    I replaced the Lower Dock Connector Assembly back when it still charged while hooked to my PC, and it found it made no real difference.
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003Y5YXLK/ref=oh_details_o05_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&p sc=1 
    At this point I am not sure if I should replace the battery and hope for the best, or just junk the phone, I cannot really sell it if I cannot reset it...

  • Turning the iphone 3GS off and on

    I've had my 16GB iPhone 3GS since its launch on June 19. I connected it to my computer and had it activated; it all went smoothly. Now whenever I turn my iPhone off and on or it dies it tells me that I have No Service and I must connect it to iTunes or only be allowed emergency calls. After I connect it to iTunes, this screen goes away and my iPhone runs normally again. Is there something wrong with my iPhone or SIM card and is there anything I can do to fix this problem? I would hate to be away from a computer and have my iPhone die on me..Thanks!

    as long as there was no accident damage that caused it and its been restored then yes

  • Help i cant open my iphone 3gs

    any one can help me. my iphone 3gs shut down unexpectedly and its getting hotter even its shut down . i cant open it still.
    the last thing i did is i let it standby last night when i woke up it charged it. after 4 hours the phone shut down and never open again. and i observed its is hot
    and after that i let it cool i chargd it again but never get connected and in the computer too.
    tell me what to do any advice.

    try a reset, hold down the home/power button together until you see the apple logo and then release, then wait for the phone to boot back up.
    If that doesn't help plug it to Itunes and see if you get any message.

  • Many problems with iPhone 3gs.

    I've been having so many problems with my iPhone 3gs in the past few days, These things aren't cheap, and money is tight. For about 2 days, My home button, speaker, microphone, and charge port (On the iPhone) Would not work whatsoever, I have been asking on just about every website with the word Apple in it, trying to diagnose what's wrong with it. I tossed it from the roof of a Sedan, A careless mother left her young child in the carseat on the roof, and as I ran to grab it, It slipped out of my hand. Not too bad of a toss, No cracks on the screen, But I couldn't do a Hard Reset, Or put it in DFU Mode. So after hours and hours of plugging in different cords, plugging those diferrent cords into different computers, and wall chargers, and even buying a new wall charger for 40$! I get a small glitch of battery charge. But now, It will only charge when the iPhone completely dies, and then it will charge to 5% and repeat (If i'm lucky). I basically have a 200$ Paperweight. The iPhone doesn't have a warranty anymore, And i'm not looking to spend hundreds to get it fixed, I never opened it, and it has never been Jailbroken. I can't restore it because when I put it into Recovery Mode, It still wasn't getting recognized by the computer. I just want my iPhone fixed, or at least a replacement, I used this for just about everything, I can't even create a backup file of my data. The iPhone is not only Unrecognized by iTunes, But it's as if the Charging Port in the iPhone isn't even there! There is no damage to the Charge Port itself, But around the case area is a crack from the fall. Please get back to me ASAP! This is a huge inconvenience!

    Well, just so you understand, you are not addressing Apple here. We are users just like yourself that try to answer technical questions from other users. It appears as though the fall has created numerous hardware issues for the phone, that is why you cannot seem to get the phone to restore or get it to be recognized in iTunes. Since the phone is out of warranty, you have two choices. You can take the phone to the local Apple Store and see about an Out of Warranty (OOW) replacement. This is for phones that are out of warranty and do not work. OOW for a 3GS would run $149/USD here in the US. Not sure if that is where you are or not. The second choice is to Google for a 3rd party repair facility and see if they can fix it and what they would charge. The rest is up to you.

  • Why won't my iPhone 3GS connect to my carrier?

    I currently have 3 iPhones. Two work great but one will not connect to the carrier. The phone is locked to Rogers (in Canada) but no sim card I have tried has worked so far even though all are from Rogers. The phone just continues to search for the carrier and displays "no service". I've contacted Rogers with no success and the people at the Apple store says it does connect but they never showed me it working.
    What can I do to get this iPhone working? It's a 32 Gb iPhone 3GS.

    There are a myriad of possibilities. To try the easiest first, turn off your Netgear router for 15 seconds, then turn it back on. Sometimes the DHCP daemon (the software that assigns IP addreeses in the router) dies and needs to be rebooted.
    Next is to verify that your router has the latest firmware version from the manufacturer's web site.
    Other steps are to go into Settings/WiFi and attempt to connect, then tap thr right arrow next to the network name and tap "forget this network". Then reboot the phone and try again.
    Next go into Settings/General/Reset and Reset Network settings.

  • ITunes crashes upon syncing music to iPhone 3GS iOS4

    I recently bought an iPhone 3GS and upgraded it to 4.1. Whenever I try and sync my music, iTunes will crash - I get the "iTunes has encountered an unexpected error and has to close" message, with the Windows report screen popping up and all that. This is only when I sync my music - applications and contacts sync fine (I do not sync videos/photos/voicemails so I have those all unchecked). I only sync one selected playlist (not my whole library).
    I am using iTunes 10, running on Windows XP. I have uninstalled and reinstalled numerous times (including downgrading to 9.2 at one point) but I continue to get the same result - iTunes crashes upon syncing music. I just did a fresh restore, and this has not fixed the problem.
    I have tried splitting up my 550 song playlist that I normally sync to my iPhone, but when I did this (it was only about 250 songs) iTunes crashed again towards the end. It has been crashing whether or not I have the "Convert to 128 kbps AAC" checked or not. It crashes somewhere in the middle of "Copying X out of X."
    Note As of typing this, I successfully synced a separate 58-song playlist WITH "Convert to 128 kbps AAC checked." However, I then tried to sync a different 61-song playlist WITHOUT that checked and iTunes proceeded to crash. After this, I tried syncing the 58-song playlist again WITHOUT the Convert checked and it synced perfectly without crashing.
    Recap:
    Playlist #1 (550 songs) - Crashes WITH OR WITHOUT convert checked
    Playlist #2 (58 songs) - Syncs perfectly with or without convert checked
    Playlist #3 (61 songs) - Crashes without "Convert..." checked (have not tested with "Convert..." checked, it's late and I have to head to bed soon and I want to get this post up).
    Considering this information, would it be reasonable for me to assume that it's some of the songs in my library that are making iTunes crash? If so, how the heck am I supposed to figure which songs are causing this? I really hope I do not have to sit here as iTunes syncs and watch our for every song it crashes on...
    Does anyone have any suggestions? I've scoured these boards but I haven't found anyone with the same situation as me, and thus no answers.
    So frustrated. Even my old iPhone 2G on OS 3.0 syncs my music perfectly!!

    I am back to attempting to sync my music. iTunes continues to crash on certain songs, however I have also noticed another problem - each time I attempt to sync my main playlist (after deleting the song it crashed on last time), it will say Copying X out of like, 96 or some number that is nowhere near the real count of songs on the playlist.

  • How long can the iPhone 3GS record video before the battery runs out?

    My father invested in an iPhone 3GS Tripod adapter for his tripod, for some conferences and lectures. He has a 16GB 3GS, which will record about 8.6 hours, according to another thread I've read about on here. But he doesn't really want to bring the USB/Adapter cable with him, and have to worry about finding a power outlet. Assuming his phone is on full charge, and bluetooth/wifi are shut off, and brightness is kept a bit dim (not too dim) - can anyone give me a round about answer of how long the it will record video before the battery dies? This function is today, so timing is critical. I will have him take the charger/usb with extension cable just in case. I'd appreciate anyones input

    Not sure if the battery will die before or after your done recording on the iPhone.But most sites are claiming that you can record up to 2GB per video.I just recorded a one minute clip,and it rounded off to about 34MB.So if you devide that,it rounds off to around an hour of recording video...But take that with a grain of salt,I'm not good with math lol

  • Iphone 3Gs high temperature and low batterie performance

    Hello,
    This is my first question here, so I'm sorry if I doing something wrong.
    About a week ago my iPhone 3Gs is demonstrating very high temperature, at any location (inside my pocket, over my desk e etc...) and situation (it happens even in airplane mode), not enough to a overheat warning dough. And his battery dies in about 1 hour, no matter what I do. I've done a recovery and its came back to normal for 2 days, but after that the heat and battery problem has returned.
    Could any body help me?

    xboxbmliphone wrote:
    ... I would just run the phone for a couple days without any apps, music, vids, just to make sure it still is working ok...
    Recommended!
    Hot phone and battery drain, cause of both together, is some hardware defect as a micro short-circuit (the phone dropped in water, as example) or an app who have a bug who let it eat all the energy (keep on localization services, as example).
    Let the phone hard reboot, too, to remove any crazy process left in.
    If you still have the issue with nothing running on (please make sure really nothing is on, neither background apps or itunes songs or anything else), most likely is hardware defect and you need service, as pointed above.

  • IPhone 3GS acting strange

    I have an iPhone 3GS and several things have been happening. When typing the clicking sound randomly turns on and off. Also I can not turn the iPhone off. When I try, it just restarts. Also it will say something like this charging device is not compatible with this accessory yet nothing is attached to the phone! Sometimes when typing the keys don't keep up with me.
    Also, I do not receive sound when a text message is received. I cannot adjust the volume with the buttons on the side of the phone. The ringer box comes up but nothing happens when I press the buttons on the side of the phone.
    I have noticed that the iPhone does freeze from time to time or unexpectingly end an app. I did upgrade to iOS 5. I'm not sure what is going on. Please help. I've checked my settings and everything seems normal. All these problems just happened in one day!

    Can you please think back to whether the issues started as soon as you upgraded to iOS 5?
    I just updated my 3GS to iOS 5 and have experienced some of the problems you mentioned.
    -my volume buttons no longer work
    -no unoock sound
    -no lock sound
    -no sound from videos
    -no keypad clicks
    The problems ALL started as soon as I upgraded to iOS 5. I started a thread on it, see the link below:
    https://discussions.apple.com/message/17016926#17016926

Maybe you are looking for