iPhone 8 Plus needs force restart daily, often restarts by itself

[kurtster]

About 3 months ago I bought a new iPhone 8 Plus, and in the last week or so I've needed to do the force restart procedure (volume up, down, side button) nearly everyday to get it to turn on. It's also been restarting itself a lot, and sometimes powering off by itself. This happens when the battery is full or nearly full. Also, sometimes when plugged into my iMac it doesn't appear under "Locations".

It's running the latest iOS (15.6) and all apps are up to date. Any ideas?

 

[usagora]

You could try restoring the iPhone. But if you bought it new only 3 months ago, then I wouldn't even bother trying to diagnose it. Have Apple replace it under warranty. EDIT: Wait, Apple doesn't sell the iPhone 8 anymore. Where did you buy one new?

 

[BugeyeSTI]

Can you return it or was it sold as is? Sounds like a hardware issue

 

[BrianBaughn]

You're probably going to have to restore iOS on that thing and NOT restore from a backup to eliminate the possibility of file corruption as the cause.

 

[kurtster]

This morning it wouldn't even turn on with the force restart trick, so I guess it really is a hardware issue. I bought the phone new from an eBay retailer, who was one of very few still selling new, unopened iPhone 8 Plus's. I wanted an 8 Plus to replace my previous one that gave me over 4 years of trouble-free use.

Anyway, the retailer offers a 6-month warranty. In case they decide to stiff me, anyone know if I can approach Apple directly? I read somewhere that Apple has a 1 year warranty on iPhones. Does that actually mean anything? A new iPhone dying in just 3 months seems kinda ridiculous.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

I would contact the reseller and try to get a replacement first. You can always go to Apple and plead your case if the reseller flakes out on you. Doesn't ebay have protections for buyers if the seller won't replace the device?

 

[kurtster]

I took another stab at solving this last night, trying everything in the book. After finally performing the device firmware update (DFU), the phone managed to turn on and stay on for about 5 hours. However, it then powered off again and so I'm back to square one.

I'll email the seller tomorrow.

 

[arkitect]

I bought the phone new from an eBay retailer, who was one of very few still selling new, unopened iPhone 8 Plus's.

Anyway, the retailer offers a 6-month warranty. In case they decide to stiff me, anyone know if I can approach Apple directly? I read somewhere that Apple has a 1 year warranty on iPhones. Does that actually mean anything? A new iPhone dying in just 3 months seems kinda ridiculous.

Since you bought a brand new iPhone 8 (only three months ago) it should still be under Apple's 1 year warranty if it actually is a brand new iPhone. (The iPhone should show you if you have any Apple Care left. You can check the coverage in Settings >> General).

However, the six month warranty from the seller is odd. A seller warranty usually indicates that it is a refurbished aka second hand iPhone and not brand new…

I'll email the seller tomorrow.

Best thing to do.