No one ever wants a dead iPhone in their hands.
However, at some point in your iPhone ownership, it’s inevitable to experience a day where the battery just gives up and dies at the worst possible moment.
Once a phone battery is completely dead, all that there is really left to do is to plug a charger into the phone and wait.
But how long does a dead iPhone take to turn on again?
On average, you will have to wait for around fifteen minutes for a dead iPhone to have enough power charged up to reboot.
This is only an average number, however, as it may take more or less than 15 minutes depending on the actual reason that caused the phone to die.
Batteries can lose charge due to issues other than a natural drainage of power, and in these scenarios, a dead iPhone may take a lot longer to power back up (or not power up at all!)
Regardless, it’s important to be patient while waiting for your iPhone’s battery and circuits to load with power and start working again. Read a book or take a walk outside in the meantime!
Why Does It Take So Long For A Dead iPhone To Turn On?
In our busy lives, it’s not out of the ordinary at all to completely forget to charge our phones on time or to keep the battery in tip-top shape.
Instead, it’s quite commonplace to use devices to their very last 1% of battery life and inevitably suffer a black screen and a dead phone- only charging again when it is convenient to do so.
Though experts recommend against this, uhh, technique, we seem to be able to get away with it mostly without any serious long-term negative consequences.
However, in the short term, we are left with a phone that seemingly struggles to come back from the (temporary) dead.
And if there’s one thing every iPhone user dreads, it’s to let their device run completely out of power.
And no, this isn’t because we pamper the phone like it’s a real-life baby (though some get close), but more so because a dead iPhone sure takes its sweet time to turn back on!
Unlike Android devices, a dead iPhone can’t be expected to respond a minute or two after being connected to the wall charger (even a powerful 45W one).
Nope.
Typically, you have to plug it in and expect to wait patiently for about fifteen minutes for the phone’s battery to reach the threshold charging point.
This is because the internal circuits are designed to prevent the iPhone from turning on until it is deemed safe.
No matter what you do, the iPhone will not turn on immediately if it is coming back from a completely drained state!
Let’s take a deeper look at why it takes so long for an iPhone to become functional again:
iPhone Safeguards In Place
It takes a very long time for a dead iPhone to turn back on because of specific safeguards and default settings that have been put in place by the Apple developers.
When an iPhone reaches a critical battery state, it automatically triggers a series of safeguard trips that the device has to go through in the process of dying and shutting down.
When the device needs to be turned back on again from a completely drained state, the steps have to be carried out and followed again- but this time in reverse order!
While this takes a significant amount of time to complete, it is done to ensure that the previously dead battery doesn’t damage itself or harm the iPhone’s internal circuit.
A Closer Look At The Internal System
Everything inside the iPhone (or any other phone/mobile device) runs on electrical power.
Whether it is the core functions or the memory storage, nothing can work if there is no electricity or power supply.
So, when power is randomly cut off, it can result in severe damage to the memory or operating system of the device.
To prevent this, the phone systematically stops the power supply to each part of the circuit to carefully shut down operations.
By the time the battery gets close to zero percent, everything is cleared and shuts down internally without the risk of any damage to software or circuitry.
This is called a shutdown cycle, and by the end of it any pending tasks or loose ends are resolved cleanly.
The shutdown cycle is triggered when the iPhone battery hits a prefixed lowest point. If the phone isn’t charged even at this stage, it will eventually shut down completely.
After you do connect the phone to a charger, electricity starts to flow into the circuits once more.
However, the startup cycle doesn’t begin immediately at this stage, as there isn’t enough electricity yet to allow all operations to reactivate.
It’s only when the circuit determines that the battery has enough power to kickstart the startup cycle that it will begin to whir back into place.
Hopefully, this explanation has given you some insight as to why your dead iPhone takes so long to turn on after charging!
It’s all in the name of keeping your device safe from internal damage as much as possible.
How Can I Make My Dead iPhone Turn On Faster?
Strictly speaking, you can’t make your iPhone turn on faster once it dies.
The fact that it takes so long is due precisely to how it has been designed (see above section).
However, what you can do is prevent the phone from dying in the first place- or speed up the charging process overall.
Delay Your iPhone’s Demise
Yes the title sounds a bit dramatic, but maximizing your phone’s existing battery life is actually a very good place to start!
By doing the preventable and not allowing your phone to die in the first place, you get to enjoy the benefits of not having to wait a quarter of an hour or more for your iPhone to start functioning again.
The easiest way to conserve battery from the outset is by turning on Low Power Mode on your iPhone, especially during times where it’s not actively being used.
Manually close apps that aren’t necessary at the moment, and swipe away tabs that you no longer need in Safari or other browsing apps.
Not only will this help you save battery, it will also speed up your phone for the processes you do need that might be lagging (such as Photos or Airdrop)!
If you really want to take your battery-saving efforts up to the max, turn on Airplane Mode and dim your screen brightness to zero.
While this will essentially turn your phone into an offline, difficult-to-operate brick, it will reduce power consumption to an absolute minimum and might just keep the phone alive until you get to the nearest charger.
How To Hasten The Charging Process
It’s totally understandable that the above option of lengthening your phone’s battery life at the expense of decreasing its performance is not always feasible.
So, here are some ways to speed up the overall charging process so that you can bring a dying or dead iPhone back to life more quickly:
Airplane Mode
As we’ve touched on above, a phone that is in Airplane mode requires the bare minimum of power to turn on and function.
As such, it’s a good idea to activate Airplane mode before your iPhone dies so that it can turn on and charge faster once it is connected to a power source.
Use A Fast Charger
The purpose of a fast charger is that- as its name suggests- it allows you to speed up the charging process.
The latest iPhones come with fast charging abilities. By using a fast charger, the time taken to turn on an iPhone can be reduced from 15 minutes to around 5. Every minute counts!
Maintain An Ideal Temperature
When a phone battery is too hot (more than 95° F), it is not advisable to charge the device as it may cause permanent damage to the component.
Conversely, a cold iPhone takes more time to warm up and will result in taking a longer amount of time to recharge as well!
Therefore, try your best to keep your phone’s temperature between 62° and 72° F. Check this with one of the myriad Battery Saver/Health apps available, as using a thermometer might be just a bit difficult.
Opt For The Wall Charger
Connect the phone via USB cable to a wall charger rather than a car charger or computer.
This will result in optimal charging and can in some cases halve the waiting period to around 7 minutes.
If you really can’t connect your phone to a wall charger, the second-best choice would be a wireless charging pad or an active laptop.
Clean The Lightning Port
A dirty charging port delays charging and increases overall waiting time. You can do so by using a soft cloth or brush to gently wipe away any visible dirt and dust.
Though you may not be aware of the difference between a clean or dirty port in regular circumstances, it really does make a difference when you want to turn on a dead iPhone more quickly!
How Long Does It Take To Charge A Completely Dead iPhone?
On average, it takes about three hours (that’s 180 minutes) to charge a completely dead iPhone to 100%, if you use a wall adapter.
The recommended way when it comes to charging an iPhone from empty is to leave it for thirty minutes, and then to turn it on using the sleep/wake or home buttons. Press and hold the sleep/wake button until the screen lights up.
Then, allow the phone to charge to max capacity after it turns back on. Follow the methods mentioned in the previous section to speed up the charging process if you are in a hurry.
There shouldn’t be any issue with this process if the iPhone has died only recently.
However, if the phone has been dead or unused for a few weeks to months, you will need to confirm that the battery has not been damaged in the hiatus.
A dead iPhone in deep discharge requires at least thirty minutes to even show the famed Apple logo after it is connected to the wall charger.
Keep an eye on the phone when it is plugged into the adapter to ensure that the battery is charging properly.
If you see a cord beside the battery logo on a blank screen, it means that the iPhone is not charging properly. In this scenario, the best course of action would be to take it to an expert to have the phone examined.
In Summary
So, how long does a dead iPhone take to turn on?
We’ve been able to establish in this article that a completely drained iPhone will require around ten to fifteen minutes to turn on in most conditions.
This timing will vary a little based on different factors, such as the charger and power source used. For example, using a fast charger can reduce the overall waiting time!
If the iPhone has been dead for a long time, it can take up to thirty minutes for the Apple logo to show and to be able to be switched back on.
Once the iPhone has charged for 10-15 minutes, hold the home and sleep button at the same time to (hopefully) turn it back on.
Once it’s confirmed that it can be turned on, leave the phone to charge to full capacity- and try your very best not to let it die again (though this may be wishful thinking)!
Apple has been the dominant pioneer of the mobile tech world for the past two decades. Learn more about what makes their iPhone an icon not just in the present day, but for the ages to come as well!