My iPhone 5S is totally dead

[peter5s]

Hey guys! Just signed up in the forum. I hope you can help me.

Well, I bought an iPhone 5S three weeks ago but I broke the carger that goes with the phone. The cable worked 4 days so I bought a cheap cable (It wasn't actually cheap. I live in Venezuela and there aren't original cables in stores and even the cheap/3rd party ones are really expensive). It said "This accesory may not be supported" so I found a way to make it work, plug the cable into the iphone, turning off the phone and wait for it to charge. It charged like 30% or so and when it totally drained the phone won't charge at all. It doesn't even show the charging symbol so it's totally dead.

I read information in a lot of places- They told me to put the device in DFU mode... didn't work. I thought that the battery was so drained that I had to wait a whole day and wait it to charge... it didn't. A friend of mine with an iPhone 5 lend me her original cable, it didn't work. An iPhone 5C original cable didn't work either (which I guess it's the same lightning cable but it was worth the try)

So it doesn't charge even with original cables so it could be my lightning/headset port OR the battery. As you may know, there is not Apple Stores here either, only 3rd party repair stores but I'm afraid I lose my "warranty". So I drove 3 hours to the store I bought the iPhone and the seller told me I had to sent the phone via DHL to the company who brought the phone to my country (which isn't Apple). I don't want to since it scares me to never see my phone again.

I read somewhere I could be the "U2 IC chip" but I'm not sure either.

What can I do? What do you think it's exactly the problem?

 

[Ledsteplin]

Make sure the port is clean of debris. The 5c cable/charger should work if it's Apple brand. Any certified cable should work. But you need the Apple adapter/charger. Cheap knock offs from China are dangerous and don't work most of the time.


Sent from from my iPhone 5

 

[peter5s]

I guess it's clean because the phone is 2 weeks. The cables I tried after using a knock-off one were original. I guess the knock-off cable burned my phone or somethig... Is there a solution?

 

[kataran]

Welcome to iMore

As mentioned above start with the obvious the port could be filled with lint. Spray some alcohol in it then use a toothpick and slowly pick from left to right. If this doesn't work it could be the battery

Your device should still be under the factory warranty check the manufacturer date

 

[peter5s]

Welcome to iMore

As mentioned above start with the obvious the port could be filled with lint. Spray some alcohol in it then use a toothpick and slowly pick from left to right. If this doesn't work it could be the battery

Your device should still be under the factory warranty check the manufacturer date

Done, the device still doesn't work. It removed a little of lint but still. I'd take a picture but I don't have anything else.

How do I check the manufacturer date? I don't have any buy-proof directly from the U.S, only from the seller who actally brought the device to my country so it's not from the store who inicially sold the phone. Even with that, could I apply for warranty?

 

[HankAZ]

Done, the device still doesn't work. It removed a little of lint but still. I'd take a picture but I don't have anything else.

How do I check the manufacturer date? I don't have any buy-proof directly from the U.S, only from the seller who actally brought the device to my country so it's not from the store who inicially sold the phone. Even with that, could I apply for warranty?

If you have the serial number, you can check here:

https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do

 

[kataran]

You can get the number on the back of the phone under the iPhone name

 

[HankAZ]

You can get the number on the back of the phone under the iPhone name

I don’t see a serial number on the back of the phone - it’s the IMEI.

 

[peter5s]

You can get the number on the back of the phone under the iPhone name

Done. I checked up the infomation on https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do and it says:

(In green)Valid Purchase Date

(In yellow)Telephone Technical Support: Expired

(In green)Repairs and Service Coverage: Active

(In yellow)Eligible for the AppleCare Protection Plan

The estimated Expiration Date is 27 March 2015

I clicked on the button and it gives me a lot of options: Send it for service, contact Apple support or take in for a service.

I guess I have these three options:

1) Change the battery: I read that if you swap your battery with another one with charge, the device is supossed to work but the problem will still be there when the battery drains.

2) Change the lightning port: I'm not so sure about this, but it could be an option maybe?

3) Buy a new "u2 IC": It seems that due to the 3rd party charger I used, this chip could have been broken. I found this chip in eBay from China for 18$ but it's hard to replace because it's located on the motherboard.

-- I'm not sure about any of this, I repeat. These are just opinions I found on the internet about the issue but if I chose one of them, my device would be opened and I'd lose my warranty.

I'd go with the warranty but I don't have any buy-proof as I said... and I don't live in U.S.

What do you think I should do?


EDIT: I clicked on Send it for service and selected Unable to turn on. Now I'm able to choose between Chat and Schedule a Call or Call now to Support. Again, I'm not from the U.S.

 

[ritesh]

So I drove 3 hours to the store I bought the iPhone and the seller told me I had to sent the phone via DHL to the company who brought the phone to my country (which isn't Apple). I don't want to since it scares me to never see my phone again.

This company that imports the phone, does he do it officially? Is he an apple authorised Venezuelan distributor? If yes, don't think twice and send it to him. If no, then your phone is anyways not under warranty in your country,since it was an unoffical import. Then you are free to give it to local repair shops rather than DIY'ing yourself. Here in India too, Apple as a company per se, isn't present. They have appointed various distributors like Brightpoint/Redington, who import and distribute within the country. After sales support is also provided by Apple trained and appointed service centres.

Just to reconfirm, when you say, you have tried different cables, are you also trying different power adapters in different wallsockets? Your power adapter or your wallsocket could have also busted. I find it difficult to beleive that 3-4 weeks use of an aftermarket cable can cause harm to the charging IC, provided there were some surges in your powersupply, causing the damage.

 

[hydrogen3]

Make sure the port is clean of debris. The 5c cable/charger should work if it's Apple brand. Any certified cable should work. But you need the Apple adapter/charger. Cheap knock offs from China are dangerous and don't work most of the time.


Sent from from my iPhone 5

I thought the Apple adapter/charger were made in China?

 

[HankAZ]

I thought the Apple adapter/charger were made in China?

They are. But so are the cheap knock-offs.

 

[lui22]

Hey guys! Just signed up in the forum. I hope you can help me.

Well, I bought an iPhone 5S three weeks ago but I broke the carger that goes with the phone. The cable worked 4 days so I bought a cheap cable (It wasn't actually cheap. I live in Venezuela and there aren't original cables in stores and even the cheap/3rd party ones are really expensive). It said "This accesory may not be supported".......

Se conecta el aparato al tu compu con itunes usando el cable?

#smh -- Translation:
The device connects to your Computer with iTunes using the cable?

 

[hydrogen3]

Se conecta el aparato al tu compu con itunes usando el cable?

s?, s? lo hace

Translation: Yes, yes it does.

 

[hydrogen3]

Bravo my good man.


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