the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, or iPhone Air, it’s important to note that several users have reported issues with being unable to power their devices back on once the battery has fully depleted. This problem, recently brought to light by 9to5Mac, may also be impacting other iPhone models, though the exact cause remains unknown. There are reports indicating that this issue does not occur each time an iPhone 17 or iPhone Air reaches a 0% battery, but allowing the battery to deplete entirely seems to be the primary catalyst.
Although Apple provides a dedicated support page for troubleshooting when your iPhone won’t power on or the display is black, the suggested method — performing a hard reset using a specific button combination — does not appear to enable affected iPhones to charge correctly. To date, users have found that the most effective solution is to charge your iPhone via MagSafe or Qi wireless charging rather than using a wired charger.
In a discussion on the iFixit forum regarding this problem, one individual tested their device with a USB power meter while experiencing this issue. When attached to a wired charger in this unresponsive condition, the power meter fluctuated between 0 W and 2.1 W seemingly at random — or, as articulated by the user, “It’s as if it’s attempting to charge, but for some reason, it cannot.” So far, Apple has not publicly commented on this problem, but it appears to not have been triggered by a recent software update, as initial reports regarding this battery issue go back to at least November 2025.