A spate of reports claims that Apple’s new iOS 17 update could be causing some iPhones to shut down temporarily overnight, but nobody knows why.
Apple released the new software last month alongside its new best iPhone handsets, the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro. In the last week, some users have noticed that their iPhones are switching off for several hours a night while charging.
9to5Mac’s Zac Hall noted waking up his iPhone passcode screen “after an apparent restart overnight.” Stranger still, his iPhone battery reading clearly shows his device switched off for several hours, right after it achieved 100% charge.
“For me, I noticed that Face ID wouldn’t work without entering my passcode first due to a restart,” Hall Observed. “That’s not routine, but there’s nothing too strange about an iPhone soft crashing every once in a while.”
However, as the report notes, a thread on Reddit with nearly 800 upvotes and almost 300 comments has revealed this might be a much more widespread issue. So what’s going on?
iPhone turning itself off at night?
“My iPhone just turned itself off between roughly 3am and 7am. As my alarm went off, I noticed that I had to re-enter my SIM pin and it wouldn’t get out of the sleep focus without my intervention,” said user nathan_lesage in r/ios. “Mine too with iOS 17.0.3”, one user commented, “same. iOS 17.0.3 iPhone 14 Pro Max,” still another added.
Multiple users on the MacRumors forums have also reported the issue. While many have noticed it on the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro, there are also reports of it happening to older phones including the iPhone 14, iPhone 13, and beyond.
Apple declined to comment on the issue, and it’s not universal. My own iPhone 15 Pro Max slept soundly through the night last night, for instance, and according to the battery log remained powered on at all times.
Although some users are reporting that their iPhone does power on again automatically, and even that their alarms still work, while this bug is in the wild it might be prudent to get yourself a backup if you rely on your iPhone to wake you up at a particular time each morning.
We’ll keep tracking this issue and report on any further developments.
