iPhone 12 mini touchscreen issues

Both my husband and I got our phone on Nov 13th and had the same issues as everyone. The Lock Screen is not responsive. In addition to that, we can’t access the flashlight or camera from the Lock Screen. I thought it was the screen protectors and cases but it wasn’t. We bought different screen protectors and cases, yet we still have the same problems. And when someone is calling, I can’t pick up from the Lock Screen. Another problem I noticed is that when I am on a call with someone, the touch screen is unresponsive overall. I couldn’t text if I was on a call with someone, the keyboard won’t respond. I did notice that when the phone is plugged in to charge, everything works fine. So that is weird...

I chatted with one of the rep yesterday and he told me to make an appointment and bring them in. However, it was almost impossible to get an appointment with them because I guess almost everyone is coming in for the same issues. I am so disappointed at Apple. Been with them for 15 years. My husband just recently switched to Apple and his experience is horrible so far.

Same problem as everyone here.

Called Apple Support just to get another person reporting this issue.

I asked if she had any other reports of this, and she said “No”, and then the 3rd test she asked me to try was plugging in the charger — I got a laugh out of that (as all user reports on the internet say that the issue is resolved when plugged into the charger)

I can only say that anyone with this problem should call Apple Support to report their problem.

Update: I was on hold while typing this, and when she got back on the line she informed me that she spoke to her senior advisors and that Apple is aware of the issue and are working on it and that I should call back in 3-4 days for an update.

I have the exact same problem! Can’t flick my phone up to unlock it, torch and camera button doesn’t work. Can’t answer calls or hang up. Have to press a lot of times until it actually works. So frustrating! Apple refusing to replace the phone unless I return this back first which leaves me phone less! Terrible customer service. I’ve decided to return the phone all together!

Not just the torch and camera button on the Lock Screen, every other thing.

try using assistive touch and maybe try and play around with by making circles on the Lock Screen. You’ll notice the unresponsive touch.

Do the same anytime after the screen is unlocked and it’ll be butter smooth.

So this seems to be a Lock Screen problem so far in the 12.

I have come to the conclusion Apple 🍎 are embarrassed to admit there’s a problem with the iPhone mini but that doesn’t help all of us that have paid out good hard earned money buying it can’t they just be honest there big enough to take it

i know someone who got a 12 pro max and did not have this issue. I’m wondering if the different shell materials might have anything to do with it. The aluminum iPhone 12 mini would have different conductive properties than one with a different backing.

Same issue! Glad it's not just me. Swiping up to unlock the screen is intermittent at best. If I'm in public with a face mask on, I have to enter my pin to unlock and that rarely works. Tried adding an alternate appearance, but it won't let me do so while wearing a mask. Also, I ran into this while on a call where I was asked to enter a number to access a menu. Kept punching #2 with no luck! Very frustrating. Seems touching the bare case near the camera ports with one finger helps, but it's clearly not a fix!

It’s definitely a ground issue. I have the Spigen Tough Armor Case. We use this on all phones w/o ever a issue. It has a cut out that shows Apple logo, so I ran aluminum foil from edge to edge over the logo. Called my phone w/o touching couldn’t answer, picked up touched the foil and answered phone. Not sure if firmware solves seems it an engineering issue. For now a temporary fix.

I’m having all the same problems. When entering the passcode to unlock the touch screen doesn’t register my input and/or keeps erasing itself. Also I can not answer a call when the phone is locked, because I can’t get the slide function to work! Very frustrated. This is the first time I’ve ever gotten a new version of an iPhone when it came out. This will be the last time if this doesn’t get fixed soon.

You are correct. It seems the issue is the MagSafe case. As soon as I remove the case, it doesn’t give me an issue. I haven’t tried it with a non-MagSafe case. Does someone have a non-MagSafe case on their phone and still have this issue??

This is simply a touch screen tuning issue. I’m sure they increase the controller’s scrutiny of touches when the screen is locked. You have to remember the Lock Screen has to be more selective because it is more likely to be activated in a pocket for example. Modifications to the touch detection parameters (these controllers have a massive number of tunable parameters) will take care of this. Think about it. It works fine everywhere else except the Lock Screen. Yes, grounding does change the amplitude of the detected touch since it changes the electric field more between the driven electrode and the grounded electrode in the touch screen when your finger gets near it. This results in a change in capacitance (remember this is a capacitive touch screen). These touch thresholds are adjustable and depend on glass thickness, skin moisture, EMI and other things that impact signal to noise ratio. Therefore I’m not surprised grabbing the metal frame changes things. In addition to touch amplitude the controller can determine this size of the touch and duration. All these basic things must be considered before confirming a valid touch event.

Either this was completely overlooked because it was assumed to be like the other 12th gen phones or they couldn’t get it done in time for shipment and it was deemed a low priority. I suspect they are already working on it. Be patient. Software updates take massive amounts of testing for even the littlest things because regression testing must be performed to ensure you didn’t break anything else while fixing what you intended.

It’s not an issue only with MagSafe cases. If you touch the camera with the MagSafe case on, it works fine. You’ll have the same issue with a non MagSafe case. It works without a case just fine since you’re touching the actual phone.

It’s not just the MagSafe case, it seems to be literally any case causes the Lock Screen be unresponsive.

I have a clear Insignia case I bought from Best Buy on the phone with a screen protector and constantly have an unresponsive Lock Screen.

When I remove the case, the Lock Screen works flawlessly.

As others have pointed out, this is more than likely a grounding issue and I’m willing to bet that a software update can’t fix this.

Apple will absolutely need to address this soon as this has been an absolute pain to deal with since the moment the iPhone 12 Mini released. What a joke.

Now I feel bad. I bought a case for my iPhone 12 mini and as soon as the phone arrived, I popped it in. It was a nice case, with a built in screen protector. Lo and behold....I couldn't swipe. So back the case went with a bad review. New case arrived today, no issues, as soon as I slapped the screen protector on, same issue. Luckily I found this before I sent them back.

C'mon Apple....someone I'm sure tested one of these out before you started shipping. We need Steve Jobs back, none of this silliness would've been tolerated.

Waiting for a fix............ahem......

That was the exact issue that made me say enough is enough and start looking to see if anyone else had the same problem. Touching any of the metal in the phone at the same time does completely correct the issue but it’s a pretty expensive piece of equipment to require such a workaround.