Iphone 3GS keeps shutting down.

Changed out my battery on iPhone 3Gs that kept shutting down, now seems all good, at least so far. The phone was over 2 years old and I am sure the battery just couldn't do it's thing, or the sensors controlling the phone were too sensitive or whatever, but good thing is for $20 and a self install it is good again.

BTW, self install is a bit tricky, and delicate, so if you are not good with tiny little screws and connectors etc better leave it to someone else.

I'm going to do this. I have factory restored my 3GS several times, lost all my data, restored it to backup etc, as above. Took it to the "genius" who did the same, what a waste of time. The store was SO busy with people waiting to see the genius it's a wonder that she had never heard of this crashing problem. Expecially since there are probably millions of 3GS iPhones running iOS4 several years old with the exact same problem!

Thanks for your post jhopk4, I hope this is the ansewr to my problem.

So other than changing batteries has anyone else figured out what the problem could be? My phone just started doing this, I don't think it's an OS issue because its has been going on since Jan for some of you and just started for myself. So maybe a battery issue .

Just to add to the list of folks having trouble...

I've been having this issue for 3 months now with my 3GS. I'd be using the phone (wifi or 3g, didn't matter) and it would suddenly turn off with 40+% battery life. I finally went to the Apple store last week where they told me to do a full reset/restore. I did this yesterday and had to upgrade to iOS5 when I did so. Yesterday the phone worked just fine. Today at 80% battery remaining it shut-down. I set it down for 2 minutes and when I came back it was at the password screen. I logged on, scrolled through two screens and it shut down again. Thinking it overheated I took the case off and left it. When I came back 5 minutes later it was still off. When I pressed and held the power button the phone turned on, displaying the apple logo. This time as soon as I tried to type in my password it shut down again. I turned it back on and the same process repeated itself. It's now nothing more than a sleek looking paperweight...until I plug it in to a power source (defeats the purpose of a "mobile" phone, dontchathink?) and then it works just fine.

The phone is nearly 2 years old, is my only option to perform a delicate battery-ectomy on the phone? I'm hesitant to take it back to the Apple store as I'm positive they will only tell me to restore it or they will do it for me and then hours later it will again stop working. I wonder what a battery replacement costs from them?

Maybe this is Apple's way of getting us to upgrade?

Well I decided to change phones. I got an Android and it works fine. We'll see if in 18 months it's as good as it is today....The iPhone gets use at home still, always plugged in, always on the wifi. I still get to enjoy the games and other useful apps I invested in, and iOS5 works beautifully. The iCloud is nice also. My faith in Apple however is shaken. All those people suffering terrible battery life with their 4S phones, well, I don't envy them!

Update:

I ordered the ifixit battery replacement for my 3gs. My phone is working like a new phone. The battery life is significantly improved and the problem of the phone shutting down with XX% battery remaining is gone! The battery replacement wasn't all that difficult either.

For everyone having troubles, it stinks that Apple won't support/acknowledge the problem but you don't have to live with it. For $28 and 45 minutes of your time you can have your phone working like new again.

FI

I had the exact same problem with my Iphone 3Gs (IOS 5)... I wasn't able to reset it, because it shot itself down while I was trying to do so. Which is why I decided to turn off Icloud completely and I've never had any problems ever since. It's surely worth a trie.

I be been having all the same issues. It's an odd problem which seemed to occur more frequently in specific locations. I would even get vertical stripes before my phone shut off. I too got nowhere with apple as my 3GS is long out of warranty. I had a heck of a time trying to order a replacement battery through amazon. I kept receiving the wrong APN# battery. My 3GS needs a 616-0435. I received the wrong battery on 3 separate orders. They kept sending me batteries with the wrong APN number. MAKE SURE YOU GET THE CORRECT APN#!!

I have now dissected my phone 3 times. Today I installed he correct model battery. For those planning on installing yourselves, DONT SWEAT IT, take your time and follow along with one of the great YouTube videos. I watched several videos before finding the one I liked best. By the time I attempted the project, I felt like I didn't even need the video. Do it once and you will consider yourself an expert. Very rewarding.

Hopefully my battery replacement will fix the problem like the others who have replaced the battery.

Hey. I had this problem recently and I just went into Settings/General/Reset and delete EVERYTHING at first I thought it wouldn't work but it did. Now it stop turning off by itself. Try it!

I got similar thing. My iPhone 3Gs keeps self shutting down and rebooting, I am trying to restore it several time, but the process could not be finished as it keeps turning off. So I need to restore it without backup, going to the original, but still several times to get the restore runing. Hopefully, this could help...Anybody get the same problem, please suggest. Thanks

3GS - first phone doing this and won't hold a charge.

Apple Store - new phone

second phone doing this and won't hold a charge

Apple Phone Support - need to update, ran 5 hour update to 5.0.1, still doing it and now lost email as well

Apple Phone Support - sounds like hardware, let's get your email back - 2 more hours

Week later Apple Store - new phone

A week later - today, new phone doing the same thing - won't stay on any app or sarfari.

Apple has responded but with the price of these phones and the annual support contract -- shouldn't have to deal with this repeatedly. Definately think of ponying up and buying a new Android!

I did up a long post in Microsoft Word ONLY to see that Apple wont allow a cut and paste into this! THIS IS JUST ADDING TO ANNOYING!

I had posted it into the Ifixit forum.

Essentially it said that

A general reinstall does not work.

Contacting Apple to get them to do the complete reinstall with an apple technician does not work. This reinstall can ONLY be done with the apple technician.

It did work for several days then went back to the same issue.

Replacement batteries from the local phone shop has mixed results

Getting Apple to replace the phone has resulted in people getting new phone that have the same error.

What to do?

Im getting a cheap battery replacement... putting the phone up for sale and honestly telling people the story.

Buying a Samsung

http://www.ifixit.com/Answers/View/45776/iPhone+3GS+randomly+crashes%2C+then+reb oots+into+%22no+power%22+screen#answer79857

This forum allows me to paste with the standard Windows keyboard shortcut: Ctrl+V. Sounds like some of you are tripped-up because there's no right-click > Paste option.

Anyway, add me to the list of people with this issue. My mother has an 8GB 3GS that shuts-off spontaneously with "90%" charge, and suddenly shows the "charge battery" screen. A short while later, it comes on and shows 90% battery charge again.

This 8GB 3GS was a replacement for a 16 3GS that actually did have a worn battery. Because this replacement was relatively-new, I bought her a CaseMate battery case and told my mother how to minimize wear and tear on the battery. Unfortunately, I now suspect that the case has caused this issue somehow. I removed it from the case and she says it still happens. I don't know how we can put it through a full charge-discharge cycle since it keeps shutting itself off. I'll try replacing the battery and report back to let everyone know how it goes...