Iphone screen goes black during calls. . .

If your phone is slow to swtich off the proximity sensor, do the basic troublehooting steps desco=ribed in the User Guide, Appendix B:

Restart phone

Reset phone

Restore phone in iTunes using a backup

Restore in iTunes as new, without using a backup

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en_US/iPhone_iOS4_User_Guide.pdf

I am having exactly the same problem with a new iPhone 6. It has happened a couple of time now. The screen remains black even when taken away from my ear (there is no case and nothing obstructing the phone whatsoever). I cannot get a response from the phone. Tapping screen, pressing home button, all does nothing -- the only solution is to hard-reset and reboot the phone. Very frustrating. It's happened a couple days in a row now, both on multi-party as well as solo calls.

I have no solution to this...but exactly the same for me. iPhone 6, screen goes black and unresponsive. In the past, I just had to wait until the other party hung up, then my screen would wake up. But, I just was on a long call with customer service, and now I think I am still stuck on their line. I can not get any button or movement to make the screen turn back on. I I believe the phone is still on/working, as the only thing I get is when I toggle the mute/vibrate switch on the side, I get a tactile vibration. Same when I tried plugging in...only a small vibration. Had someone else call me...nothing.

Same thing is happening to me.

The same thing is happening to me as well. I hope Apple puts out a fix for this. It's obviously a problem plaguing many users. Having to restore my phone is a pain and takes hours, since it's the 128GB version and almost 50% full! Not an option. We need a fix!

I've been having this problem ever since my iPhone 6 arrived. Still no resolution even after installing the latest iOS update (8.1.1 12B436). I had hoped this update would fix the problem. (And no, there is no case blocking the proximity sensor, please don't suggest that again).

This is clearly a bug, and a LOT of users are running into it (searching Google or Apple Support Community reveals quite a few threads with this problem).

It is random. Usually, if the phone experiences an "event" while the screen is black (such as receiving a text message or another incoming call) it wakes up. There is no response to user input, pressing the home button, volume buttons, tapping power, or trying any screen touch does nothing. The call cannot be hung up. The only solution is to hard reset (hold power & home until the phone reboots).

Just to make sure the obvious is not missed, have you ascertained there is no protective film or debris in front of the proximity sensor?

As for the extent of the problem, if one does exist, over 10 million iPhone 6 have been sold already. Even if there were 10,000 different threads on this in the forum, still represents a minuscule fraction of the installed base.

Oh, one last thing:

For those posting about "something is blocking your proximity sensor," you don't understand the iOS UX model. Whether or not there is something blocking the proximity sensor, pressing the home button should still activate the screen. You can try this yourself: Make a call and cover the sensor with your hand. The screen will black out. Without moving your hand away, press the home button. The screen will wake up. This is the correct behavior, regardless of whether or not the proximity sensor is blocked.

The home button should always activate the screen. Any situation in which the screen remains black while pressing the home button indicates a problem (defect).

As multiple users have posted above, when this problem occurs, the screen goes black and remains black, no matter what user input is received by the phone (volume, power, home buttons, screen touch). This is a defect because the phone should always respond to the home button.

The censor monkey just bit you….

If you say defect, presumably with your particular phone, take it back for assessment and see if Apple agrees. Should both be in agreement, you will get a new or refurbished unit that would satisfy your requirements and expectations.

I did. They could not reproduce the problem... we tried a dozen calls.

They said, when it happens again, bring it back and we'll look at it again... (this is the beginning of an endless loop).

The problem occurred again this morning. I don't have time to go back to the Apple store and go through all this again.

(When I say "defect" I mean "behavior that varies from designed goals," which can include a software bug. I believe this is a software bug, one that is intermittent, but that shows up enough for other users to encounter it. I've seen about a dozen different threads here and on the web that talk about it, started by a dozen different users... that's enough to indicate it's not just a defect with my personal hardware, in my opinion).

Courcoul wrote:

The censor monkey just bit you….

That's why I don't play in these forums. There are far better technical resources... and frankly, I disagree with the whole North Korean censorship-is-OK philosophy.

Not nearly enough to indicate a bug unless it's a very "niche" bug. More like the numbers you'd expect if there's a hardware defect surely. Seems like you're going to have eliminate the possibility anyway.

Zacharias Beckman wrote:

I did. They could not reproduce the problem... we tried a dozen calls.

They said, when it happens again, bring it back and we'll look at it again... (this is the beginning of an endless loop).

The problem occurred again this morning. I don't have time to go back to the Apple store and go through all this again.

(When I say "defect" I mean "behavior that varies from designed goals," which can include a software bug. I believe this is a software bug, one that is intermittent, but that shows up enough for other users to encounter it. I've seen about a dozen different threads here and on the web that talk about it, started by a dozen different users... that's enough to indicate it's not just a defect with my personal hardware, in my opinion).

They'd likely just replace your phone but if you don't want to go that route then your only other option is to troubleshoot the issue yourself. Restore the OS with a fresh install but without restoring any data or apps that might be corrupt. Test your phone for a while and see what happens. If it continues then you are out of options.

lyndafrompacifica wrote:

Sometimes while talking on a call, the screen goes black...

FYI, as of the latest update to 8.1.2 this behavior has stopped for me... so, crossing my fingers that they squashed the problem. (Been using the phone a lot for a few days, and haven't seen the issue – typically I would have seen at least one incidence by now).

I had this same problem with a brand new iPhone 6. I brought it into the Apple store and they offered to replace the sensor. I asked for a new phone since it was less than two weeks old and I didn't think I should have to replace parts so soon. They agreed. However, the problem has now recurred on the new phone, though not as often. I don't know if this is a hardware or software glitch but it is clearly a problem and very frustrating.