iphone 4S stopped working when fully charged and it will not turn on. what should i try?

Try holding down the Home button and the Power button at the same time, just as you would do to reset the iPhone, and see if that brings the phone back on. You may need to hold it for 30 seconds before it responds. My iPhone 4s seems to close itself down some time after using Siri and the only way to get it back is to press and hold Home and Power!!!

We're our using Siri prior to it closing down?

I've had a similar thing happen to my new iPhone 4S three times. It gets hot and doesn't respond to either button -- the screen remains completely off. I have to hold down both buttons for awhile until the Apple appears and then everything seems fine... until it happens again. Once it happened overnight, so I missed my alarms. Another time, it was while I was at dinner.

Always it happens when the iPhone is on standby with the screen off and nothing particular happening with it. The iPhone 4S is brand new, hasn't been dropped, hasn't been messed with in any way.

Is there a way I can get a trace of what happened before I reset it? The system log (visible in "System Status" and other apps) starts with the reset, so it doesn't help here.

That's exactly the issue. Take note of whether you have used Siri at all before the phone shuts itself down. If I use Siri and then power the iPhone off and back on after I have finished it remains stable and will not shut down when in standby. On the other hand if I use Siri and simply carry on using the iphone it will eventually power down and need a reset to bring it back to life...

I have the same problem too, my iPhone 4S 32GB white just went off, before it was in sleep mode. I have to hold down the lock button and home button to reboot the phone, it has already happened 4 times for this weekend, almost twice a day. I don't know is that a hardware issue or problems with Siri, My wife have the iPhone 4s 16GB and no problem with hers. I have tried to store the phone once, and it doesn't seems to fix the problem. I am thinking it's a hardware issue.

Yes, the same problem with me. I've had my iPhone 4s for a week now, and 4 times I have pulled it out of my pocket, it had turned off by itself. Not good. I can't afford to miss calls.

Same thing also happened to my 4S. I wasn't using Siri. I was just replying text messages. And try to turn on my phone again in 2 minutes, it won't turn on. Neither home or power button works. Try the hard reboot mode twice before apple logo showed up and start rebooting itself. I read on the forum that happened to 4 as well when it just released last year, and it was suppose be a hardware failure issue that requires replacement of phone. Consider $s is only 2 weeks old, its maddening why it passes the QC.

http://www.iphoneforums.net/forum/iphone-help-15/iphone4-stopped-working-739/

What you can do is go to the Apple Store and exchange to a new phone. But you have to beware, if you purchase the iPhone online, you can only exchange it from Apple Online Store, the retail store will only be able to exchange a service replacement unit to you, which is still a brand new phone anyway. Just beaware of that.

Just had the same problem. Phone stopped working between lunchtime and leaving work. Hadn't dropped it or got it wet, and it should have been about half-charged. Unsuccessfully tried holding both buttons, but, thanks to you guys' advice I tried holding them up to 30 seconds, and that brought it back (in 11 seconds) with all apps seeming to work fine and no content lost.

I did do my first real experimenting with Siri last night, but, since quite a few hours have passed since then, I don't know whether that had anything to do with it.

Thanks!

I had the same issue tonight. Phone was working, I set it down - went to use it 10minutes later and nothing! Was NOT using Siri (haven't used it in 3+days). Had to press home and on/off buttons simulateously for 15+ seconds for the phone to come back to life. I missed a call while it was in this state but voicemail was available once it powered up again.

Is this something we should be concerned about? Do we need to return to Apple to swap out?

My 4s 64GB also had the same problem. It suddenly stopped working and pressing only the power button did not turn it on. Thanks to sammyh25's instructions, I managed to get it to boot up again. The phone was not in use at the time and it shut off between the last I used it and when I noticed it (45 minutes).

I have now had this problem 4 days in a row, sometime between Lunch and 5pm. After the 3rd time, I turned off Siri, but that did not prevent the 4th shut down. I have noticed the back of the phone has been warm every day at 5, when I've had to perform the hard restart.

Will do some more on-line searching for a solution, and, if I don't find one, I'll visit the Apple Store this weekend.

This was happening to my iphone 3G and the apple store told me that it was a battery issue. I could replace the battery for around $80. I decided to wait until the 4S came out and just upgrade to a newer phone. Unfortunately, the same thing is happening with my 4S. Started on the first day I had it. Continues to happen. I will be visiting the Apple Store the first chance I get. If I get any constructive solutions, I will share it here.

Same thing happened to me. Have had my 16bg 4S for about 4 days now (over the weekend) and no problems until this afternoon. Went to check/see if I missed any calls and it was unresponsive. I know I had about 80% + battery when I last talked on it (about 2 hours ago). Thought it was odd. Tried plugging in charger - no dice. Checked this site and seems I am not the only one with the problem.

I had a 3gs for 2 1/2 years and no problems. Kind of bummed that there is such a glitch right out of the box. I waited for a "new" version of the 4 before jumping over due to the problems plaguing the 4 when it came out.

I was using Siri right about the time this all happened...like the posts above, certainly may be connected. However, I have used it quite a bit the last several days and this is the first I've had any issue. Like a previous poster and I am sure, many of you, I cannot afford to "miss" calls and the thought of having to make sure my phone is on every 5 minutes kind of defeats the purpose of a mobile phone.

Have not tried any OS updates so far (if there are any). Will post as soon as I learn anything new.