New iPhone 4S unresponsive, requiring a hard reset on several occasions

Just happened a fourth time. The phone was in my pocket and was locked in stand-by mode.

This time I checked if any buttons would work and none would: it was dead to the world, except for feeling warm. Even when I slid the silent-mode switch, I didn't get a reaction - no little vibrate like when it is working.

When I did a hard reset (holding down both buttons until the Apple appears), it still had lots of battery remaining (over 90%), so I must have caught it soon after it entered it's loop (if that is what it is doing).

Who else is seeing this? Please comment here. Thanks.

crazyhorse6627, I think you're having another issue - sounds like your restore wasn't successful for some reason. Synching can take hours if you have a lot of music and/or other things. Just be patient and let it run to completion. If it fails part way, don't worry, your files are still on your computer. Just start the restore and wait enough hours for it to complete.

This issue here is about a properly functioning new iPhone 4S that somehow becomes unresponsive when it is asleep and locked: nothing gets it back except a hard reset (holding Home and Sleep/Wake buttons down until you see the Apple logo).

If you have that problem, please drop a message here.

brumeye, that's a gret question. I have a 64 gig iPhone 4S too.

Has anyone seen this on something OTHER than a 64 gig iPhone 4S? That would help narrow things down a bit.

Also, this was a restore from a backup of my iPhone 3GS. I had installed iOS5 on the 3GS the previous day, and I restored from that iPhone when I opened up my new 4S.

Another clarification - I have NOT been using Siri on this iPhone, so that isn't a cause. Neither is the iCloud, since I had it turned off for at least one of the lock-ups.

Hopefully, I'll be talking with Apple about this today - I'll update here if I learn anything useful.

I'm on the phone with Apple and they're saying (1) that they are getting other calls about this, (2) they've escallated this to their Level 2 support, and (3) it is the result of cellular data upgrades with the carrier.

I am skeptical about this explanation. It would mean that AT&T has "upgraded" their cellular network four times in as many days in my rural location.

My advice is for everybody experiencing these lock-ups with their new iPhone 4S to call Apple (800-694-7466 or 800 767 2775) and make sure you've described your exact problem and see what they do with more calls on this issue.

I'm currently on hold for Level 2 support and I'll make an update if there's anything different.

P.S. I'm leaning towards a memory defect in selected 64 Gig models, but that is my amateur guess. I wonder if the hardware diagnostics at Apple Stores have a memory test for 64 Gig models.

Okay - just finished with a very helpful Level 2 support person (thanks, Nicky!).

It might be hardware, or it might be software. To narrow this down, Apple is recommending that I do a factory restore, but stop short of actually restoring any of my own files or data - unplug when I get the message "Set up as New or restore from Backup". This will give me a factory reset phone with no personalization in it.

With the iPhone 4S in that state, I can see if the problem occurs. If it does, they'll know it is hardware.

I pointed out, and she agreed, that if it is a memory problem and I don't exercise high memory, I might not encounter the problem. I also pointed out that I can't make this problem occur at will, so I won't know how long to wait before I can conclude that the problem isn't about to reoccur. She understood. I then pointed out that the phone isn't much use to me while it is empty so running for several days like this would be a hardship. She agreed, but pointed out this was the only way to definitively test the phone on my own.

I'll have to think about that. On one hand, the phone is already in a factory reset condition - since I took it out of the box like that. If one of the apps is causing this behavior, it is still an iOS problem not an app problem, because apps shouldn't freeze the iPhone. On the other hand, I can't be sure what is causing the problem with my phone in its current condition, since it is filled up with lots of software and music that the factory didn't put there (I did).

As a side note, since the iPhone isn't crashing, Apple isn't getting a report whenever this happens. And since the only way to get your iPhone back is to do a hard reset, we are erasing all information about what state the iPhone was in when it was locked up. There seems no resolution around this problem - there is no way to force a crash and thereby force a report to Apple.

I'm considering taking the phone into a store and seeing if I can do an exchange there - if they have a h/w diagnostic that can definitively check memory, I think I can trust that to show any defects.