iPhone 4S random shutdowns?

Hi tal1971.

After discussing with the Apple (iStore) advisor, her recommendation was to take the phone to the service / network provider (in this case Vodacom) and they will book the phone in to rectify. In other word, due to the nature of the business model her in South Africa, the onus does not lie with Apple, but with the network provider (and during that time, I do not have a phone, normally between 1 to 2 weeks.

PS when I mentioned that I have done some investigation on the problem, the advisor immediately shutdown and referred me to the network provider.

Thanks for your effort though 🙂

I had a similar issue with mine where it would randomly report thtat the battery was dead, before shutting down.

Only to work 5 mins later with the battery showing the charge it was before powering off

Did a full reset on the phone, took it to the Genius bar and the swapped it out no questions asked.

Resetting it meant they were unable to check for any third party apps etc.

The replacement, with the same apps installed works flawlessly

I had a same issue today.My 4s was a Verizon Wireless one and I use my sellphone in China because I worked in China.It just crash when I was open a App, when it restart I found panic.plist in about product, sh*t, How can I restore a new cell outside US(I was in China now)?

How I fixed all the "panic.plist" so far on my iPhone 4S. (iOS 6.0.1)

After some heavy tests, what I did was:

1) Delete the iCloud backup (server side)

2) Restore my Device and since I have not any iCloud backup, I set as a new device.

Use it normally, install apps, and all the stuff you want, but disable the Calendar (iCloud).

So far it's working perfectly. My first test was restoring my device as a "new device" but since he had a iCloud restore (on server side) somehow some data were syncronized even when I set as a new device, and I had some kernel panics on diagnostics after a while.

Hope this help you guys and leave your feedback. One thing I noticed is that not all panic.plist are equal. So this "fix" can help some of you, and others don't... but just give it a try and leave your feedback. Btw, sorry my english.. 😉

rmz83 wrote:

How I fixed all the "panic.plist" so far on my iPhone 4S. (iOS 6.0.1)

After some heavy tests, what I did was:

1) Delete the iCloud backup (server side)

2) Restore my Device and since I have not any iCloud backup, I set as a new device.

Use it normally, install apps, and all the stuff you want, but disable the Calendar (iCloud).

So far it's working perfectly. My first test was restoring my device as a "new device" but since he had a iCloud restore (on server side) somehow some data were syncronized even when I set as a new device, and I had some kernel panics on diagnostics after a while.

Hope this help you guys and leave your feedback. One thing I noticed is that not all panic.plist are equal. So this "fix" can help some of you, and others don't... but just give it a try and leave your feedback. Btw, sorry my english.. 😉

Panic.plists are because of an hardware issue of your device, and as such can only be fixed by having the iPhone replaced. So what you have done will make no difference whatsoever in the longterm, the panic.plist's will eventually come back.

If you make an appointment at an Apple Store, and mention to them about your panic.plist's, then in all probability they will replace your iPhone (that's providing its still under warranty).

Hi tal1971,

I was contacted by Apple too (since I don't have any AppleStore in my country), and what they told me is that could be a software issue (iCloud related) or hardware issue.

And they asked me to do some tests and to reset my device and set as a "new device" instead of making any iCloud restore. (btw, the same instructions were provided to me, by my carrier, after talking to Apple).

I did all that stuff and the problem kept. My device had some random reboots (only on stand by mode) and I didn't even noticed them. The only proof that I had was the "system diagnosis".

So after following all the instructions, I noticed that even when we don't restore our device, some data (from the iCloud) are still syncronized, so, my last test (before sendind my device to be exchanged) was deleting all the previous iCloud restores and then start the device as a new one.

And until now, I haven't any panic.plist and already passed 3 days. All my panic.plist was in about 12, 24 hours later. So, so far, this is working.

Like I said, not all panic.plist are the same. Some of them can be caused by software issues other are for sure a faulty hardware. And im aware of this because my Macbook had (a long time ago) some kernel panics, once again, software related and not hardware.

I'll give news if something goes wrong again, but until now it's working, that's why I've shared my experience, because more people with this problem testing, it's better for us (and apple) to have everything fixed.

Before i saw this topic, i sent this question 1 week ago.

I have a serious problem i believe. For about 10 days i can hardly using my phone. Phone has started to freeze and restart itself too much. And 3 days ago it has erased all the apps from home screen but i can see apps are still covers same amout of memory. My appstore is not showing anything also. For the question what caused this; only thing comes to my mind is the last app i installed. (wikiplaces app) What should I do? what is this? Does not see like ram overuse causing this. (2,5 gb used memory on phone)

So, is it possible to occur after 10 months of usage? And i saw panic.plist and many crash reports.

App crashes are normal, only Panic.plist could be a bigger problem, software (OS) related or hardware.

The best way to fix it is not deleting all apps but instead restore your device.

Follow the instructions that I gave two posts ago. Totally worked for me and I have everything running great, not a single panic.plist so far.

If my instructions doen't fix your problem, than the problem could be hardware related and if yes, you should visit an Apple Store or your carrier to get a new device.

Panic.plist is a crash report of the kernel of the phone (the kernel is essential for all computers to function) Applications have no root privileges to do anything to the kernel, unless it is malicious software or you have manually gotten root access to your phone (hacking/"jailbreaking") If you have a panic.plist file in your crash reports, then you need to replace your phone. I do not believe the kernel is permanently patchable so it most likely is a hardware problem.

I have had the same issue, but on my new iphone 3GS. I didn't get it from apple or from a network provider, does that mean apple won't replace it? do you think the place i got it from can?

Dear tal1971, I gave my phone to a local service. There is no authorized apple store in Turkey. So, when i claim this phone must be replaced, what should i tell them? im asking how do you know these info and are they reliable? What if they say they fixed it and its okay. Im sure you are right, panic.plist come out eventually again, happened to me too. In that case this service should know something about this issue.

manxliska wrote:

Dear tal1971, I gave my phone to a local service. There is no authorized apple store in Turkey. So, when i claim this phone must be replaced, what should i tell them? im asking how do you know these info and are they reliable? What if they say they fixed it and its okay. Im sure you are right, panic.plist come out eventually again, happened to me too. In that case this service should know something about this issue.

I was told by an Apple Care agent, Apple Store Genius Bar, and by many other people on the forums that panic.plist are a hardware issue and can only be fixed by having the iPhone replaced.

There is always the potential to have less than Apple's customer service from a local service, but in your case, the local serivce is your only option. Hopefully your local service will be professional and replace the iPhone.

One bit of advice, which might help. Print off a decent amount of information on panic.plists. Then at least if your local service are not been helpful, you can then show them all the information on panic.plist, and they will be able to see for themselves that a replacment iPhone is needed.

Has this been fixed with a software update or is it still confirmed as hardware? I have received shocking customer service from Apple so far and am really not impressed by them.

• My phone rebooted multiple times a day, or would go a few days without doing it. Each time it would be really hot for no reason and it wasnt always in use when this happened. I would just come to use it and it would be either turned off on full battery, or reboot next to me on the desk
• The diagnostics page was full of panic.plist events
• I called Apple support in MID JANUARY and was told to try a factory reset - this did not fix it and I took a screenshot of the diagnostics screen but when calling them back they said "We dont need the screenshot, the phone needs to be replaced" and they logged a call and gave me a repair ID
• I had to send it to Australia (I am in New Zealand and they have no Apple stores here!) and I hate using couriers with expensive items as I worry about them being stolen/broken/etc
• 2 MONTHS later as it is March now the items is finally there (they messed up with the courier first time and I had to go through phone calls to get stuff sorted again)
• Today I check the repair status and within a single day they have put the status as "Cannot duplicate issue" and that there was no fault found
• The original phone is being returned to me - I didnt even wipe the phone so all they had to do was look at the diagnostics screen to see all the errors I was getting!!!! It shows the list of panic.plist events and I still have the original screenshot!!

The phone is in perfect condition, and yes I could just sell it to some poor soul but I do not want to sell it on to anyone else as it is a faulty product. I am waiting to receive it back and fully expect the problem to still be present and to show up within the next week or so again unless in the last two months it was found to be a software fault and the latest iOS fixes it? Hopefully someone here can put some faith in Apple's words and say that it was an OS issue!

If not, it will be another 2 month battle with couriers again 😟

One thing I will say is that their call centre staff are friendly, but their back end support staff let them down.

This screenshot was taken the days after I did a factory reset on the phone. It has no additional apps installed. It was sent like this to them and not wiped intentionally so that they could see the logs. How can they claim there was no fault found?

You aren't the only one friend I recently contacted apple customer service with zero success. Ive never expected to get the go around from such a "premium" company. Spending more then two hours, went through multiple employees with my results ending with "I'm sorry sir but the only solution would be to purchase a replacement fit $199". This is with me explaining to them that I have over 20 panic.plist logged.

If there is anyone who can really help me out I'd appreciate it.

What if I'm out of warranty? would they replace it for free