iPhone 5 proximity sensor seems to always be glowing?

Question

Level 1

10 points

iPhone 5 proximity sensor seems to always be glowing?

I decided to make a thread on this as there seemed to be no answers after doing some googling. I've had my iPhone 5 since the 7th of October, and it's been great, apart from some battery issues. I'm not a particularly heavy user - I'll play the odd game of Fruit Ninja and Rayman for ten minutes, but apart from that I don't use much 3G data. Yet I'm consistently getting only 3.5-4 hours of use out of it - the same time I get from my two year old iPhone 4.

I think the cause of this is that the proximity sensor (at least that's what it looks like) to the left of the speaker grille is always glowing. I noticed it a week or so ago, and it's always on whenever the screen is on. I don't have raise to speak for Siri turned on, and I can't think of any other reason why the proximity sensor should be on with casual use...

I appreciate the fact that the iPhone 5 is much more powerful and has more pixels to drive than the iPhone 4/4S, so will use more power, but that wouldn't really cut about 3 or 4 hours of use out of it, would it?

Does anybody have any insight, and know a way to stop the sensor glowing?

Tom

PS: Here's a picture of the sensor glowing, just to clarify what I'm seeing is actually the proximity sensor:

iPhone 5, iOS 6

Posted on Oct 28, 2012 10:57 AM

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Answer 1

Ingo2711

Level 9

73,767 points

Oct 28, 2012 1:07 PM in response to Tom M-F

Did you try to reset the phone by holding the sleep and home button for about 10sec, until the Apple logo comes back again? You will not lose data by resetting, but it can cure some glitches.

The glowing sensor has been mentioned for older models as well, but I don't think it is a reason for more battery consumption.

Re: 4.1 proximity sensor glowing red... Dangerous?

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Answer 2

bruxxx

Level 1

53 points

Oct 28, 2012 1:26 PM in response to Tom M-F

Proximity? Proximity to what? I've never seen this on my iPhone4? Does the iPhone4 not have it?

Amyway, I'm sorry I don't have much to say about the iPhone5 except my girlfriend is not getting great battery life, but it lasts a day at least.

I have an iPhone4 and I hardly ever can put a dent in the battery at all. Am I just lucky?

I mostly listen to audiobooks with it, and occasionally fall asleep with the Audible app running with the speaker on. It goes all night often with the screen on and I actually don't think it has ever run out of battery. Another thing I do with my phone is take a lot of pictures and video. I can go on a hike and take pictures all day and not run my phone down. I rarely use the data network piece of things though?

Is this just the variation in the batteries people are getting or are people really using their phones so much?

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Answer 3

Tom M-F Author

Level 1

10 points

Oct 28, 2012 1:32 PM in response to bruxxx

The proximity sensor turns on automatically when, for example, you're on a call and you have the phone to your ear. When it approaches your ear, it senses this and turns off the display to stop you pressing anything with your face. All iPhone models have one in some area around the speaker grille.

As for the reset, that hasn't changed anything, I'm afraid, Ingo2711. But I would imagine it would have some effect on the battery, maybe not as much as I'm having though. I'm contemplating restoring it to see if that cures it.

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Answer 4

lllaass

Level 10

210,471 points

Oct 28, 2012 1:34 PM in response to bruxxx

The phone has a proximity sensor for two purposes:

- When making a phone call it disables the touch screen otherwise it the phone could do things if the screen touched your ear.

- When not using the phone app, on the 4S and later the phone will activate Siri.

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Answer 5

amy_lou

Level 4

1,576 points

Oct 28, 2012 3:52 PM in response to Tom M-F

you should restore it as new because this is most likely a hardware issue. if the issue persists after restoring it as new, it needs to be replaced

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Answer 6

Tom M-F Author

Level 1

10 points

Oct 29, 2012 4:00 AM in response to amy_lou

Well I've just restored my phone and I'm afraid to say the proximity sensor is still on when the screen is on:

Sorry for the rubbish picture quality!

I'm interested to see if anyone else has been seeing this with their iPhone 5 when the display is on. If you find it hard to see with the naked eye, look at the earpiece through a camera lense; they're sensitive to the infrared light it emits.

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Answer 7

lumpy53

Level 1

15 points

Oct 29, 2012 4:24 AM in response to Tom M-F

Do you see it lit up when the screen is off? If not I would say it might be light bleeding through from the screen. The proximity sensor is not suppose to light up normally any way. If I was you I would just take it to a apple store and get it replaced.

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Answer 8

amy_lou

Level 4

1,576 points

Oct 29, 2012 1:13 PM in response to Tom M-F

if it's still happening after a restore, it's a hardware issue. head to an apple store to get it replaced

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Answer 9

Feb 17, 2013 8:56 PM in response to Tom M-F

This is not a HARDWARE issue, it's an iOS 6.1 and others? Issue. Every singe iphone 5 I've seen and I've seen over 20 since I realized this issue has this problem. All on iOS 6+. This issue drains battery as ir proxity sensor is on whenever screen is on, even if Siri and auto brightness is disabled.

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Answer 10

Ranaumar

Level 1

9 points

Jul 27, 2013 2:27 AM in response to Tom M-F

Hello buddy there is nothing to worry about it even in my Galaxy S4 have this light on whenever i woke up the screen it continuously onn and i have i5 too both have same conditions so its normal

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Answer 11

Avi1994s

Level 1

4 points

Aug 6, 2017 10:38 AM in response to Tom M-F

Hi sir can you tell me how to disable proximity sensor in i5s

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