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iPad Mini 3 screen randomly dims and then gets brighter WHILE actively using it.

So a couple days ago (Wednesday night to be exact), I was scrolling through Facebook on my iPad Mini 3 when I noticed my screen suddenly dimmed (although only slightly). It stayed slightly dim for about 5-15 seconds and then brightened back up to where it was previously before it has slightly dimmed. About 2 minutes passed and the screen randomly dimmed (again slightly) for about 5-15 seconds and then brightened back up. It did this a few more times over the course of the next 10 minutes and then it stopped. I would also like to note that it did the same exact thing a couple days before that on Monday afternoon. I turned the auto brightness feature off to see if that would do the trick but it happened again with the auto brightness feature off. It hasn't done it since Wednesday night.


Is it a bug with iOS 8.1.3, or is there something wrong with the iPad itself, or is a possible feature that I don't know about? I'm debating on whether I should to take it back to Best Buy and do a return and exchange and get a new one.

iPad Mini 3 -OTHER, iOS 8.1.3

Posted on Mar 6, 2015 10:13 AM

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7 replies

Jun 18, 2015 8:41 PM in response to captainmike09

When setting up the iPad, was a backup used from a previous device? If so, there could be some type of corruption in the backup used (bad backup).


To test, first backup your iPad (make sure everything is backed up, including music, photos, etc)


Restore the iPad as a new device, do NOT use a backup. Setup the iPad as minimally as possible for you to test for the issue.


If the issue remains, you may have a faulty device

If the issue clears when the device is restored as new, the issue is likely contained in the backup you have used in the past. Getting another/new device and restoring it with the bad backup will just put that issue on the new device...so you'll effectively have yet another "bad" iPad.


In the case of a bad backup, you'll have to start from a clean slate with the device restored as new and re-build the device by re-installing apps, music and your other data.

Jun 18, 2015 9:21 PM in response to gbavero

gbavero wrote:


My first mini 3 was acquired as a trade in for my mini 2 and as I said the dimming on its own happened with that mini. As it pertains to setting up the first and second mini 3's, they were both set-up via the cloud and not ITunes/PC.

And with that info, you still have not definitively answered the question of if you used a previous backup (via iTunes/PC or via an iCloud backup) when setting the devices up. You can get mini 3, after mini 3, after mini 3 and have them ALL be bad in exactly the same way if you set them up using the same (assumedly) bad backup.


I've specified how to test the device under an "as new" state in my post above. If you wish to do so to verify that the backup you are using is bad/not bad, you have the instructions. If you don't care to go through the process, then don't. It's entirely up to you. Until you test the backup by verifying how the device operates when setup as a new device (not restored from a backup) there's nothing more I can contribute.


Good luck

iPad Mini 3 screen randomly dims and then gets brighter WHILE actively using it.

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