How to Tell if an iPhone's Battery Is Dead?

You use your iPhone for a variety of business tasks including checking company emails, chatting with associates and reading the latest business news. Your phone includes a battery meter that visually displays how much power is left but if your iPhone’s battery is depleted, the meter does not display. The only way to tell if the iPhone battery is completely dead at this point is to connect the phone’s charger and look for a battery icon.

Battery in the Red

When your iPhone’s battery is dead, the phone’s screen is black and you cannot access any of the phone’s functions. Connect the phone’s charger and wait until the battery icon appears in the center of the screen. The wait time may be approximately two minutes until the icon displays on your screen. You will see a thin red bar on the left side of the battery icon indicating that your iPhone is charging its battery from a depleted state. As the battery charges, the red line grows wider until it eventually fills the battery icon. Leave the iPhone alone and let its battery charge until the red bar in the icon turns green, indicating a charged state.

No Battery Icon

If you connect your iPhone’s charger and you don’t see a battery icon with a red bar, check to ensure that the charger is plugged into a wall outlet properly. Also, check that the dock connector cable is properly plugged into the power adapter and into your iPhone’s dock connector. If everything is connected properly, unplug the charger from the wall outlet and plug it back in to a different outlet. Then, unplug the cable from your phone’s dock connector and plug it back into your phone to reset the charging process.

Blank Screen

If your iPhone’s screen is still blank, its battery no longer accepts a charge and need to be replaced. Consult with an authorized iPhone repair service to replace the battery. If your iPhone is still under warranty or an AppleCare plan, contact your area Apple Store for repair. You cannot replace your iPhone’s battery yourself. Attempting to do so can damage the phone’s internal components and void the phone’s warranty or AppleCare plan you may have on the phone.

USB Charging

You can charge the iPhone’s battery using your computer’s USB port but the process takes longer. If your phone’s battery is completely depleted, charge the battery for at least 10 minutes before attempting to power on the iPhone. Your computer must be on and not in a sleep or hibernation state while charging the iPhone. If your computer goes into a sleep or hibernation state, your iPhone’s battery stops charging and starts discharging. Wake your computer to resume the phone’s charging process.