iPhone 12 unresponsive and then dials 911

TidBITS Talk
#1

So the other day my new iPhone 12 became unresponsive. I got a call coming in but i was unable to answer it. I let it go to voicemail and then initiated a shutdown. I got the screen asking me to slide the switch to shut down and I couldn’t slide it!

When I tried to initiate another shutdown the phone dialed 911 and called my emergency contacts! I was unable to speak to or hear the 911 operator (Luckily ythey did not dispatch anyone (Maybe they could hear me yelling everything was OK?) A few minutes later the phone reset by itself and all was back to normal.

I got hold of my kids and calmed them down but I was really freaked out. I’ve never experienced this - or even heard about it before.

Has anyone else?

TIA

Sam

#2

That’s seriously freaky, and if it happened to me, if the iPhone so much as blinked again, I’d be calling Apple Support and seeing if I could get a replacement.

#3

Check the “Emergency SOS” setting. I’ll bet you have it on, and I’ll bet you did the magic button press to set it off. The button press seems to be the same as the “force shutdown” press, which is a problem that Apple should fix.

3 Likes
#4

Paul -

You’re absolutely right.

That is a bad design.

Sam

#5

I’d also make sure to remember the force restart procedure. Press and quickly release the volume up, press and quickly release the volume down, then press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo on a black screen (which should take no more than ten seconds.) When your phone is unresponsive, that key press sequence should always work.

3 Likes
#6

Thanks, Doug. I’ll make every effort to remember that one.

Sam