Last night, my iPhone Air dropped to zero around 11:00 PM. Right after it turned off, I plugged in the USB-C charging cable and immediately waited for it to turn back on. But it didn't. Minutes passed and nothing happened. The low battery indicator was not visible on the screen; the screen just remained black. It was as if the phone had died.

This situation turned out to be a thing. There are many online threads where other iPhone owners describe the same issue, apparently affecting all iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, and iPhone Air models…

It's unclear how widespread this issue is. It doesn't affect everyone, and it doesn't always happen when a specific phone runs out of battery. Since it was released in September, my Air has witnessed its battery dying a few times, and the issue I experienced last night was my first (and hopefully only, but who knows?) experience.

After leaving the phone connected to the wall for a few minutes, I tried the hardware reset button combination (volume up, volume down, holding the side button) and waited for the phone to turn on.

Still, the screen remained black. I tried a few different USB-C cables but got no results. At that moment, I was worried that my phone might be completely broken and that I would need to send it to Apple for warranty repair. I tried connecting the phone to my Mac, but it didn't show up in Finder.

At this point, I turned to Google and found countless threads reporting similar experiences (though each had a few comments). Apparently, the best working temporary solution is to place your phone on a MagSafe charger and wait for about fifteen minutes.

Fortunately, I tried this and it worked. My phone turned on after about ten minutes on the wireless charging pad.

When the phone enters this strange state, it seems that wired charging is not a reliable way to revive it, as if it’s not drawing voltage continuously. Maybe it could work if we wait for hours, but wireless charging apparently is the best first attempt. Some commenters on those threads said that when they took their ‘dead’ phones to the Apple Store, the first thing the technician did was get a MagSafe charger.

Clearly, the fact that the issue with my phone is temporary reassured me. Still, this situation is a bit unsettling. What if this happens when I’m in the car and CarPlay needs to direct me home? I don’t always carry a MagSafe charger with me. Maybe I should start carrying one now, just in case this happens again.

If this story sounds familiar to you and you've experienced something similar, let us know in the comments.