iPhone Touch Screen Unresponsive After iOS Update
An annoying and somewhat alarming issue can occur for some iPhone users where the iPhone Touch Screen becomes unresponsive to touch after installing an iOS system software update. This often means the iPhone will seemingly successfully install the new update for iOS, but the lock screen can not be unlocked or swiped away, and touch elements on the screen do not work either, it’s not subtle, it’s as if the entire touch screen is just completely not working and unresponsive to any touch.
This happened to me recently, with my iPhone Pro becoming completely unresponsive after installing iOS 18.7 update, and the touch screen would not work at all. Even more alarming, the iPhone touch screen was unresponsive after a forced restart! Nonetheless the solution I stumbled into involved force restarting the iPhone several more times, and then the iPhone finally showed a “iOS 18.7 update installed” message on the screen, and the iPhone touch screen was usable again. Perhaps the iOS 18.7 update got frozen at the very end of the update process right at the lock screen, I don’t know, but it was an interesting situation that was concerning. Fortunately I stumbled into a relatively simple fix even if it’s a very dumb one.
The solution was multiple force restarts. To force restart any modern iPhone perform the following sequence; press and release volume up button, press and release volume down button, then press and hold the power/lock button and continue to hold until you see an  Apple logo on the screen which can take maybe 5-10 seconds.
On the third forced restart, the iPhone touch screen was responsive again. Weird!
After I resolved this issue myself, I decided to look around online to see if having a completely unresponsive iPhone touch screen after installing an iOS update was common, and it turns out it’s definitely not a super rare occurence, as there are many threads on Apple discussion support forums covering this exact topic here, here, here, here, and that’s just a starter. So while this weird situation isn’t as rare as finding a giant coelacanth in your backyard, it’s not super common either, but it does appear to be a known quirk or bug that impacts enough iPhone users for them to complain on official forums about it.
Anyway, maybe this will help you fix your iPhone if the touch screen becomes unsponsive after an update. Strange issue, but thankfully a clumsy fix resolved the problem.
