7
votes
Help: iPhone SE (2020) home button not working; “Unable to Activate Touch ID”
Really hoping there’s an easy fix for this, because it’s making using my phone a pain. Relevant info:
- I never actually set up a fingerprint, and have only used passwords.
- phone memory is almost full (I have too many photos I still haven’t offloaded, I don’t use iCloud)
- I did drop the phone earlier today, but there was no visible external damage
- case does not cover the home button
- I’ve tried force restart, it didn’t work
UPDATE: I was able to get a home button to show on the screen by doing the following:
The actual button at the bottom still doesn’t work, but this allows me to use my phone basically the same as I had been doing, and to put off getting the screen fixed.
Nice the phone is semi-working again. Please back up your photos ASAP! Take this scare as a near-miss of losing all of those photos and get it situated today.
Unfortunately, it sounds like a hardware failure, so I'd recommend taking it to an Apple Store and get a cost estimate for fixing it / hope they fix it for free. I did some googling and can't find any reports of someone fixing it.
You cannot replace it yourself to remove the warning as the Touch ID is paired with the motherboard when built. If it's not working at all, and you just want it to work as a button, you can technically replace it with a universal Touch ID, but it'll continue to pop up the warning that it cannot activate Touch ID. Here's the guide for this: https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/iPhone+SE+2020+Home-Touch+ID+Sensor+Replacement/133868 and there is a comment from someone else in the same situation as you.
Apple Store will not do it for free, that is for sure. They won't probably save thephotos in the ohone either - you should have paid for cloud (is their answer if you ask me). They are bussiness, they don't care about users.
I would take it either to reputable independent technician or crack it open myself (I consider myself handy in this kind of work). There may be just a connection loose inside (caused by the impact) or if it's not, you may be able to change the button for new/used one (from another iPhone).
Touch ID will not work with new/used button (because used button from anoher iPhone is not a genuine part, says Apple - the true reason is they are software paired to motherboards whih is a thing you can't do yourself to my knowledge). But it should work as a button to invoke code entry and be able to offload photos (or even use it as a phone again).