Phones are basically tiny supercomputers we carry in our pockets, and honestly, even the best ones like the iPhone 13 Pro Max occasionally lose their minds. You’re scrolling through TikTok or trying to send a quick iMessage, and suddenly, the screen just... stops. No response. Nothing.
It’s frustrating.
When your device hangs, your first instinct is probably to just hold the power button down. But here is the thing: if you hold just the side button on a modern iPhone, you’re just going to summon Siri or end up on the power-off slider screen, which doesn't help if your touch screen is the thing that's broken. You need to know the specific rhythm to restart iPhone 13 Pro Max when the usual methods fail.
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The "Secret" Button Dance for a Force Restart
Apple calls this a "force restart," and it’s essentially a hardware-level command that cuts power for a split second to reboot the system. It doesn't delete your data, so don't worry about your photos or those half-written notes.
To do this right, you have to be quick. Think of it like a cheat code in an old video game.
- Give the Volume Up button a quick press and release.
- Immediately do the same with the Volume Down button.
- Finally, press and hold that Side Button (what most people call the power button) and do not let go.
This is where people usually mess up. They see the "Slide to Power Off" slider appear and they let go of the button. Don't do that. Keep holding it. You have to wait until the screen goes completely black and the white Apple logo finally pops back up. Only then should you release your grip. If you let go too early, you're just sitting there staring at a frozen screen again.
Why the standard restart is better if you can help it
If your phone is actually working and you just want to give it a fresh start because it feels a bit "laggy," don't use the force restart. It’s a bit like pulling the plug on a desktop computer; it’s effective, but not the most graceful way to shut down processes.
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For a normal restart iPhone 13 Pro Max procedure, you'll want to hold the side button and either volume button simultaneously. Hold them for about two seconds until the sliders appear. Swipe that top "power off" slider to the right. Give it about 30 seconds to fully shut down—you'll know it's off when the screen is "inky" black and not just a dark grey. To turn it back on, just hold the side button until the logo appears.
Dealing with the "Black Screen of Death"
Sometimes a restart doesn't fix it because the phone won't even turn on. You might think the hardware is fried. Often, it's just a deep software crash or a battery that has fallen below a certain voltage threshold.
If you’ve tried the button dance and nothing happens, plug it into a wall outlet—not a computer USB port, which provides less juice—and let it sit for at least an hour. Occasionally, the iPhone 13 Pro Max enters a recovery state where it won't show the charging icon immediately.
After an hour, try the force restart again while it’s still plugged in.
What if it's stuck on the Apple Logo?
This is a different beast. If you restart and the Apple logo just stays there for ten minutes, your iOS might be corrupted. You’ll need a Mac or a PC with iTunes.
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Connect the phone to the computer. Do the force restart dance (Up, Down, hold Side), but this time, keep holding the side button even after the Apple logo appears. Keep holding until you see a screen with a cable pointing toward a computer. This is "Recovery Mode." From here, your computer will give you the option to "Update" or "Restore." Always try Update first—it tries to reinstall the OS without wiping your cat photos.
Why does this keep happening anyway?
Storage is usually the culprit. If your 13 Pro Max is a 128GB model and you have 127.5GB full, the system doesn't have enough "swap space" to think. It's like trying to run a marathon in a crowded hallway.
Another weirdly common reason? Buggy widgets. Ever since iOS introduced home screen widgets, a poorly coded weather or third-party app widget can cause the entire "Springboard" (the iPhone's home screen interface) to crash. If you find yourself needing to restart iPhone 13 Pro Max every few days, try removing your most recent widgets or checking Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements > Analytics Data. If you see a long list of "panic-full" logs, you might actually have a hardware issue with the logic board, and it's time to visit the Genius Bar.
Taking Action: Prevent the Next Freeze
Knowing how to reboot is great, but not needing to do it is better. Here is how you keep that A15 Bionic chip happy.
- Audit your storage: Go to Settings > General > iPhone Storage. If you have less than 10% free space, start deleting those 4K videos you already backed up to the cloud.
- Update your apps: Developers push patches for memory leaks all the time. Open the App Store, tap your profile icon, and pull down to refresh the update list.
- The Weekly Reboot: It sounds old-school, but turning your phone off once a week for five minutes helps clear out the cache and refreshes the cellular modem connection.
If you’ve done the force restart and the screen is still unresponsive or you see strange lines, the digitizer might be physically failing. At that point, software fixes won't save you. But for 99% of hangs, that Volume Up, Volume Down, and long-hold Side Button combo is the "magic" fix that gets you back to scrolling.
Stay on top of your iOS updates, keep a little breathing room in your storage, and your 13 Pro Max should remain the powerhouse it was designed to be.