iPhone 16 Pro users face random freezes and repeated restarts

Numerous reports on the Apple Support Communities, as well as on Reddit and other forums on the web suggest that unknown numbers of iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max models are having issues out of the box. In each case, the iPhone suddenly becomes very slow or completely stops responding to input, then abruptly restart themselves

Some reports have said that affected iPhones can also restart from a crash when in standby mode, resulting in showing the home screen when awakened, rather than where the user left off. The recent update to iOS 18.0.1 doesn’t seem to solve the issue, and reports suggest the freezing/crashing cycle can occur up to 20 times a day, according to a report from MacRumors.

Even owners who brought back their iPhone 16 models have reported the issue on the replacement iPhone as well. One user reported that restoring the iPhone 16 from a backup on his Mac, rather than iCloud, resolved the issue.

Users say that taking the units to Apple Stores for diagnosis usually results in a simple reinstall of the software, which reportedly does not eliminate the problem. However, some users have claimed that performing a complete erase and reinstall appears to work.

Apple has not commented on the issue, which some users are suggesting that a problem with iCloud syncing may be the cause. If correct, it could be that Apple will be able to fix the issue with a future iOS update.

It’s not known what the scale of the problem is, and it is far from affecting all users.

Separately, while the iPhone 16 range overall has seen lackluster sales so far — except in China — the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro versions again represent the majority of iPhones bought.