Apple's latest iPhone 16 lineup packs in some exciting new features. The latest and greatest A18 chip brings the standard iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus duo closer to their iPhone 16 Pro counterparts than they've been in years, while the iPhone 16 Pro Max gets bigger than ever with a 6.9-inch display and the thinnest bezels of any smartphone yet.
The entire iPhone 16 family is more in harmony than ever this year, as Apple seems to have abandoned the trend of artificially limiting features like the Dynamic Island and Action Button to its Pro models, only to bring them to the standard ones a year later. Instead, this year's marquee new feature, the Camera Control, can be found on all four models. Sure, there are plenty of things that are still exclusive to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, like the 120Hz ProMotion Display and 5x telephoto camera, but those at least feel like valid differentiators for a "Pro" model.
An iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro, or iPhone 16 Pro Max
However, like all smartphones, new iPhones can come with new problems, and sometimes it takes Apple a while to work out all the bugs. The good news is that most glitches early adopters run into are software-related, which is why nearly every iOS release offers what Apple calls "stability and performance improvements." While there's always a chance you got a defective iPhone 16, that's relatively uncommon. Apple's iOS is a complex piece of software, and early releases don't always play nice with the latest hardware.
So, before we get into the specific problems, it's worth mentioning that many of these may be solved in later software updates. In fact, some have already been solved in the iOS 18 point releases that are available now. We understand that some folks are reluctant to try new releases as soon as they become available for fear of encountering new bugs, but iOS point releases generally improve things. More significantly, each iOS update also typically includes important security fixes — vulnerabilities that are disclosed with that iOS update, letting every malicious hacker know how to attack iPhones running older iOS versions. This means the first thing you should do when encountering problems, no matter how small, is ensure that you've updated to the latest version of iOS 18 by opening the Settings app and selecting General > Software update. If an update is available, install it.
One of the first widespread complaints we heard when new iPhone 16 units began landing in customers' hands in September were problems with unresponsive touchscreens. Theories on why this was happening ranged from problems with the new Camera Control to the slimmer bezels causing skin to come into contact with the edges of the screen when holding the iPhone and thereby triggering the touch rejection algorithm.
It's quite common to hear complaints of battery life after a new iPhone or major iOS release lands, and first-day upgraders are likely impacted by both, since their new iPhone 16 comes with iOS 18 — an update they may not have installed on their older iPhone. However, even if you're coming over from an iPhone 15 Pro Max running the latest version of iOS 18, you may still take a hit on battery performance for a few days.
We've seen a few isolated reports of folks who find their iPhones randomly restarting for seemingly no reason at all. In some cases, this can happen while the iPhone is charging — wirelessly or otherwise — while others have experienced sudden restarts while using the iPhone.
Note that two different things that can occur that may both seem like "reboots." If your iPhone screen momentarily goes blank with a spinning progress indicator but comes back after a few seconds, that's known as a "springboard restart," and involves only the user interface (e.g., the home screen and status bar). A full reboot will typically return you to the Apple logo and take a minute or two before you can use your iPhone again. You'll also be required to enter your passcode or password before you can use Face ID or Touch ID.
While both scenarios can be equally annoying, random full reboots are often the sign of a hardware issue while springboard restarts ("resprings") can be caused by corrupt settings or dodgy apps. This often happens when restoring an iPhone from older backups, as cruft can travel with those backups across every iPhone you've ever owned, and sooner or later hit an iOS version that doesn't know how to deal with it.
We saw a number of reports early on of folks having problems with the camera app lagging or freezing up entirely. In some cases, this happens even when performing basic actions like zooming in or taking a photo.
This problem hasn't been reported as much recently, so it's possible that Apple fixed it in an iOS 18 update or it was unique to new phones and settled down after the initial break-in period.
Some folks have reported problems related to the NFC hardware on their new iPhones. While this sometimes manifests itself as problems making payments with Apple Pay, it's more commonly an issue only with reading NFC cards and tags. This includes stored payment cards like transit passes, security keys, and NFC stickers. In most cases, the iPhone refuses to acknowledge the existence of the tag entirely — nothing happens when you hold it up to the back of your iPhone, leaving you wondering if you're holding it properly.
Some new iPhone 16 owners have found their camera app unexpectedly popping up at inopportune times, from the middle of serious gaming sessions to sitting idle in their pockets. This can be a distraction in the first case, and a potential battery killer in the second. This is an issue we've almost never seen on older iPhone models, so the most likely culprit is the new Camera Control that Apple introduced on this year's models. While the new button has several functions, its most basic one is to open the built-in Camera app (or another camera-related app of your choice) when fully pressed.
Merely days after the iPhone Duo hit the shelves, images of broken screens on the phone started popping up across social media. Until now, it’s been unclear what’s causing the line of defective pixels that appears vertically along the crease, as well as horizontally, on the phone’s inner display.
Apple has finally acknowledged the issue, which has shown up on iPhone Duo units owned by customers as well as demo units in stores. In a statement shared with Bloomberg, Apple says that not all iPhone Duo units are affected and that those that are tend to show the display fault early on. The company added that users who experience problems with their iPhone Duo display should contact AppleCare for a replacement.
Not long ago, Apple treated independent repair like an act of outright hostility. The Cupertino giant locked down parts with serial-number pairing, while repair tools remained firmly out of reach of anyone outside its authorized repair network. More importantly, the company waged a legal and lobbying battle against right-to-repair legislation.
I've covered enough of these fights over the years to know what a shift looks like. That's why what happened in October 2026 genuinely caught me off guard. The day the iPhone Duo went on sale, what may be the most mechanically complex iPhone to date, Apple pulled off a surprising about-face. It published teardown-style repair manuals for a handful of major components.
Apple's first foldable phone is now on shelves, in short supply, but with an unreal amount of buzz around it. After all, it's the first foldable iPhone, and there's plenty that this phone gets right. But there's also a lot that is either broken or underwhelming. What's peculiar is the dialogue around this phone, and how it has completely overshadowed every other attempt at making a phone with a similar form factor.
I've spent some time with the iPhone Duo, and I've used the Galaxy Z Fold 8 for almost three months now. In my opinion, Samsung deserves more credit. When the Galaxy Z Fold 8 arrived earlier this year, it was celebrated in some circles and ridiculed in others for supposedly copying what Apple would eventually deliver with the iPhone Duo. The dialogue was pretty odd, for multiple reasons. Samsung has been making foldable phones for years, so claiming that it copied a product Apple hadn't even launched was simply absurd.