Update: October 21, 2024 (10:46 PM ET): Apple has fixed the reboot bug on the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max via its latest iOS 18.1 Release Candidate update. The update’s release notes state that it “fixes an issue where iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Pro models may unexpectedly restart.” If you’re a developer or public beta tester, you should have this update now to resolve the problem. For those not on a beta build, you’ll have to wait until the final iOS 18.1 update expected early next week.

Original article: October 21, 2024 (8:53 AM ET): The iPhone 16 Pro is Apple’s best iPhone yet, as it should be. In our iPhone 16 Pro review, we praised its performance and solid camera experience, and it’s as snappy as it should be. Unfortunately, a bug is affecting just how reliable the iPhone 16 Pro can be in everyday use, and it’s one that a few of us have experienced on our devices, too.

Macrumors pointed out that many users on Reddit, Apple’s Support Communities, and elsewhere are complaining that random restarts are affecting their experience. My colleague Mahmoud and I also experienced random reboots on our iPhone 16 Pro, but we chalked it up to the iOS 18.1 beta that we are running. As it turns out, the issue plagues iOS 18.0.1 (stable) and iOS 18.1 (beta) and occurs quite randomly, so there’s not much you can do to avoid the issue.

Some users have complained that the display is slow to respond or stops responding to touch input, and then the iPhone will do a quick restart. I’ve had it reboot in my pocket and on my desk, too, while the phone was unused for a bit, with me noticing the reboot only when I pick up the device and see the Shortcuts app prompt me to enter the PIN to enable shortcuts after a boot. The reboot disrupts the iPhone experience, as you’ll miss out on messages and notifications until you unlock your iPhone after the reboot.

Some users have managed to get replacement devices, but the issue persists on the replaced devices too. Practically all the complaints are on the iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max, which aligns with my experience as I’ve not faced such issues on the iPhone 16 Plus.

The saving grace here is that the issue is relatively rare for most users, experiencing one or fewer reboots every few days. Some users have been unlucky, apparently, facing as many as 10 to 20 crashes per day. The report mentions that not restoring your iPhone from an iCloud backup seems to have fixed the problem for some users, but my iPhone 16 Pro is a fresh install, so I don’t think this is entirely the issue.

We’ve reached out to Apple for comments on the issue. We’ll update this article when we hear back from them.

Are you facing random reboots on your iPhone 16 Pro? Let us know in the comments below!