Key Takeaways
- iPhone 16 Pro problems may include unresponsive touch and lower durability, both linked to ultra-thin bezels.
- All iPhone 16 models seem to be encountering issues with Camera app performance.
- Apple may be deliberately throttling ProMotion on Pros to preserve battery life.
One of the risks of being an early adopter is glitches. Most companies do care about shipping a functional product — but tight deadlines combined with the complexities of modern tech can create unwanted surprises. Apple is no stranger to this, as anyone who remembers “antennagate” and “bendgate” will recall. The company also faces extra scrutiny, given its megacorporation status and the massive popularity of the iPhone.
The iPhone 16 and 16 Pro have been met with a mostly positive reception so far, but there are some prevailing issues that should be on your radar. Most of these should be solved with software updates — so even if you bought a 16 on day one, you’re unlikely to deal with these irritations for more than a few months. Luckily, no critical flaws have been discovered so far.
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Apple iPhone 16
This year’s iPhone 16 line blurs the line between the “Pro” and the base-level iPhone by offering a new camera button and the Action Button, alongside the A18 chip.
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Apple iPhone 16 Pro
Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro line features a few notable upgrades over last year’s iPhone 15 Pro, including a dedicated camera button, a new A18 Pro chip, a bigger screen, and several AI-powered Apple Intelligence features.
1 Unresponsive touch on the iPhone 16 Pro
The price of ultra-thin bezels
Apple
One of the best-documented glitches so far is the iPhone 16 Pro (and presumably the Pro Max) suddenly failing to respond to taps. This can be triggered by resting your finger near any edge of its display, although complaints have often revolved around the area near the Camera Control button.
This appears to be a consequence of the bezels on the Pro, which are even thinner than those on the regular iPhone 16. Because there’s virtually no room for your fingers to sit on the metal frame, it’s easier to make inadvertent contact with the screen, triggering an iOS 18 feature designed to protect against subsequent accidental inputs.
Apple should be able to nix this with an iOS update, but in the short term, the easiest solution is using a
case
with a raised edge, which we’d recommend anyway to prevent screen damage.
So it’s not so Pro after all?
One of the selling points of the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max is ProMotion, which is really just Apple’s branding for dynamic refresh rates up to 120Hz. The 16 and 16 Plus are locked at 60Hz, which means their animation isn’t as smooth, and that they can’t take advantage of always-on display features.
Well-known tech leaker Ice Universe claims that the new Pros appear to stay at 80Hz most of the time, only occasionally spiking over that. That may be an intentional move on Apple’s part — faster refresh rates consume more battery power, and most people probably won’t notice the difference between 80 and 120Hz when they’re swiping through app icons or reading a webpage.
3 The Camera app crashing and stuttering
Performance tweaks may be in order
A variety of problems have been reported with the Camera app on the iPhone 16 lineup, including it outright crashing on the 16 Pro Max. On other devices, the app may sometimes stutter, particularly when shooting video, if shooting works at all. That sluggishness can persist after closing the app, affecting the rest of iOS and/or preventing other apps from launching.
It’s likely that iOS 18 needs some performance optimization. How do we know this? Reboots seem to fix the Camera glitches temporarily, presumably because they’re clearing out caches and background processes.
4 iPhone 16 Pro durability falling below expectations
A case is a must-have accessory
A recent video from AppleTrack shows the 16 Pro breaking in just four drops, versus 12 drops for last year’s 15 Pro. Be careful, in other words — it could be that the slim bezels on the 16 Pro make it even more prone to cracked glass. If you’re at all worried about drops, it’s worth investing in a rugged case from brands like Catalyst, Otterbox, or UAG (none of whom sponsored this post, to be clear).
It could be that AppleTrack ran into bad luck.
That said, videos from other channels have depicted the 16 Pro as doing just fine, so it could be that AppleTrack ran into bad luck. Indeed, the phone should be pretty tough — it has Ceramic Shield front glass, a titanium border, and IP68 water resistance to a depth of 6 meters for 30 minutes. Adding a case will prevent many screen impacts and reduce the force from edge and back blows.
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