Skip to main content

iPhone 16 Pro users are vexed by UI freezing and camera woes

Person reading a post on the iPhone 16 Pro.
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends

I’ve had a rather fulfilling experience with the iPhone 16 Pro so far, but the start was anything but. During the first setup, the phone froze and I had to start over again while simultaneously dreading the possibilities of lost data or a booting nightmare.

Over the course of the next few weeks, I have repeatedly run into a non-responsive screen issue, prompting me to hit the lock button and start again following an unlock protocol. These stutters plagued me in multiple spots, from the camera app to the Mail app, despite switching from the beta to the stable iOS 18 channel. It seems I was not alone.

Complaints regarding iPhone 16 Pro issues on the Apple Community forum.
Apple Discussions / Digital Trends

Digital Trends searched through dozens of pages on the official Apple Community discussions forums and a trove of posts on Reddit. What we found was a repeating pattern of two major issues — overheating (apparently related to battery drain) and random freezing, especially in the camera app.

Recommended Videos

Reboots, lags, and app glitches

For some users, the core problem is unpredictable restarts, which raise their head out of the blue. In some cases, the phone reboots while charging without any warning, while others report that it just happens while they are using the phone. “In the process of using it, it suddenly went black,” writes one user on the Apple Discussions forum.

Complaints regarding iPhone 16 Pro issues shared on Reddit.
Reddit / Digital Trends

It appears that the random restarts don’t have anything to do with running half-baked public or developer beta software. On the contrary, folks running the stable version of iOS 18 are encountering the problem. Notably, in an overwhelming number of cases, the random restarts happen multiple times on a daily basis.

Another recurring theme is just general lag throughout the UI and buggy animations, something that won’t go away with a regular system restart. But as this report suggests, the hardware shortcut of Power + volume button is also failing its restart protocol in some instances.

List of complaints regarding iPhone 16 Pro issues on the Reddit
Reddit / Digital Trends

“Once, if not multiple times, a day — and it seems like every time I wake up, it does it overnight, and not until I unlock my phone will it push my notifications I got,” says another user complaint on the Apple Discussions page. The screen going totally black is an issue that frequently appears in user reports.

Is the camera app the real culprit?

But the more serious problem appears to be the camera app. Multiple users have shared videos recreating the weird behavior where the camera app freezes while dialing up the zoom level, or simply while hunting for focus lock. For a few people, the app crashes even during the basic chore of clicking a picture without any fancy tools applied.

iPhone 16 Pro user details on the Apple community forum.
Apple Discussions / Digital Trends

“I have found that when I try to take pictures with my iPhone 16 Pro Max, it won’t take pictures and the Camera app crashes,” mentions one of the user complaints on the Apple forum. And it seems the fancy new audio mixing feature is also creating problems for early adopters.

For some users, the woes aren’t limited to the camera app. In some cases, the in-app camera UI for other apps such as Messages also makes the iPhone 16 Pro stutter and triggers a screen lock. The issue even extends to the Photos app and the built-in editor system, it seems.

“[The] iPhone 16 pro camera app crashes every now and then when I open it through photo app or through any other app having integration to camera,” reads another report on the Apple Discussions forum.

Users reports detailing issues with iPhone 16 Pro performance.
Reddit / Digital Trends

The camera app issues take a rather vexing form while editing, especially Live Photos. It seems the Photos app automatically closes midway through editing and also discards whatever progress users had made to it. For some users, capturing 4K videos has been the culprit, while others report that ultrawide videos are making things go haywire on their iPhone 16 Pro.

“So, I’m on my second iPhone 16 Pro within five days and still having the same issue — not being able to edit Live Photos if I change the key photo,” writes another miffed owner. Notably, a force reset doesn’t seem to offer any reprieve.

A few other reports mention that the camera app crashes more frequently when trying to click pictures at high magnification levels, around 5x or more. A handful of iPhone 16 Pro owners had a diagnostic test run by Apple support, but the analysis didn’t provide any solution.

The problem isn’t limited to the camera app only, it seems. For a few users, even Siri, Settings, and other native apps are raising issues. Third-party apps such as Amazon are also acting up for iPhone 16 Pro users.

iPhone 16 Pro users discussing stutter and freezing problems on their phone.
Reddit / Digital Trends

“It has been crashing constantly. The settings app and the calendar app are the worst culprits. Calendar just freezes, you cannot drill down to the day. The settings app just turns black and then crashes. Multiple times the whole phone restarts,” says another report on the official Apple forum.

There are also reports of lag with the built-in keyboard, something to which I can personally attest. On a few occasions, I have noticed that the keyboard simply refuses to type in words, even though the keycaps have recorded the touch strokes.

“I type a lot of notes and documents on my phone and this is definitely a glitch that is slowing down my work,” claims a post from a user who ran into keyboard issues with their new Apple flagship phone.

So far, we are not sure whether the issue is due to a faulty update, or if it results from app-related bugs. Apple has yet to acknowledge the aforementioned iPhone 16 Pro issues and release a fix. We’ll keep you updated as soon as the company doles out any solution via a software update or releases any advisory steps.

Nadeem Sarwar
Nadeem is a tech journalist who started reading about cool smartphone tech out of curiosity and soon started writing…
This iPhone 16 Pro accessory proves less is more
WaterField Designs CitySlicker Pouch for iPhone in white leather.

Now that we’re approaching the end of the year, hot tech summer and flagship phone season are winding down, too. That means I’ve been looking for fun little accessories to help me carry around all my phones and gadgets.

One of my trusted brands for tech accessories is Waterfield Designs. I’ve been using its bags and other accessories for the past decade, and they’re some of the finest bags I own. They’re built to last, as my first messenger bag is still looking fantastic.

Read more
Android 16 might give its own spin to iPhone’s Dynamic Island alerts
The DynamicSpot Dynamic Island at the top of the Pixel 7 Pro.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve come across some interesting details about the next major build of Android. Currently in development under the apparent codename of Baklava, Android 16 will reportedly bring a cool new feature called Priority modes for notifications.

If that sounds familiar, that’s because Apple already offers a bunch of focus modes toward the same goal and bolsters the system with AI-assisted priority notifications in iOS 18. It seems Google doesn’t want to be left behind, and in doing so, could very well lift from a popular iPhone trick.

Read more
The iPhone 17 Pro Max may slim down this particular feature
The Dynamic Island on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.

The iPhone's Dynamic Island is expected to get even smaller on the iPhone 17 series, according to technology analyst Jeff Pu (via MacRumors).

According to Pu, in a research note with investment bank Haitong International, the iPhone 17 Pro Max will offer a “metalens” for Face ID. Because of this, the Dynamic Island will be “much narrowed.”

Read more