My wife’s iPhone 16 Pro is not turning on. Several times I have had to push the top volume, bottom volume and then hold the right power button until the Apple came on. And it took much longer than 10 seconds and instead of it coming on by itself, the Apple would show only after I held and released the power button. Did she get a lemon or are others having this problem? She gets a new phone every year so this is not an operator error.
iPhone 16 Pro
Hi. I had the same experience today. Was very Hassled as the iPhone 16 pro 1 TB is a usd 2000 phone.
Went to the Apple store and the technician fixed it in 30 seconds. Seems the iPhone 16 has a different hard reboot process.
Sharing the same below for all
Hard reboot is first press the volume up button on the left side once only, then press the volume down button below it once only and then keep holding the power button till the apple logo shows up.
Best wishes to all and hope you never have to use it but if you do keep this thread.
This happened again to my wife's iPhone 16 Pro. She could never get it to start. I tried 3 or 4 times with the force restart and it again would not start. I then plugged it in as a last resort, did the force restart a few time and finally it started. The battery was at 100%. It took quite a long time holding the start button after the volume up and down buttons for it to finally start. I will do a force restart on my iPhone occasionally and it never takes that long. She has had almost every iPhone since the 3G, so this is definitely not operator error.
I am responding here in hopes that it gets pushed to the top of iPhone questions in hopes that others may either respond that they too are having this issue and what the resolution is.
So it has been a while since my wife's iPhone 16 pro has needed the forced reset, so I thought that maybe IOS 18.0.1 or 18.1 had fixed the issue. But that was until yesterday when once again it took over 30 tries to force restart and it finally worked when instead of it not being connected to anything that I plugged it into my iMac M1 and was able to get it to force restart after 3 times. Then today, the same thing happened. Normally my wife will unplug it and try to start it. When all fails, she brings it to me. So today we went to the Apple Store without an appointment. They gave us an appointment for about an hour later. After running several diagnostics that did not fail, we again discussed how and when it fails. The common denominator is that when it fails to start, it has been on optimum charge all night and is at 100% when we finally get it to force restart. Apple went into a long dissertation about why the phone should not be charged all night and that it should be LEFT ON, NOT OFF. They also turned off optimize charging to so that it would charge faster when needed to be charged. We will give this a try, but on the one hand, I think this is just fast talking, I have not had the issue with my iPhone 16 Pro received the same day, but I also do not turn my phone off but maybe every week or so and then turn it back on. Unfortunately I do not believe that Apple reads these posts, but if there is any merit to what we were told at the Apple Store, then they should certainly put out a bulletin on how iPhone settings should be, and whether or not it is recommended to be turned off at night. This is just my 2 cents, but since I started this thread, maybe it is worth an extra 5 cents :+)
I’ve found a solution, quickly press and release the volume up button, then quickly press and release the volume down button and then press and hold the right button until the apple logo shows up. This seems to be working, hope it helps. And I hope apple fixes this bug soon, as I think it happens as a software issue with the 18.1 update.
So… I found a solution. Apparently the 16 needs a 20V power plug. It doesn’t work enough on the 15V to give it enough power to power it up.
doesn’t make sense but they plugged it in at the Apple Store and it magically turned on.
Hope it’s not just a way of them selling the new plug to me
I tried everything from here. My 2 sons work at T-mobile "Morning dad, the overheating is normal because it’s a new phone. Try this, Press volume up button and press volume down button and then hold the power button for 2 mins" This worked for me. 2 LONG minutes hold. I hope it helps you too.
JayKar wrote:
I hope you’re doing well. I’m writing to ask for your help with something. I recently updated my iPhone 16, and now it won’t turn on. I tried everything I could think of, but nothing seems to work. I’m really hoping you can help me out. I’d really appreciate it. Thanks a bunch!
then
then
The operative word here is QUICKLY for the first two buttons; and try it a couple of times, the timing is a little tricky. If done correctly this will always work unless the phone has a hardware problem.
I've noticed this issue being discussed quite a bit lately with the iPhone 16 Pro black screen, unresponsive even after force restarts, and only powering back on after several tries. It doesn't seem to be an isolated case.
I came across a page that breaks down some possible causes and a few things to try beyond the basic restart steps. Just putting it here in case it helps someone: iPhone not turning on fixed in 6 steps.
Hopefully Apple addresses this soon, especially since more users are running into it after routine use or overnight charging.
You asked how those with problems initially set up their phones. Both iPhones 16 Plus were set up by the side-by-side method. The one at 18.0 would not boot up after an overnight shutdown and fully charged up. Not using MagSafe. Using a regular cord method. It took me about two dozen force restarts over a 4 hour period to finally one worked. That phone was shut down for the first time today, because we had no important tasks on it, and I updated it to 18.0.1 when it was 80% charged. It booted up normally afterward. I have set both phones to an 80% max, as I am trying everything to prevent another failure - I doubt Best Buy repair can fix it, and the nearest Apple Store is a 3 hours drive. The 2nd iPhone 16+ survived the update, but once when I was in the middle of something it instantly shut off and then rebooted by itself. These are my 4th sets of iPhones and I have never had any problems with prior models. I hope this can be a software fix and not an endemic hardware problem. Toms Guide mentions other problems, but not this not booting problem. I am unsure if I should go to Apple Support or to the cellphone carrier to kick this issue upstairs, but how can I do it with currently working phones?
It is a lemon. Back the phone up to a computer. Do an encrypted backup. Then wipe the phone and reinstall the software new. Then go ahead and restore your phone using your encrypted back up. And when it happens again, and it will take the phone to the Apple Store And or if they’re not close, call Apple and tell them to send you a new phone. That’s what I had to do. And I’m still not sure the new one is going to work properly. i’ve only had it a couple days.
I've had this issue all morning. I tried to force restart 50 - 100 times with no luck. The quick volume up by itself, then quick volume down by itself, then hold right side button by itself worked first time. Might be a coincidence, but it did work.
Lilisbuddy wrote:
I have used the Apple site to contact to report problems, but it says that they will not reply unless they have a specific reason to contact you. Additionally, I saw an article on MacWorld about an issue with iMac M1 screen issues that they called a time bomb waiting to happen. As an owner of an iMac M1, I contacted the editor on 11/26 commenting that I have not had this issue yet ( hopefully I won't since the warranty is long gone ) but since he wrote an article about a problem, that maybe he should look into this iPhone 16 start up issue. I sent a link to this discussion, but to date, I did not receive a reply from the MacWorld editor or have I seen anything on the MacWorld site about our startup issue.
Lobsterghost1 wrote:
You probably haven't seen ANY articles about this issue on iPhone, because out of the millions upon millions upon millions of iPhone 16 Pro's in the hands of users, the numbers of people who may be having an issue are infinitesimally small. That doesn't mean you or others aren't having an issue. But the vast majority of iPhone 16 Pro owners are out there enjoying their phones, without issue and not posting on a forum.
Anyone who is having an issue like this, needs to schedule an appointment at their Apple Store Genius Bar.
Lilisbuddy's response
I am not one who wants to start arguments on this board, but here is my analysis of your reply.
Yes, there are millions and millions of iPhone 16 users who may not have this problem. Like me ( since it is my wife who has had the issue ) they do not turn their phone off at night. Secondly, the average iPhone user is not that savvy and does not even know about the Apple Support Community, nor do they read blogs or websites that specialize in iPhone or Apple. As for scheduling an appointment at the Apple Store, we did go there and they ran a bunch of tests that showed that there was nothing wrong. Then their recommendation is below.
Here is what Apple Store Genius Bar told us which to me is not an acceptable answer. It would be if they would put everything in writing, or if we had had this problem with any of our iPhones dating back to the 3Gs up to the iPhone 16 Pro. There is only 1 Apple Store in my area and the manager of the genius bar was who we dealt with. Obviously this is very disappointing and my wife has reluctantly resorted to #1
1- Do not turn the phone off at night
2- Do not leave it charging all night.
3- Either set optimizing charging to 80%, or turn off optimized charging but unplug it at night
1- Not turning it off at night obviously eliminates the problem since you do not have to turn it on.
2- Do not leave it charging at night keeps the phone from auto backing up
3- Has not been tried as a 100% charge is wanted. Since we get a new iPhone every year, long term battery health is not important to us.
ebone148 wrote:
I’m having this same problem of not turning on,
Well, you could fix that yourself by following instructions that have been posted in this 24 page thread probably around 100 times. But to save you the trouble of actually doing any research, here it is again:
then
then
The operative word here is QUICKLY for the first two buttons; and try it a couple of times, the timing is a little tricky. If done correctly this will always work unless the phone has a hardware problem.
the issue with me is that I can not remember the iCloud pass word and apple says they can’t run diagnostics without it. And because the phone won’t come on I can’t reset it.
Apple can’t run diagnostics, anyway, if the phone won’t turn on. With or without your iCloud password.
I have tried so hard to remember and then log in from another device but now iCloud has locked the password and won’t allow me to attempt to reset the password again unless I have proof of purchase with the imei number on it.
The IMEI is on the box the phone came in, as you saw. And you can still change the iCloud password without the IMEI.
If you forgot your Apple ID password - Apple Support
And Apple never needs the IMEI for anything, so I don’t know why you think you need it.
The problem is that I got it from comcast and even though I have the box with the imei number on it my proof of purchase receipt does not have the imei number. Comcast’s says they can’t provide the imei number on a receipt because it is not assigned until after the phone is shipped.
The IMEI is the serial number of the cellular radio in your iPhone. It is not “assigned”; it is intrinsic to your iPhone
Therefore I iCloud won’t reset it and I won’t be able to access my iCloud. I fear I will be stuck paying for a phone that I can’t use. This is very frustrating!! A word to the wise make sure you know your iCloud password!!
I have a suspicion you responded to a scam message saying your iCloud was locked, not actually from Apple or ComCast, because it looks like everything you were told is nonsense.
I faced the same problem this morning. My phone ran out of battery and wouldn’t turn on.
I left it plugged in for an hour, then pressed the volume up button, followed by the volume down button, and finally held the power button for more than 20 seconds.
After that, I connected the phone to my Mac and followed the restoration procedure. Fortunately, all my data and settings were still intact once the restoration was complete.
Looks like this is an issue when phone charges to 100%. If I set it to 80% it seems to work but 90 or 100% it won’t open without reset. Pretty ridiculous.
I had exactly the same issue. I found this video that solved the issue. I had to repeat that cycle several times and it worked for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_AZ8bjyXjU
Nico
iPhone 16 Pro not turning on
