iPhone 16 Pro not turning on

I also have a 16 pro max and had the same issue. I had to use iTunes. I plugged it into a desk top computer with iTunes opened and clicked on devices, it found my new pro Max and the iPhone pro max finally started up. Hope that helps

Adding my name to the list of people experiencing this. We have two iPhone 16 Pro Max's in the family. One is experiencing the issue were after a power down, only way to turn on is the reset option. Support did a diagnostic test, nothing showed up. My next option is to reinstall the OS via a Mac. Will attempt that this weekend. This problem occurs once every 1-2 weeks, but if you're not savvy I understand why this would be a problem. Nothing worse than a $1200 brick.

Seininya wrote:

So I have the iPhone 16+, which I bought and set up on December 8, using the side by side method from my iPhone 11. I had my battery down to 7% last night before I plugged it in to charge (using the USB c cable that it came with and a 12V adapter) before turning it off for the night to let it charge. My iPhone 16+ is on iOS 18.2.

This morning I could not turn the phone on, so I had to keep trying using the reboot method - I plugged it into charge further thinking perhaps my charger didn't work, eventually it just randomly turn back on, I couldn't even set up a Genius Bar call since I couldn't turn on my phone for it to receive 2 factor authentication at first.

After looking at the responses here, it seems like:

1) I should not turn off my phone and charge overnight

2) I should get a 20V charger?

3) Set optimized charging to less than 100%

I will try these solutions and see what happens, luckily I'm still in warranty and now I think I need to get the additional one year AppleCare for an extra $200.

I agree with everything except #3. You can use Optimized Charging and wake up to a phone charged to 100% everyday. It is NOT necessary to set your iPhone on Charge Limit to less than 100%. However, DO use Optimized Battery Charging.

I had the same problem with my iPhone 16 today. I shut it off last night and left it plugged into the charger cable. Would not turn on this morning. I did the volume up and volume down buttons and power button combo numerous times. It finally came on after about 20 minutes of trying. I purchased the phone two weeks ago and I upgraded to iOS 18.2 a couple of nights ago. Can someone at Apple let us know if this is a hardware or software issue? In the meantime, I'm never going to shut this phone off.

Mine didn’t auto update either and I manually did it. I was hoping it resolved the powering on issue and for about 10 days it did. Now two days in a row, same problem and didn’t power on. Took me 15 minutes today to finally get it on. So sick of this.

ScotchMellow wrote:

What’s alarming to me is that this post/issue was posted back in Sept and I’m experiencing the same problem in DECEMBER !! Hey Applestiltskin - wake up!

This is a user to user only forum. Apple isn't here and won't see your wakeup call.

• Have you updated your iPhone to the latest iOS 18.2?
• Have you forced restarted your iPhone --> Force restart iPhone - Apple Support (CA)
• Do you routinely power your phone off to charge it? It's not necessary to power off an iPhone. In fact doing so prevents it from backing up while plugged into charge with Wifi on at night?

3 days out of the box and my wifes iphone 16 will not turn on after being shut down and charged overnight . Im holding power/ volume buttons for various lengths of time, until my fingers ache actually and its a brick.

[Edited by Moderator]

I got a new phone replaced in Sept. still with issue. Intermittent. Key to having it happen is turning phone “Off” and charging overnight.

clearly reproducible enough to correct with software update.

trouble is, they don’t read this forum.

Hello, Iphone 16 user here! Last night my iphone 16 died and took a really long time to power back on, which was scary because i couldn't even see my dead battery screen or anything. I tried to factory reset it and it just did not work. I also tried connecting it to a computer using itunes but that didn't work until hours later. You would probably want to wait 12 hours + before trying to do anything to it because you would be waiting your time but no worries it is less than 24 hours. I connected it to my computer using the iTunes app and restored my phone it finally worked and turned back on. I also tried the volume up volume down and power button while it was connected to my computer so that could have helped too, hope you all find this well and i explained it good enough good luck out here!

Phone was charging overnight and in the next morning it was turn off (or plain dead). Force restart do not work. Bought it 2 months ago. Any clues about the root cause and solutions?? tried everything I read on this thread but nothing worked so far.

I own iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max and never once has either phone shut down unexpectedly. Are you updated to iOS 18.2? Many reported their shutdown issues stopped with the most recent update. Are you powering your phone off to charge it? If yes, it's not necessary to do that.

Apple almost never admits there is an issue. For the vast majority of people there isn't one. but if there is one, they work behind the scenes to resolve things and when updates are rolled out, while a specific issue may not be reference, they almost always say bug fixes. So make sure to keep your iPhone updates when new updates are released.

Yes, I updated it to 18.02 a couple of days ago, and this happened this morning. And nope, I don't turn it off to charge it. The phone had some bugs, I was hoping they fixed them over time, but was not expecting to just stop working at all. I'm contacting Apple tomorrow to see what they say.

Ugh - just happened to me. Battery was at 20%, plugged it in and turned it off to charge overnight and it would not turn on. Finally was able to force a restart and battery is at 100%. iPhone 16, about a month old. I won’t turn it off again but this is ridiculous. I am out of town and a bricked phone is not an option and scarily unsafe. Come on Apple!

See this --> Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

Make sure to hold the power button in the last step until you see the Apple Logo. It can take more than 15 seconds.

I have given Apple feedback on this issue here and suggest you do so also.