iPhone 16 Pro Max stuck on verifying update

Exact same issue as saeem600; took the phone to the nearest Apple Store and was informed that it is a software update issue that appeared today and they are working on a fix. when Apple "fixes" the issue the update should work and the set up of the iPhone should then work. Until then ??????

See this article.

If your iPhone or iPad won't update - Apple Support

New Iphone 16 Pro, tons of space on the phone, so storage is not an issue. It all started with a small triangle with an exclamation point inside. We rebooted our modem and tested our Wifi - all good. Then saw an issue with cell and Apple said to update to IOS 18 - now stuck with the same issue of not moving past the verifying stage - one hour into the spinning....