'Always on' display turning off automatically on my iPhone 16 Pro Max

I see the same issue with an iPhone 16 Pro Max. However the Always On has never worked as expected since purchasing the phone last Friday.

I upgraded from an iPhone 14 Pro Max last Friday. While in the Apple Store, I ran the setup that transfers my old phone configuration to the new phone. The 14 Pro Max was already at iOS 18.1.1 prior to the transfer process. The iCloud backup was only an hour or two old prior to the transfer process. The transfer hung up at the “Signing In”screen at one point, but the Apple specialist was able to move it along. The transfer then proceeded without error and seemed to complete successfully.

I’ve kept the 14 Pro Max so I have confirmed the Display and Brightness settings are identical on both devices. I don’t use Sleep Focus. I only toggle between Focus and Do Not Disturb.

The 16 Pro Max screen seems to go dark based on the Auto Lock duration setting. It inherited the two minute setting from the 14 Pro Max.

While typing this message on the iPhone 14 Pro Max, I have changed the 16 Pro Max auto lock to five minutes at 6:08 AM. Unexpectedly, it is now 6:17 AM and always on is still working!

I changed the auto lock to one minute at 6:19 AM. The screen has gone dark at 6:21 AM.

I would say something is amiss between Auto Lock and Always On.

Switched form 15 Pro Max to 16 Pro Max today and immediately noticed this at evening. 15 pro max AOD stays on nearly every time in dim light. 16 Pro max turns of after a few seconds even if you tab on it a few second later is turns off again. This is definitely not a Always On Display anymore. Please fix apple or give me the option to turn it always on...

Someone know a fix

I change it to purple and then blue but it still shuts off in the dark or semi dark. I need a fix for it, why have it when it's not working properly

My 16 pro max goes off in the dark only stays on in lighted area. I hope there's a fix for it soon because why bother have it if it's gonna shut off

My 16 pro max only stays on during the day and if I have the light on. Once the light is off or semi dark ot shuts off

The same thing for me too, as soon as evening comes it shuts off, why have it when it won't stay on the way it's suppose to?

I noticed it is disabled when battery has “low mode” on it if sleep mode is activated.

Me too. What to do.?

I have a 15 Pro max and with 18.1.1 the always on display doesn’t work at night when I need it. On another note, after the update I’ve been inundated with scam/spam/phishing emails.

Same problem with my 16 pro, except it’s goes off 75% of the time… and doesn’t stay on while playing music while driving like my 14 pro and previous did… hoping someone has a solution?

I had the same issue. What worked for me is I changed my Lock Screen text from black to any other colour and it came back. I haven’t had an issue since. Hopefully this will be fixed in a future update.

I had this same issue and figured out the problem. So while you are customizing your Lock Screen, you can click on the clock to change the text color. Using anything other than the very first option (which is like “translucent “), or white, will result in the AOD timing out after the period of time your auto lock is set to. It does this to preserve your screen and prevent burn in.

'Always on' display turning off automatically on my iPhone 16 Pro