Just days after release, iPhone 16 Pro users are reporting issues with the device’s touchscreen. It seems that not only is the phone not registering swipe gestures correctly, but it’s also not responding to all taps on the virtual keyboard. Either way, it’s bad news for Apple.
Countless users expressed frustration with the iPhone 16 Pro’s touchscreen issue this weekend, with social media full of complaints. We’ve seen new owners referring to the bug as “frustrating” and “extremely laggy,” and that’s without including the more colorfully worded reports. While it does look pretty irritating, there is some hope. It seems that this is a software issue, which is much easier for Apple to deal with than a hardware fault. However, given that we’ve only just had the iOS 18 update and we’re not anticipating iOS 18.1 until October, there could be a wait until Apple offers a fix for one of its new best gaming iPhones.
Fortunately, it appears there is a way to avoid touchscreen problems if you’ve already picked up an iPhone 16 Pro. According to both iPhone users and 9to5Mac, the issue is less prevalent if you’re using a phone case, and you can seemingly avoid it altogether by holding your phone without any part of your hand touching the display other than your finger. If you’re a gamer, you can also use one of the best phone controllers to avoid touchscreen controls, which should limit your interaction with the fault.
In all honesty, we would always expect a couple of bugs with the release of any new iPhone. Last year’s iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max had some overheating issues, but Apple quickly rectified this with a software patch. It’s possible that Apple could do a small emergency patch to fix the issue before the iOS 18.1 update and the introduction of Apple’s first AI features next month. Still, we haven’t had any word or acknowledgment from the tech giant just yet.
If you’re reading this as an iPhone 16 or 16 Plus owner, don’t worry. At the time of writing, it seems that the bug mainly affects the iPhone 16 Pro. However, we have seen reports of 16 Pro Max users getting the same issue, as well as some Redditors’ 14 and 15 Pro and Pro Max devices. Whatever the case, we’ll be keeping an eye on the patch notes for the next iPhone update to see if Apple manages to rectify the issue.