Why is my new iPhone 16 not turning on?

You're right that these forums are unofficial. The 100+ "me too" on this problem don't make it a problem as far as Apple is concerned.

I get the same response from CenturyTel when all the landlines on my road go down. "It isn't showing as a system error on our computers so it must be the wiring in your home. We'll send someone out in a couple of weeks to check and you'll pay us if we find a wiring problem." And it is never a problem with my wiring.

At least, make sure you have updated to the latest iOS - 18.2.1. Since I did that, the problem has not recurred for me. I can't promise it will work for you. So far, no one else has said this fixes the problem.

Same thing happened to my Wife’s iPhone 16pro as well. Turned it off from the switch, when it bit Less than 50%. After coming home I put it to charge, it never charged and not turning on, no beeps and no apple logo. Tried volume down button and power button, no response at all. I spent about over AUD2000 on this and only used for about 3months.

Shawn, you might also try the three button trick described several times in this very long message thread. It worked for me three times. Then after the 18.2.1 update, I haven't seen the problem recur.

I will note that the "me too's" keep going up. Apple needs to address this problem. Also, when you get a new iPhone, there is no info about any special way to turn it off (as Lawrence suggests) or turn it on when it won't start up normally.

I have exactly the same problem as Mr Finch above with my Iphone 16 pro not turning on. It started barely a month after I bought it and has happened 3x now. The trick of vol up and then down and switch on does not work. I was told to visit an Apple store genius bar, which I have done on 2 occasions, but this is an ongoing pattern now, and to say I am disappointed would be an understatement. This phone is a dud and Apple refuse to acknowledge it is their problem but something in the software, ext to them. I thought Apple was a world-class customer-orientated company, but this has proven to be elusive, to say the least. Beyond exasperated

I agree with Mr. Finch. The timing that works for me is to complete all three button presses in under a second - about as fast as I can reliably hit all three in sequence. I can also reliably cause the problem by failing to press the power button long enough for the icon to appear on the screen. If I fail to wait long enough, it lapses into the doesn't start mode. Then I have to use the three-button method. It became much easier once I had the Apple folks make some adjustments to some obscure settings that I would never have guessed were important and didn't default correctly when I upgraded from my very old dinosaur that ran a much older O/S.

AverageMick wrote:

The button trick worked once but, longer does. Dam quality control. Apple, like all other American companies, once they market you into their products, they iterate, meaning your customers pay the company for developing their products. And, customers waste their life, money and become frustrated and comatose to tech scams like what I'm feeling with the purchase of the new iPhone 16...it doesn't work any longer.

That’s why there’s a 1 year hardware warranty.

Apple does not seem to know specifically why this happens and says it is a software issue. They don’t know what software it is causing this and seek to do a deep reset in the HOPE this will resolve the problem of iPhone 16 not turning on reliably 100% of the time. On 4 occasions, one with Apple support and other with 3 genius on 3 different occasions this is what I was told. They won’t replace the phone with a new one but with a refurbished one. Thank you but I don’t want to inherit other people’s problems. This creates a lot of trust issues with Apple company. Bit of a good kind. Best you can do is leave the phone on 24/7 and that way you won’t have to switch on and enter a lottery.

Science-Curmudgeon wrote:

It is clear to me that there is a good case for a minor design flaw in the iPhone 16. I can't tell if it is in the hardware or software. I have just verified that I can always recreate the issue on power up by pressing the power button and releasing it before the apple logo appears. That much dwell on the button should not be necessary, but that's where I would be looking if I had access to the design documentation, especially the activity diagram if there is one. If there isn't, I'd build one and make certain that it is comprehensive and includes all post design patches up to and including manufacturing and software release. Implementation decisions can break good designs and are easy to get wrong if the process involves multiple handoffs.

That’s the way every iPhone has worked since the beginning of iPhone time. You need to hold the button until the Apple logo appears, probably to protect against accidental presses.

I tried the volume up then down several times and could not get the phone to come on. It is fully charged. As a last resort I plugged phone into my Mac and it worked! So if you have an Apple computer try that.

When I called support they told me to update my software on my weeks new phone did that.

2 weeks later, it won't turn on with any number of learned truck tries.

The customer service person, very nice, told me if the update doesn't work then bring it in to an Apple Store.

yet, my time-life is being taken from me with the tech first rule of developing products: just release at any point to the public and let them further test for quality, then iterate

thus waste paying customers' life.

image your car losing its brakes, or wheel coming off and the auto companies telling you that's why you have a warranty.

The works great for the company but longevity or injuries.

Total corporate-docracy usury.

I purchased an iPhone 16 Pro Max two weeks ago and twice now it had suddenly won't turn on. I've done the reboot and eventually it works. But I want to know why it's doing this and when is Apple going to fix it since it is obviously an issue?

One thing I have noticed is that I have never had a repeat issue once I made a practice of holding the power button until the apple logo appears. If I do not do that, the problem sometimes reoccurs. Given that not everyone has this problem, there might be a production lot related manufacturing issue. If so, replacing the device while under manufacturer's warranty may offer a solution.

It is disappointing to read posts that some of the new 16e phones have the same problem as the 16 Pro of not turning on sometimes without using the side button hack.

I haven't seen (or noticed, at least) any posts that the 16 has the problem.

I know that Lawrence has recommended calling Apple support if you have the issue. The problem there (and with the so-called genius bars) is that not all the Apple support people are aware of the problem. Some people have wasted a lot of time with this approach.

The ones that got help seem to be getting replacement phones, sometimes reconditioned. So far, there doesn't seem to be any fix forthcoming from Apple. Nor have I seen any acknowledgment from Apple that there even is a problem.

I may be the only one who started with the problem, did the side button kludge/workaround on three occasions, and then the problem just disappeared on its own. Mind you, I am not complaining!

I have had the same problem of iPhone 16 not turning on. I have taking it to multiple Apple help centres. Bottom line is that Apple refuse to admit there is a fault in the phone and suggest that it is due to some app or software you have downloaded causing the problem. They pas blame to consumer. Typical of big corporates not to admit the truth and hope problem will go away and pass responsibility of cause to consumer. Disappointingz

See the post right above yours.