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So my 16 Pro is giving me trouble already. Couple of times now it just won’t power on, screen stays black no matter how many times I press the side button. Only way I got it back was after messing around with charging cable and holding buttons for ages until the Apple logo finally showed.
Brand new phone, less than a month old, this shouldn’t be happening
We’ve been following this thread about the iPhone 16 series refusing to turn on, and a few patterns are clear.
What’s happening:
Multiple users on 16 Pro, Pro Max, and Plus models have seen their phones go completely black and unresponsive, sometimes overnight or even while using apps.
Force restart doesn’t always work right away — some had to try multiple times or leave the phone plugged in for a while before it came back.
A few devices won’t even connect to Finder/iTunes, making recovery mode impossible.
What people here tried (and said helped):
Force restart repeatedly: Quick press volume up, quick press volume down, then hold the side button much longer than usual. For several users, the Apple logo only appeared after multiple attempts.
Keep it charging: Leaving the phone plugged into the wall for 30–60 minutes before forcing restart worked for a few.
DFU mode: One member explained using DFU (a deeper restore mode) through Mac/PC. This can reload the firmware if the phone is detected.
Replacement under warranty: Quite a few users pointed out that if the phone stays black or keeps shutting off, it’s likely hardware-related. Apple has been swapping affected devices through AppleCare.
Bottom line:
Some users managed to revive their phones with repeated force restarts or by leaving them charging before trying again. But several here ended up at Apple for a replacement because a brand-new iPhone shouldn’t be acting like this.
If your 16 Pro still won’t power on after trying the steps above, the safest move is to contact Apple Support and have it checked or swapped.
wow, I thought it was just me. my 16 Plus did the same thing after the 18.5 update. totally black screen in the morning. eventually came back after forcing restart like 4 times in a row. brand new phone shouldn’t be doing this 😡
using a 16 Pro Max and it just went black on me while I was checking email. no matter what combo I press, nothing responds. I’ve got it sitting on the charger now but it’s basically a $1200 brick at the moment. kind of ridiculous… I need this thing for work today and I’m stuck typing on my MacBook instead. really hope Apple pushes a fix soon because this update clearly broke something.
Something similar just happened on my iPhone 16 Plus last weekend. It froze completely after being left idle overnight and wouldn’t respond to anything. I must have tried the force restart sequence half a dozen times with no luck. Finally, after keeping it plugged into the charger and holding the side button way longer than usual, the logo popped up and it came back to life. Battery was still near full when it finally booted, so it wasn’t a power issue.
I’m posting this because it feels like more than just one-off operator error I’ve owned iPhones since the 5s and never had to fight this hard to get one to start. Curious if others are seeing the same behavior on their 16 series.
My 16 Pro Max did almost the same thing after updating to 18.0.1, but in my case it happened while the phone was on the charger during the day. Screen went black and it wouldn’t boot at all, not even showing up on my Mac. What finally got it back was leaving it plugged into the wall for about 40 minutes and then doing the force restart again — only then did the Apple logo appear. Honestly pretty scary for a brand-new device. If yours still won’t respond after that, take it straight to Apple for a replacement
what finally got my 16 Plus to turn back on was doing the force restart over and over quick tap volume up, quick tap volume down, then hold the side button way longer than you think. after a few tries the logo finally came back.
I know a lot of folks keep saying “just force restart,” but when that doesn’t work the next step is DFU mode. It’s basically a deeper recovery that reloads the firmware.
To get into DFU on the newer iPhones:
If the screen stays black but Finder/iTunes detects the phone, you’re in DFU. From there you can try a full restore. but honestly, if the phone keeps going black even during use, that’s not normal software behavior. Sounds more like hardware failing.
At that point, no amount of button combos will fix it. Best move is to take advantage of the warranty and get Apple to replace it otherwise you’ll be stuck fighting with a dead phone.
same thing here on my 16 Pro woke up to it fully charged, 100%, but the screen was completely black and unresponsive. force restart didn’t work at first, had to leave it plugged in and keep trying. I’ve owned pretty much every iPhone since the 4s and never had one refuse to power on like this.
my 16 pro max won’t even get as far as recovery mode. it tries to start, shows the apple logo, then shuts off again before anything loads. i plugged it into my macbook hoping to restore but finder won’t even recognize it. really stuck here is there any actual procedure that works when the phone won’t stay on long enough to connect?
If Finder doesn’t even see it, take it straight to Apple. No point wasting more time on a device that’s days old and already failing. They’ll swap it out.
my 16 plus did the same thing last week. just black screen, no response. had to leave it on the charger for an hour and then finally force restart worked. super scary on a phone that’s only a few days old.