Major issue with the display has some iPhone 16 Pro users hoping that they have a software problem
It appears that several iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max users are complaining that the screens on their new handsets are having problems when it comes to being responsive. No one likes a lagging touchscreen especially when that touchscreen is attached to the device you just spent $999 and up to purchase. And why spend so much money on a phone where the display not only lags, but in many circumstances it downright ignores your taps, swipes, and scrolls.
If there is something good that has come out of the online complaints, it is that the problem appears to be software-related and has nothing to do with a hardware problem. That means that Apple won't have to recall phones that don't work and issue replacement units. Instead, a simple software update might be all that is required to make suffering iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max users happy.
"If one's skin accidentally touches the area next to the new camera control button first, the whole screen becomes unresponsive until released, except for the home bar. This is the only area that causes the issue...Not sure if it’s the OS or a hardware defect due to the introduction of the camera button. It seems more like a system bug to me due to palm rejection. Temporal solution for now is try to avoid that area or use your left hand more."-u/Known_Tap_1462, iPhone 16 Pro series user
There could be a problem with the iOS touch rejection algorithm designed to prevent unintended touches from doing something to the phone that wasn't planned by the user. If this program is too sensitive, it could cause intended touches to be ignored. Accidentally touching parts of the display could lead the phone to reject all new touches for a brief time period. Some are complaining that their new touches are being ignored when their finger lies near the new Camera Control on the right side of the display.
Accidentally touching that small area inside the half-circle is causing inputs to be rejected on the iPhone 16 Pro series. | Image credit-u/LucasCBs, Reddit subscriber
Another reason why this is happening now could be the new, thinner bezels on the iPhone 16 Pro compared to last year's iPhone 15 Pro. Losing some of the protection from an accidental touch on the screen might lead the phone to consider such a tap to be a mistake and reject it.
This wouldn't be the first time that Apple found itself having to deal with an issue discovered on a newly released iPhone model. You might remember that back in June 2010, the iPhone 4 suffered from what would be called Antennagate. A new antenna placement for the just-released iPhone 4 resulted in the device losing antenna signal strength when held a certain way resulting in Steve Jobs' famous line about iPhone 4 users holding their phone the wrong way. Apple eventually gave away free rubber bumpers to stop the attenuation.
To help stop the problem with the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, using a case might be your best bet since it could cover up part of the display and make it harder for you to accidentally hit the part of the screen that sets off the iOS touch rejection. The issue is taking place on iPhone 16 Pro series handsets running iOS 18 and the iOS 18.1 beta. It also doesn't happen when the phone is locked. So watch out for your iPhone 16 Pro series screen to be stubborn when swiping between your home screen pages and through apps.
Hopefully, Apple will deliver an iOS 18 update that will end this issue and make your iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max display responsive again.
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