iPhone 16 Pro users are experiencing touchscreen issues

The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are Apple’s latest flagship iPhones. The Pro models include the thinnest bezels of any Apple product, an even more powerful camera set-up, and a whole new Camera Control button to play with.

Understandably, many people who bought an iPhone 16 Pro and were excited about their new purchase, but many owners of these new iPhones are reporting that they’re having continual problems with the touchscreens on their new devices.

Multiple posts across various online platforms are complaining that taps and swipes on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are being completely missed, forcing users to tap multiple times before the action is registered. Here’s what we know so far about the touchscreen issues on iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Multiple iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max users are reporting touchscreen issues

The new iPhones are failing to register taps and swipes

Apple 

Significant numbers of iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max users are taking to Reddit, Apple’s discussion forums, and other online discussion platforms to report persistent problems when using the touchscreen on their brand-new, state-of-the-art iPhones. Multiple users are reporting that their new iPhones aren’t registering some taps and swipes, forcing the users to have to tap or swipe multiple times in order for the gesture to register.

One of the biggest complaints is that when trying to use the iPhone’s on-screen keyboard to type, taps on some letters fail to register, making typing anything a much slower and more painful process. Users are reporting that the issue is happening regardless of whether they have a screen protector installed on their devices.

The issue doesn’t appear to be affecting the iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus models, with almost all the reports relating to the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max.

The issue is most likely a software problem

Smaller bezels may be partly responsible

While this isn’t great news for people who have paid $1,000 or more for a new iPhone, there is some hope on the horizon. It appears that the problem is likely to be a software issue rather than due to faulty hardware. If this is the case, Apple should be able to fix it with a software update; a hardware issue would be much more problematic.

There is speculation that the problem is due to the smaller bezels on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max. This means that when you’re gripping your iPhone, you’re more likely to accidentally touch the screen with the fingers that are holding the device, so that when you touch the screen anywhere else, your iPhone is registering two touches and not one.

Apple may have used software to lower the sensitivity of the touchscreen at the edges to reduce the risk of accidental touches. However, the company may have perhaps tweaked things a bit too far, so that legitimate touches near the edge of the screen aren’t being registered as they should. If this is the case, it should be possible for Apple to apply a fix via a software update that will make the problem less likely to occur.

Some users are resorting to using QuickPath typing until a fix is found

Typing can be an issue, particularly for letters near the edge

Apple

Several users have reported that typing using the native keyboard on their iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max has been problematic, and that taps are often going unregistered, particularly for letters towards the edge of the screen. This does seem to tally with the theory that the problem relates to the smaller bezels and accidental touches at the edge of the screen; if Apple has turned down sensitivity at the edges, it would explain why some of the keys at the edge of the keyboard are less responsive.

Some users have found that by using QuickPath typing, they have been able to type using their iPhone’s keyboard without as many problems. QuickPath is a native feature on the iPhone keyboard that lets you type a word by dragging your finger from letter to letter without lifting it from the screen. If you’re having problems typing on the iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max, it may be worth trying this until a fix is found.

Increasing Tracking Sensitivity appears to help some users

It doesn’t solve the problem completely, however

Another potential solution suggested on some forums is to turn up the Tracking Sensitivity setting on your iPhone 16 Pro or iPhone 16 Pro Max. This setting is supposed to adjust how quickly the pointer moves on your iPhone when a device such as a Bluetooth trackpad is connected to your iPhone. Some users have reported that changing this setting to the highest sensitivity has reduced the occurrence of missed touches and swipes, although your mileage may vary.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Select Accessibility
3. Under Physical and Motor, tap Touch.
4. At the top of the screen, tap Assistive Touch.
5. Scroll down and drag the Tracking Sensitivity slider all the way to the right, towards the Hare icon.

Apple’s launch is once again riddled with issues

Some devices are being completely bricked

The problems with touch sensitivity on the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max are the latest in a long line of issues that have blighted Apple products at launch. Last year, the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max both suffered with overheating issues, with many users concerned about how hot their devices were getting when they first started using them. Apple took steps to improve the heat management in the iPhone 16 models, which don’t appear to have suffered from the same problem.

However, even with Apple trying to ensure that the overheating problem didn’t happen again, it’s a little awkward that the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max models have still been released with issues that are affecting a significant number of users.

It’s not been the only problem, either. Some M4 iPad Pro users have also had their iPads completely bricked when trying to update to iPadOS 18, causing Apple to pause the release of the software for those specific devices until it could find a fix. Apple has replaced bricked iPads for people who experienced the issue.

With problems on multiple devices, many of the best features of iOS 18 missing at launch, and several of them not being released until next year, it’s fair to say that this hasn’t been Apple’s most impressive product launch of all time. Hopefully the issues will be fixed in the next update for iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max users, because the least you expect when you pay four figures for a new phone is that the basic functions such as the touchscreen should work as expected.