iPhone flashlight not working after iOS 18 Update

I should not have to reboot the ~$1300 phone to perform the function of turn on an LED. That is absurd Apple 🤡

Oddly enough, updated to 18.1.1 and flashlight was working fine. All of a sudden the light isn’t turning on even when I adjust the level.

It looks like it might be an iOS 18 issue. The current options are to: force restart, reset settings, update the iPhone, or wait for an Apple update. Here's how.

1. Restart Your iPhone

A simple restart can fix a lot of issues. Just press and hold the Side button and either Volume button until you see the slider. Slide to power off, then turn it back on.

2. Reset Settings

If the above doesn’t work, you might want to reset all settings (don’t worry, this won’t erase your data):

• Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset All Settings.

3. Try Recovery Mode and Update with iTunes

If that doesn’t work, you might need to get your phone into Recovery Mode. Here’s how:

1. Connect your iPhone to your Surface using a USB cable.
2. Follow the force restart steps above, but keep holding the Side button after you see the logo until you see the Recovery Mode screen.
3. When prompted on your PC, choose “Update” instead of “Restore.” This way, it’ll try to reinstall iOS without wiping your data.

If none of the above works, then the only option is to wait for an Apple update to fix it. Alternatively, you can try some other repair solutions, which are likely to be successful.

Get help with iOS updates and restore errors - Apple Support

Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch - Apple Support (IN)

I have had this issue on both the 14 Pro Max and the 16 Pro Max that replaced it running IOS 18. Very annoying since the people that built these apartments were too cheap to put lights in the ceiling. It will stop randomly working. I have even had it randomly start working again too.

Unfortunately no it doesn’t work on neither, videos nor photos

Try restarting your iPhone - Restart your iPhone - Apple Support

If you turn flash on in the Camera app and take a picture, does it flash?

Same Issue happened to me.

It started working after restarting my iphone 12.

Same happened with me. To resolve the issue I took a picture with camera in darkness to force the torch light to flash. Then swiped down for quick access flash light and started working ok 👍

no evwn if you open up your camera the fls isnt working

The older iPhones seem to not age well for some odd reason. Here's how to fix the flashlight on your iPhone 13:

1. Try restarting the phone. A simple restart can work wonders for your phone. Press and hold the side button and both volume buttons to restart your iPhone.
2. Be sure your phone is properly charged. If it's low battery the flashlight won't work.
3. If that doesn't work, and you don't want to reset your phone and wipe all your storage just for a flashlight, you may need to get it repaired.

If you want to learn more, click here: If the camera or flash on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch isn't working - Apple Support

Same issue here:

Here's my support ticket:

Back Camera and Flashlight doesn't work a… - Apple Community

Here's dozens of people on Reddit with the same issue but no solution:

https://www.reddit.com/r/iphone/comments/1fnnxuf/iphone_13_pm_cameras_not_working_after_ios_18/

How can this be a hardware issue if everybody had the same failures after iOS18 update?

Yes! Thank you. Taking a photo in a dark room forced the led into action & now the torch works fine.

definitely a bug in IOS 18.1.1

I have contacted customer support and we did all the restart stuff and checking diagnostics and said to try to get it serviced since none are working for my iphone 14 pro max even with the ios 18.1.1 update. It is so frustrating

Thank you! It worked here!