How to fix iPhone 16 Pro Max Stuck on Setup?

Have you found a fix? I'm having this same issue. And the cherry on top is that I already did the esim transfer so I'm just out of a phone at the moment

I had some variation of this.

Unboxing, nice experience. Protective screen application, perfect for once! Setup process, still ongoing for 7+ hours…

Initially things went smoothly, my old 12 Pro Max found the new 16 Pro Max, offered to set it up, the speculous blue orb scan worked, and my AT&T # was activated on the 16 quickly. Like others, though, it hung there, with neither device giving feedback other than the spinning fan circle. I foolishly thought it had started data transfer and let them spin, both devices plugged into power, and went to bed.

I woke up after a few hours and checked on progress, there was none. I found these posts and began trying resolutions. After power cycling both phones, I was back to setup, but the magic blue orb no longer worked. The manual code entry did, and it looked like I was making progress. The new 16 then offered to update it’s software to 18.1 Beta (yes, I’m on the beta program, I realize the risk and that part of this is my fault) and I foolishly accepted. I went back to sleep again.

I awoke a few hours later to find the new phone back at hello and the old spinning at nothing. Another round of power of the old phone to resume, this time manual setup didn’t acknowledge on new phone. A hah!, I said, someone here had success with the phones directly connected (c -> lightning) so I cycled both, still no acknowledgement. I removed direct connection, power cycled both again, and after manual code entry finally got the data transfer initiated!

I eagerly waited for the time remaining progress indicator to show… Time remaining: 7 hours! I plugged both into power again. Within 20 mins this 7 hours was down to current estimate of 2, and I’m hoping it will continue to decrease faster than real time so I can use one of my phones soon.

I debated just starting fresh, but had spent a few hours preparing by deleting old, unused apps and reorganizing them all to my liking. I’m glad I chose to start this at the end of the day when the phones weren’t urgently needed. I’m sure I’ll enjoy the new 16 Pro Max, but this has certainly taken the shine off of my new phone experience.

Thanks to all who posted solutions here. For others experiencing the same, try, try again, and persevere!

It sounds like your new iPhone is stuck on the "Cellular Setup Complete" screen with no way to move forward.

Could you check these two things first?

1. Is your SIM card properly installed?
2. If using a physical SIM, make sure it's inserted correctly. If you're using eSIM, confirm it's fully activated under Settings > Cellular.
3. Is your iPhone connected to a strong Wi-Fi network?
4. Wi-Fi can help with the activation process, so ensure you're on a stable connection.

If everything looks fine, try restarting the phone by holding Volume Up + Side Button and sliding to power off. If it’s still stuck, a force restart might help:

• Press Volume Up, then Volume Down, then hold the Side Button until the Apple logo appears.

For detailed setup instructions, refer to

Apple Guide - Stuck on Restore from iCloud

Apple Support – Set Up Your iPhone

iPhone 16 Pro Max (at the direction of Apple Support) was returned for a replacement. My 1 tb phone would not even power on - completely dead screen). I ordered two, the other 512 gb - which was also non-functional, however, it turned on but stuck on hello till the battery ran down while phone kept getting hotter and hotter. Support directed me to return the 1 tb for a replacement. Today nearly a week after return, after calling Apple, and being disconnected when the agent couldn't answer the question), I find that the replacement phone will not be received until October 17-22. Ordered on first morning, 9-13 at 8 a.m. (EST), delivererd 9-20, returned on 21st. It's as if I have just gone onto the Apple site and ordered a phone today - get in line! Have been using Apple products for years - what a fiasco this has turned out to be with this release. No wonder there is no Apple Intelligence available on release, especially when Apple can't even provide a product that turns on or if it does, freezes and is bricked. I have returned and cancelled the purchase of the 512 tb. I am sure Apple is not concerned, but this is definitely a "BAD APPLE."

Since activation, my iPhone 16 Pro Max has been experiencing issues and sluggish performance. In the middle of the data transfer process, the device froze. I restarted it, and that's when the real trouble began.

The "Hello" screen wouldn’t go away no matter what I did. Every time I entered the passcode, it would just return to the "Hello" screen. I attempted to enter recovery mode, but it wouldn't work. I also tried to power it off, but the power-off slider would appear and disappear almost instantly, like the blink of an eye.

At times, pressing the volume up button and the power button together worked, but not always. Other times, the volume down button and power button combination worked, but again, not consistently. I even tried pressing all three buttons—volume up, volume down, and power—but with mixed results.

On a few occasions, I managed to enter recovery mode and connect it to my MacBook. However, every time I tried downloading iOS to restore the device, the download process indicated it would take about 10 to 12 hours. Meanwhile, the iPhone would exit recovery mode and return to the "Hello" screen. I must have attempted this process around 10 times.

Finally, I had an idea: I decided to manually download the iOS file (IPSW) and point to it during the restore process. I successfully downloaded the file, but unfortunately, the iPhone refused to enter recovery mode again. I contacted Apple's telephone support, and we ran through several tests over the course of about 40 minutes. The advisor eventually directed me to a physical store for further assistance.

While I was waiting to schedule the store visit, something miraculous happened. By pressing a sequence of buttons—most likely volume up, volume down, and the power button in some combination—I somehow managed to turn off the device.

This was the breakthrough:

1. After turning off the device, it disconnected from my MacBook.
2. I sought further instructions, and the advisor guided me to press the power button and immediately reconnect the iPhone to the MacBook.
3. It worked like magic: the iPhone entered recovery mode.
4. By pressing the Option key, I was able to select the IPSW file I had downloaded, and the device restored without further issues.

Crisis averted, and problem solved: What unsettled me the most was that when I spoke with two Apple Support consultants in Brazil, I was apparently the first person to contact them regarding an iPhone 16. Both were somewhat unsure about what steps to take.

I had same problem on my 16 Pro and finally let it drain to zero. Upon charging a little and trying everything, including Apple telephone support, I brought it to Apple store to return. BUT, they needed to charge it a little to read serial number ( about the only thing the phone would do) and asked if they could plug it into their laptop. Soon after it was plugged into computer, they were able to start the normal wifi install. I asked what they did, special program or what?, and it seems that he did nothing special, as if my phone just didn’t accept plugging

into my iMac at home for help. Best of luck.

[Edited by Moderator]

I had this same problem today and I got it fixed by calling Apple support. I posted this elsewhere

Apple support fixed it for me! They first had me tap the volume up then down then hold power button for 15 seconds to force the iPhone to power down. It did but automatically restarted and the problem was the same.

The solution:

1. hook up the iPhone 16 pro to the computer (I used my MacBook)
2. tap the volume up then volume down then hold the power button for around 25 seconds until you get a plug in screen on the iPhone
3. follow the prompts on MacBook to restore the phone. It’ll have you download the update. Process took about 15 minutes but now I have a working phone!

now I’m trying to transfer my old data to my new phone which is another mountain to climb.

the problem was Apple is sending out these phones without the new update and it’s causing all these problems

good luck everyone! Calling Apple support was such a pleasant experience, hope you get the same.

just restart the phone and start over. worked fine after that

I hope this isn’t a bad omen for this phone seems like not a good way to start

Same thing happened on my iPhone 16 (not Pro); it was stuck on "Cellular Setup Complete". I rebooted it and it resumed the setup past that point.

The old iPhone then didn't prompt me to begin the setup process. I rebooted it, and that solved it. From other posts here, looks like I could have just turned Bluetooth off/on and locked/unlocked the old iPhone instead.

When the swirly dot pattern appeared on the screen, holding it within view of my old iPhone's camera didn't proceed with the setup; it kept waiting for the old iPhone to see the pattern. I tapped the manual button, it displayed a number on the new iPhone and asked me to type it in on the old iPhone. That worked (and was much easier than the pattern thing!).

Transferring data now!

Just experienced this issue. Waited about 30 minutes, stuck, and fully turned off the new phone by holding the power and volume up buttons. Also restarted the old phone and when turning on the new phone it looked for a nearby phone, found it, and started transferring data after face id setup, etc. Good fix!!!

This did not work for me. Both phones were on the latest iOS 18 release and both fully charged and plugged in. I finally got the phones to transfer data but then had to wade through AT&Ts site to figure out how to re-do the eSIM activation (which you can do online with a wifi connection). TERRIBLE experience Apple. Worst in all the years since iPhone 3 that I've been upgrading and transferring data.

I vaguely remember the days when Apple products “just work[ed].” Those days are becoming harder and harder to remember.

Don’t know if the “replacement” iPhone 16 Pro Max will work. Still haven’t received it as of October 11, 2024. At this point, I don’t even know if I still want it.

Jumped through all the hoops to get the phone on release day. Apple’s product was defective (whether hardware or software). So sorry, customer — we’ll keep your money, but go to the back of the line!!

This is what saved me, i just wanted to return here and thank you for your comment i was stressing pretty hard thinking i was going to be driving over an hour to my closest apple store to fix this thing.

One thing I will add to your instructions for what I had to do is once the phone is in recovery mode and connected to the macbook, I used the Apple Configurator app which showed my iphone, I selected it then clicked update at the top which then said that the iphone is not booted so it gave me the option to erase and reinstall IOS which I proceeded with. It took a while to download IOS but when it was finished it said my macbook needed to be updated to latest IOS first which I did. After that i had to reconnect phone in recovery mode since macbook rebooted for update, luckily i got back into the phone and was able to proceed with the erase and reinstall of IOS.

After doing some reading from other peoples posts it seems the issue is when you setup the new iphone if you select direct transfer if your old iphone and new iphone are on different IOS's it seems to hose up the new one.

So my second time around doing the setup i selected icloud backup which worked flawlessly, i hope this can help some others out there, i was extremely disappointed never had this much trouble setting up a new iphone and was so worried i received a dud.

I don't know the answer to any of these problems because mine was unfixable, according to Apple Support. I returned both of my purchased phones - did not reorder the 512 gb, but waited for a replacement for the 1 tb. It just arrived today, and I am anxious about even taking it out of the box lest another insurmountable malfunction should appear and further erode my trust in Apple products "just working." I haven't read anything from Apple addressing any of these issues to date.

I feel badly for each of you experiencing problems. Does anyone remember when it used to be such a treat to receive a new Apple device? Disappointing now, isn't it?

What a shame!