Camera app crashing on my iPhone 16 Pro Max

Has anyone found a solution to this or been guided by apple on a work around? I have already returned my device that I picked up on launch day for a replacement. Transferred all my data and info to the new phone..within 24 hours the brand new replacement was having the exact same issue. We know it is not the devices issue and now my previous iphone has since been returned and I am stuck with a defective, buggy, $1300 broken camera. I cannot keep restarting my phone 12 times a day to make this work and am not willing to wipe everything to 0 and start from scratch to test it that way. Any one have any leads?

My iPhone camera app is still crashing after the iOS 18.0.1 update 😭

Same issues on my iPhone 16 pro. Camera crashes with black screen that only is fixed temporarily with a reboot. And one day my phone seemed nearly hot enough to burn me. I hope they come out with a fix very soon. It’s so frustrating!

Having the exact same issue. Camera app cassettes and sometimes locks up the entire phone. It’s crazy and unacceptable that Apple lets this kind of stuff out the door. Also, battery is way worse than previous Pro Max models. Gets super hot when using the camera app (when working) and applying styles to the photo. What the ****? Oh and this strange thing happened when trying to view a photo.

I restarted the phone 6 days prior. That resolved the issue for 6 days. After 6 days the issue returned. That's when I contacted Apple support. They had me connect it to my Mac and then start the phone in recovery mode. We reinstalled the latest update (18.0 on that day) over top of what was there (this made it so I did not lose anything). This method helped for a day and then the issue returned. I upgraded to iOS 18.0.1, but that did not help, either. Apple Support told me all hardware sensors were fine when we ran diagnostics, so the issue must lie somewhere with something in my backup that I restored to the phone. My only recourse after that was to wipe the phone, reinstall iOS from scratch, and NOT restore a backup, but rather restore every app individually. It took around 8 hours to do, but I finished that 3 days ago. I have not had an issue since doing that, but then again, my phone went 6 days in between restarts without an issue, so who knows. BUT, the Apple Tech said since the diagnostics all passed it was NOT a hardware issue.

I am having the same problem with my 16 pro. I have followed all the directions given and have restored the device from back up which appears to clear the problem and within 24 to 48 hours later the camera app crashes and screen goes to black and back to home screen.

Absolutely fed up to the back teeth with this and the amount of hours I’ve now wasted talking to Apple support. Apparently, my device is from a bad batch. I have this officially from apple they have confirmed there is a bad batch of devices. They refused to send a new phone to replace my current one, but because I cannot afford to be without a phone, I have been forced into the only solution that I can find which is to buy and completely new device. I will set this up and see if the problem happens on the new one. In the meantime, I will return the current 16 pro as faulty.

This is led to considerable difficulty, anxiety and waste of time. Very shoddy performance from apple up to this point.

Wishing ever everyone else with this problem more or better luck.

Try a force reset ⇢

• Press and quickly release the volume up button.
• Press and quickly release the volume down button.
• Press and hold the side button until you see the Apple logo (this takes around 10 seconds).

This is affecting the 16 pro, as well- open the camera to take a picture and it crashes, makes a clang and then back to the home screen. I haven't been able to take many pictures at all.

iPhone 16 Pro Max photo taking app still crashing and also when you want to include a photo in text it also crashes and turns to black screen, forcing you to reboot the phone multiple times even after updating to the new 18.0.1 update

I’m confident that a fix to the camera crash issue is getting close. The Administrators deleted my previous post as I inadvertently made reference to a forbidden subject. So hopefully I’ll be permitted to say that my phone’s camera app has been working flawlessly for two days and I’d expect a permanent fix around October 28th. I have repeatedly tried the camera and have had no problems. This is not what I was experiencing before so I am optimistic.

I now have a reminder to restart my iPhone 16 Pro Max each morning and the camera works fine for the rest of the day. Following a suggestion from a non technical friend I tried another camera app, ProCamera (ProCamera. Raw+ Manual Camera). This works fine when the Apple Camera crashes. Given that other Apple apps that use the camera (e.g. Magnifier) also crash, my suspicion is that the problem lies in Apple's iOS 18 middleware or the process that transfers from a older model to the iPhone 16 (I previously had a 11 Pro Max). So waiting for a fix seems the best option.

I'll try lobsterghost1's force reset suggestion. But it seems that a number of suggestions have been made (I've tried 18.0.1 and Macro Control off to no avail) that it is hit and miss until Apple acknowledge the issue has been fixed. I'm not going down the re-install route.

To those who want to give up the 16 Pro, it's just like buying one of the first of a brand new model of car; there can be glitches. That's the downside of being an early adopter. If you don't like it wait a few months for the new device to bed in before buying. Otherwise hold your nerve. It WILL get fixed.

Friends ... issue resolved ...

1. As per my last update here as guided by Apple Support ... I had placed my 16 pro max in recovery mode ... done a clean install of iOS 18.0.1 and restored my phone from backup made on Mac. Camera crashing issue reappeared after one day.
2. Did a complete erase of contents and settings on the iPhone on version iOS 18.0.1 the next day and DID NOT RESTORE FROM BACKUP ... set it up as new iPhone ... was cumbersome to download everything again but camera app is not crashing since. It's been more than 36 hours and I've used the camera app several times without issue. ISSUE RESOLVED SO FAR.

Summary - As per Apple Support ... Do a clean install from recovery mode of iOS 18.0.1 from your Mac or PC and set it up as new iPhone. DO NOT RESTORE FROM BACKUP.

Figured out an (apparent) fix for this problem:

1. Wipe the device and restore from an iCloud backup of whatever phone you used before the 16. Alternatively, use QuickStart and set up your wiped 16 using the older device directly (if you still have it.) Frustrating I know, but bear with me.
2. Once restoration is complete, the most important step you need to follow is DO NOT open the camera app. I cannot emphasise this enough. Your first instinct will be to open the app and check that all is well. DO NOT DO THIS. Doing so will put you right back to square one, and you’ll have to restart the entire process all over again.
3. Instead, head directly to settings > camera > (scroll down) > macro control and turn it OFF. You MUST do this before opening the camera app for the first time.

For whatever reason, entering the camera app with the macro control toggle enabled even once seems to be akin to opening a Pandora’s box of errors and crashes. From there, turning the option off after the fact does absolutely nothing to stop the issue.

I did this last week and haven’t had any problems since, though I will update if the issue rears its head again. I only figured this fix out after telling my dad to disable the macro mode toggle shortly after he’d set up his new 16 for the first time, in light of all the issues people (including myself) were dealing with. He went on to not experience any of the camera issues I had, at which point it occurred to me that he had never opened the camera app in the first place before disabling the macro toggle.

Really hope this turns out to be a reliable fix.

Ok so I’m not crazy then. My camera app is constantly crashing. Requiring a restart to fix. But only temporarily.

Day 4 and the camera continues to work fine. Be patient as the fix is out there, just not released yet. Look for it around October 28th or possibly before.