iPhone 16 Pro not turning on

My wife’s iPhone 16 Pro is not turning on. Several times I have had to push the top volume, bottom volume and then hold the right power button until the Apple came on. And it took much longer than 10 seconds and instead of it coming on by itself, the Apple would show only after I held and released the power button. Did she get a lemon or are others having this problem? She gets a new phone every year so this is not an operator error.

iPhone 16 Pro

Posted on Sep 27, 2024 5:04 PM

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Posted on Dec 4, 2024 12:54 PM

Everyone is most certainly not having this issue. Force Restart your iPhone, which will likely solve this:


  • Press and quickly release the volume up button
  • Then immediately press and release the volume down button
  • Then immediately press and KEEP HOLDING the side power button. KEEP HOLDING it past the swipe to power off and KEEP HOLDING it until the screen goes dark and KEEP HOLDING it until you see the Apple Log, then let go. This stage can 15 - 20 seconds so don't let go until you see the Apple Logo
389 replies

Nov 4, 2024 4:07 AM in response to Lilisbuddy

Yes what a pain- my situation a complete joke- I transferred digitally the sim via esim to the phone pro 16

which then died with the esim inside. It's my work number and Apple could not help here as you can't transfer a sim from a dead phone. I've had to ask my carrier for a replacement sim. I think Apple knows that there is a product fault but will not do a recall yet or blow this up as it would look bad for them. In eight years of being with Apple this is the most poorest of times with their grand new 16 pro phone- bit cheeky too to sell it with apple intelligence only for all the software not to be ready yet. May go back to my 14 pro which was excellent.

Nov 10, 2024 1:49 PM in response to Lilisbuddy

This is the first time it happened to my phone and I got it around 3 weeks ago. I completely turned it off yesternight before charging it, but when I tried turning it on this morning it wouldn't turn on like its usual 10 seconds. I tried plugging it again and using different chargers and different outlet, but it still didn't turn on. I tried the method of pressing the volume up and down method very quickly and then holding the power button till the apple logo showed up. It took at least 30 seconds to turn it on instead of its usual 10 seconds. This has never happened with any of my phones before, let alone a new one I recently got. I updated my phone to 18.1. Hopefully Apple can get this fixed soon because I can't do any schoolwork without my phone.

Nov 18, 2024 5:16 AM in response to Lilisbuddy

Well, I’ve got bad news for you. I had the same problem multiple times jump through 1 million hoops at the Apple Store had no end of problems getting my new phone started up again because they never did figure out what was wrong with the old phone but guess what? The new phone is exhibiting the same behaviour three weeks later I get up this morning phone will not turn on 50+ hard resets later it turns on. I’ve been an apple fan since the 1984 McIntosh commercial. And I am as depressed and saddened by the quality of the products created in China by the way by this company.

Dec 10, 2024 3:51 AM in response to Lilisbuddy

This just happened to me for the first time. I think the scenario was identical to everyone else—My battery is set to charge to 90% max, and then I turned off my phone. I’m not 100% certain I turned off my phone before it reached 90%, but I turned it off and unplugged it. This morning, I plugged in my phone to finish charging, and I was surprised the screen didn’t turn on. I didn’t really think anything of it for 10 or 15 minutes, and when I tried to turn it on… nothing. The force restart worked for me. What’s interesting is if I look at the battery level chart for the last 24 hours, the chart is empty starting at the point where I would’ve plugged it in to start charging last night. It also says “last charged to 90%,” and the date is the previous time I charged. All of this makes me hopeful that it is a software problem.


Dec 17, 2024 11:54 AM in response to Lilisbuddy

Happening to me for the first time with a 16 Pro I've had since October -- force restarting (tap volume up, tap volume down, hold power button) doesn't seem to work no matter how long I hold the buttons -- the phone turned off when it ran out of charge and it doesn't seem to be charging with either the original apple usbc charger with original apple wall plug, nor my macbook's USBC charger nor its magsafe charger, macbook doesn't recognize the phone, it just seems for all intents and purposes to be dead...

Dec 20, 2024 8:42 AM in response to Lilisbuddy

So I have the iPhone 16+, which I bought and set up on December 8, using the side by side method from my iPhone 11. I had my battery down to 7% last night before I plugged it in to charge (using the USB c cable that it came with and a 12V adapter) before turning it off for the night to let it charge. My iPhone 16+ is on iOS 18.2.


This morning I could not turn the phone on, so I had to keep trying using the reboot method - I plugged it into charge further thinking perhaps my charger didn't work, eventually it just randomly turn back on, I couldn't even set up a Genius Bar call since I couldn't turn on my phone for it to receive 2 factor authentication at first.


After looking at the responses here, it seems like:

1) I should not turn off my phone and charge overnight

2) I should get a 20V charger?

3) Set optimized charging to less than 100%


I will try these solutions and see what happens, luckily I'm still in warranty and now I think I need to get the additional one year AppleCare for an extra $200.

Jan 21, 2025 6:09 PM in response to Lilisbuddy

I just bought my phone in November and I am experiencing this issue. I have tried 3 different wireless chargers and my iPhone charger. None seem to be charging my phone or at least that what it seems like since it isn't turning on. I have tried to force restart it several times and nothing. This is frustrating since I have barely had this phone for 2 months and it isn't cheap.

Jan 23, 2025 10:26 AM in response to Allmus2025

Allmus2025 wrote:

iPhone 16 pro max charged overnight while turned off. Used a different but compatible lead and wouldn’t turn on. Volume up and down quick tap and held power button sorted it. Sorted but disappointing and complex for someone who doesn’t look on YouTube for an answer. A phone of this level and pricing should be more full proof I would have thought.

Why are you turning it off to charge it in the first place? It is not necessary, nor even recommended the phone be powered off to charge. In fact, doing so, stops necessary background processes and prevents the normal backup of data to iCloud.

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iPhone 16 Pro not turning on

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