Why is my new iPhone 16 not turning on?

I don’t know what “side button tricks” you tried or how you tried them. The "Up, Down, Side" instructions require some precision:

• Press and quickly release VOLUME UP

     then

• Press and quickly release VOLUME DOWN

     then

• Hold the SIDE button until an Apple logo appears (15-30 seconds), ignoring "slide to power off" if it appears

The operative word here is QUICKLY; and try it a couple of times, the timing is a little tricky. If done correctly this will always work unless the phone has a hardware problem. 

The question was why this happens. The answer was how to fix it. The fix eventually works, but I still don't know why this happens. Is there something wrong with turning off the phone to charge it? Does that violate some design assumption?

Seriously? This is my 4th iPhone and I always plug it in, turn it off at night, and it’s always turned back on. Today it did not. Why turn it off? It was my work phone and I did not want any calls in the middle of the night. No weird apps. Just got it a month ago. It’s brand new. Going to Support next. Insured. Getting a new one. Unacceptable.

While it is called an iPhone, it is actually a very powerful pocket-sized computer that can incidentally make phone calls. And like all computers, it will sometimes crash. To minimize the probability of that happening it may pay to restart it occasionally→Restart your iPhone - Apple Support

It is happening to me. What did you do? I bought in Metro PC

There are 91 "me too's" to the OP and probably tens of thousands of others with the same problem. It's now happened to me twice.

Is this a bug inherent to iPhone 16s or a random defect so I should I try to send the phone back under AppleCare?

elainefromocala wrote:

My iPhone 16 won’t turn on and this isn’t the first time. I know the side trick buttons but that is not working this time. My question is , What is Apple doing about this? Not how to fix it. If you are going to travel and you can’t turn your phone on, what good is it? Very disappointed with this phone and Apple.

Apple is doing nothing for the problem with your phone unless you contact their support. This is a problem specifically for your phone and perhaps a few others, but does not happen with around 100 million other phones. And I’ll add that if you installed any apps that claim to speed up, clean up, or protect your phone from “viruses” delete them; apps like this can cause the problem you have.

The "Up, Down, Side" instructions require some precision:

• Press and quickly release VOLUME UP

     then

• Press and quickly release VOLUME DOWN

     then

• Hold the SIDE button until an Apple logo appears (15-30 seconds), ignoring "slide to power off" if it appears

The operative word here is QUICKLY; and try it a couple of times, the timing is a little tricky. If done correctly this will always work unless the phone has a hardware problem. 

For personalized support:

Best way: 

• Install the Apple Support app on your iPhone or iPad - you can contact support directly from the app, and the tech will have (with your permission) access to diagnostic data on your phone

Other options:

• • Click on “Support” at the top or bottom of this page
  • Go to Contact Official Apple Support

(Note that both of the above have options to receive a callback or chat)

• • Call Apple Support; the phone numbers are in this link→Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support
  • Make a Genius Bar appointment at an Apple Store→Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple
  • Find an Apple store or Apple partner service provider→Find Locations

I bought a new iPhone 16 Pro a few months ago. I had this exact issue and I tried and tried to restart my phone. The phone was put on the Apple charger before the battery died. I then shut the phone off to charge and reboot overnight. When I tried restarting the phone it took many tries and a lot of frustration. I mean it’s a NEW PHONE. Eventually I got the phone to restart.

This morning a couple months later same issue. Again I tried and tried to restart the phone. I did get it to restart Finally.

I am outside the country now but when I get back Apple is going to have to replace the phone on the warranty. I believe there’s a glitch and I need to be able to rely on the phone starting every time, without all this drama. What if there’s an emergency and I need to restart my phone? The phone I have is great in every way EXCEPT for this failure to start issue. I saw other people having similar problems so I had to reply. Generally I don’t comment but this is SO IMPORTANT that I had to leave a comment here. Fortunately I paid for the extended warranty!!!

I had the exact same problem of iPhone 16 pro not turning on. Someone on forum recommended to do the vol up then down then switch on button as quickly as possible such as the whole process in one sec. I did try this 24 hours later after it would not switch on and then it switched on, so I’m not sure if due to passage of time it worked or that worked to do in quick succession.

I took my iphone on 3 occasions to an Apple Store Genius Bar and when they tested it they said not a hardware issue and so must be a software issue. I tried tried different remedies with help of respective geniuses but problem still came back. They BLATANTLY refused to replace the phone with a new one claiming software issue. They also won’t acknowledge that this is a common problem. Each one has as different take on why this is happening.

I believe that it is a flaw in iPhone 16 as I never had this problem in my iPhone 15 which I wish I had kept. From now on I’m never going to switch the phone off as I don’t trust it to switch on and I cannot have delays with it not working and Apple company REFUSE to change the phone. The first incident happened within 6 weeks of the phone being purchased. I did but they phone through a telco company which is maybe why they are not prepared to replace it. The telco company also refused to replace it. So I have to accept that it is what it is. Frankly speaking, I was suprised at Apple intransigence in not replacing the phone after 3 failed switch on episodes and felt disappointed by their attitude as I am not the only one experiencing this issue, so must point to a glitch in their system which they themselves can’t put their finger on but shift the blame subtly to me the user.

Then you haven’t set up DND correctly. You can program it so you won’t get any calls, texts or notifications.

Focus and Do Not Disturb setup has been made much more flexible, but this has come at the cost of much more complication. To get it working again, do these steps ONCE:

• Tap Settings
• Tap Focus
• Tap on any Focus settings that you will never use and remove them (you can add them back later if you change your mind, and even create new, custom ones)
• Tap Do Not Disturb
• Tap People
• Tap Allow Notifications From
• If anyone is listed who should not call you when DND is on delete them; if you don’t want any calls from anyone, any time, delete all people
• Tap the dropdown next to Allow Calls From and choose Allowed People Only
• Optionally, tap on Apps, then Allow Notifications From and don’t add any apps.

All of the above is a one-time setup. After that, turn DND on or off with a quick tap on the Control Center DND button. You can optionally set one or more schedules by going to:

Settings/Focus/Do Not Disturb/Set a Schedule.

There are many other features, but these instructions put it back to the way it worked in simpler days. Over the years Apple has had a steady stream of requests for DND enhancements, and they seem to have incorporated all of them.

In the US you can turn off all government alerts in Settings/Notifications, scroll to the bottom to Government Alerts. However, I haven’t received any such alerts in over a year.

Randysea wrote:

Why is that, Lawrence? I thought it was a good idea to turn it fully off at least once a day. Overnight seems like a good time. I keep it near my bed but turned off because I don't want it to ring or vibrate if someone calls in the middle of the night. In an emergency, I'd be reached on my landline. But I also want the mobile handy if I need it for some reason.

I don’t know where you heard that, but it is wrong. You should essentially never turn off an iPhone. Restart it once a week or so. Charge it overnight, powered on, and if you enable automatic backups it will back up to iCloud every night.

If you don’t want to be disturbed during the night use the Do Not Disturb function (Settings/Focus/Do Not Disturb).

I have DND set up correctly. Only my wife and son can call me at night. There is no option to block police emergency alerts, e.g., Blue Alert or Amber Alert. The only way I know to block those is to have the phone powered off.

When you shut it off, how are you turning it on? The correct way is to hold the upper button on the right side of the phone until an Apple logo appears. This can take up to 30 seconds holding the button. You also can’t turn it on for a couple of minutes after you shut it down, because the shutdown process notifies all open applications that they must save their data and waits for a confirmation from each app. This takes time to do an orderly shutdown.

Here’s a useful shortcut: If you want to restart your iPhone, say “Hey Siri, restart this iPhone"

Thanks, I found what I need now that I have upgraded from a true dinosaur to a new iPhone. The very last setting should do it - I need to turn off "Always Play Sound" (don't allow alerts when the phone is in silent mode). That should allow emergency alerts when I am using the phone but silence them at night. Of course, that will also silence tornado alerts at night... but we watch the weather and would be awake if there is severe weather nearby.