iPhone 16 set up problems - stuck in limbo

Hi everyone,

I bought an iPhone 16 about a year ago and finally got around to trying to set it up today. It's been in its box prior to today. My previous/current phone is an iPhone 11.

I was progressing through the stages to set it up, and it asked me to download the latest software, which I did. After the software finished downloading, the phone froze. I did a reset (up volume, down volume, side button).

Since then, I am stuck in a kind of limbo.

The phone repeatedly displays the "hello" screen in various languages and tells me to swipe up to enter my passcode. When I try to do that, it displays the enter passcode screen for a millisecond but I cannot actually enter my passcode.

I have tried a hard reset, but the phone won't let me do that. It allows the "slide to reset" screen to display, but won't let me actually slide to reset. It shows the planogram as if it is resetting for a few seconds, and then it's back to the hellos with no actual reset.

I've tried connecting to my PC and updating the software via iTunes. That appeared to be downloading, but made no difference.

I've tried the DFU instructions which also made no difference.

I'm at a loss.

I've made an appointment with my telco and hopefully they can fix it, but has anyone else had this issue and successfully fixed it?

Thank you