The iPhone 16 Pro just launched this past Friday, but there are already some issues surfacing in regards to the touchscreen. According to a report from 9to5Mac and complaints on Reddit, it seems that a number of iPhone 16 Pro users have noticed that some taps and swipes are being ignored on their iPhone 16 Pro display, which in turn affects interactions like scrolling and button presses. Those with a regular iPhone 16 or iPhone 16 Plus are not affected.
The reason for this touchscreen issue? Because of the much thinner bezels of the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max display, the accidental touch rejection algorithm seems to be more sensitive than before. This is a software bug that is likely the culprit causing ignored taps and swipes. The software algorithm is triggered when the user makes unintentional contact with other parts of the screen around the edges, causing the rejection of intended taps on the screen.
The most common cause of this issue seems to be the finger resting near the edge closest to Camera Control. However, the issue also occurs with all four screen edges.
When the system is activated, all new touches on the display will be ignored for a brief amount of time. Again, this is likely because of the incredibly thin bezels on the iPhone 16 Pro models, which would make it easier for your skin to unintentionally come into contact with the screen. This bug is also easier to occur on an iPhone 16 Pro without a case, as cases typically have bezels and edges that wrap around the phone edges.
The unresponsive screen only happens when the device is unlocked and active, such as scrolling through apps or swiping between multiple home screens. It does not occur when the iPhone 16 Pro is idle or on the lock screen.
Users have reported the issue on both iOS 18 and iOS 18.1 betas. Since this appears to be a software bug, Apple should be able to address it with a software update. Here’s to hoping that happens, because this sounds like a mighty annoying bug.