Apple has confirmed a software issue affecting the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max. In some cases, the smartphone freezes after a failed attempt to recognize the owner via Face ID, stops responding to touch, and then restarts on its own. The company promises to release a fix early next week.

Apple reported the issue to 9to5Mac. The bug does not affect all devices, but the number of complaints was enough for the company to officially acknowledge the problem and begin preparing an update.

The smartphone freezes after a failed Face ID attempt

9to5Mac journalists were able to reproduce the crash on the iPhone 18 Pro. It occurred when trying to open a protected app after a failed facial recognition attempt.

After that, the smartphone stopped responding to touches on the screen. A few seconds later, the device restarted on its own. After rebooting, a critical error log could be found in the settings.

It is still unknown why the crash occurs only on some devices and under exactly what conditions it is triggered.

The issue appeared after changes to the Face ID design

The crash is especially notable against the backdrop of changes Apple made to the Face ID system in the new Pro models.

In the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, the Face ID infrared camera was moved under the display at the top of the screen. This allowed the company to reduce the visible area of the Dynamic Island by about 25%.

At the same time, there is currently no evidence that the new hardware design is what caused the software bug. Apple does not directly link these two circumstances, and the nature of the crash points to the need for a software fix.

Some owners had previously contacted service centers and considered replacing their smartphones, assuming a hardware malfunction. After Apple’s confirmation, this is not necessary: the company is preparing an update that should resolve the issue at the software level.

The fix may arrive with iOS 27.0.1

Apple said that the update containing the fix will be released early next week. It will likely be distributed as part of iOS 27.0.1, which the company is already testing, although the exact version number of the upcoming firmware has not yet been officially confirmed.

Meanwhile, Apple has released watchOS 27.0.1 for the Apple Watch Series 12 and Ultra 4. This update fixes a different issue — random restarts of the watches.

Thus, owners of the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max who have encountered the described Face ID bug only need to wait for the next iOS update.