Official

Some iPhone 18 Pro owners report Face ID failures and reboots after launch

10 publications · September 21, 2026

Key points

Some iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max owners report that failed Face ID attempts cause the device to freeze and reboot to the lock screen.
Additional issues include a 'Face ID is Not Available' message during setup and the 'Require Attention for Face ID' setting not being respected.
The iPhone 18 Pro moves the Face ID infrared camera behind the display, near the top-left corner, to shrink the Dynamic Island.
The bug appears in the shipping version of iOS 27, but how widespread it is remains unknown and not all users are affected.
No fix has been announced; a future iOS 27 update is expected to address any software-related causes.

Summary (AI)

Reports surfaced on launch day, September 21, 2026, mostly from Reddit and MacRumors forum posts. The main complaint: a failed Face ID attempt inside a locked app can freeze and restart the phone. MacRumors also reports a “Face ID is Not Available” error during setup and an attention-detection setting that behaves badly.

It is not known whether the cause is software or hardware. The iPhone 18 Pro is the first iPhone to move the infrared camera under the display, which may play a part. Apple has made no statement. MacRumors expects a future iOS 27 update to fix software bugs, based on past updates, not on anything Apple has promised.

Sources

16 articles from 10 publications