iPhone 18 Pro and new Apple Watches: Reports of crashes

Some new iPhone 18 Pro, Apple Watch Series 12, and Apple Watch Ultra 4 devices seem to be struggling with teething problems. Reports from buyers experiencing repeated software crashes are increasing online. The problems with the iPhone 18 Pro are apparently related to Face ID. On the Apple Watches, however, it is not yet entirely clear what is causing the errors.

Buyers of the iPhone 18 Pro and the iPhone 18 Pro Max report on Reddit and in the Apple support forum that their devices freeze after a failed Face ID unlock. On the next attempt, they no longer respond to touch input. After a while, a kernel panic occurs and the devices restart. The good news: the problem does not affect every device by a long shot. For example, we could not reproduce the error on an iPhone 18 Pro Max despite repeated attempts.

Likely a software problem

A forum user reported that Apple Support recommended a hardware replacement. Discussions suggest a connection with the new, smaller Face ID system. The infrared sensor is now located behind the display and no longer in the Dynamic Island, allowing Apple to reduce its size. However, the assumption that it is a hardware defect appears very speculative. A software error that Apple will fix with an update is much more likely. The company has not yet commented on this.

On the new Apple Watches, some buyers report seemingly unprovoked and randomly occurring restarts. According to diagnostic logs from users, the Neural Engine hangs for about two seconds. The operating system then triggers a kernel panic and forces a restart. According to reports, this problem does not only occur in situations where the Neural Engine, important for AI use, is obviously being used, such as when using Siri. Users also reported crashes when making calls, opening the Maps app or the App Store, and even when idle.

Number of affected individuals unclear

As with this suspected bug, it is difficult to quantify how many users are affected. The news portal MacRumors counted 30 affected users in its forum. We have not yet encountered this error on an Apple Watch Ultra 4. However, readers have also contacted us who have repeatedly observed exactly this error on their devices.

Some of those affected reported good experiences after resetting their devices to factory settings. For others, however, this did not help. Apple has not yet commented on this.

Teething problems with new Apple products are not uncommon. The iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, for example, occasionally struggled with unwanted restarts after their release in September 2024. Apple rectified this with iOS 18.1. The year before, the the iPhone 15 Pro experienced overheating issues, which Apple attributed to poorly optimized third-party apps. iOS 17.0.3 quickly provided a fix.

(mki)