Apple Confirms iPhone 18 Pro Fix for Face ID Reboot Bug Next Week

Q: Could Apple's new under-display camera design be secretly complicating what they claim is merely a software glitch?

Possibly, but there is no evidence so far that Apple is hiding a hardware problem. The strongest public evidence still points to software. Apple says the freeze-and-reboot issue is a bug, not a hardware defect, and it has already promised a fix early next week. The crash is also unusually specific: it tends to happen after a failed Face ID attempt inside protected apps such as Passwords, Wallet, or private Safari tabs, especially when users tap “Try Face ID Again.” It does not appear to be a broad Face ID failure across the system, which is what would be more typical of a broken sensor. That said, the new under-display infrared camera almost certainly changes the software complexity behind Face ID. On the iPhone 18 Pro models, Apple moved the IR camera under the display while leaving other Face ID components in the Dynamic Island area. That split design means new calibration, driver, and authentication handling, especially in retry flows. Kernel panic logs reported by users suggest the OS is hitting a serious fault at the hardware-software interface, even if the root cause is still code. So the under-display design may be complicating the bug, but that is different from proving the hardware itself is defective. If Apple’s patch resolves the issue across affected devices, that would strongly support its software explanation. If reboots continue after the update, scrutiny will shift back to the new sensor architecture.

3 articles · Updated · Mashable · Sep 25

Apple said a software fix for the iPhone 18 Pro and Pro Max reboot bug should arrive early next week after users reported freezes and restarts tied to failed Face ID attempts.
Failed Face ID checks can cause some phones to hang and then reboot, though the issue does not affect every device and was not reproducible in at least some tests.
Apple said the problem is a software glitch rather than a hardware failure, signaling owners do not need to return newly bought phones for repair.
The acknowledgment addresses one of the first notable post-launch issues for Apple's newest Pro models and points to a near-term update rather than a device recall.