A bug in iOS 18 causes touches and taps on the touchscreen to not be recognized – and these are the iPhones that have it.
iOS 18 causes touchscreen issues
It’s unclear how widespread the issue is at this point. Affected users report that the touchscreen ignores their taps, swipes, and other gestures. The issue is inconsistent and seems to resolve itself within a few moments. Then it happens again later.
Most reports concern the iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max, but these are not the only models. We previously wrote that it may have to do with the fact that the ‘Touch rejection’ system of the touchscreen in iOS 18 is set too sensitive. This is the system that ensures that an iPhone can deduce whether a tap is simply an accident or a deliberate choice. In the case of an accident, the software is supposed to ignore all new touches for a short period of time. This therefore appears to happen unintentionally.
Not just the iPhone 16 Pro models
There are users reporting issues specifically related to the new camera control button. It is not clear at this time whether this is the same issue and that unintended touches also cause the camera control to be blocked briefly.
Posts on online forums indicate that the problem is not limited to new iPhones. Certain iPads and iPhone models as old as the iPhone 14 are also affected. This means that it can occur on all iPhones from the 14, 15 and 16 series. For this reason, it seems more likely that iOS 18 (and iPadOS 18) is causing a problem with the touchscreen, rather than a physical fault in the iPhone 16 Pro series. It is therefore possible to fix the problem to consciously evoke. Apple will probably fix the problem with the next software update.
A similar issue previously occurred with the iPhone 12 mini in 2020, only then it turned out to be related to cases and screen protectors that blocked touch sensitivity. Apple has not yet responded to the reports.
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