iPhone Restarting iOS 16 Issue? Device Rebooting Randomly?

iPhone Tricks > Errors and Issues

Posted in Errors and Issues by Patricia on November 15, 2022

iPhone restarting iOS 16

Is your iPhone restarting randomly after iOS 16 update? Device reboots over and over again, every couple of minutes or several times a day? Issue occurs unexpectedly and hasn’t been fixed by the iOS 16.1 or iOS 16.1.1 updates? You’re not alone!

iPhone Keeps Restarting iOS 16

This problem has been reported by several readers including:
Victoria (iPhone 12 Pro Max, iOS 16.1):

“my iPhone keeps restarting so i cannot update the ios to 16.1.1.”

Marisa (iPhone 13 Pro, iOS 16.1):

“Phone keeps shutting off & restarting by itself every 15-20 mins.”

Noora: “After updating to IOS 16.1.1 my iPhone 13 mini, phone keeps restarting every few minutes, It’s very annoying!”

We’ve found similar reports on Reddit (1, 2) and Apple’s Discussion Forums (1 and 2).

How To Fix iPhone Restarting Randomly

This doesn’t seem to be an universal iOS 16 bug and we couldn’t determine the triggering factor. Based on reports, these are the troubleshooting methods that you should try out:

1. Check Battery Health

First you should check the Maximum Capacity status of your iPhone’s battery. If it dropped to 80%, device might not be performing at normal capacity. Restarts and shut downs can randomly occur especially when the battery is below the 30% charge level.

Go to: Settings -> Battery -> Battery Health & Charging.

Fact: If your device got a battery replacement at an aftermarket repair shop and is not using a genuine battery, the Maximum Capacity value might be inaccurate and device could have battery problems even if Health shows above 80%.

2. Check For Hardware Issue

Next, you should check if the iPhone restarts aren’t caused by a hardware problem that coincidentally surfaced in the same with the iOS 16 update:

• Open Settings app and go to Privacy & Security -> Analytics & Improvements > Analytics Data.
• The logs are listed alphabetically. Scroll all the way down to ‘p’ letter.
• Check if you notice any entries named panic-full- or panic-base- logs.

Fact: If you spot more than one log with these names, your device is most likely suffering from a hardware issue and you have to bring it to an Apple Store and have it checked out.

3. Update Apps

If you passed the above checks and iPhone keeps restarting without having hardware and battery issues, you should open the App Store app and install all available updates.

Outdated third-party apps that haven’t been optimized for iOS 16 could cause random rebooting.

4. Reinstall Apps

Also, check the apps that use the most resources on your iPhone and reinstall them. A glitch might be forcing them to use more resources than normal and this can lead to unexpected iPhone restarts:

1. Go to Settings -> Battery and check the Battery Usage by App section.
2. Note the top battery consuming apps and reinstall them by following these steps:

• Go for Settings -> General -> iPhone Storage.
• Search for [app name].
• Offload App, wait a couple of seconds and Reinstall App. Repeat for every app noted at step 2.

More details here.

5. Reinstall iOS 16

If you reached this step and iPhone keeps restarting randomly, you should consider clean installing the current iOS 16 version.

This is done with the help of a computer (Mac or Windows), the Finder or iTunes software and a lightning to USB (USB-C) cable.

Perform an encrypted backup of your device before proceeding, disable Find My in Settings and use the Restore iPhone option in Finder.

Guide: For a step-by-step tutorial on how to reinstall iOS 16 please read here.

6. Downgrade To iOS 15

If clean installing doesn’t help either, your last option is to downgrade to iOS 15. You can still revert from any iOS 16 version, including iOS 16.1.1 by following the steps described here! (video guide available)

Have you managed to fix iPhone restarting iOS 16 issue? Do you have a better solution or other problems to report? Share your feedback in the comments!

Related: For more iOS 16 bugs and their available workarounds please check our extended review.