An annoying iPhone 14 Pro bug will soon be fixed

Apple has acknowledged the issue

An iPhone 14 Pro (Image credit: Future / Lance Ulanoff)

The iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are excellent phones, but no phone is totally immune to the occasional bug, and one that’s recently struck these handsets is causing horizontal lines to flash across the screen when they’re being powered on or unlocked.

This falls under the category of annoying rather than anything more serious, but it’s still not something you want to see on an expensive new phone, and – as spotted by MacRumors (opens in new tab) – it’s something a lot of people are reportedly experiencing. But it’s also something that should soon be fixed.

In a memo from Apple and seen by MacRumors (opens in new tab), the company acknowledges the bug and says that “Apple is aware of the issue and a software update is coming soon that will resolve the issue.”

(Image credit: MacRumors / Infernoqt / u/1LastOutlaw)

So it’s hopefully not something you should have to put up with for long if you are a victim, and as it’s a software issue, rather than a hardware fault; a simple software update should fix it.

Exactly when this fix will be rolled out, however, remains unclear, but it could come with iOS 16.3. However, while this is currently in beta, it probably won’t be rolled out properly for at least a couple of weeks, based on how long Apple tends to take with new versions.

Alternatively, there’s a chance the company will release an iOS 16.2.1 with a fix sometime before that.

Analysis: there are bigger changes coming in iOS 16.3

If we have to wait until iOS 16.3 for this fix, then at least it won’t be the only thing we get in this upcoming release, as at least two significant new features are expected as part of it.

There’s Apple Music Classical for one thing, which is likely to land with iOS 16.3. This is a dedicated classical music app, making it easier to find classical music than within the main Apple Music app.

The update is also expected to bring the ability to protect your Apple ID with a physical security key, when using two factor authentication. This is a more secure option than using an authenticator app or your phone number to verify a login.

So iOS 16.3 probably won’t be a huge update like iOS 17 is expected to be, but for some people these additions could make a big difference.

James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.