Have YOU suffered Apple’s 14 Pro Max’s ‘freezing bug’?

Users report their new iPhone 14 Pro Max is regularly freezing. Experts told DailyMail.com that trying to do a ‘hard restart’ is one way to fix the problem

A bug plaguing the new iPhone 14 Pro Max is mysteriously freezing smartphones – sometimes to the point where the device is unusable.

Many users have reported the issue, which appears to happen when users charge their phone, transfer data from previous phones or connecting to WiFi.

It comes despite Apple rolling out several iOS updates since the iPhone 14 Pro Max launched last September.

One user told DailyMail.com how her handset froze and died while charging overnight, meaning her alarm never went off. She had to wake her husband to call a cab in the morning so she wouldn’t be late for work.

Many frustrated smartphone owners are airing similar grievances on social media and Apple’s official forum, noting that they have never had this issue with previous models. 

One user wrote on Apple’s website: ‘I charged my iPhone before I went to bed and woke up, and it’s a black screen and won’t turn on. I’ve tried clicking on the volume +/ – and power button sequence to no avail.

‘Doing a quick online search, others are also experiencing this issue, and is [sic] some Apple bug. Not really sure what to do other than having to visit an Apple Store to get it wiped and OS reinstalled. How frustrating.’

Others report the handset freezing while in use.

One user of the iPhone 14 Pro Max wrote: ‘This is happening to me ALL THE TIME. I couldn’t even restart the phone for 2 hours as it sat on the screen to ‘slide to restart’. It’s infuriating and I have no idea what to do.’

Another described a recurrent problem that Apple Store employees could not fix, saying: ‘With iOS 16.2 I am experiencing random freezes which force me to restart the iPhone completely.

‘I noticed it must have to do with the iPhone losing the internet connection (doesn’t matter if on wifi or cellular) because I open, for example, Mail and it cannot load the mail. Keeps loading and loading, then the Mail app gets all white.’

On social media, users have described devices freezing when they open applications or trigger notifications.

Twitter user Penny Henderson wrote: ‘iPhone 14 pro max, hands down worst phone I’ve owned, glitchy, apps freeze daily, I think I’ll ask for my money back! Apple it’s not ready for sale. Should be ashamed of yourselves.’

Mac and iOS YouTuber Aaron Zollo said this month: ‘More and more people keep telling me all the issues with iOS 16.2. Hope we get a major bug fix soon. Hearing this more each day.’

iPhone 14 Max Pro owners have shared their frustrations on Twitter, with some stating this is the worst iPhone yet

Apple has released several iOS updates since the smartphone launched in September, but none of them seem to fix the freezing bug

In an internal memo obtained by Apple news site MacRumors, Apple admitted investigating a bug that saw iPhone 14 models, including the iPhone 14 Pro Max, freezing when customers transferred data from an older iPhone.

In the memo, Apple said that its engineers were, ‘aware of this issue happening and are investigating.’ 

Apple has rolled out several software updates since iPhone 14 launched in early September last year, with a new 16.3 iOS update rolling out on January 13.

Cellphone expert Steven Athwal of retailer The Big Phone Store told DailyMail.com that while there do appear to be lots of reports of iPhones freezing, there are easy fixes 

‘Apple’s newest mobile phone model, the iPhone 14, hasn’t had the best start, with users reporting problems with the phone constantly freezing,’ said Athwal.

‘If your iPhone does freeze, I suggest trying to do a ‘hard restart’ – this is where you manually turn the phone off and then on again by holding down certain buttons. 

‘Start by pressing the volume UP button, then releasing it, then doing the same with the volume DOWN button.

Users are in an uproar about the freezing bug. An expert told DailyMail.com that this issue may be caused by the iPhone being overloaded

The expert suggested closing open apps to relieve the overload

‘Next, press and hold down the side button (found on the right side of your device) until the Apple logo appears. This should resolve most freezing issues, but if you’re still stuck, try plugging your phone into a PC or laptop and connecting to iTunes instead.’

If you are facing repeated freezes, Athwal suggests some measures that could help and are easily accessible from your iPhone’s Settings menu.

‘Most of the time, iPhones freeze due to being overloaded by too many processes, so if the problem persists, I suggest closing any unused apps or changing what runs in the background,’ he explained.

‘You can find this data in your Settings, and even set apps to only open when you need them.’

‘I also recommend keeping an eye on your storage as this can quickly slow down your iPhone and make it more likely to crash, so delete images and videos you don’t want and transfer files onto iCloud as soon as possible.’

DailyMail.com has reached out to Apple for comment on the issue but has not had a reply.