The bottom line: Some iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max owners have watched the phone freeze and then restart after a failed Face ID attempt. Apple told 9to5Mac that a software fix is coming. As of Friday, Sept. 25, that update hadn't been released. If your phone does exactly this, plan to install the update before you exchange the hardware.
In its Sept. 23 report, 9to5Mac said Apple confirmed directly to the publication that an update addressing the reboot problem was in development and should arrive early the following week. Apple's retrieved support pages carried no notice about the bug. The company hasn't published a cause, a count of affected phones or a production range either. For now, treat the confirmation as what it is: reporting by 9to5Mac, not a formal Apple announcement.
Apple's security releases list still showed iOS and iPadOS 27, released Sept. 14, as the latest iPhone software when checked on Sept. 25. There was no iOS 27.0.1 entry. The same page does list watchOS 27.0.1, but that update is for the Apple Watch, not the pending iPhone fix, and it's easy to misread if you go looking for the fix yourself.
What the failure looks like
9to5Mac reproduced the problem on an iPhone 18 Pro by trying to authenticate into the Passwords app with the user's face obscured. Face ID failed, the phone stopped responding to touch, and it restarted several seconds later. It also produced a panic log in the iPhone Analytics section of Settings.
The report has limits worth keeping in mind. The trigger it describes is a failed Face ID check inside a protected app; the reporting doesn't show that an ordinary failed unlock at the lock screen causes the same restart. 9to5Mac also said the problem didn't appear to affect every owner, and its description of the issue as reasonably widespread came from reader and social-media reports. The test phone was a European iPhone 18 Pro, and no U.S. case count has been established.
Is iOS 27.0.1 the fix?
Not confirmed. Also on Sept. 23, MacRumors reported seeing iOS 27.0.1 in its website logs. It called the version a likely minor bug-fix and/or security update, and it figured Face ID-related fixes were likely given the complaints from iPhone 18 Pro users. But it didn't say Apple had tied that version to the reboot bug, and it didn't know the release date.
On timing, all anyone can do is count days. Measured from a Wednesday, Sept. 23 report, “early next week” points to the week of Sept. 28. Apple gave no exact date.
What to do while you wait
- Back up first. Apple's instructions for updating an iPhone say to back up the device before you install an update.
- Know where to look. Updates show up under Settings > General > Software Update. Turn on Automatic Updates in that same section if you'd rather the update install on its own. Apple says automatic updates install overnight while the iPhone is charging and on Wi-Fi, and you get a notice first.
- Install on power and Wi-Fi. Apple says a wireless update should be done with the phone connected to both.
- For this specific symptom, update before swapping hardware. 9to5Mac's view is that a replacement shouldn't be needed because a software fix is coming. That's the publication's conclusion, not a diagnosis of your phone.
Apple's retrieved support pages list no temporary workaround for this bug. And a fix for this reported problem doesn't rule out a separate hardware or software fault on an individual phone. If your phone keeps restarting after the update installs, or if the restarts don't follow a failed Face ID attempt, the retrieved sources do not establish that this reported bug is the cause.
Shoppers have less to act on. The remedy as reported is software, and Apple hasn't linked the problem to particular units, regions or build dates, so there's no way to pick a phone that's certain to avoid it. Anyone who would rather not deal with the bug can wait until the update appears on Apple's release list.