The version of iOS 16 that comes preinstalled on the new iPhone 14 range includes a bug that affects activation, and shows up as problems with Messages and FaceTime.
iOS 16 public beta 3 is available
It's not what you would want to rush to do first on your new iPhone 14 Pro, but it is what you should do immediately.
And it's what you may be forced to do. It's possible that just switching on the iPhone 14 or iPhone 14 Pro will get you a prompt to update.
If you do not get the prompt, or if you've already skipped it in the setup process, then you must update manually:
- Open Settings
- Choose General
- Tap on Software Update
- Follow the prompts to install iOS 16.0.1
The good news is that this is a very small update, it's a matter of megabytes instead of gigabytes. So it won't take long to do.
Note that the update is for the iPhone 14 range only, and will not show up in Software Update for older models.
It's unfortunate, and it's not very common that Apple will push out an iOS update for the day of release of new iPhones. But mass production of literally millions of devices takes time, so it's always been possible that the phones would come without the very latest update.
What the update fixes
You can just do the update and forget about it, but Apple has released what may be a partial list of what iOS 16.0.1 fixes.
It says that without the update, you may find:
- You can't receive FaceTime calls or Messages
- A Message sent to another iOS device could show up green instead of blue
- Messages conversations are shown in two separate threads instead of one
- Messages may be shown to come from your email address instead of phone number
There may be assorted other issues, though they are not confirmed by Apple. Mint claims that the iOS 16.0.1 update also fixes a problem with photos appearing soft under certain circumstances, on the iPhone 14 Pro Max.