Apple confirms new serious issues for iPhone 14 buyers

It’s been a bumpy start for iPhone 14 owners. Yesterday, Apple released iOS 16.0.1 specifically to address issues with data migration, authorization, and range photos. Today, the company confirmed additional issues with iMessage and FaceTime.

In a new support document, Apple also acknowledged that “iMessage and FaceTime may not complete activation on the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro” and acknowledged that problems may still occur even after updating to iOS 16.0.1.

The Apple iPhone 14 and 14 Pro models had problems at launch

NurPhoto via Getty Images

Breaking down the issues, Apple states that “After you set up your iPhone, you may experience one or more of the following issues”:

• You cannot receive iMessages or FaceTime calls.
• You see a green message bubble instead of a blue one when you send a message to another Apple device.
• Conversations in Messages appear as two separate threads instead of one.
• Recipients see your messages coming from the wrong account, such as your email address, if you chose your phone number.

While the issues are clear, the solution is not. In its support document, Apple recommends users update to iOS 16.0.1 “to resolve this”, but a) these bugs are not listed in the iOS 16.0.1 release notes and b) Apple offers backup steps if you’re “still having issues” after updating. These are:

1. In the Settings app, tap Cellular. Make sure your phone line is on. If you use multiple SIM cards, make sure the phone number you want to use is selected and turned on.
2. In the Settings app, tap Messages. Then tap Send & Receive.
3. Tap the phone number you want to use with Messages.
4. Go back to the Settings app and tap on “FaceTime”.
5. Tap the phone number you want to use with FaceTime.

End? Not exactly.

In an internal Apple memo seen by MacRumors, Apple acknowledges the activation issues and states that “there are no current official fixes and that support staff should not create a fix [case] about the problem”. The recommended course of action internally is also different:

“”Connect to a Mac or a PC with iTunes” in the initial iOS sign-on process when prompted to connect to a Wi-Fi network and then return to the previous screen and try Wi-Fi again until the activation goes through successful,” MacRumors quoted the report as saying.

I’ve reached out to Apple for clarification on what iOS 16.0.1 contains and the conflicting information in the leaked memo. I’ll update this post when/if I get a response. In the meantime, I would strongly advise owners of older iPhones to go for iOS 15.7 rather than iOS 16, which is currently a trash can for iPhones of all ages.

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