Apple's 2-million-won iPhone 18 Pro still crashing after emergency fix

An office worker identified only as A recently bought Apple's new iPhone 18 Pro and almost immediately encountered the "panic-full" bug — the phone shut itself off twice without warning. Even after installing an emergency software update Apple released to address the problem, the crashes kept happening. A ended up returning the device within a week of purchase.

Apple pushed an emergency software update to fix the panic-full error affecting the iPhone 18 series — the Pro and Pro Max — but users continue to report the same problem even after applying the patch.

According to the information and communications technology industry, reports of panic-full crashes among some iPhone 18 series users have kept surfacing since Apple released iOS 27.0.1.

Earlier, after panic-full incidents emerged on the iPhone 18 series, Apple issued an emergency software update on Sept. 29 to address the issue. The panic-full bug refers to a phenomenon in which a device unexpectedly shuts down and reboots; when it occurs, the device's diagnostic log records an entry labeled "panic-full."

Users who experienced the problem said the device most often shuts down when they attempt to use Face ID, the phone's facial recognition feature.

Apple acknowledged the error and released an emergency software update 10 days after the iPhone 18 series went on sale. In its update notes, the company said it had "fixed an issue where iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max devices would unexpectedly shut down when Face ID failed."

However, users on SNS and other online communities have continued to report that the panic-full crashes recur even after the update.

As of Wednesday, nine posts had appeared over the past week on the Naver cafe "Asamo" — a community for iPhone, iPad and Mac users — from people complaining that the panic-full problem persisted after the update.

Those users said the shutdown triggered by a Face ID failure had not improved. A told The Herald Business that after the update, the phone froze and shut off while charging as she tried to use facial recognition.

There were also accounts of panic-full crashes occurring during functions unrelated to Face ID. Posts on the same community described the phone suddenly turning off while charging via a wired connection and while watching YouTube. Some users have reportedly requested device replacements or refunds.

Industry insiders have raised questions about whether the root cause is a hardware defect rather than a software issue. Apple, however, said its internal investigation found no hardware problem.

Meanwhile, additional defects in the iPhone 18 series have been reported not only in South Korea but abroad as well.

A notable case emerged Saturday (local time) in the United States, where some iPhone 18 Pro Max units lost all cellular connectivity — blocking phone calls, text messages and mobile data. An Apple spokesperson acknowledged the issue, saying the company had "confirmed that a small number of customers using iPhone 18 Pro Max on the AT&T network in the United States may experience loss of cellular service and be unable to make calls."

To limit further damage, Apple released a carrier settings update exclusively for the US market alongside iOS 27.0.1. Devices that had already lost connectivity could not be restored to the network, however, and Apple carried out full device replacements for affected users.

Industry observers point to hardware defects — including the cellular modem — as the likely cause. While the iPhone 18 Pro Max sold in the United States uses a Qualcomm modem, newer models such as the iPhone 18 Pro are equipped with Apple's own "C2" modem. Apple has not commented on the matter.