Apple iPhone 16 Series in Pakistan Faces Major Uncovered Fault

iPhone 16 Series Users in Pakistan Face Major Issues

Customers of the latest iPhone 16 series, such as the much-awaited iPhone 16 Pro Max, are experiencing severe issues that are frustrating everyone in Pakistan. Even after paying high prices for PTA-verified phones, customers claim that their phones become totally dead during a call or while checking messages and cannot be answered for important calls or even sent messages.

Expensive Investment Turns Disappointing

For those who invested more than Rs. 600,000 in Apple’s new flagship device, the experience has been embarrassing and disappointing. A recent Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad survey showed that a lot of customers are facing this annoying glitch. The phone suddenly freezes when a call arrives or when users attempt to engage with messages, essentially rendering the phone a useless brick for these periods of time.

Customers Feel Cheated

One agitated customer from Islamabad recounted, “I purchased the Pro Max thinking I was getting the world’s best phone, but it freezes at the most inopportune moments. I feel utterly duped.”

Lack of Support from Sellers and Distributors

Complaints have particularly increased at The Apple Shop in Star City Mall, Saddar, Karachi, where clients complain of being left helpless with frozen phones. Additionally, sellers take no responsibility for the internal hardware faults, claiming that since the phones are sealed imports, they are not responsible.

Mercantile, the licensed distributor of iPhones in Pakistan, has been no different. Customers report being instructed to repeatedly factory reset their phones before being told to “call Apple support.” And since Apple does not have a formal presence in Pakistan, the support line is useless, with customers getting stuck in a vicious loop.

Even some Mercantile representatives accused local networks such as Telenor, but customers claim that their SIM cards are fine to use in previous iPhone models. One customer in Islamabad said:

“They asked me to replace the SIM, but when I inserted it in my old iPhone 14 Pro Max, there was no issue. The issue must be with the new phone, not the network.”

We contacted Mercantile for a formal statement but have not heard from them as of yet.

Problem Exists Globally

This problem isn’t just confined to Pakistan. Foreign Reddit users cite the same issues, explaining that calls from non-Apple devices ring through normally, but calls from other iPhones will freeze the phone. Even authorized Apple support hasn’t been much assistance.

One user said, “I’ve tried airplane mode, network resets, and the latest iOS update. Apple support wasn’t very helpful.”

Some frustrated buyers have even approached law enforcement and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), only to be redirected to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA). Despite charging hefty taxes on imported iPhones — sometimes over 25% of the phone’s price — the PTA has remained silent on the issue.

Customers feel that as the telecom regulator, PTA must safeguard purchasers and also penalize sellers.

Apple has also not made any comments.

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