MMS Picture Messaging not working on iPhone 11

Deggie, you're right, what I was trying to prove is restoring the backup from my XR is causing the issue with MMS on ANY iPhone, not the iPhone 11, and it's not the sim, it's not the carrier. I never had a phone lock itself after a factory reset and it's the Apple software that did it.

Another alternative would be is for me to use a 3rd party backup software to backup my data, do another restore and apply that backup. The iTunes backup is the culprit, I was just hoping someone else experienced this and could provide some insight.

Deggie, the senior apple tech affirmed that they have no way of looking at an IMEI's status, what carrier it originated or is locked to, etc. As mentioned earlier, without the backup MMS works on this and other phones. After restoring my backup to ANY iPhone, MMS stops working. My iPhone 11 recently is having another issue, so I moved my Mint sim to another iPhone and suddenly all these MMS messages popped up. There's definitely something in the backup causing MMS to not work, on any iPhone.

Deggie, per my write up and responses, it's definitely the backup that's causing the issue. I confirmed using my sim in multiple phones WITHOUT the backup that MMS works. After applying it to the iPhone 7Plus or my iPhone 11, MMS stops working.

I just got off the phone with another Apple Senior tech and they confirmed numerous times that they have no visibility to IMEI's. Apple has absolutely no way to lookup an IMEI and see it's status. So I'm stuck with my iPhone 7Plus being locked, I have no idea what carrier it came from as I've used it on multiple over the years.

Apple tech support, in my experience with 10-12 different reps, is TERRIBLE!!!! I'm better off going to Wal-mart for help, no joke. I've met Walmart employees in electronics that probably should work for Apple. Very, very frustrating.

I had an iPhone 7Plus on Xfinity in early 2019, then switched to an Xfinity Iphone XR mid-year. I put the Mint sim into the old iPhone 7Plus and MMS is working fine, no issues. I'm going to try and take the 11 backup with the issue and restore it to the 7Plus and see if the issue persists. Again, not sure what the carrier has to do with this issue.

I traded in my XR for the other iphone 11. That XR was bought outright by my friend, used for 90 days, then he sold it to me but forgot to request an unlock. I used it for 4 months and Xfinity refuses to unlock it, even after escalating the issue numerous times. They said "the original owner will need to use the phone for 60 days AND request an unlock." They wouldn't let him unlock it unless it's active on his account for another 60 days. They won't unlock it even though I met all the other terms, so I traded it in for $700 at Costco. The iTunes backup started on a Verizon 5s then went to a Boost 5s, then a Sprint 6 then to an AT&T 6s, then to a Sprint 6s on Ring Plus moved to Ting, then to a 6S Plus on Sprint, then to a Verizon 7+ to Xfinity (unlocked) then to the XR. It's going from the XR to the 11 where the issue started. Blame the carrier but I've been through quiet a few and never had this issue.

I want to add that I have (2) iPhone 11's with T-Mobile, one was bought new and is still locked, the other I bought used and is not blacklisted but is locked.

I took the post-paid Tmobile sim from the new i-11 and put it in the used i-11, cannot send MMS, but everything else works.

I took the Mint sim from the used i-11 and put it in the new i-11, MMS WORKS! No issues

Cannot figure out why the used phone won't work with a post-paid tmobile sim, and the Mint mobile sim works fine with the new i-11 that's still locked.

ChrisJ4203, do you think maybe the used phone might’ve not been from T-Mobile, possible from an MVNO? I still can’t understand why putting my sim in other iPhone 11’s without touching the apn or anything, works fine. That still doesn’t explain why it works after a factory restore, but not when I do a restore from backup. Something in the backup is causing an issue. Only one of the techs contacted T-Mobile and they said the phone is not blacklisted or anything. None of the others said contact the carrier. So you’re saying to contact the carrier and have them fix it, then even if I do another restore from backup after that, it’ll be fixed?

Well, thanks for the useless false information. I contacted T-Mobile and they verified the phone is in good standing, and APN settings are set automatically with IOS 13. I then spoke with their tech and they confirmed it's not a carrier issue. They then transferred me to Apple Tech Support who had no clue how to fix it, but I asked them and they confirmed it's not a carrier issue, they said it's an issue with something in the backup. I was then transferred to a Senior Apple Tech who also confirmed it's not a carrier issue. She said "Apple has no way of fixing this for you". I cannot understand it being a carrier issue if using this sim in 3 other iPhones, works, and my friends and my girlfriends t-mobile sims do not work as well as my Mint mobile one. It works without the backup, not sure how many times I have to repeat that.

If I call both carrier(s), again, is there something else I can ask them to do? As of now, the issue is something in the backup is causing this, NOT the carrier as mentioned by all you Level 10's on here. And please stop giving me false information.

Deggie, well explain this. I was sending MMS messages on my old iPhone 7+ to my son earlier and things were working. I decided to do a restore of the backup I made from my 11, which came from my XR. MMS stopped working. So I thought, let me try doing a full Restore to factory settings via iTunes. The 7+ I had was on Verizon for a few months before we moved it to Xfinity. Tonight I used it on Mint Mobile to send MMS pictures to my son's android phone. Well guess what, atfer the restore it's now locked to SPRINT!!!! I tried my Xfinity sim, Verizon sim, AT&T sim, Tmobile sim, Mint sim, and the only one that works is Sprint. Try explaining that one.... This really sucks, I'm not making any of this up, now I can't sell my iPhone 7+ because it's suddenly locked to Sprint and they are the worse with unlocking. I'm getting real frustrated with this whole lock phone issue.

So MMS works with my Mint Mobile Sim in my girlfriend iPhone 11, my friends iPhone 11 and USED TO work in my iPhone 7+ up until tonight after the Restore.