iPhone 12 losing service

I just travel to Central American, and my iPhone 12 pro did not connect to any network but my mother iPhone X , and my sons iPhone SE was able to connect to the 3g networks, I got it say, it is a software problem on the 12.

We all t-mobile customers.

The only reason we have T-Mobile is because they give you free 3g access and texting, international. 3g It works fine with FaceTime audio calls.

I have literally the same problem. Strangely enough I even picked up my phone on Friday, activated on Saturday then drove 10 minutes (to the the AT&T store to drop off my old phone) when I noticed I did not have cell service. At this point I have:

-Spent 2 hours at the AT&T store with the manager and another employee who also called customer service.

-They changed my sim to a new 4G, then a 5G then back to my original from iPhone 8, nothing worked.

-They called tech support who reregistered my phone and checked the IMEI and the ICCID all ok, they reset my networks and returned the phone to factory settings. No dice.

-Ultimately told me the device was defective and I needed to return it to Apple.

-I went to the Apple store. They could not make it get cell service so gave me a new phone.

-Logged into the new phone, still no cellular service.

-I can make and receive calls, and green texts, but no blue texts or internet or facetime

-I spent 4-5 hours on the phone with Apple who told me that my LOCKED SIM was the issue and needed to be unlocked by AT&T so I went online to AT&T to get my sim unlocked. That did not work.

-I spent a few more hours on the phone with AT&T who told me they had seen the issue and after doing all of the same trouble shooting I needed a special code on my phone but a manager needed to do it. I waited two days and called back. No update.

-I waited 2 more days and called AT&T again who told me the case had been closed and my voicemail issue was resolved. WHAT??

-I spoke with another person at AT&T who did all of the trouble shooting again with no luck and said she would have to reopen the ticket.

-Today I called AT&T again spoke with yet another person who did all of the trouble shooting. She engaged her manager and finally told me to go to AT&T to get a new 5G sim card which I did. No luck.

Any ideas that could help me get this paperweight to work as a cell phone?

The bottom line is it seems to be a configuration issue that only AT&T can sort out. The "No Service" message means AT&T's cell towers are not properly recognizing it and allowing it to connect to the AT&T network - and that's either a database configuration error, a SIM card error, or both.

Not getting Internet is a cellular data configuration error on AT&Ts part unless you are connected to Wi-Fi.

AT&T is a pretty good carrier, but when things go wrong it can often be quite the nightmare before you finally reach the person who can indeed resolve the issue.

A great way to test this sort of thing is to have them take the SIM card from your phone and put it in a different phone (either iPhone or Android that takes that size SIM) and see if it reports receiving service; if it doesn't that proves the issue is on AT&T's end.

jackiefromtonawanda wrote:

I gave up on my iPhone six and splurged on the iPhone 12 mini. Garbage. Pure garbage. The six worked better than this!

Return it within 14 days for a full refund and buy something else.

Correct your not getting anywhere. The PHONE states it is deactivated anytime is loses reception... please explain how that’s a database issue when the phone itself loses internal activation when it loses connection to the database? The only thing I can see would be a phone carrier firmware issue, and like with CSpire that issue would fall on the carrier, but the issue is broader then one single carrier’s firmware and therefore is either an Apple OS issue or hardware issue. The only other thing it could be would be faulty API supplied to the carriers.

Has anybody had any luck with getting this fixed 12 pro max loosing service and will not regain service until I airplane toggle or reboot the phone in areas with great service and areas with decent service that doesn’t matter it happens more closer to towers and also get the iPhone not activated contact your carrier message apple support completely ignoring me now carrier has tried everything to figure it out complete network team worked on it for weeks new SIM cards 3xs and apple replaced phone once also replicated this problem for apple advisor and never heard anything back carrier is visible through Verizon and also had the actual Verizon team help as well apple store admitted to the problem I’m overwhelmed completely any help would be so appreciated

I had the same problem when using my iPhone 12 Pro Max in my house. I only got one bar and had to make/take calls on my patio. Apple Support told me to set phone to WiFi calling when home. Doesn’t cost anything and fixed the problem.

From experience it does not make a difference. Same issue exist. I thought it resolved but after driving to an area where towers switch it goes back to no service so it appears to be That issue between tower switch to different tech as one is 5G lte the other only shows 5G lte or if I hit my home wifi all 3 show no service for a time. Eventually it will finally come on after 20 min or so or airplane on and off does it as well.

Of course they said that; they’re not going to admit to something that they would then have to spend money to fix.

However time and time again, Apple engineers have worked with Verizon personnel who have magically fixed the issue for some customers with no changes to their device.

Amazing.

Dang. So, I am not the only one. Whew. I just got a new 12 mini from VZW a few days ago. I love the iPhone, but not its VZW service in my rural home area. Lots of low signals and "No Service" (can't even do phone calls and SMSes). Older iPhones (6+, and 11 Pro Max) can because of 3G (CDMA). Even 1X if it is really bad. No 3G and 1X from VZW for 12 mini. Only 5G and 4G LTE. :(

It's fine outside of my rural home area though like in the local busy city, stores including VZW's, etc. VZW store's helpful people found no issues over there even after removing and inserting SIM cards in both my old 6 + and new one.

dannejanne wrote:

Wow is this still not fixed? I'm in Sweden and my iPhone 12 was unusable. Almost every day at work my phone would drop cellular and could not pick it up again automatically (even though it showed it had signal). However iPhone 13 has no such issue at all. Glad I returned the 12. Obvious defect with the 12's.

I have to agree with Dogcow-Moof, this is not something Apple can fix. DC-Moof gives the concept outline for the problem in an earlier post although the exact channels and bands may be slightly different in each region, and support in later models might include new bands which are now added by the network but not in older hardware.

Like Dogcow-Moof I have 'a little experience' of networking and RF engineering. Enough to have been found walking the streets near my office to troubleshoot a mysterious call drop in the days when 3G was new technology. We found it... a defective sector antenna which had been causing problems for months. That was the antenna to which users were preferentially assigned for load balancing because it always had a low utilisation (because it dropped all calls within seconds). The indications on my phone were very similar to what you describe, lost service although the signal strength indicator looks OK, and it only hits at selected locations - anywhere else is good.

Apple don't keep us volunteers informed of what they know or acknowledge.

If I spent £1000 on a phone that had no service I would take it back or go  here: Get Support

Then return it for a full refund; I love mine.

you can get it back online by switching network under network settings (if abroad)

Works better for me than airplane mode on/off

You obviously didn’t read my post.

It’s the carriers as they roll out 5G and extended LTE frequencies, not the phone.