iPhone 12 losing service

I have the same issue. Phone calles are dropped, internet unstable, sometimes ppl on the other side can’t hear me or I can’t hear them.

just updated last update lets see if it gets better.

Apple should do something about this.

My iPhone 12 Pro Max drops service and I get “IPhone is not activated, please contact carrier” anywhere from 10-30 times a day. Toggle the airplane mode and service reactivates. Apple gave me new phone, Verizon gave me new SIM, still not working. Have tried digital SIM. Happens mostly at home so not switching towers. Have spent about 12 hours over last few weeks with Apple/Verizon reps restoring, trying different settings to no avail. Sent screenshots to Apple, still no fix. Very frustrated.

Would you think that if this was a simple software/firmware issue, they would have resolved this by now. All this negativity is putting a lot of potential purchasers of this phone at bay...If I knew that this was just a simple fix, I would get one for me and one for my other half tomorrow. Hurry up apple...

My girlfriend is having the same issue as everyone else. iPhone 12 Pro, on t-mobile. Many trips to the local t-mobile stores, phone calls to apple, a replacement phone, and still the same problem. Also my 12 mini on t-mobile has been working perfectly.

Not "everyone else."

My iPhone 12 Pro Max has never dropped a call, nor has it been an issue for any of my friends also on AT&T.

The issue isn't confined to Verizon, but many more Verizon customers seem to be affected.

Personally, I wonder if this is, in part, to blame:

PC Magazine: Here's Why Verizon iPhone Users Must Turn Off 5G Right Now

joxesCA wrote:

But when I see Searching on the iphone screen and I look at the other device I have to benchmark running on a different os this device shows full reception.

Which is precisely what you would see if the iPhone 12 has been instructed to use a frequency band your other phone cannot access.

Think of how this works - only the very newest phones can access those bands, so from the tower's point of view, those bands are the least crowded.

It then says "Hey, no one is using frequency band X, and your device can access it, so go use X."

Unfortunately, something in the tower equipment or antenna is not set up to properly work with X.

This doesn't resolve itself until the carrier either addresses the issue at the tower, or issues a carrier settings update to tell your phone not to report that it can operate on band X.

I admit, I don't know for certain this is what is happening, but it certainly matches all the symptoms worldwide.

It is seemingly more of an issue for users on Verizon with 5G on their plans because of the way they utilize LTE DSS:

PC Magazine: Here's Why Verizon iPhone Users Must Turn Off 5G Right Now

which from the tower's point of view would once again want to use "lightly loaded" band X.

That’s funny... would you like to trade phones hahaaaa...

certain replies are so unnecessary considering the fact if they aren’t experiencing the issue, they obviously don’t even need to reply to anythting

mine Is still here troubling me. Apple store playing ignorant because their diagnostics can’t pick it up... but hey, merry Christmas all

CATManRetired wrote:

One question, sir: Would you like to trade phones?

I highly suspect were we to swap SIM cards, you'd have no issues either, considering you'd be on AT&T, would be on a plan that does not support 5G at all, and the local cell towers may not support the new frequencies many iPhone 12s are being shunted to.

It was implied that ‘everyone else’ meant everyone one else who has posted they are having connection issues. It was not meant as everyone else in the world who has been blessed enough to touch an iPhone. I apologize for the confusion.

Note the additional frequency bands I spoke of above are LTE bands, it's just that Verizon's use of DSS is more likely to shunt users to those bands in some way.

I don't know what Mexican telecom companies are doing.

Same SIM card on my iPhone X work flawlessly, putting the same SIM card on my new iPhone 12 Pro Max, the phone is acting crazy.

My carrier is: Telcel

I'm not into cellular towers tech specs but this should have something to do with the 12s.

As I stated, if it's what all the symptoms feel like, it's either an issue with cell towers or more likely firmware revisions of or certain brands of cellular base station transceivers.

I realize how frustrating it is nevertheless.

Update: So I’m back after dealing with the Apple the last couple weeks. Ultimately, diagnostics didn’t pick anything up. They had me reset my phone as a brand new phone thinking that it may have been something faulty on the back up. I gave it a shot and to no avail, nothing changed. They gave me a new phone and that didn’t make much of a difference. I will admit that the recent iPhone and carrier updates have decreased the frequency of issue and allows the phone to continue to search for a connection instead of just going dead. It still happens enough on a day to day basis to be ticked off with Apple or Verizon, who ever is to blame, after paying 1400 IPhones. Seeing that the updated made a difference so I am assuming they’re working on the issue and after enough updated this issue should be resolved.

Krwshl: I don't think the issue is with Apple. It's with the carrier and how the carrier assigns bands from the cell tower to your phone. I don't know why different phones are assigned bands with stronger signals. You'll probably find that if you are in a different location, your phone works properly.