3G on iPhone 12

marcello927 wrote:

Apple should updates its software to able the 3G selection. It is something so simple. small thing but big difference for user which are in country-side. Please do it asap

Since you apparently didn’t bother to read any of the thread you posted to, I will again point out the flaw in your idea that has been suggested many times in the thread. But I will make it really clear: APPLE DOES NOT CONTROL ANYTHING HAVING TO DO WITH CELLULAR SETTINGS. THE SWITCHES AVAILABLE TO SELECT CELLULAR OPTIONS ARE PLACED ON THE PHONE BY THE CARRIER. NOT BY APPLE. The cellular settings file INSTALLED BY THE CARRIER, NOT BY APPLE, defines the switches that are available.

So if you want a 3G switch contact your carrier; Apple has nothing to do with it. As carriers are in the process of shutting down their 3G networks it’s unlikely they will want to encourage anyone to use 3G, but you can always ask.

AvyH26 wrote:

I am sorry but I did not buy an iPhone 12 for 5G but for tons of other reasons. And there is French saying that says : who can do the most can do the least.

in other word if you do 5G. You can do 3G. If it helps thousands of people and it is a simple firmware fix, then Apple should do it, without us arguing about it. When you pay this much for a smarphone, a good service should follow. And as long as 3G exists in the world, Apple will have to continue offering such options...

As you didn’t read the thread, I’ll explain what it contains. The phone can connect to 3G, and will if there is no LTE or 5G network nearby. Automatically. Whether there is a switch to force 3G when there is 4G/LTE or 5G available is UP TO THE CARRIER. It is not under Apple’s control. The carrier option features are installed in the phone by the carrier, not by Apple. So contact your carrier if you think your phone should offer 3G. Most carriers around the world are in the process of shutting down their 3G networks, which is probably why they have removed the option. By the end of the year there will be very few 3G networks left.

THREE points to make:

• APPLE ISN’T LISTENING! This is a user to user forum. To contact Apple use the Contact Support link at the top of this page.
• APPLE CAN’T FIX IT! The network options available on the phone are determined by the carrier; when you activate the phone with a carrier the carrier sends over a Carrier Data file that determines what features and what options are available on the phone. If there is no 3G option then the carrier doesn’t want you to have it. You really need to contact your carrier if you are not satisfied with the service they are providing, or switch carriers.
• 3G, 4G and 5G HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH VOICE CALLS! Voice calls use analog time-division-multiplex (TDMA) GSM; 3G, 4G and 5G are only meaningful for data; there is a special case if you have Voice over LTE (VoLTE) enabled then voice calls will use LTE. But you can turn this feature off in Settings/Cellular, and you should if your LTE signal is weak. If there is no LTE available it will automatically revert to GSM.

The switch selectable modes are supplied by the carrier data file that your carrier installs on the phone when you connect to their network. The iPhone 12 series supports 3G (GSM), but most carriers do not provide a switch to force the phone to use 3G. If you are in a 3G area that does not have LTE or 5G the phone will work on 3G. If you don’t have an option to select 3G your carrier doesn’t want you to have the ability to switch to 3G. You need to contact the carrier to see why they won’t let you select it.

However, carriers are in the process of shutting down their 3G networks, so that may be why your carrier doesn’t provide a way to select it. In the US Verizon is shutting down theirs at the end of 2020, and AT&T at the end of 2021. I just did a brief search, and it appears that all of the UK carriers will be turning off 3G within a year or two, depending on the carrier. Meanwhile, they are reducing 3G coverage to reutilise the bandwidth and antenna space occupied by 3G for LTE and 5G.

My AT&T iPhone XR has never had a 3G setting in the 2 years since I got it.

EXACTLY the same issue here!

OK Ill give you the benefit of the 11 hours Ive spent on the phone and in store with both Apple and also my supplier (Tesco).

Tesco run on O2 in the UK. I also live in an area with poor 4G reception and have calls constantly dropping.

Id say for 10 of the 11 hours ive spent trying to resolve this in the past week were some of the MOST frustrating but i have eventually found out the reason if not a solution..

Apple have been quite helpful BUT - They have gone from blaming the provider for providing an incorrect SIM card to - "Its a 5G phone and 3G is being phased out" - to eventually telling me to go back to Tesco as their carrier probably doesnt offer 3G.

Tesco havent got a clue!! They clearly advertise iphone 12's (I have a mini) as having 3G capability. Having been in store twice in the last 2 days. The eventual answer I got was that they will change their website to remove the 3G part from the specification, cancel my contract and let me choose a lesser phone. Not in any way good enough!!

Apparently the Sim card they have given me does have 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G capability - They put it into an Iphone 10 in store and confirmed this. If I pop it into my Iphone 12 - It only shows 4G and 5G as being available. Although they are now in the process of sending a replacement phone and sim card "just in case".

The issue isnt with the phone. Its perfectly capable of receiving 3G PROVIDED the carrier lets it!! Tesco as stated above use O2 as their carrier. O2 remove the capability of the phone and Sim to receive and switch to 3G - restricting it to 4G and 5G only. My issue is making calls at home (poor 4G and no 5G)......Most providers give you the option to use wifi calling (i.e switching voice calls to your home internet) O2 dont as standard - They Charge for it. (Most other providers give it for free). Tesco - as a reseller simply dont have a clue.

In summary - The phone will do 3G, The sim will do 3G, The carrier doesnt let either of them use it! I really hope that helps. Im going back to Tesco for breach of contract and hopefully they will resolve it in 1 way or another (although they did state they are moving from a Pay as you go arrangement to a pay monthly one with O2 in June this year) - Apparently the new contract uses more towers so "might" be better on 4G in my area.

Might have a solution for you. I have the same problem you do.LTE sucks where I live and no 5G.....

Iphone 12 mini, videotron carrier. IOS 14.4

Videotron sent a carrier update to all 5g compatible sim cards. So if you had a 5G compatible device, one day you probably woke up like me on LTE or 5G. No more 3G option.

After Speaking to a Tech at videotron, he told me to call customer service and tell them to remove/cancel VOLTE from my plan.

Next plug in PC start itunes, wait for a carrier settings update wich will appear after a few minutes, then done deal 3G!

Remember no more LTE after that.

levent128 wrote:

This is definitely an Apple GUI issue.

No, this is definitely a carrier issue. Apple does not control the switches in Settings/Cellular(aka mobile data). The switches are enabled or disabled by the carrier in the carrier settings file that is installed by the carrier when you activate the phone with that carrier. Other than requiring that it conform to iOS standards, Apple has no say in what settings the carrier wants you to have or doesn’t want you to have. And most carriers don’t want you to be able to force your phone to use 3G because all carriers, worldwide, are in the process of phasing out their 3G networks so they can reuse the towers and bandwidth for 5G.

Not to mention that a weak 4G signal will still transfer data faster than a strong 3G signal. If there is no 4G and no 5G your phone will automatically connect to 3G, without a switch.

DSfisher101 wrote:

I agree completely, I have a Pro model and I am disappointed that it can’t switch to 3G this obviously need to be considered because the entire world is not yet at 5G nonetheless 4g.

For a premium phone it shouldn’t have this limitation, and Apple will begin to get complaints

As explained in the thread you apparently didn’t read, whether or not there is a switch for 3G is determined by your carrier, who installs a carrier settings file when you connect to their network. As most carriers are shutting down their 3G networks within the next year it isn’t surprising they don’t want you to be able to select it. The phone will still work on 3G, however, if 4G and 5G are not available. You just can’t force the phone to use 3G if other network options are available. But you need to complain to your carrier if you don’t agree with your carrier’s decision. Note that in the US if your carrier is Verizon you have only one more month before Verizon shuts down their 3G network completely. And AT&T a year from now.

Back at you!

What you missed, probably because you didn’t bother to read the thread, is that Apple does not control the switches that are available in cellular settings. The switches to select the bands that can be forced are provided by the carrier in the Carrier Settings file that is installed when you first register with the carrier. If there is no 3G switch it is because Telstra doesn’t want you to have it, so take it up with Telstra.

levent128 wrote:

This is not a technology problem either. This is just not wanting to invest in a proper User Interface on Apple's part.

Doe ANYONE in this thread get the fact that Apple does not choose what cellular option settings are available on an iPhone? The options that you can choose are installed in iOS BY THE CARRIER WHEN THE PHONE IS ACTIVATED, NOT BY APPLE. Obviously not, because it has been explained in the thread many times, but then who bothers to read a thread before posting to it?

The reason why some phones don’t have the option for 3G is because of HD Voice/EVS optimizations.

The iPhone 12 series are optimized for VOLTE and EVS/5G use in all carriers around the world, regardless of which model numbers. with Samsung phones, in the other hand, requires specific models to work with VOLTE, enhanced voice services plus 5G on certain carriers.

that’s why carriers that do not support voiceover LTE will have options for turning off 4G/5G and jumping all the way back from Tucci to 3G.

if history is an indication, in 2012 when Apple released the iPhone 5, certain carriers support LTE and there is no more option to revert back to 2G edge.

I should also point out that the enable 3G option was only introduced in iOS 6.

from my personal experience, turning off 4G does not increase battery life, iPhones are optimized to work on the latest network standards, if the coverage isn’t great, try switching to a different carrier instead.

you can Google search wireless carrier support for iPhone in whatever constant you’re in, and then find your country to find out which carrier does not support 5G and VOLTE and choose that one so you have an option to revert back to the old legacy 3G network, 3G is much slower than the newer networks. And it’s also going away soon.

already a revolution wrote:

The only option to have options is to never upgrade your software and firmware that way in the future you wont have that much restrictions if i have not been upgraded my ios from ios 14.2. now i will be happy customer not frustrated today my phone battery last very little and i am really dissapointed i need either to buy iphone 12 pro max which is huge or to wait for firmware fix which can happen never... ot to switch to something else..

Same phone iphone 12 mini

ios 14..2 - There is a 3g option , same phone iphone 12 mini ios 14.5.1 3g option removed same carrier so its not carrier fault simply apple provided big restriction in order to sale more batteries and more phones... Marketing..

here i am showing 2 pictures

SAME sim card

2 different firmwares 2 iphones...

one of them have 3g/4g other one have only 4g lte /5g... after the upgrade different models of iphones .

IF I upgrade phone who still have 3g to the latest firmware it will loose that option as well.. apple rulez.

The photo that shows 3G is not an iPhone 12. 3G with most carriers has never been available to select on any iPhone 12, regardless of the version of iOS 14 on the phone. You can verify this by reading historical posts in this forum from the first release if the iPhone 12 series, starting with the very first post in this thread from TomLondon74 on November 1, 2020.

Lawrence Finch wrote:

Your carrier controls what celllar switches are available on your phone; this is not under Apple’s control. Most carriers are shutting down their 3G networks (In the US AT&T announced that they were shutting it down early next year), so if your phone doesn’t have an option for 3G your carrier doesn’t want you to use it.

Maybe they'll believe you....

While you can’t select 3G as a default, it will use 3G if 4G and 5G are not available or if the 4G signal is much weaker than 3G. You can check with your carrier for a local outage, or use this crowd-sourced site: Down Detector - outages

Incorrect. In the UK we have GSM 2G, WCDMA/HSDPA 3G, LTE 4G. No signs of the 3G network being decommissioned at all as most carriers don’t even support VoLTE and fall back to 3G for voice. The 2G GSM networks are also all still fully functional.

the original posters problem is nothing to do with carrier settings. There is just NO option on the iPhone 12 to manually force 3G only. It just doesn’t exist. There’s only 4G, 5G auto and 5G on. I too have had a iPhone 8 and had the 4G 3G selector toggle. Same carrier, same carrier settings version, no option on the iPhone 12. And I’m yet to see one that does have the option.

we also don’t have our carriers making that many changes using carrier updates. Largely our Apple devices are unrestricted and the carrier settings files just provide APN data.