3G on iPhone 12

Hey all, wanted to share my latest experience that has finally led me to throw in the towel and return my iPhone 12 Pro:

My case was escalated with Apple and I talked to Senior Support there who laid out what he thought would be a solution. He said I simply need to get Verizon Senior Tech on the phone and ask them to "activate the MEID" - I don't remember the full details, but sounds like the MEID is the 3G radio in the phone. VZW was activating using ICCID and IMEI.

I called Verizon and got Senior tech on the phone, but he very quickly informed me that what Apple and I were asking was not possible. I believe he said "We don't activate MEID anymore." And then gave me the the story that many of you have heard, that Verizon (and other carriers?) will stop supporting 3G at the end of the year. I asked him what all of us customers in rural (or not so rural areas where there is no 4G) areas are supposed to do and he didn't really have a good answer.

I am looking at Sprint who does have good coverage in my area.

Good luck to all!

@poleking I think it’s because not everyone’s phones are switching automatically to 3G. For example, with my iPhone 12pro it is not going to 3G (when it did in the same area with other models) and instead dropping the signal all together. (Dropped calls, “no signal” appearing). There are other forums on this issue I believe. I had better coverage with my 8 as it is now.

could everyone just use WiFi calling when indoors?

I had to use that for years as where I live I didn’t even get 3G in my house. Until recently they erected a new phone mast near my house.

But just to clarify to everyone all the iPhone 12 series do support 3G. As per the specs

as other people have stated has anyone compared the carrier settings from their older models of phones to their new one?

as we have seen that Verizon are stopping 3G

I personally think that people need to stop focusing on the option to turn 3G on.

the options on the mobile data screen is to allow the phone to connect to 5G or below

or to connect to 4G and below. Excluding 5G

Hi guys, just seen this discussion as I’m having the same problem, my new 12 max pro does not connect to 3G. I live in Cornwall and am using o2 sim, which supports 2g, 3G, 4g,5g. My other iPhone XS does use 2g and3g where I am so it would appear to me to be a problem specific to my 12 max. As others have commented, a very expensive paper weight, I’m reluctant to return the phone as I specifically purchased it to use with my Apple Watch 6 connectivity and the fantastic camera, but very disappointed that in all other respects it’s all but useless as we tour a lot in a motorhome where mobile data connection, for us, is essential. Look forward to further discussion and hopefully a fix on this problem

Thanks deggie, I “think” I might have found a solution, see attached photo, what I’ve done is switched off data roaming, as you can see my phone is using 3G, not sure if this is a perfect solution but others with greater knowledge will no doubt let me know

curly

Ok, so I’ve just driven up road away from my home, and, yes I still have a data connection, this time 4g😁 and with wi-fi switched back on, not connected to a network, has this solved it? The photo is taken parked about a mile from my home, now I know BT is good, but not that good🤣

The issue for me isn't that I can't get 3G, it's that when I'm in a zone with spotty LTE I can't select 3G, the phone continues to use the less than optimal connection, and it just so happens that area with a less than optimal LTE connection is my home, but it has wonderful 3G service. On my older phone I would select 3G when at home and have no issues. This is just a software setting that Apple could change if they wanted to, they are just choosing to only give you the latest three bands in the list, why is beyond me. It's also beyond me why the phone can't figure out that there is 4 bars 3G and 1 bar LTE and continues to choose the LTE, I would like a setting to choose quality connection over speed. Even having said that, on the older phone I get 12 Mbps on 3G and 1-5 Mbps on LTE (when it's in just the right position) because of the congestion.

I stand corrected, I should have said something like LTE is my 4G.

Can you elaborate on why you think this issue is my carrier and not Apple? The first Apple support rep told me that, so I went to my carrier and they said absolutely not it's Apple's software. I went back to Apple, was escalated to a senior support rep who said there was nothing that could be done and that I should talk to the carrier about a device to boost signal in the house and that if I provide feedback to Apple they might fix it in some future version. I emailed Tim Cook, because I'm so frustrated, of course no response, lol.

jbourette wrote:

I stand corrected, I should have said something like LTE is my 4G.

Can you elaborate on why you think this issue is my carrier and not Apple? The first Apple support rep told me that, so I went to my carrier and they said absolutely not it's Apple's software.

Because it's the carrier who provides the carrier settings. You may occasionally see a request to do a carrier update on your phone. It is pretty much a given that front line cellular customer service reps will blame everything on Apple, especially if it's something they're not well educated about or can't actually do anything about. Oh, and I worked for Verizon Wireless for 20 years.

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.

You can be lucky. Here in Germany the IPhone12 pro does not support 5G in areas where 5G is available. And it often switch to 3G where 4G and 5G is available.

Many users has the Problem, but Apple and Telekom does not help.

What level of 5G is available? 5G in general is much shorter range than LTE, so even in an area where is is supposedly available it may not be a strong enough signal to maintain a connection. And millimeter wavelength 5G (the fastest) has a range about the same as Wi-Fi, so if you can’t see the node from your location you probably can’t connect to it.

Carriers around the world are shutting down their 3G networks. In the US, AT&T and Verizon will kill 3G service at the end of 2021, so they are trying to “encourage” users to stop using it, and they are repurposing 3G antenna real estate for expanded LTE and 5G, so even before it is gone 3G service will become less reliable.

kdnwdl11 wrote:

I spoke with Apple and that provided the specs to show the phone is 3g compatible but carrier is limiting service capabilities.

And that is something about which Apple can do nothing. The carriers determine what happens on their networks.

Just noticed this on my iPhone 12 Pro too. At first I thought it wasn’t compatible with 3G at all, as the option to use 3G isn’t available until I saw it automatically switch to 3G in my local shopping centre’s car park. It doesn’t make sense

as some areas have poor 4G or no 5G coverage.

They seem to be in a rush to get rid of 3G. It is only starting to be phased out by carriers. Don’t see any reason why they can’t wait until then to roll out an update to remove the option once it’s completely gone.