3G on iPhone 12

If your carrier is not offering 3G as an option in your area there is nothing that Apple can do about it. As POLEKING posted the iPhone 12's all have a radio that supports 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, etc. but which bands you are allowed to use with your cell service provider is determined by them, not Apple. As Idris already said your carrier has a file on your iPhone that determines the settings with their network, if they wish to include a 3G option in that file, whether explicitly where you can select it or as a fallback, is totally up to them. So go ahead and return your iPhone if you wish but it already can use 3G and you can wait until the cows come home.

If you are using a Verizon phone, or an MVNO that uses Verizon, they use CDMA EVDO as their 3G. That is also going away in the near future. Same thing for the cell provider formerly known as Sprint.

This option that people are desperate for is redundant. The phone will automatically connect to 3G. The option is there to limit 5G if you wish or to use 4G and below. I don’t understand how people are not understanding that.

beyond me

Please stop implying that the people who are experiencing this issue do not know what they are talking about. My iPhone 12 Pro will NOT connect to 3G. Right now it is sitting, without a signal next to my XR which DOES connect to 3G - 4 bars.

Both Apple and Verizon have acknowledged this issue, and you continuing to tell us that we are not experiencing this issue is not helpful at best, and condescending at worst.

I see you posted the image of the screen above, thanks for that. It is baffling that your phone connects to 3G and mine and others do not. @POLEKING what carrier are you using?

Thanks

Just got my Pro max 12 today living in rural Virginia and the phone will not pick up in my area. We are mostly 3g I’ve spent hours on the phone with Verizon . We tried the new and old SIM card along with the 5g auto options nothing works .

Same issue. I live in upstate NY where 3g and LTE are the main options. My 12 pro max will not pick up 3g. Also my phone will not regain service after losing it. I have to either turn the phone off or hit airplane mode off and on to regain any service. I hope they fix this....

From what I was told by Verizon (my carrier) they were retiring 3g at the end of the year which will leave the majority of our county without service . Even at my home I no longer have service in my yard , garage or anywhere my wifi will not reach . Today I’m experiencing issues at work even being connected to the wifi. Verizon said the only resolution I had was to return the phone . Even with it being returned 3g will be obsolete at the end of 2020 so it’s useless . We’ll just no longer have cell service regardless of the phone we have .

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.

If you are on Verizon or Sprint then check the Carrier Settings version on your iPhone 12 compared to your iPhone 8, they are probably different. Since Verizon is shutting down their 3G EVDO network at the end of this year it is highly unlikely they have included the ability to switch to 3G in their settings.

I spent hours on the phone between my carrier and apple both pointing to each other, eventually apple support agreed there was nothing that could be done (currently) without hardware to boost the signal in the house. The issue for me and possibly others is that there is unreliable 4G available. I have 1 bar and very slow speeds LTE compared to 3g, so I'd just like to have the phone use 3g (4 bars) when in this area and I don't mind setting it myself if I have to, if only there was the option...

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

In rural areas 3G is not going anywhere soon so why would I not focus on that as an option. My carrier Wi-Fi calling is terribly inconsistent like the 4G. The name suggests this is a phone, so ultimately it should do that exceptionally well. My older phone works better than the new one because of this, so like others, I imagine this will have to be returned. I am holding out for a few days, hoping that something will come through from Apple.

It helps if you mention which carrier you are with. As has been previously stated if you are with Verizon you only have about 48 days left of 3G access. After that it won't matter which phone you have.

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

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.