iPhone 12 Pro Max dropping calls and poor phone signal

Wow! I just joined this forum and came from a Samsung DROID world for the past xxx years. Did I make a mistake jumping in to the IPhone 12? Just my luck. My calls have dropped repeatedly since I upgraded (VZ Wireless) in mid December. The good news is that I was told I could return this (and my Fiancé's) phone until January 14th due to their extended return policy for Christmas! Guess what I will be returning!

Side note: VZ had me reset my network multiple times - upgrade to IOS 14.3 (from 14.1) - reboot the phone repeatedly - turn off the 5G Auto and go to 4g LTE only - turn off WiFi Enabled Calling.....NOTHING solves this problem. It is an Apple bug in their hardware - has to be....Time to step up and fix it Mr. Apple for those who ae stuck....fortunately - I am returning to what I know and what was stable.....

My wife has had a similar problem on her iPhone 12 Max Pro especially with very poor call quality. There is always a crackling sound (like a blown speaker) sound when she calls me

In the settings, under cellular under voice and data, there are 3 choices: 5G ON, 5G Auto, and LTE.

My wife switched the setting from 5G auto to LTE (not using the 5G) and the call quality improved tremendously.

Hello,

I encounter similar issues with my 12 Pro Max recently purchased.

I am located in Romania and Apple's first advice was to contact the carrier. Carrier reset all SIM card configurations and the issues still persist.

I went on with my talks with Apple Support, they've reset my network settings - issue still persists.

When confronted with questions such as " is this a software or a hardware issue?" " is it gonna get fixed by next update of iOS?" "are you aware that the official forum of Apple has plenty of reports with situations similar as mine?" - the answers were "most of the issues that have initially appeared on the release of iPhone 12 have been fixed with the last update. Since we cannot find the source of your issue, we advise you to reset your phone back to factory settings from iTunes. If this will still not resolve it, you can ask the reseller to change the phone" .

I will try resetting phone to factory settings and keep you guys posted...

My conclusion on the issue is that to enjoy 5G; one should get an unlimited data monthly subscribed plan and pay $80 or more (AT&T). Not all plans dully support 5G.

it also depends on the location, the carrier may turn off the 5G at locations when demand is less.

In Houston TX and on the East Coast connection is pretty good but in West Virginia connection gets poor.

In countries with lesser 5G investment the switches from LTE to 5G may cause drops. As advised, the best approach is to turn 5G off.

Well, forcing LTE hasn’t actually fixed the problem. I had several dropped calls yesterday as I was driving about the Orlando area. This is officially the least reliable and most infuriating phone I’ve had over the past seven years and an unworthy X replacement. I only wish Android had a similar size/format phone, my decision would be made.

I truly miss the Apple of Steve Jobs.

@orlandomini

I’m also in the Orlando area and have only been able to make a couple calls without the audio dropping (where they can’t hear me but I hear them) or the call dropping completely. Both Apple and Verizon seem to have no idea what the problem is, and I even got a replacement phone and still have the same issues.

You answer a question with a question so I am not sure how to reply. And what do you mean "How about data plan"

My wife's iPhone 12 pro max problems with call quality and dropping calls went away when switching to the LTE setting even though here data plan has 5G.

Not all 5G is the same: there is the low to mid-band portion of the spectrum that are slower than mmWave, but that allows them to cover wider areas.

Annoyingly, however, not all 5G works the same. Between AT&T's 5G+, Verizon's "Ultra-Wideband" 5G, T-Mobile's "nationwide" network, and Sprint's "True Mobile 5G," different carriers' marketing terms can make it tough to tell what you're actually getting from their 5G plans.

For future reference, the four major mobile carriers in the United States are building their 5G networks in different ways. AT&T has both a limited mmWave network and a more broadly available low-band network. The same goes for T-Mobile, which just switched on its low-band network around the nation to go along with a handful of higher-end service areas. Finally, Sprint operates on the mid-band for now, while Verizon has focused on mmWave technology.

If the latest rumors are to be believed, the cheaper models of next year's iPhones will support 5G, but only up to the mid-band portion of the spectrum. In simple terms, this is a form of 5G that can run on existing technology because these frequencies are already widely used for data transmission. It's slower than mmWave, but that allows it to cover wider areas.

Where 5G gets seriously interesting (and frustrating) is with mmWave deployment. This is what you'll get from Verizon and AT&T in some places, though AT&T also has a mid-band network. Speed tests from CNET were able to get upwards of 1.8Gbps from AT&T's mmWave network, which absolutely dwarfs low- or mid-band 5G.

i posted as a follow up with on my previous post.

Some carriers provide better 5G services under unlimited data plans which cost more than their budget plans.

so changing the data plan may be a solution too.

overall, after updating my AT&T settings on AT&T app and updating to 14.3 the dropping calls issue that was extremely frustrating got resolved.

i am on the more solution focused side, highlighting that under right set up y 12 Max Pro works amazingly well (I don’t represent apple or AT&T).

5G is quite expensive and available every where and for the time being it is not fit for every user.

Yes, I agree with you and that was my point about switching the settings to LTE for those who don't have the unlimited premium plan and don't want or need that kind of plan. I imagine in a year or two the low to mid bandwidth of 5G will improve and people will stop experiencing poor call quality or Apple will improve the 5G Auto function in a later update to prevent the poor call quality.

Seems that to combat the issue, during the latest update, upon restarting your phone, Apple has it set to automatically turn on WiFi calling every time you reset your phone. Regardless of whether or not you have WiFi calling turned off, assumably making the problem not as noticeable to the unwary user.

Hey, I did, I also tried using Wifi for calling as I heard some opinions on how this might help, unfortunately nothing works for me. At this point, i am pretty much thinking of returning the phone and asking for a refund. My iPhone X never had such issues.

I have a overpriced paper weight. I turned off 5g and have the phone set to LTE only which defeats my purpose of getting the phone. There are are pages and pages of complaints on this discussion and no word from Apple. I called them and I have apple care and restore blah blah, reset the network settings blah blah.... None of that fixed the issue. I exchanged my phone as well and still same issue with dropped calls. Now I am past my return date. Really wish Apple or whoever would own and fix this issue. Very frustrating.

I have called Verizon repeatedly - coming from DROID for years - decided to switch - what a mistake!!!! Verizon stated they submitted a case to Apple and they know of the problem - what is the problem in acknowledging they have bug? Just fix it - at least I can still move back to DROID due to extended return window...Others say move to IPhone 11 - it is a much better phone and since I really don't care about 5G for now - I may do that....any thoughts to those long time Apple lovers?

I’ve had every apple iPhone since it’s conception. This is the only one I’ve ever seen this kind of problem with. It’s an absolute junk product. I honestly cannot believe that anyone on this forum would say the issue has been resolved. At the time of my purchase, I gave up two perfectly good working 11pro’s for this 12 pro junk. I normally have the new phone in hand upon the day of the release each year. This is the biggest disappointment ever. Obviously apple rushed out an undeveloped product during a time of crisis and probably are quietly working on the fix under the table and hoping to start pushing them out under the radar. This type of business from them has definitely prompted me to change my perspective on upgrading a phone yearly. Will probably be searching for better alternatives in the near future as well.

[Edited by Moderator]

I’ve only had this I phone pro max 12 for a month going on & switched from android to apple bc of my teenage daughters both having ip11’s I could better keep up with them... but since I’ve dropped numerous calls (which I rarely ever experienced this in same exact areas for years til now) all over even in super popular & congested areas, my Camera screen is black frequently n if I cut in my camera n screens blank it won’t allow me to take pics as such w/o first having to cut cell phone off wait a min n. It back in which in a pinch of getting a pic I’m screwed obviously!, last if apple begins controlling what my free American choice wants by allowing what they deem ok n what they don’t deem ur infringing of my rights will effect 80 million people wander how many are on ur devices. I mean this is America n your not my mom nor my GOD there for you have no right in this free THINKING SOCIETY?!!!