iphone 12 dropping calls

I recently purchased an iPhone 12 Pro Max... I adore the screen and etc.

I, also, am on Verizon and in an area that does not offer 5G (and will be one of the last places on Earth to get it)

After reading most of the posts from this thread, I have divined a bit of a solution from the response of lobsterghost1 and a few others..

Go to Settings>Cellular

If you have good Wi-Fi:

Wi-Fi Calling> ON

Otherwise:

Wi-Fi Calling>OFF

Cellular Data Options>Voice & Data> LTE

I then turned off my phone, waited 5 minutes and turned it back on.

I also own a cellular iPad Pro 11... I had it turn Wi-Fi calling back on and it did it account wide...

BE CAREFUL TO NOT RE-ENABLE WI-FI CALLING IF IT DOESN'T WORK FOR YOU

I hope this helps!

Different frequencies.

iPhone 8:

FDD-LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 66)

TD-LTE (Bands 34, 38, 39, 40, 41)

iPhone 12:

FDD‑LTE (Bands 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 28, 29, 30, 32, 66, 71)

TD‑LTE (Bands 34, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 46, 48)

So if your iPhone 12 is asked to use FDD-LTE frequencies 14, 32 or 71 or TD-LTE frequencies 46 or 48, and those frequencies are not properly configured, your iPhone 12's calls will drop.

Your iPhone 8 doesn't support those frequencies so it would never be asked to use them.

Your SIM card usually isn't the issue, the cell tower usually is.

I live in the northern suburbs of Dallas, iPhone 12 and Verizon customer. In the past 6 weeks or so, the dropped calls problem has lessened a lot. It still happens way more than any other phone I've ever had (I've had 4 previous generations of iPhone). I shut down and restart my phone almost every day. The phone seems to work better, less calling issues. I've also reset network settings a few times, in hopes maybe something will improve. On a recent visit to Genius Bar, the employee recommended leaving 5g off indefinitely. I think it helps with network reliability.

I want to scream and laugh every time I see a Verizon commercial on tv touting 5g phones. I'm not a tin foil hat wearer, but 5g and the iPhone 12 have been the worst telecom experience I've ever had.

I have mine on 5G Auto, with wifi calling turned off - no more dropped calls in two days

I’ve been having this issue in my home only. I disconnected my mobile booster and it hasn’t happened since.

iPhone 12 in my area claims to have 5G doesn’t work in a 5 g area. so all the of the 12 owner around here are told to shut off 5 g . Of course if you have android 5 g works good in my area ??

Thanks for your post - I believe from reading numerous posts and articles (like the one below) that this is a combination of issues with the hardware as well as network issues (don't know tech details but 5G is a technology very different from LTE with totally different signal dissemination hardware). Users are reporting issues with ALL carriers, not just Verizon. Some suggest to just "switch carriers" which isn't practical for many, and may not solve the problem(s). I installed the latest iOS (14.3 as of today), and still having the issues of dropped calls, calls that won't go thru (they go straight to VM and the recipient doesn't show a missed call), and inability to make further calls after a dropped call (until I do a hard reset). I, too, hope that Apple fixes the phone and carriers figure out their issues. Guess it's partly my fault for thinking the newest tech will be better than tried/true legacy tech!

[Link Edited by Moderator]

I have AT&T and a 12 Pro Max and have not dropped a single call in three months with my phone, even in areas where my 11 Pro Max dropped calls regularly.

So what's the difference? Other than the fact that my plan does NOT include 5G, I couldn't tell you.

But what I can say is that the issue obviously isn't with the phone itself or everyone would drop calls, and they don't.

I've posited several times it's far more likely to either be a 5G issue or a bug with one particular vendor or cellular tower equipment.

HAVE YOU FOUND AN ANSWER YET?

I have been working with Apple since 01/08/21 regarding this same issue, my carrier too is Verizon.

Yesterday 01/22/21 Apple agreed to switch out my phone, they advised against restoring from back up and to manually set the phone up so that’s exactly what I did. They thought that there could potentially be something wrong or corrupt with the backed up file, I asked what would it mean if my calls continued to drop and they suggested it would be a carrier issue.

I replaced my SIM card with Verizon since and still no luck. This happens everywhere at any given time.

I was on the phone with TurboTax earlier and this is how the call went.

Brendachristiansen wrote:

I don't know where to turn actually.

especially when it doesn't happen to my husbands phone that is exactly like mine.

• You said your husband’s iPhone is not exactly like yours.
  • Yours is an iPhone 12.
  • His is an iPhone 11.
• If you read the tens of posts in this thread above yours, you should see exactly where to turn.
  • Perhaps all the folks are Verizon customers.
  • All the folks have the latest Apple iPhones.

So a clear path to solving the issue is to change cellular carrier.

What have you done to determine what may be causing the issue?

You went to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Voice and Data

If you don't live in an area with consistent 5G service, you've set it to 5G Auto?

Or, if you don't have access to 5G at all, you've set it to LTE?

Having it set not correctly for where you live can cause dropped calls.

Or it can be a router settings issue with your home router. I have no handoff issues pulling into my garage. But I have a really strong and very secure Mesh Network in my home.

Perhaps see if your router needs to updated or its settings changed --> https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202068

Perhaps it’s when your phone is connecting to your WiFi when you enter your driveway. If you have WiFi assist calling selected on your phone and it connects to you WiFi then you’ll be subject to bandwidth and packet size issues.

Yes and no.

The new phones use some additional frequencies that if the cell towers are not properly configured can cause these issues.

So if the cell tower computers tell the iPhone 12 to use one of the new frequencies, and say the cell tower antennas aren't properly configured for that new frequency, the call will drop at no fault of Apple's.

I went to Verizon yesterday and he said he knew nothing of this issue which obviously seems ridiculous, but due to all the time I invested in setting up the phone allowed him to replaced the SIM card. So far it sounds much more clear and hasn’t dropped a call yet. I have until April 6th to return the phone if need be. As far as locked or unlocked... All of Verizon’s phones are locked for 60 days and automatically unlock after that. I would return this one and buy one from AT and T if the problem persists.