iPhone 12 is constantly renaming itself

Yes, same here. I have been keeping an eye on it for some time, as I can see it being changed to "random" `(number)` every time I try to set it back to what I have it at.

Quite annoying, semi-cosmetic bug!

I found where the problem is: issues with mDNS (Bonjour, zeroconf) and DHCP lease times These by themselves are not the issues, but the way iOS and tvOS have implemented these protocols.

My mikrotik router is setup with DHCP dynamic and static lease times of 5 min i.e.; after every 5 minutes, the IP lease expires and host will request for reneewal. And i had implemented an mDNS reflector on Raspberry Pi, Mikrotik do not implement mDNS, i needed that for Airplay to work between IP address subnet pools. Other router brands implement mDNS service by default.

The iOS and tvOS see two host-names on local DHCP and mDNS with same mac ID and same IP address, and to get around this these OS'es append a random number within parenthesis to set a unique host-name within the device.

I have stopped the mDNS reflector service on my raspberry Pi and this constant renaming (in my case every 5 minutes) has gone away. I could have also increased IP lease times to 24hrs, but then the renaming would have still occurred after 24hrs, when the IP address lease would have renewed.

My suggestion, disable mDNS (Bonjour, zeroconf services) in the home router for the IP subnet pool in which these iOS and tVOS connect, if you can. We don't need mDNS for airplay within the same IP subnet. Most routers available for home use, may not have this settings user configurable on router config web portal page. So i don't know if there is a user side fix for this until Apple fixes this bug in their iOS and tvOS.

Hope this information helps other affected users.

P.S.: iPhone 14 Pro iOS 16.0.1 and AppleTV 4k tVOS 16.0 are also effected by this bug.

Mine changed names when I was staying in a hotel and using their WiFi. I wondered if perhaps someone else at that location was using the same device name as me and forced a change to something unique

Same thing is happening with my 11Pro Max. It has also shown some strange characters under the new name that appear to be Arabic. Very strange. Made me wonder if my phone has been cloned and is being controlled by another user.

Name your phone something other than iPhone. I named mine telephone and it stopped doing it.

I keep my phone named “iPhone”

What happens when you name your iPhone -> iPhone 12?

I'm having the same problem. Glad I'm not alone in this. Misery loves company....

I am having the same problem my phone name keeps changing. I drive a Ford Mach E and my phone is my key to my car so this is a big issue for me.

I am having the same problem. Is there any solution

Ouch

It is not just your iPhone 12. I have an iPhone 7 and it renamed itself also. Guess Apple, like always, knows what we need so I'm not changing it.

😎

Ditto on my iPhone 7