Unable to send photos with my new iPhone to non-iPhone users through Messages

Chastainbob23 wrote:

I agree , it happened on last update, and I still can’t send pics or vids

MMS is a carrier service. ONLY your carrier can fix it. Apple cannot fix a carrier problem.

Try the new IOS 16.5 and see if that takes care of it. I literally just did the new update and immediatly I could send to non-iphone users

Hey! I just came on here to tell you what I did to make this work for me. I also had the same problem, went through all the steps the website suggested… the ONLY thing that worked that I figured out on my own…. I turned Bluetooth off. Idk why or what it blocks for us to not send SMS pictures but it’s all I did and my phone started sending them no problem. I hope this helps.

Tap on Settings, your iCloud 🆔 appears at the top of the page with your name. Now scroll down and tap on Messages. Then tap on Send & Receive. Your iMessage name that appears should be the same. If it isn’t then sign out an then sign in with the correct Apple ID.

I just did the new ios 16.5 update and I don't know if it is a coincidence or not but now the pictures are sending immediately to non iphone users. Someone else please try it and see if it works for you!!!

There is nothing for Apple to fix, it is a problem with your carrier, who hasn’t configured your account correctly. And this is a user to user forum with minimal Apple participation, and not a way to communicate with Apple.

Same issue yesterday. I had to go to settings and turn off my iMessage just to send some none iPhone person some photos. Warning ⚠️ it’s annoying. Once you turn iMessage back on, you have to wait a few mins for iMessage to be re activated or some kind of annoying mess like that.

13 pro plus... why did turning Bluetooth off make it to work for me too? that's crazy. Two different android users, I'm on t-mobile, they're verizon/ATT

Turn off you bluetooth, then resend. It sent perfectly. Kind of a pain to have to do everytime though.

Turn off you bluetooth, then resend. It sent perfectly. Kind of a pain to have to do everytime though.

Well, I am on T-Mobile Magenta Max have both iPhones 14s and the newest Android phones, I went to them first. ....and because they claim everything is configured correctly, and I can send photos through SMS/MMS from my Android Phones to my iPhones, but not consistently the other way around, lead's me to think it's a Apple problem.

Additionally, I have the same problem with my MacBook Pro M1 when using iMessages. And that's on a fiber connection. So, it's not my carrier. Ah, one last thing, the problem still exists when using my personal iPhone 14 on my high speed wi-fi too.

Since I called my carrier, and there are huge threads concerning the same thin on my carrier's community site. And my housemate has done the same with his carrier.... Numbers don't lie, the problem exists, and (at least my) carrier suggests using another messenger service until Apple fixes the problem. That itself is a fix, so I guess you may be right there, but it is not a carrier problem, it is Apple's problem. (our ours for buying Apple products).

Everything says MMS Messaging must be on BUT literally the pictures ONLY send when I turn OFF MMS Messaging. Literally try sending and re-sending. BUT when I turn off MMS Messaging, it will then generally work.

Lawrence Finch,

"MMS is 100% a carrier service" is a fairly egregious statement. HOW cellular software integrates carrier information and executes a user's commands/ device config IS MISSION CRITICAL and there are some aspects of the iOS platform that can affect things. You have suggested otherwise which is factually incorrect. That is like saying "The image quality of your streamed show is 100% service provider related" Absolutely it is not. It's heavily dependent on it, but there's a difference between "100%" and "mostly"; one absolves the former of playing any role in why streaming quality might not match what is to be expected.

Here's a working example using the stated issue by the thread's main issue:

While most ppl on this forum I would bet are running into the unstated carrier limit imposed on MMS (Tmobile is, say 3MB, for instance) you might not know that off hand but it's pretty common for an image snapped on your iphone breaches that. iMessage won't have issues sending this of course but let's say your phone says you're close to your storage limit and you have 63 of 64GB occupied. Technically this is indeed enough to send a 3MB image via MMS or iMessage for that matter but it doesn't mean your iPhone won't struggle. it would satisfy any requests made by the troubleshoooting document to ensure you have sufficient storage as this is not an approximation but rather a live reflection with no stated assumed error of a full GB that would be absurd. However, Despite having the capacity, like other machines iPhones tend to have performance issues when at the tail end of storage. Each time you send a message, YOUR DEVICE IS ALSO saving it to your message history in messages to keep in the chain. This is a very simple example of how it's basically doubling your storage and might further stress your device to the point the image won't send simply because it will not save to message history storage despite being saved to the actual device's software in your phone. All the while if you go to check your storage, it'll say you have more than enough for a small image such as 3MB.

This is a very real & valid description in detail of how your hardware's ability to seamlessly integrate with your device's software independently affects your carrier's functionality. The point is this is a scenario I had to resolve myself given ALL of the bullet points were confirmed clear and my carrier settings weren't an issue. There are more scenarios like this as well. Your statement would lead people to think there's quite literally no option when in reality you were just incorrect because you overstepped and had to say "100%". When troubleshooting, be as literal as possible. It's more than likely carrier related, but there are ancillary issues you ALSO must address on your iPhone that is totally unrelated to the carrier.

Finally, fix the problem of sending Group messages and Videos and pictures to any Non Iphone The solution is to make sure your Apple Id on cloud and facetime are signed in the Same. Who knew right!!