Turn on 3G in iOS 17

I don't know where you live, but in the United States, all of the carriers got rid of their 3G networks some time ago. I also see that "All across the UK, since February, mobile networks have been winding down 3G services …"

https://reboxed.co/blogs/outsidethebox/is-your-phone-about-to-become-obsolete-what-ios-17-and-the-3g-switch-off-means-for-you

It's possible that the carriers in your part of the world are planning to do the same, in which case having a "3G-only" preference setting on your iPhone would be pretty pointless.

But if you want to send feedback to Apple, try

Product Feedback - Apple

This forum is mostly read by other users, like yourself.

Ребята звоните, а лучше езжайте и пишите жалобу в ACTIV/Kcell, проблема в операторе. Они не хотят решать вопрос! Чем больше людей пожалуется, тем быстрее решат проблему они! На Билайне и теле2 с новой прошивкой все в порядке, у них есть возможность переключать на 3G, 2g

No change on the carrier side. It’s Apple who removed the option of 3G from its 5G capable devices. I observed this problem on iPhone13 with multiple carriers.

I am also facing the same problem. It seems to me that on devices that support 5G (iPhone 12 and later) Apple has quietly omitted option to select 3G network in iOS 17. I have iPhone 11 and iPhone 13 on the same carrier (both running iOS 17) and I can select 3G network on iPhone 11 but not on iPhone 13. I even called Apple Support for this issue and to my surprise, they were not aware of this omission.

in IOS 16 and above you can go-> settings ->Mobile service

and then find SIMs where you all physical and ESIM listed select the sim (i.e Mobile Data, Personal, Secondary or etc )

Goto -> Voice&Data select any option from them like 4G, 3G, 2G options only show according to your network provide

hope this one helps every one :)

It is the carrier who provides the carrier settings to Apple. They are generally updated at the same time as the system software is updated. And yes, more and more carriers are removing the ability to connect to 3G networks. One of the ways they do that is by removing the settings.

Airborne27 wrote:

I am speaking from my experience of working for a handset manufacturer. I doubt that Apple has settings for all the wireless carriers on globe. I assume for most they use default settings. In absence of LTE signals, phone does latch on to 3G network. It just doesn’t provide this option to the user.

Carriers provide Apple with configuration files. Those files determine things like what networks the phone can connect to and whether or not you can turn on/off things like Call Forwarding directly from the device.

Airborne27 wrote:

I am also facing the same problem. It seems to me that on devices that support 5G (iPhone 12 and later) Apple has quietly omitted option to select 3G network in iOS 17. I have iPhone 11 and iPhone 13 on the same carrier (both running iOS 17) and I can select 3G network on iPhone 11 but not on iPhone 13. I even called Apple Support for this issue and to my surprise, they were not aware of this omission.

It is not Apple that has removed the option. It is the carriers. The carrier settings that the carriers provided for iOS 17 apparently do not include that option.

As Idris Seabright says, the options which are available for network type are decided by the network (carrier) to which the device is connected. The settings are pushed out as "network settings" or "carrier settings" (regional language variation around the world).

Manually update your carrier settings on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

I am speaking from my experience of working for a handset manufacturer. I doubt that Apple has settings for all the wireless carriers on globe. I assume for most they use default settings. In absence of LTE signals, phone does latch on to 3G network. It just doesn’t provide this option to the user.

They do but probably only from the carriers in US and other major carriers in the world. People from around the globe are complaining about this issue. It is unlikely that all of the carriers in the world have dropped 3G network selection for iOS 17 only (specially when 5G networks are only available in limited number of countries) and not for its counterparts . I can select 3G network on phones using Android 12, 13 and 14.

haku_20 wrote:

I also need to have this 3G switch, otherwise I will offline....

Only your carrier can change this. It is, however, unlikely that the will do so.

faiyeah wrote:

please provide an option to enforce 4G mode without LTE, and enforce to 3G mode.

No one here in this user-to-user forum can do that. Apple can't do that. Also, 4G IS LTE (except for AT&T who makes up its own labels).

Same issue in Hong Kong, as some location, I tested with 4G just have 0.2-0.5 mbps, but using 3G with same carrier can go up to 20mbps. This is tested by my iPhone 11 with iOS 16.7.

After I change to iPhone 15 with iOS 17, the 3G switch is missing.

I also need to have this 3G switch, otherwise I will offline....

mariusz123 wrote:

No, it isn’t like you wrote.

Yeah, it really is.

When I put my sim to my old XS(ios16), same place, same carrier of course, I can still choose the 3G network.

Your carrier decides what will appear in the settings on your iPhone. Your old phone has a different OS with different carrier settings.

Apple in ios17 blocked the possibility to manage that option. They confirm that information when I call to apple support.

Nope, it's the carrier.