Turn on 3G in iOS 17

in IOS 16 I had an option to switch between 3G and 4G (iphone 12) but now I don't have a 3G button! But in my city, 4G works very badly, so I have to switch always. APPLE GIVE ME BACK THAT OPTION! please



[Re-Titled by Moderator]


iPhone 12, iOS 17

Posted on Sep 19, 2023 11:56 PM

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Posted on Sep 20, 2023 1:49 AM

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.


28 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Sep 20, 2023 1:49 AM in response to yerassyl129

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.


Oct 4, 2023 5:20 PM in response to yerassyl129

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.

Oct 12, 2023 8:54 AM in response to Airborne27

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.

Oct 13, 2023 7:27 AM in response to zhaslan07

Если бы они могли что-то сделать с этой проблемой, они бы не писали здесь. Кроме того, у них нет возможности написать вам лично.


А откуда ты знаешь, что они мужчины? Вы, кажется, полагаете, что все таковы.

Oct 14, 2023 12:47 AM in response to yerassyl129

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

Oct 15, 2023 12:04 PM in response to yerassyl129

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


when travelling abroad, there are providers only providing certain mode (3G / 4G without LTE / 4G with LTE) only. Without this flexibility making the phone very limited when travelling abroad.


i cannot believe a top tier (in terms of cost) phone does not have this flexibility in their latest software.

Dec 16, 2023 10:20 AM in response to Airborne27

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.

Dec 16, 2023 3:45 PM in response to IdrisSeabright

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.

Turn on 3G in iOS 17

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