Iphone 16e connection problems with 2G phones

Again. This has absolutely nothing to do with the modem in your phone.

Your phone has absolutely no idea what kind of connection the device on the other end of the connection has. Your phone does not connect with your father's phone at all. Your phone connects to the cellular network.

The call then goes across the network and your father's phone connects to the network.

There is no direct connection between the 2 devices.

One MAJOR difference here may be that your phone uses Voice Over IP. Your father's does not. That would be a cellular network issue.

Contact your carrier.

The iPhone 16e does not support 2G or 3G according to Apple's Specifications for the 16e.

iPhone 16e - Technical Specifications - Apple

The 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G connection is provided on that persons phone only to connect to their cell provider, it does not make a difference what service the other caller uses. Many phones do not support 5G, but they can still make/receive calls to other users who are using 5G. You are not communicating with the other phone directly like a walkie talkie, your wireless connection is only between you and your cell provider. After that it is the cell provider that facilitates the calls between each other.

For example if you are in the US and call a person in the EU, your call is sent wirelessly to your cell provider using the connection they support, then the communication to the other persons cell provider is sent through fiber optic cables under the ocean and when it reaches the other persons cell provider, they send the communication wirelessly through their cell towers to the recipient of the call using whatever the cell phone connection supports.

What cell provider is your father using and what region is he in? I suspect your father is in a region where the 2G service is being shut down and there is limited 2G coverage in his area for a connection to a cell tower that still supports it. In the US, the last major carrier to support 2G was T-Mobile and as of February this year, they began notifying customers that the service will soon be shut down.

Jeetje-12 wrote:

So.... final conclusion: I go with Bob-Timmons post: The iPhone 16e does not support 2G or 3G according to Apple's Specifications for the 16e.

That leaves me with nothing else to do than shopping for a new phone for my father :-)

• Yes, your Father will need a new phone.
• No, it is not because the iPhone 16e does not support 2G or 3G. That is only for the connection between the phone and your cellular provider and has nothing to do with communicating with another phone that uses 2G, or even 3G for that matter, which is much more prevalent than a 2G only phone. For most regions, 2G service is non-existent and cell providers are now in the process of shutting down 3G service.

Jeetje-12 wrote:

Hi guys, final post from my side.

@lobsterghost1: it is not the simcard, that worked fine in another phone. It is not my 16e, because I asked a colleague to call my father with his 16e and he had the same problem.

So.... final conclusion: I go with Bob-Timmons post: The iPhone 16e does not support 2G or 3G according to Apple's Specifications for the 16e.

That leaves me with nothing else to do than shopping for a new phone for my father :-)

I'm sure it will be a benefit to your father to have a more modern phone. But I still see no correlation between what bands an iPhone 16e supports and the bands the phone supports it is calling. Your phone itself cannot know if a phone it's calling is on 5G, LTE, Volt, 4g , 3g or 2g. It just connects to the phone as long as the phone is on a band IT can use.

If you know someone else that has an iPhone 15 or above, have them try a test call. You will probably find that it acts the same. As others have said, it has nothing to do with your phone, it is the network connection. Speak with your carrier for assistance.

Your phone does not know or care what kind of connection the phone on the other end of the call has.

2G (EDGE) is virtually dead. Very very few places in the world still have 2G networks. 3G is nearly dead as well.

Your father should really talk to he carrier and find out if there is an LTE or 5G network available, then get a modern phone.

Jeetje-12 wrote:

Thank you MacJim ID for your answer. We are both living in The Netherlands. My provider is KPN and my father's provider is Simyo. Simyo is a budget provider of KPN, so basically we use the same cell provider. I checked their 2G situation. From their websites, they support 2G until December 1th 2027. For me this still leads to the same conclusion: iPhone 16e C1 modem has a problem. To support this conclusion remember that everything was fine (with same simcards) until I switched from iPhone SE (3th) (Qualcomm modem) to iPhone 16e (Apple modem). All else remained the same.

You have arrived at the wrong conclusion. As others have told you, the modem in your phone has absolutely, positively, no relationship to your fathers phone. If the connection is not good when you call your dad, it's an issue on your dads side, not your side. Maybe your dad needs a more modern cellphone with the ability to connect to a modern network. 2G is beyond antique and in the US, for example, no longer exists on any carrier.

Bob Timmons wrote:

The iPhone 16e does not support 2G or 3G according to Apple's Specifications for the 16e.

iPhone 16e - Technical Specifications - Apple

Correct. But the phone will certainly connect to someone else's phone which is still using 2G. And that is the issue they are speaking about.

I haven't seen anyone on here expressing and issue like you have, so the chances of an update from Apple for an issue no one else is complaining about aren't very likely. And Apple doesn't participate here, nor read here for user feedback.

If your phone can call other users without issue, it's very unlikely an issue with your phone. But there could be an issue with the SIM Card in your phone, so maybe get a new SIM Card from your carrier. Or perhaps switch over to the eSim if your carrier supports eSim.

A final step would be to have your phone tested at your closest Apple Store Genius Bar. But I doubt they'll find an issue with it.