iOS 26 update breaks personal hotspot on iPhone 16 Pro Max

Actually, whether it’s Apple or not faults, the problem appears to be after the update, for a lot of people including me. Stop saying it’s a problem related to VPNs, please. The issue is that, whichever the case, there’s a new field for the APN now, one for the mobile connection and another for the internet sharing as hotspots, and this field is not automagically filled for every user/carrier. Who cares about the guilty? But the greyed button on the Apple UI is not giving a clue about what is happening, and this is anything but helpful. That’s it. This is the meaning behind this thread.

Stop complaining if this is not your case; you’re spamming, and someone has to tell you this. Stop.

All the best

Same issue i have done every possible thing to fix this problem but its not solved its totally a software issue apple needs to fix this in an update even though i installed 26.0.1 latest update

I did the above (deleted the vpn profile)on my phone-still had the tether issue. Then did the same on the MacBook and voila problem gone.

I have the same issue, it’s not a carrier problem with the hotspot. Since I installed IOS26 my hotspot it’s completely grayed out and have already deleted statistics, reset network settings, contacted my carrier, deleted VPN, restarted the phone a thousand times, it’s a software issue

What same issue? And what troubleshooting have you done, starting with deleting any VPN profiles?

Some with me

got a new phone in the time of this update 16e and hotspot are greyed out

but in my previous phone (SE) its working with the new update with the same sim…

I was lucky, a simple Restart fixed my iPhone 16 Pro. But Apple definitely needs to fix this issue!

Can you please stop suggesting users compromise the security of their phones by deleting VPN profiles?

This wasn’t an issue before iOS 26, and it should not be an issue now. Besides, your solution simply does not work.

While true that not all VPNs can be trusted, that’s a topic outside the scope of this issue. Keep in mind that some people use their phones for business, and in many cases access to company platforms requires the use of a VPN.

I won’t argue with you further, but please understand that removing the VPN is not a reasonable solution for some. And I’ve yet to see anybody in this particular thread that worked for anyway. Maybe I missed it.

Lastly, it worked prior to the update for many who had a VPN. It should still work now, all things being equal.

Can you please stop suggesting users compromise the security of their phones by deleting VPN profiles?

A VPN actually provides less security on an iPhone.....not more. Of course, the VPN companies will never tell you this.

The only valid reason to install a VPN would be that your school or company requires it to connect to your network.

Gobbledee wrote:

While true that not all VPNs can be trusted, that’s a topic outside the scope of this issue. Keep in mind that some people use their phones for business, and in many cases access to company platforms requires the use of a VPN.

Using a VPN for work is one of the few good reasons for using one. But removing even a work VPN doesn't compromise the security of the device. I think you may be misunderstanding what VPNs do.

Lawrence, not nonsense. I have the same issue and don’t give a **** if 100 BILLION others DONT. So, if you’re just going to parrot the same useless advice that others have already proffered, kindly **** off.

Hello

Do you want it not to be gray?

Did you ever try it?

Do you have any plans to participate in the next iOS design?

Considering the future policy, why don't you write down your plan, etc.?

Thank you as always

Sincerely,

Can you imagine how many thousands of posts you would see from the hundreds of millions of iPhone users if this was actually a problem with iOS that Apple could fix? This is a problem with your iPhone, not a defect in iOS. And you found a solution. If it was a defect your solution would not have worked.

There is an adage known to the Ancients and passed down through the centuries by secret societies: When in doubt, reboot!