can't make and receive phone calls after upgrading to iOS 26.1

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Level 1

7 points

can't make and receive phone calls after upgrading to iOS 26.1

Hi!

Right after upgrading to iOS 26.1 my phone stopped making and receiving phone calls.

All antenna bars shown empty. If I try to make a phone call I immediately get 'Call Failed' screen. If I call my own mobile number from another phone I get 'line busy' tone. At the same time internet over mobile carrier does work, and also I can send and receive SMS.

I tried:

Airplane mode on/off
iPhone switch off and back on
eSIM on/off
Network settings reset
eSIM delete and reinstall

none of these helped.

I contacted my carrier, they found no problem with my number/account on their side.

All other functions seem to be working properly (including WiFi, Bluetooth, VPN etc). Immediately prior to upgrading from iOS 18.7.1 to iOS 26.1 the phone worked perfectly (I skipped 26.0).

Any help would be very much appreciated.

iPhone 16 Pro Max, iOS 26

Posted on Nov 7, 2025 4:21 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

aak77 Author

Level 1

7 points

Nov 8, 2025 11:24 PM in response to aak77

Hi

I forgot to mention - before upgrading to iOS 26.1 my phone was in Lockdown mode for many months. Working just fine.

Now after I faced the problems I described with iOS 26.1 I tried to switch off the Lockdown mode and reboot. And the phone started making and receiving calls normally. I tried to switch on Lockdown mode back again and the calls stopped making and receiving calls. So I had to switch is back off again to get normal functionality.

So there is persistent problem with iOS 26.1 - in Lockdown mode the phone does not make and receive calls. At least with my carrier. With 18.7.1 it worked just fine with the same carrier.

Any advice how to solve it would be much appreciated.

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Answer 2

razmee209

Level 10

200,058 points

Nov 7, 2025 12:14 PM in response to aak77

aak77 wrote:

• Hi!

Right after upgrading to iOS 26.1 my phone stopped making and receiving phone calls.

All antenna bars shown empty. If I try to make a phone call I immediately get 'Call Failed' screen. If I call my own mobile number from another phone I get 'line busy' tone. At the same time internet over mobile carrier does work, and also I can send and receive SMS.

I tried:

Airplane mode on/off

• iPhone switch off and back on

• eSIM on/off

• Network settings reset

• eSIM delete and reinstall

none of these helped.

I contacted my carrier, they found no problem with my number/account on their side.

All other functions seem to be working properly (including WiFi, Bluetooth, VPN etc). Immediately prior to upgrading from iOS 18.7.1 to iOS 26.1 the phone worked perfectly (I skipped 26.0).

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Double check here If your call fails or you can’t receive calls on your iPhone - Apple Support

But you'll need to escalate the issue with your phone carrier as those are their feature.

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can't make and receive phone calls after upgrading to iOS 26.1

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