iPhone 18 Pro Max losing cellular service/SOS on AT&T — known reprovisioning issue?

Same issue here. Went to an ATT store to get a new eSIM but that didn’t fix it. I was one the phone for an hour with ATT tech support at the store and they couldn’t fix it either. Made an appointment at an Apple Store and they ordered a replacement phone. Got it yesterday and everything is working perfectly.

I fought the good fight for 12 days...

TLDR: Return it, get a new one. Like magic.

3 tickets with AT&T, each one closed 24 hours later, with a email note telling me "AT&T Free Msg: The network ticket we filed for you is closed. Everything looks good on our end. For indoor specific issues connect to Wi-Fi.(www.att.com/features/wifi-calling) XPRU_X011EH""

Each time obviously not resolved... each time start over because the previous ticket was closed and contained no info... the 4th time I just stopped responding and tried apple support again... who sent me to AT&T again, again and again... Closest Apple Store is 65 miles from my house, a couple miles closer than the one I picked up the phone from 12 days prior... but still a jaunt... got there at about 3:30... 3 hour wait to get to a genius.. who told me what we already know, which is they don't know yet... and they had no repair units to swap with me... I was still in the return window, and they had my version in stock... I returned the old one, bought the new one... problem gone... so far...

Working theory I discussed with the apple peeps was bad batch of IMEI numbers, either duplicates, malformed or a bad batch of chips from Qualcomm that is can't hash correctly and gets booted from the system...

SO hard to blame AT&T if a new handset fixed the issue... but still pawsible if AT&T is responsible for the IMEI issue if that turns out to be the case.

GenX rant ahead about a 1st world problem:

Apple can contact me for more info on my experience, because the other thing all these comments and threads have in common is that Apple Customer service was abysmal... AT&T also having abysmal service left all of us "fans" of apple in a lurch... imagining that it is ok, 2 weeks out from launch, to have customers not only with non working phones but also leaving the return window, with perhaps no phone to fall back on because it was an upgrade, while you absolutely know the product is defective or at least non functional with it's signature feature... (I know I know... but it is called the iPHONE...and off wifi access is why its not called iPod or IPad)

PROACTIVE...Apple absolutely knows who is with at&t...and Apple definitely knows or should know by now, which launch day customers were effected... yet still crickets, no contact... One sure way to destroy a brand... destroy the trust of your most ardent fans...

This world makes it hard enough to try and still believe there are companies that still care about their customers beyond the $$$$, AT&T lost their way some time ago, but Apple was still one of them for me... I'm not sure it is anymore, and that just makes me sad.

❤️‍🔥

🫰🏻

AT&T released an update late yesterday and is pushing it to users. Please go to Settings > General > About > and wait a minute or two for a notification to appear. If it does, follow onscreen instructions to install. A restart will likely occur. You might want to check with an AT&T corporate store if it’s not been pushed to you yet.

Update here. Just picked up my replacement 18 pro max and everything seems to be normal again. The tech at the Apple Store confirmed that AT&T has now officially taken responsibility and is working on the fix. They tech said since AT&T has admitted fault they will no longer be accepting replacement requests. They honored mine since it was already approved. So hang in there all. They stated a fix was soon. I’m calling AT&T tomorrow and demanding a credit for all the days without service. Good luck all!

SOS simply means that your phone is operating normally, but it cannot connect to your carrier. SOS allows your phone to make emergency calls with any carrier it can connect to.

Long shot: you may have an out of date carrier settings profile: Manually update carrier settings on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

It is almost certainly a provisioning issue. Call AT&T, as to speak to a senior tech, and ask them to re-provision your phone. This should only take seconds. Then restart your iPhone.

Update here. Just picked up my replacement 18 pro max and everything seems to be normal again. The tech at the Apple Store confirmed that AT&T has now officially taken responsibility and is working on the fix. The tech said since AT&T has admitted fault they will no longer be accepting replacement requests. They honored mine since it was already approved. So hang in there all. They stated a fix was soon. I’m calling AT&T tomorrow and demanding a credit for all the days without service. Good luck all!

I use Verizon, when i setup 18 pro max (from my old 16 pro max) everything was flawless like any other time I’ve setup through icloud, aside from 1 exception…”couldn’t set up cellular” message appeared on the 18 pro max. Shortly before buying the 18 pro max i started a free att trial on the 2nd eSIM, forgot all about the eSIM on the 16 pro max cause att *** where i live, having the att eSIM transfer to the 18 pro max along with my primary Verizon eSIM kept me from being able to do anything with cell service. Call Verizon, they worked their magic and once att eSIM was removed/deleted all was well.

[Edited by Moderator]

Super_Dave_J wrote:

For all following this, I went through AT&T for over 5 hours with tier 2 support, corporate and Apple. Also went to a corp AT&T store and the Apple Store locally. AT&T tried repositioning, 3 new eSIM, completely resetting my activation, and nothing… still same issue. The next day I received a call saying wait 4-7 days for an update from Apple or a carrier update on the phone. My diagnostic exam at the Apple Store showed all green and the phone is fine. They asked me if I wanted to wait for the update or have a new phone sent. I figured if the new phone came in 4-7 days, and the update was suggested to come in that same time, I’d roll the dice that a new phone wouldn’t have the issue. If it does, the update should come almost at the same time. So now I’m waiting. Like all of you, it started with a few dropped calls, then sos all day, now it’ll barely connect to anything ever if not on wifi. I’m hoping this gets enough attention that some form of compensation is handed out. To spend this much on an iPhone 18 pro max and to not have cell service since launch day is pretty ridiculous to expect loyal customers to just simply deal with and wait. They should be reaching out and communicating with us rather than everyone on blogs and Google begging for answers.

I hope you mean AT&T should be reaching and communicating with their customers? This isn't an Apple or iPhone 18 Pro model issue. It's COMPLETELY an AT&T issue. Every single post here about this issue is from an AT&T customer. We haven't seen a single complaint from users on Verizon or T-Mobile. Apple can't reprogram AT&T's systems. ONLY AT&T can fix their issue.

lap01nte wrote:

I am under the belief it is an Apple issue. and how their device and software does not integrate with the ATT network. they are the ones that made a change. I do think it should be a joint effort on how to resolve the situation...however the problem is with in apples scope cause to correct it would have to be done with in their permission/clearances. which if funny cause ATT was the ones that had the exclusive contract when it first dropped. how far we have come

You can believe anything you want. But it's not an Apple issue. If it was no iPhone 18 Pro model would connect to any network. But it's ONLY AT&T, which is an issue and even then, not every AT&T account is problematic. AT&T has to resolve the issue. They may need assistance from Apple, but ultimately, it's AT&T's issue to resolve. I'm on AT&T on 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max, with no issues whatsoever. Clearly, it's not an easy thing to fix, if it doesn't affect every AT&T user on the new phones.

I have also seen many of these posts exclusively with AT&T. I am sure Apple is working with AT&T engineers for a resolution and it does appear to be only with some iPhone 18 activations. It is clear it is an eSIM activation problem as it does not affect all iPhone 18's (including yours) and it is only with AT&T. I suspect that this will be resolved either behind the scenes on a network level or AT&T will force out a new Carrier Update, they certainly do not want to lose customers to T-Mobile or Verizon.

Yes. My update post tonight confirmed that Apple techs shared with me that AT&T has officially taken responsibility (at least with Apple). I haven’t seen anything online about it but several techs stated that Apple announced internally today that it is 100% an AT&T issue.

Same issue. ATT. Iphone 18 Pro Max.

BlueEyedGirl961 wrote:

My son’s new iPhone 18 Pro Max is having serious cellular connectivity problems on AT&T.

It repeatedly loses cellular service and goes into SOS. It may reconnect to 5G/5G+, but calls and cellular data become unreliable again. Text messages are also sometimes taking as long as five minutes to arrive.

Interestingly, I also have an iPhone 18 Pro Max on the same AT&T account and mine is working normally.

I spent over an hour with AT&T Tech Support. They opened a service ticket and the representative told me this is a known network issue involving the reprovisioning of phones. I was told to allow 24–48 hours for it to be resolved and to use Wi-Fi in the meantime.

I’m trying to determine how widespread this is. Are other iPhone 18 Pro/Pro Max owners experiencing SOS, intermittent cellular service, delayed texts, or 5G showing even though calls/data aren’t working?

I’d especially like to hear which carrier you’re using — AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc. — because I’d like to determine whether this is primarily an AT&T provisioning issue or something affecting the iPhone 18/iOS more broadly.

We've seen several posts from people ALL with AT&T, who are having issues. It doesn't appear to be an issue with other carriers, which validates it's an AT&T issue, not an issue with the new phones. You'll just have to push AT&T for a resolution.

My main issue was the att IMEI, when I called my primary (Verizon) for help with 18 pro max cell not working it came down to removing att’s esim secondary line, all was well.

I’m in Iowa and have Verizon and just got a new iPhone 18 promax along with my son last Saturday 9/18/26 and I have dropped more calls and 9/10 times I call my sons phone and it won’t go through and or don’t ring or call goes straight to voicemail and won’t ring. Texts are slower even on 5g

wry frustrating as my son is sick and I can’t even call the drs office as it fails and says user busy every time!!!