Q: iPhone 4S unable to turn off 3G?!

There is no option to turn 3G off/on with a CDMA phone.

No such problem with ATT where I live and the places I frequent most, but I did have problems with Verizon where I used to live. I switched to ATT because of the Verizon reception problems I had about 6 months before the original iPhone was released and haven't looked back.

I didn't say the 4S uses CDMA towers on ATT. I said the 4S includes a combination GSM/CDMA chip/radio different from the GSM iPhones which is the reason why there is no option to turn 3G off with the 4S. There is no option to turn 3G off with the CDMA iPhone 4 either. Purchase a 4GS with Sprint or Verizon and it includes a micro-SIM card slot. There is one 4S model for GSM and CDMA.

Allan Sampson wrote:

 

There is no option to turn 3G off/on with a CDMA phone.

 

No such problem with ATT where I live and the places I frequent most, but I did have problems with Verizon where I used to live. I switched to ATT because of the Verizon reception problems I had about 6 months before the original iPhone was released and haven't looked back.

 

I didn't say the 4S uses CDMA towers on ATT. I said the 4S includes a combination GSM/CDMA chip/radio different from the GSM iPhones which is the reason why there is no option to turn 3G off with the 4S. There is no option to turn 3G off with the CDMA iPhone 4 either. Purchase a 4GS with Sprint or Verizon and it includes a micro-SIM card slot. There is one 4S model for GSM and CDMA.

Oh I know you didn't say the 4s uses both CDMA and ATT towers. It's just logical to come to the conclusion that if their reasoning to take away the 3G toggle (as you are stating) is because it has both CDMA and GSM antennas for better reception.  Their decision of taking away the toggle is pure speculation and none of us will know their true reasoning.

As layman, we only get the end result of their design decisions.  In this case, there are many that feel it was a poor decision on their part. Enough so, that many here on this thread have stated they've returned their iPhone 4s for this reason alone, including myself.

There is no reasoning behind it. It is a limitation with the chip, which Apple has no control over. The chip included with the 4S is different from the chip included with the previous GSM iPhones. The chip included with the 4S is a combination GSM/CDMA chip, which is not for better reception. It is to have one 4S model that can be sold as a GSM activated iPhone or as a CDMA activated iPhone without having to produce and stock different models for GSM and for CDMA with Verizon and Sprint. And a 4S activated as a CDMA phone with Verizon or Sprint can be used roaming internationally via CDMA or via a GSM carrier, or Verizon and Sprint can unlock the GSM side of the 4S for use with any GSM carrier's micro-SIM card except in the U.S. There is no option to enable/disable 3G with the CDMA iPhone 4 but it is available with the GSM iPhone 4. The 4S has a different chip combining CDMA and GSM, so this is a limitation with the chip - just as it isn't available with the CDMA iPhone 4. There is no reason to remove it otherwise, or it would have been removed with iOS5 for the GSM iPhone 4 as well.

Hi everyone I just bought the 4s 2 days ago this is not my first iphone I have also owned the iPhone 3 & still have my iPhone 4. So I updated my iPhone 4 the other day to iOS 5.0.1 & still had the turn off 3G option & then I buy the 4s & there is no turn off the 3G option. So I noticed somewhere in this post that someone said if you just turn off the Data that would work & some of you were saying that he is wrong & the phone wont work. Whoever said that if you turn off the data it will go to 2G or edge. That person is indeed correct if you turn that off you will turn off the 3G I turned mine off to test this theory it indeed did work I was still able to send & receive calls & txt messages fine with no issue. With that being said you will need to use a WiFi connection or turn your 3G back on for certain things such as Facbook & Mail. Apple isn't being truthful about it being a carrier issue. Hopefully they fix this problem at some point down the road. But if they don't most of us here know what the solution for that will be anyways....lol. Anyways hope this helps some people.

If you turn Cellular Data off, you can still place and receive calls and the same for SMS, but with Cellular Data off and without being connected to a wi-fi network at the time, the iPhone won't have internet access. Cellular Data off prevents internet access via the cellular network, but does not prevent placing and receiving calls and the same for SMS.

You do not need to use wi-fi or be connected to an available wi-fi network in order to turn Cellular Data back on. Wi-Fi access and cellular data via 3G, EDGE, or GPRS with a GSM iPhone are completely seperate animals.

It is not a carrier issue. It is a chip issue that Apple has no control over. The iPhone 4S includes a combination. CDMA/GSM chip, and there is no option to enable/disable 3G with a CDMA phone and namely with the CDMA iPhone 4.

Well yes that's just common sense though if you don't have your WiFi or 3G on you won't be able to use the Internet or things like FB. But for ppl who don't like to have the 3G kill your battery simply turn off data to prevent 3G

Based on your previous post, there seemed to be a lack of common sense.

Turning Cellular Data off does more than turn 3G network access off. It turns internet access via the cellular network completely - no 3G, EDGE, or GPRS with the GSM phone, and no 3G and the next step down with CDMA networks, and this also prevents being able to send or receive MMS with the iPhone, but not SMS.

BlueFlowers wrote:

 

Turning off cellular data just puts you in analogue from before digital existed. You can only make and receive calls (provided you can pick up a tower).  Turning off cellular data literally puts you back ten years when a phone was just a phone.  No emails or FB or Safari or anything (unless of course you are hooked up to wifi).

In the U.S., analog networks have been largly decommissioned. Current phones don't have the ability to switch back to that network at all. They are exclusively digital.

Meg St._Clair wrote:

 

BlueFlowers wrote:

 

Turning off cellular data just puts you in analogue from before digital existed. You can only make and receive calls (provided you can pick up a tower).  Turning off cellular data literally puts you back ten years when a phone was just a phone.  No emails or FB or Safari or anything (unless of course you are hooked up to wifi).

In the U.S., analog networks have been largly decommissioned. Current phones don't have the ability to switch back to that network at all. They are exclusively digital.

What I stated was exactly what Apple Care told me.  They told me exactly what happens if cellular data is turned off. 

When cellular data is turned off, there is no 3G, E, O or any other symbol indicating what signal you are receiving. 

Turning Cellular Data off turns cellular data or internet access off ONLY - no internet access via the cellular network. It does not prevent the iPhone from placing and recieving calls and the same for SMS. It does not revert the iPhone to analogue access - it turns cellular data off only.

RkoViper81 wrote:

 

Hi everyone I just bought the 4s 2 days ago this is not my first iphone I have also owned the iPhone 3 & still have my iPhone 4. So I updated my iPhone 4 the other day to iOS 5.0.1 & still had the turn off 3G option & then I buy the 4s & there is no turn off the 3G option. So I noticed somewhere in this post that someone said if you just turn off the Data that would work & some of you were saying that he is wrong & the phone wont work. Whoever said that if you turn off the data it will go to 2G or edge. That person is indeed correct if you turn that off you will turn off the 3G I turned mine off to test this theory it indeed did work I was still able to send & receive calls & txt messages fine with no issue. With that being said you will need to use a WiFi connection or turn your 3G back on for certain things such as Facbook & Mail. Apple isn't being truthful about it being a carrier issue. Hopefully they fix this problem at some point down the road. But if they don't most of us here know what the solution for that will be anyways....lol. Anyways hope this helps some people.

Head meet desk.

Yes, you can make and receive phone calls when you turn cellular data off. No, you are not on 3G, E, or O. You can call Apple to confirm this just as I did. 

Turning cellular data off takes the "smart" out of having a smart phone. Why pay for a data plan if you have to turn cellular data off to make phone calls and prevent battery drain?  That is defeating the whole purpose of having an iPhone. 

There is NO solution to turn 3G off and still use your phone the way it's intended.  The toggle switch is gone. 

Allan Sampson wrote:

 

Turning Cellular Data off turns cellular data or internet access off ONLY - no internet access via the cellular network. It does not prevent the iPhone from placing and recieving calls and the same for SMS. It does not revert the iPhone to analogue access - it turns cellular data off only.

Please, if you'd like, call Apple yourself before posting misconceptions. Where in the world would I come up with analogue? APPLE.

Don't need to. I've been in an Apple Store and had to correct an Apple employee providing inaccurate/incorrect information - more than once.

If the iPhone 4S is in a 3G network area and you turn Cellular Data off, calls placed or received are done via the carrier's 3G network. Turning Cellular Data off turns cellular data off only.

Please quit posting this bovine excrement.

BlueFlowers wrote:

 

No, you are not on 3G, E, or O. You can call Apple to confirm this just as I did.

 

Actually, you are. You have to be on a network to make calls. There is no analog circuitry in an iPhone. Ergo, you're using the digital network which is, depending on where you are, 3G, Edge, etc. However, you may believe what you like.

Best of luck.

Please fix the problem!!!!! I really want the 3G off when I'm not using it!!!!