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Time Zone Update

My iPhone 4s thinks I am in the Cupertino CA time zone. The "set automatically" time zone setting is ON. Any suggestions on how to fix?

iOS 5

Posted on Oct 17, 2011 12:56 PM

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86 replies

Oct 18, 2011 9:36 AM in response to AlexFromNogales

I was not able to fix the issue. I've spent almost three hours on the phone with service. Two phone restores later, and several other "try this" attempts, it is not fixed. I was basically told, Cupertino is just the default, your time zone is correct. I guess we'll see on November 6, when the time changes for everyone else except for Arizona, if my time zone is in fact correct.

Oct 18, 2011 10:53 AM in response to AlexFromNogales

If the device is set to "Set Automatically" for the time zone, then it is pulling the information from the cellular network. Check with your carrier to ensure they have the correct settings.


It may also be getting confusing information from the computer that you normally sync with. Verify that the timezone (not just the time) is correct on your computer.

Oct 19, 2011 4:12 PM in response to denisefromtucson

I have the same problem. I've tried a number of the remedies outlined in the support articles, but none of them worked (and all seem to be written for iOS 3).


I, too, live in AZ which does not observe daylight savings time.


An earlier poster posited that the iPhone gets it's time zone information from the cellular network. This might explain the problem if that information is simply the timezone offset (i.e. GMT-7), which would match PST at the moment. But that doesn't explain why my Wi-Fi only iPad has the exact same problem.


Anyway, as long as PDT and MST are the same time, it isn't a problem. I guess we'll see in a few weeks what happens when PDT falls back an hour.

Oct 22, 2011 9:06 PM in response to denisefromtucson

I also live in the Phoenix area and am experiencing this problem. We have several iDevices that are all "acting" differently...

iPhone4s (iOS 5) - Set Automatically = ON, Time Zone = Cupertino

iPhone4 (iOS 5) - Set Automatically = ON, Time Zone = Cupertino

iPod 4th gen (iOS 5) - Set Automatically = ON, Time Zone =Phoenix

iPad and iPad2 (iOS 5) 3G - Set Automatically = ON, Time Zone = Cupertino

iPhone 3GS (iOS 5) no SIM card - Set Automatically = ON, Time Zone = Phoenix


The iPods and iPhone 3GS do not have cellular connectivity and work fine. I am wondering if this is a network issue (AT&T specifically).


Interestingly enough, if you go to Settings > Mail, Contacts, Calendars and change "Time Zone Support" (under Calendars) to ON, the Time Zone that automatically gets selected is Phoenix.


It'll be interesting to see what happens on Nov 6th when everyone else observes DST and AZ doesn't.

Oct 24, 2011 5:38 PM in response to gadgetgirl875

I have a Verizon iPhone 4 that I just upgraded to iOS 5. I kinda wish I had waited; there have been so many bugs and irritating compatibility issues.


I live in Phoenix, also, and my phone is set to get the time automatically; it's showing Cupertino. So, obviously it's not a network problem. I'm afraid to wait and see if this gets fixed; it's going to be a big problem for me. Yeah, I'm on 'Cupertino time' now, but in a few weeks, I'm going to be on mountain time, and following a Cupertino clock is going to make me an hour late. Arizona has its own time zone; all previous iOS iterations got that, so what's the problem now?


As for changing it to set manually, I don't trust that; it has been my experience that it loses time fairly quickly. I left it on manual time inadvertantly once and ended up over 30 minutes late to work because the clock was running so slow. I can't figure out how it lost that much time that quickly, but I do know that I'm not doing that again.


The beauty of having a (very expensive) phone that does everything is that you can use it to do everything -- play music, surf the internet, and even wake up in the morning. I've used my phone as my alarm clock ever since phones started coming with that feature, and I've come to depend on it. They really need to fix this problem *before* November 6th. Really. The only saving grace is that Nov 6th is a Sunday and I have no appointments that day, so the time problem is not going to be disastrous as much as just really, really annoying.

Nov 2, 2011 5:31 PM in response to denisefromtucson

I've spent the last 2 days trying to solve calendar event time problems, first and last at the Apple Store, then with online support on the iPhone and with Mobile Me Support. But no one recognized this problem until I called it to their attention. The iPhone support person actually arranged for me to get a replacement phone when I called it to her attention. But at the Apple Store, everyone who is using automatic time setting had the problem.

The iPhone Support person said she notified the engineers. But if they don't solve the problem before Monday, I'm guessing some people are going to miss some planes and appointments.

If you aren't traveling, set your automatic time setting to OFF until they get this resolved.

Time Zone Update

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