Why do I need Cellular Data turned on to send/receive MMS?

I am having the exact same problem with my 6s and thinking mobile data wasn't always a thing and everything was fine but now we NEED IT all of a sudden so sorry this probably doesn't help but just so You know your not the only one

I had iPhone 6s Plus through at&t never had that problem but then I switched to verizon got the iPhone 7 plus and now I can only send pictures when data is on so I'm pretty sure it's verizon bc at&t doesn't have that problem I wish I never switched to verizon I only did bc they have better signal

MMS is a hybrid text message where the text portion is sent over a cellular voice channel (as with SMS texts) but the graphic data (picture or video) is sent over a cellular data channel. With AT&T, if you have wifi calling enabled, MMS can use your wifi data connection. But without the active wifi calling feature, every cellular service provider on the planet will require cellular data be enabled in order to send or receive MMS messages.

Apple user Nikari wrote:

I am having the exact same problem with my 6s and thinking mobile data wasn't always a thing and everything was fine but now we NEED IT all of a sudden so sorry this probably doesn't help but just so You know your not the only one

There's nothing "all of a sudden" about it. MMS has always used cellular data, from the day it was invented. On dumb phones you paid for the message, rather than the data, but the phone still had a data connection. And, with some carriers, you still do; they will charge for the message (or include it in your message plan and not charge for the data), but cellular data still must be on for MMS to work.

Apple user Nikari wrote:

I am having the exact same problem with my 6s and thinking mobile data wasn't always a thing and everything was fine but now we NEED IT all of a sudden so sorry this probably doesn't help but just so You know your not the only one

Mobile or cellular data connections have indeed been a thing, ever since MMS was first offered (beginning about 2002/2003). It was the advent of cellular data transmissions that allowed the SMS text service to be expanded to include attachments that were not strictly ASCII text strings of 160 characters.

I used to android phones and this is my first iPhone. It does the same thing to me if I try to send a message it won't go through but if I turn my data plan it will and when I have my data on and I missed a call and someone leaves me a voicemail that's when it'll show up on my phone. I go through Verizon as well. If they would of told me that I'd have to turn my data on to send texts and receive texts or voicemails I would not have gotten an iPhone. I never had to turn my data on to do any of those things with my old phones.

Kortland_Elaine wrote:

I used to android phones and this is my first iPhone. It does the same thing to me if I try to send a message it won't go through but if I turn my data plan it will and when I have my data on and I missed a call and someone leaves me a voicemail that's when it'll show up on my phone. I go through Verizon as well. If they would of told me that I'd have to turn my data on to send texts and receive texts or voicemails I would not have gotten an iPhone. I never had to turn my data on to do any of those things with my old phones.

Visual Voicemail requires a data connection. You can still call into your voicemail the old fashioned way. And yes, on Android phones, you need to have data turned on in order to send MMS. I have an Android on Verizon so I was able to verify this.

You do not need data turned on with either an Android or an iPhone in order to send an SMS messages.

Every phone that has Visual Voicemail needs cellular data turned on. That's because your carrier (Verizon in this case) does not know anything about your WiFi connection, and VVM is too much data to go as an SMS.

Likewise, MMS requires cellular data, for the same reason. Your carrier knows nothing about your WiFi network for sending MMS either.

This is true for all phones that can receive and send MMS, not just iPhones.

HOWEVER, Text messages do not require cellular data. They use the voice signaling channel (that's why they are limited to 160 characters). So SMS will be delivered with or without cellular data. And iMessages can use either WiFi or cellular data, because they have nothing to do with your carrier.

I actually only needed wifi never had to use my data at all when I was with at&t and I was on a plan not straight talk or go phone an actual plan then I went to verizon and can only send with data weather I have wifi or not

kkimball97 wrote:

I actually only needed wifi never had to use my data at all when I was with at&t and I was on a plan not straight talk or go phone an actual plan then I went to verizon and can only send with data weather I have wifi or not

SMS does not use data, either WiFi or cellular. Only MMS requires cellular data. It requires cellular data on Verizon, and on AT&T, on Straight Talk. If you were sending pictures by iMessage to other Apple users, you can do that using WiFi.

MMS is sent over a carrier's data network, not the cellular network. That's why.

It is what it is. You want to use MMS? Then you need cellular data turned on. Turn it off...no MMS.

Look here, from Apple:

The following table shows the requirements and capabilities of Messages on iOS.

See what it says about MMS? That answer your question.