Gordon Kelly
Senior Contributor
Consumer Tech
I write about technology's biggest companies
Despite some display concerns, early reports suggest Apple’s new iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are breaking sales records. But potential upgraders might now want to wait because serious cellular problems are now being reported by thousands of owners.
Apple's iPhone 12 range is suffering from seemingly widespread 5G and 4G signal dropouts
Apple
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First spotted by 9to5Mac, over 500 iPhone 12 owners have posted to Apple’s Official Support Communities forum that their phones (seemingly all iPhone 12 models) are dropping both 5G and 4G reception, leaving them without connectivity even in areas with strong signal. Moreover, when I dug further into this issue, I found numerous similar threads with thousands of comments posted to Reddit threads for Verizon, AT&T and more as well as complaints about signal drops on international carriers.
Describing the problem, affected users (spread as widely as the US to Japan, India and the UAE) say reception strength on their new iPhones suddenly drops before disappearing. For some, the signal can return in under a minute but for others they have to restart their phone, toggle Airplane mode or remove and replace their sim to get it back.
“For me it’s almost like clockwork. If you’re actively using your phone for more than 20 minutes at a time, you’re bound to experience the dropped signal. I’ve tried endless workarounds to no avail.” - source
Apple made 5G a key selling point of the iPhone 12 range
Apple
Interestingly, one affected Verizon store worker also confirmed customers are now coming into the store to complain about the issue. Switching between towers seems to be a common cause, regardless of network, for others their signal disappears even when standing still. Unfortunately, some very unlucky iPhone 12 owners are also being impacted by both problems:
“It's particularly bad when moving (and switching between towers). Even when I'm stationary the signal randomly drops to zero multiple times a day. Only airplane mode/reboot can restore service, and I've erased network settings multiple times now. I'm using a new AT&T SIM provided by Apple.” - source
While there is some gallows humor about the issue, the problems are clearly impacting a significant number of iPhone 12 owners. They also add to a wider pattern of cellular issues with the iPhone 12 range. At launch, iPhone 12 owners were impacted by widespread SMS issueswhile the latest iOS 14 release (iOS 14.2.1) patches problems with iPhone 12 models not receiving MMS messages.
I have reached out to Apple and will update this post when I receive a response.
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Gordon Kelly
I am an experienced freelance technology journalist. I have written for Wired, The Next Web, TrustedReviews, The Guardian and the BBC in addition to Forbes. I began in
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IPHONE 12 SIGNAL IS ANNOYINGLY POOR - UPDATE AND THEN REINSERT THE SIM CARD
The iPhone 12 series have been on pre-sale for some weeks and the sales are massive. However, the maiden 5G iPhone comes with its own problems. Early reviews of this device were swift to point out its poor battery. There are also pockets of complaints on its scratch vulnerability and sharp edges. However, it appears that these will not be the only issues with the iPhone 12 series. Recently, many iPhone 12 users in Apple Community reported an issue with the mobile signal.
According to the reports, the signal is annoyingly poor in many cases and fluctuates too often. In fact, in some cases, the iPhone 12 is left without any signal. Putting this device in airplane mode does not resolve the issue. You must have to restart the phone to get back a good signal. This is a huge burden for users.
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According to a user, on the iPhone 12 (256GB), at least 8 times in 10 days, there was no signal at all. He had to restart or restore network settings many times to restore the signal.
Another Weibo netizen wrote: “N times a day there is no service, and the flight mode is useless. It can only be restarted. What should I do, return, or exchange?”
IPHONE 12 NETWORK ISSUES ARE SUMMARIZED AS FOLLOWS
· The iPhone 12 with no signal appears not only in dual-card dual-standby devices but also in carrier phones
· In many scenarios, it is not that the signal is weak, but there is no signal at all, and it cannot be automatically restored. The problem is more serious than the previous iPhone’s weak signal. Even when there is no signal, it cannot connect to Wi-Fi.
· Switching on and off the flight mode, switching between the main card and the secondary card, changing the SIM card, changing the position, updating the system to 14.2, etc., does not solve the problem
Read Also: iPhone 13 series price list will exceed $2,000
APPLE RESPONDS TO THIS ISSUE – UPDATE AND REINSERT THE SIM CARD
The company has now officially responded to this issue. According to Apple, to clear this issue, users should do the following
· Put off the phone
· Remove the SIM card and re-insert it
· Update the operator settings, and update the system
Apple’s customer service said that it has not received a notification of a hardware problem. This issue is probably associated with the software. The company says that if it is a hardware problem, it will also offer a solution.
Source/VIA :
In Chinese
How To Fix It If Apple iPhone 12 Mini Keeps Losing Signal
In this video, we will show you what you should do if your Apple iPhone 12 Mini keeps losing signal. Most of the time, signal-related issues are not serious as they occur briefly and get fixed immediately. But there are times when it’s also a sign of a serious problem. Continue reading to learn more.
There are times when your system glitches occur on your device and when that happens, some services may be affected. The network services are among the ones that are often affected by minor firmware glitches. So if your iPhone starts losing or dropping its signal for no apparent reason, here’s what you should do:
First solution: Check the signal indicator
First off, make sure that it’s not just an issue with the area. There are areas that have poor coverage and the signal intensity may fluctuate. So if it’s the first time you encounter this kind of problem, immediately check the signal indicator to see if your device is getting a good reception.
If it only has one or a couple of signal bars, then it might be an issue with the area. Most of the time, you don’t have to do anything about it because once you move back to the area with excellent reception, the problem will be fixed by itself.
However, if your iPhone shows it has good reception but all of a sudden drops, then continue troubleshooting it.
Second solution: Force restart your iPhone
After making sure that your iPhone has a good reception, what you need to do is to refresh its memory. Try doing the forced restart as it often fixes minor firmware and network-related issues. It even reloads all apps and services. Here’s how you do it on your iPhone:
1. Quickly press and release the Volume Up button, and then the Volume Down button.
2. Immediately after that, press and hold the Power key for 8 seconds. This will force your device to shut down and power back up.
3. When the Apple logo shows, release the power key and allow the device to continue the boot process.
When the reboot is finished, try to see if the problem is already fixed.
Third solution: Reset the network settings of your iPhone
Since we’re dealing with a network related issue, what you have to do next if the previous solutions fail, is to reload the network services. You can do so by resetting the network settings. Doing so will bring all the wireless services back to their default configuration. You don’t need to backup your files as they will not be deleted. Here’s how it’s done:
1. Access Settings from the Home screen.
2. Scroll down to and select General.
3. Tap Reset then select Reset network settings option.
4. Enter your device passcode if prompted.
5. Tap Reset network settings again to confirm.
Your iPhone will reboot after this, once it has finished rebooting, try to see if your iPhone is still dropping its signal.
Fourth solution: Factory reset your device
After resetting the network services and your iPhone 12 Mini still loses its signal randomly, what you need to do next is to reset it. A factory reset will be able to fix network-related issues like this, provided that the problem is with the firmware.
Prior to the reset, make sure to create a backup of your important files as they will be deleted. When ready, follow these steps to reset your iPhone:
1. From the Home screen, tap Settings.
2. Find and tap General.
3. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen, and then touch Reset.
4. Tap Erase All Contents and Settings.
5. Tap Erase Now.
6. If prompted, enter your security lock.
7. Tap Erase iPhone at the bottom of the screen.
8. Tap Erase iPhone again to proceed.
9. Now enter your Apple ID password, and then tap Erase to proceed with the reset.
After the reset, observe your iPhone to see if the problem is gone.
Fifth solution: Call tech support
If the signal continues to drop even after you’ve reset your iPhone, then it’s better to call your service provider because it’s possible that there are some issues with your account.
Assuming that it’s an account-related issue, the rep will be able to help you fix it, and retain the service.
However, if it’s a network problem, then you will be advised to wait for a certain period of time as the problem will be fixed by itself.
And those are the solutions you can use if your iPhone 12 Mini keeps losing signal. We hope that this simple troubleshooting guide has been helpful.
If we’ve been able to help you fix the problem with your phone, please support us by subscribing to our YouTube channel. We need your support so that we can continue creating helpful contents. Thanks for reading!
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