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Some iPhone 12s keep dropping 5G — here’s what you can do to fix it

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There seems to be a cellular connectivity issue impacting some iPhone 12 users. According to multiple reports on social media, some iPhone 12 models keep dropping 5G and LTE service, showing a “No Service” notification at various points throughout the day, even in areas with strong service available.

The problem has been well recorded by 9to5Mac and others, and there are some workarounds to try and resolve it. According to user reports on Reddit, as well as forum posts from Apple Discussions, if an iPhone 12 is dropping cell coverage, it can be fixed in a couple of ways until an official resolution arrives. Some are more advanced than others.

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The most obvious way to restore 5G, LTE, and cell service on an impacted iPhone 12 showing “No Service” is to enable Airplane mode and then disable it. This will force the iPhone to reconnect to the cell network. Simply slide down from the right corner of the screen, and tap the icon of the Airplane. Then tap it once more. Your iPhone should then reconnect to the cell phone network.

A second fix is a little more advanced. In cases where iPhones show “No Service,” Apple recommends that iPhone users reset the network settings. This will reset all Wi-Fi related settings, as well as carrier-related settings to the factory default. You can tap Settings > General > Reset > Reset Network Settings to help correct the issue. Your iPhone will show the Apple logo, and then restart. There’s no guarantee this will fix this specific issue, but is a good catchall to try and address connectivity problems in general.

You also can consider turning off 5G connectivity to help avoid the chances that your iPhone 12 searches for 5G signals as it switches from tower to tower. You can do this by opening Settings, then clicking Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Voice & Data > LTE. This last method fixed the connectivity issues with our iPhone 12 Pro Max running on T-Mobile.

It is unknown what is causing this issue, but there are reasons as to why this might occur. An issue with carrier provisioning is the best guess, as the problem appears to be linked to all the major carriers in the U.S. It also could be a software bug. Apple’s next iOS update, iOS 14.3, recently hit the Release Candidate milestone, and it could perhaps address the issue in a software update.

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Arif Bacchus
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Arif Bacchus is a native New Yorker and a fan of all things technology. Arif works as a freelance writer at Digital Trends…
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