iPhone 12 Pro Max signal & reception is very poor---in Rural America!

[polliwog]

I'm a rural mail carrier here in Montana. My route at USPS is 160 miles long. I upgraded from the iPhone 8 Plus. I have Verizon. Where I used to have signal and be able to dial out, I cannot. Where I used to be able to have a conversation I constantly cut in and out or get dropped altogether. This is all relative to my iPhone 8 Plus. In town I don't have trouble, it's my entire day out of town on my route where I have trouble. Now that winter is near about upon us here, I do not want to have a breakdown or emergency on the route when it's -20F and not be able to dial out and get help.

I might have to get rid of this phone.

 

[chscag]

First, my hats off to you as a rural mail carrier (especially in Montana).

Is it possible that your new iPhone 12 Pro Max is defective? Why not swap it out for another if you're still within the 2 week return period. If the next one you get exhibits the same thing, then go back to your 8 Plus.

 

[polliwog]

Thank you. It takes a bit of a fearless person to run a route like this through so many miles of open range, all kinds of wildlife and weather that gets thrown at us out here.

I contacted Apple support today. He went through screen sharing with me and had me change a setting and then reset all network settings. I do not think this will make a difference but I'll know after tomorrow when I'm back on my route. I never thought this is just a defective phone, I bet if anything it's a defective iPhone model release altogether. Is it not safe to assume that Apple will in time come out with a fix? I'll definitely have to do something differently if it doesn't get resolved soon bec I can't go through a winter with a phone that is unpredictable at best. I do still have my iPhone 8 Plus if I do have to revert back to it.

 

[Apple_Robert]

Do I you have a new 5G SIM card? If not, a new one might make a difference, if you have a 5G plan. Some forum members have noted a new SIM card made a difference, while others said they had no change.

 

[AppleForTheTeacher]

We have a long thread going on about this issue. A Verizon support rep confirmed to me the other day it is about half of the 12 pro and 12 pro max devices, and that they have narrowed it down to either an issue related to the SIM cards or the antennas. However, other reps are giving me and other people the run around and they seem to be in panic mode now.

Other Thread

 

[5105973]

We have a long thread going on about this issue. A Verizon support rep confirmed to me the other day it is about half of the 12 pro and 12 pro max devices, and that they have narrowed it down to either an issue related to the SIM cards or the antennas. However, other reps are giving me and other people the run around and they seem to be in panic mode now.

Other Thread

I'm a rural mail carrier here in Montana. My route at USPS is 160 miles long. I upgraded from the iPhone 8 Plus. I have Verizon. Where I used to have signal and be able to dial out, I cannot. Where I used to be able to have a conversation I constantly cut in and out or get dropped altogether. This is all relative to my iPhone 8 Plus. In town I don't have trouble, it's my entire day out of town on my route where I have trouble. Now that winter is near about upon us here, I do not want to have a breakdown or emergency on the route when it's -20F and not be able to dial out and get help.

I might have to get rid of this phone. View attachment 1678973

Whoa, I like your truck, @polliwog .

I had some weird connection problems during long country drives, too. Lol I can’t remember which phone it was, I’ve had the 12 Pro, the regular 12 and the 12 mini. They’ve all been great at home, even with WiFi calling turned off. But I just have my old AT&T sim in.

I wasn’t calling anyone but I was looking at the signal strength compared to the one on my Samsung S20 and I noticed a few times there were no bars on the iPhone and a couple on the S20. We have terrible 4G out where I live, though rural here is not anything compared to where you are. Except when I’m down in rural South Carolina on the way to visiting family. That’s a real test for sure, miles of nothing, but with Covid I won’t know for a few months what troubles these phones have.

 

[StaceyMJ86]

First of all hats off to you for being a Rural carrier. I’m a CCA in Maryland, so I understand your frustration with having little to no reception while out on your route. I had the XS Max and upgraded to the 12 Pro Max mainly for the Qualcomm modem, and I also switched from T-Mobile to Verizon in August 2020. A week ago, I went to the Verizon store near me and had them activate a 5G SIM card for me. So far no issues with dropped calls or bad reception. Maybe try getting a 5G SIM card.

 

[Chevyman29]

I don't honestly think it's a iPhone issue my 12 gets the best reception of any Verizon phone I've ever had at my GF house. She lives in a known bad area for Verizon. I think it's something to do with the 5g roll out or maybe a Sim card issue. I've traveled all over rural Alabama and have gotten as good or better reception than any phone I've ever had on Verizon. At gf house I've never been able to keep a steady signal of usable 4g LTE for more than 10 min without having to toggle airplane mode. With the 12 I Never lost signal once all night.

That tells me it's a Verizon issue in certain areas of the country.

Maybe try a 5g Sim it can't hurt.