The iPhone 17 is making its way to excited customers’ hands, and is bringing some problems too, apparently. According to multiple reports emerging online, iPhone 17 models are having cellular issues across multiple regions, regardless of whether it’s T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon, or an MVNO’s services that the phones are using.
Initial reports were being met with slight skepticism, and the belief that this might only be happening to a few phones. More instances started piling up, until eventually there was a much larger number of people complaining about the issue.
Are you facing cellular problems with your iPhone 17?
Yes
29.61%
No
40.79%
Don't use an iPhone
29.61%
This is especially odd because the iPhone 17 Pro uses a much better antenna system: with a larger antenna wrapping around the extended rear camera module. In theory, this was supposed to have improved the reception on the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 Pro Max by a lot, but that’s not the case.
For people experiencing this problem, they’ve found that their older iPhone models are getting much better reception in the same areas where their iPhone 17 is struggling. Fortunately, it seems like firmware updates may be able to fix the problem by themselves.
In case they don’t, however, Apple support advisors are apparently acknowledging the issue, and even offered a return in one recorded case.
iPhone 17 Pro uses a much larger antenna. | Image credit — Apple
It seems to be a luck of the draw at the moment, because some users have said that their iPhone 17 isn’t just working flawlessly, it’s actually better than their previous iPhone 16. If this is a random problem, it might solely be a software issue that can be resolved with an update soon.
And, if that’s the case, then this will hardly be the first time that Apple has made shoddy software recently. Barring the odd glitches in iOS 26, the company has released a spade of broken software this year and the year before. The worst of which might have been iPadOS 18, which bricked M4 iPad models.
While the iPhone 17 is more popular than anyone expected, it’s not without its problems. This cellular issue is but only one of such problems.
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Abdullah loves smartphones, Virtual Reality, and audio gear. Though he covers a wide range of news his favorite is always when he gets to talk about the newest VR venture or when Apple sets the industry ablaze with another phenomenal release.
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