Some owners of Apple’s new iPhone 18 Pro Max may be enjoying the new camera system and improved battery life. But if they’re AT&T customers, they could find the phone unable to perform its most essential task: making calls. That also includes being able to dial 911 in emergencies. The fix appears to be a pair of Apple updates rolling out on Friday – but anyone who has already been affected by the problem will need a replacement phone, according to Apple. An Apple representative says the company will replace those phones for free.
Last week, some iPhone 18 Pro Max owners on AT&T’s network reported no cellular access. MacRumors reported that AT&T sent a text message this week to iPhone 18 Pro Max owners, encouraging them to update to iOS 27.0.1 immediately. MacRumors estimates that thousands of customers have been affected.
On Friday, Apple said it’s issuing a separate carrier-settings patch to pair with the iOS 27.0.1 update. But the patch comes too late for certain owners of the new phone.
An Apple representative told CNET that the updates are intended to guard against this problem in the future and won’t fix the situation for iPhone 18 Pro Max owners who are already experiencing it. Apple will provide a new phone free of charge to those owners. Affected customers should contact Apple Support or AT&T.
In Reddit threads about the issue, some owners report that the 27.0.1 update by itself did not fix the problem, nor did upgrading to the public beta of iOS 27.2.
Only the iPhone 18 Pro Max is affected
So far, the issue seems limited to iPhone 18 Pro Max models on AT&T’s network. I reached out to contacts at T-Mobile and Verizon, and both report they’re not seeing similar reports on their networks. I haven’t experienced the issue on an iPhone 18 Pro that runs on AT&T’s network, which isn’t surprising given that this particular problem affects iPhone 18 Pro Max units, not iPhone 18 Pro phones. A CNET colleague’s iPhone 18 Pro Max on Google Fi (which uses T-Mobile’s network) is not experiencing the issue.
It’s unclear whether the lack of connectivity is related to the phone’s hardware. While the standard iPhone 18 Pro is equipped with Apple’s C2 modem, the iPhone 18 Pro Max in the US is the only model with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X80 modem, as shown in this teardown of the phone by iFixIt. Qualcomm has been Apple’s modem provider for years, but Apple has worked to move away from relying on the third party for the essential phone component. That relationship is due to expire this year.
According to a TechInsights iPhone 18 Pro Max teardown, the X80 modem is also used in the iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max, but a new millimeter-wave antenna has been added to the 18 Pro Max. Millimeter-wave offers much faster data speeds in areas where the technology is installed, but it can have a shorter range and be reduced by obstacles. Apple’s C2 modem also includes a millimeter-wave antenna.
A representative from Qualcomm didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Jeff Carlson
See full bio