iPhone 15/Plus Apple Pay not working every time, "Hold near reader"

[applepotato666]

Anyone else with the 15 experiencing this super annoying issue?

Either
1. Bring the phone near an NFC terminal. The phone recognizes to bring up Apple Pay.
2. Double-press side button. Face ID passes and the phone says "Hold near reader".
3. Nothing. It doesn't further communicate with the terminal.

Or
1. Double-click the side button. Face ID passes and the phone says "Hold near reader".
2. Bring the phone near the reader.
3. Nothing. "Hold near reader" text remains there.

It can go through sometimes and a restart will fix it for a payment or two but it appears super random to me. NFC works with no issues. It reads tags perfectly well.

What could this be? I doubt it’s the NFC antenna, but you never know.

 

[egorev]

Saw a similar discussion on Reddit

 

[applepotato666]

Saw a similar discussion on Reddit

I saw this today! Very interesting, a few had their devices replaced by Apple due to faulty NFC, and some were told it’s a software issue. I’m more inclined to think it’s software-related because a restart fixes it, but then it seems to be affecting few judging by the lack of replies on these threads. I saw a few people complaining on Twitter too.

 

[applepotato666]

Update: Talked to Apple Support several times and they have no clue what the problem is. They directed me towards service to check whether there's a hardware issue with the NFC through tests, but everything passed. No NFC chip issues. They just keep making me reset my iPhone. Can't get a replacement too since it's not a hardware fault. Super annoying. One time they'll say go to service it's not an iOS issue we're aware of, we haven't heard of this before (bs), then they say it's not a hardware issue 😬

 

[frame309]

Had the same issue from the very beginning, and in the end returned the phone. The second phone had a dust particle under the main camera lens (returned). The third one has a weird pinkish screen in some areas (thinking of returning). I regret upgrading and trading my previous phone in

 

[applepotato666]

Had the same issue from the very beginning, and in the end returned the phone. The second phone had a dust particle under the main camera lens (returned). The third one has a weird pinkish screen in some areas (thinking of returning). I regret upgrading and trading my previous phone in

Is this still an issue on your new one? And yes the build quality is absolutely unacceptable this year. My screen’s quality and tint is perfect which is why I don’t want to get it replaced, but it’s crooked. The bezel is not equal on the left and right side, the whole panel is ever so slightly more to the left but not enough to bother me. The status bar and home indicator are already burnt in which didn’t happen on my 13 for the 2 years I had it.

 

[frame309]

Is this still an issue on your new one? And yes the build quality is absolutely unacceptable this year. My screen’s quality and tint is perfect which is why I don’t want to get it replaced, but it’s crooked. The bezel is not equal on the left and right side, the whole panel is ever so slightly more to the left but not enough to bother me. The status bar and home indicator are already burnt in which didn’t happen on my 13 for the 2 years I had it.

The new one has a perfectly working Apple Pay. It's been a week since I had it and I made multiple purchases with no problems at all.

Sorry to hear that you already have burn marks on the screen. Why not return it though? For that price, I think we deserve a much better quality, especially considering the fact that people are buying phones for at least a few years

 

[ahmede]

Are you by any chance BMW owners ? The wireless charging is known to fry the NFC chip

 

[applepotato666]

Are you by any chance BMW owners ? The wireless charging is known to fry the NFC chip

Nope. I’ve never wirelessly charged it and the problem there is different. I think for them NFC dies completely, while for me and the others with this issue it works occasionally.

 

[applepotato666]

No update yet as some were reportedly told an update was coming. I’m wondering whether I should give it for service. Something tells me it’s not a hardware issue and I don’t want to use a loaner for a month and have a brand new iPhone opened up. Today paying worked once after I restarted it as usual but then it wouldn’t and it would also not read NFC tags, of course until restarted, after which it would make a payment again and can read NFC tags.

A new observation: Reading an NFC tag will not disable NFC, it looks like paying with Apple Pay is what makes it act up. I can read NFC tags over and over but the moment I pay with Apple Pay, NFC acts dead until restart.

The screen is getting worse. The home indicator is now very clearly burnt in or it’s more severe image retention than I saw on my previous iPhone (also OLED). And I never use my devices over 40% brightness unless it’s bright outside and then I also bring it down manually. Auto brightness is a lot brighter than I like to keep my screen at before I readjust it.

Super bummed and I think I’ve had it with Apple Support.

 

[sviato]

Apple support is crap, I would return is ASAP and get a new device

 

[FunkyTang]

I wirelessly charge at home on an Anker cube and in my car. I was able to use NFC today at a ChargePoint terminal.

 

[applepotato666]

Apple support is crap, I would return is ASAP and get a new device

Past the return period unfortunately. Pretty stuck with this for now it seems. Unfortunately I realized too late it’s not working. Reports about this seem to be piling up. Saw a post on r/AppleWallet today, r/iPhone and r/iOS with many people replying too. Most got theirs replaced but they are in the US or in a country where they have official Apple Stores. Sadly mine has no official Apple presence.

 

[sviato]

Past the return period unfortunately. Pretty stuck with this for now it seems. Unfortunately I realized too late it’s not working. Reports about this seem to be piling up. Saw a post on r/AppleWallet today, r/iPhone and r/iOS with many people replying too. Most got theirs replaced but they are in the US or in a country where they have official Apple Stores. Sadly mine has no official Apple presence.

Can you try to claim it under warranty or is that what you tried to do with support?

 

[applepotato666]

I did try. They directed me to go to a service provider who can test the NFC antenna but the antenna worked. Since a restart fixes it, they don’t believe it’s hardware-related. Nor do I, to be honest. After which I was advised to contact Support again and so on. I might have to try the NFC test with them right after using Apple Pay so the NFC can stop working.

 

[krspkbl]

Hardware or not I'd be putting up a fight until they replaced it. Restarting your phone is not an acceptable solution. I use Apple Pay as my main method of payment so it needs to work and remain convenient at all times.

 

[applepotato666]

Hardware or not I'd be putting up a fight until they replaced it. Restarting your phone is not an acceptable solution. I use Apple Pay as my main method of payment so it needs to work and remain convenient at all times.

I do use it all the time too. First time in ages I carry cash on me 🙁 Can’t fight for a replacement as I’m past the return period and have already tried it :/ They don’t even have any in stock. They say they can’t replace it without sending it to get serviced and that there isn’t any reason to open a service ticket as it all looks OK from a hardware standpoint.

 

[applepotato666]

Apple support is crap, I would return is ASAP and get a new device

Had a great experience with them today. Got to speak to some super helpful people who collected SEID and other diagnostic information, and told me it is likely something related to Secure Element or the Secure Enclave in the processor itself. Probably why on Reddit it also seems to affect people with the 14 Pro who got theirs right before the 15 series came out. Might be something that affects a small number of A16 Bionic units. I have now noticed SEID in About is sometimes blank, the string disappears and shows up whenever it feels like it. This seemingly decides whether Apple Pay will work or not, but NFC tag scanning does. What's borked is the card simulation part and the phone is now being "serviced". Pretty sure they'll call me in a few days to pick up a new unit when they have stock, since I'm not sure they're doing logic board replacements at Apple? Let alone on the 15 series already. Saw others on Reddit who have had their SEID collected, too. I think they're starting to get that it's a defect that affects a bigger number of devices. I think with some people from Apple support it's just obvious they don't have much technical knowledge to help but in most cases you'll get someone who wants to really get to the root of it.

 

[shady16]

im having a similar issue where apple pay on my 15PM is hit or miss thankfully i use my watch for 90% of apple pay purchases though so if thats the only issue im having it wont be a big problem with me lol

 

[applepotato666]

im having a similar issue where apple pay on my 15PM is hit or miss thankfully i use my watch for 90% of apple pay purchases though so if thats the only issue im having it wont be a big problem with me lol

Go get it replaced. A ton of us have this issue and it's apparently hardware. No acknowledgment from Apple and pretending they don't know what's happening over the phone is super frustrating. So don't even bother talking just get it replaced as all of us.

 

[shady16]

Go get it replaced. A ton of us have this issue and it's apparently hardware. No acknowledgment from Apple and pretending they don't know what's happening over the phone is super frustrating. So don't even bother talking just get it replaced as all of us.

i might, i barely use apple pay on my phone anyways i primarily use it on my watch lol

 

[applepotato666]

i might, i barely use apple pay on my phone anyways i primarily use it on my watch lol

Which model are you coming from, before you had the 15 Pro Max? If yours doesn't have any other issues perhaps you can stick with it. It's that mine had A TON of other issues like the screen making popping and clicking sounds when pressed, the panel getting increasingly burnt in (home bar and some home screen elements) and literally being crooked, obviously the Apple Pay thing, paint on the cameras just deciding to chip off slightly which although common I've never had happen before, the taptic engine making unheard by me before noises, probably more. It's like they took all the hardware that would not have shipped and decided to assemble it into my phone, lol. I know it's abnormal, but now I want my 13 back. I think this is the last time I pre-order without feeling the phone first. These just feel super poorly made and nobody can tell me otherwise. A $200 Galaxy A-whatever is better built than this .. Upgraded because of the cameras but did not expect a downgrade in so many other areas 😬 I'd pay Apple the $799 to give me my exact iPhone 13 back.

 

[frame309]

Had the same issue from the very beginning, and in the end returned the phone. The second phone had a dust particle under the main camera lens (returned). The third one has a weird pinkish screen in some areas (thinking of returning). I regret upgrading and trading my previous phone in

Quick update:

Since I returned my first item with faulty Apple Pay, it was hard to find a phone with a good and uniform screen or without a weird pinkish/greenish glare.

In total, I went through five more iPhones to finally find one with a good and uniform screen. I'm happy again and intend to keep it