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After spending a couple hours with AT&T today my issues are finally solved.
1. Everything I was told by att last week (and posted here) was wrong.
2. I received a new physical sim and finally got it activated and I have 5g as an option now. But I'm not sure a new sim was really required.
3. I also asked for an e-sim and got that activated. And it *also* shows 5g as an option when not in dual sim mode.

so both an e-sim and a physical sim can be provisioned for 5g

I'd love to explain why this worked today but not last Friday but I can't. I think i just got a good rep who knew what they were doing.

Edited to add that here on the San Francisco peninsula in a city that shows we have 5g, the 5g speeds are way lower than the 5e+ (lte) speeds🤣 Hopefully someday it will get better.
 
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After spending a couple hours with AT&T today my issues are finally solved.
1. Everything I was told by att last week (and posted here) was wrong.
2. I received a new physical sim and finally got it activated and I have 5g as an option now. But I'm not sure a new sim was really required.
3. I also asked for an e-sim and got that activated. And it *also* shows 5g as an option when not in dual sim mode.

so both an e-sim and a physical sim can be provisioned for 5g

I'd love to explain why this worked today but not last Friday but I can't. I think i just got a good rep who knew what they were doing.

Edited to add that here on the San Francisco peninsula in a city that shows we have 5g, the 5g speeds are way lower than the 5e+ (lte) speeds🤣 Hopefully someday it will get better.
Yeah exactly, I spoke with 3 reps, the last one was the one that told me I needed a new SIM, I went to ATT and the rep said it was a new 5G SIM that was released. I got it and immediately I got the 5G option.
 
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I don’t think the Unlimited Plus is a 5G plan. The new plans are the Unlimited Elite, Extra and Starter or the Unlimited Your Way which includes a mixture of the 3.
Thanks for saying which ones support it. I thought mine did but it’s good to know my being on Elite is compatible with 5g.
 
After spending a couple hours with AT&T today my issues are finally solved.
1. Everything I was told by att last week (and posted here) was wrong.
2. I received a new physical sim and finally got it activated and I have 5g as an option now. But I'm not sure a new sim was really required.
3. I also asked for an e-sim and got that activated. And it *also* shows 5g as an option when not in dual sim mode.

so both an e-sim and a physical sim can be provisioned for 5g

I'd love to explain why this worked today but not last Friday but I can't. I think i just got a good rep who knew what they were doing.

Edited to add that here on the San Francisco peninsula in a city that shows we have 5g, the 5g speeds are way lower than the 5e+ (lte) speeds🤣 Hopefully someday it will get better.

So, the SIM that came with your iPhone did not work to get 5g? I received my phone yesterday and activated the new AT&T Sim that came with the phone and there is only LTE and 4g options. Before, I call AT&T just curious what I need to do. I am on a business plan and our business mobile person said I should be on 5G too.
 
I also have a new SIM from the new iPhone 12 pro that came with it, Unlimited ELITE 5G plan, and have not had 5G option since the phone came out last Friday - only LTE/4G, am in NYC with 5G available everywhere also, I spoke w ATT every day since then and tried a bunch of different things - update IMEI/ICCID, resets, reactivations, refresh network connection etc - nothing has worked, I asked them to send me a new SIM in mail which arrives tomorrow - will report back once I get it - they said it’s an ICCIF Trio SIM card
 
I also have a new SIM from the new iPhone 12 pro that came with it, Unlimited ELITE 5G plan, and have not had 5G option since the phone came out last Friday - only LTE/4G, am in NYC with 5G available everywhere also, I spoke w ATT every day since then and tried a bunch of different things - update IMEI/ICCID, resets, reactivations, refresh network connection etc - nothing has worked, I asked them to send me a new SIM in mail which arrives tomorrow - will report back once I get it - they said it’s an ICCIF Trio SIM card
Yeah if the SIM doesn't say 5G on it then it won't work, its an all white one. The ATT employee said they had just released them. They probably shipped you the old SIM card
 
After my hassles getting everything provisioned correctly, can I complicate this conversation by sharing that an AT&T rep told me that despite my phone now showing that I am getting 5G, it's not 'really' 5G and that I have to get a new SIM to get the 'full' 5G? I honestly don't know what to believe anymore.
 
That's exactly why I didn't upgrade my plan. I have a great shared data plan with rollover minutes and there was no way I was going to give that up for a higher bill and only minor if any speed increase.
Thanks for this post! I am thinking of finally upgrading from my 6 year old iPhone 6 (to a 12 mini), but as I live in a rural area with no 5G, I wanted to stay with my current plan, but wasn't sure if I could.
 
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I had the same problem (No 5G option under cellular data options), even though I’m on the unlimited data plan. A call to AT&T didn’t help. They refreshed the codes and asked me to reset the network settings on my phone but nothing helped. I made a trip to the AT&T store this weekend and luckily found a guy who knew what he was doing. A quick look at the account details confirmed that my plan supported 5G and there was nothing wrong with the account setup. He checked my IMEI number and, sure enough, found that the IMEI number registered against my account was that of the physical sim instead of the eSim. He changed it, refreshed my account and restarted my phone. It took a couple of min after the restart for the change to reflect on my phone. But it worked!!! Now I have 5G instead of 5Ge!

Edit : I have an unlocked iPhone bought from the apple store, not AT&T and I have AT&T on eSim.
 
So, the SIM that came with your iPhone did not work to get 5g? I received my phone yesterday and activated the new AT&T Sim that came with the phone and there is only LTE and 4g options. Before, I call AT&T just curious what I need to do. I am on a business plan and our business mobile person said I should be on 5G too.
Sorry I didn't see this. I assume you have it fixed by now. I did request a new sim (my new phone came without a sim) and it didn't show 5g upon inserting it. I had to call into AT&T. I got a knowledgable person and I now have 5g. Of course it is actually slower than 4lte here so... ugh. If you don't show 5g as a option I'd settle in and call at&t.

ETA: make sure you are on one of the absolute newest unlimited plans. There have been a couple of generations of unlimited and you need (I think) the latest ones.
 
Yeah if the SIM doesn't say 5G on it then it won't work, its an all white one. The ATT employee said they had just released them. They probably shipped you the old SIM card
Not necessarily. The new sim I was sent by at&t when I couldn't access 5g is the same old orange and blue. It doesn't have 5g on it. I guess it depends where you get it from. But my new (orange and blue) sim was indeed provisioned for 5g after I called into AT&T. So don't freak out if at&t sends an old looking sim when you request a new one.😁
 
Not necessarily. The new sim I was sent by at&t when I couldn't access 5g is the same old orange and blue. It doesn't have 5g on it. I guess it depends where you get it from. But my new (orange and blue) sim was indeed provisioned for 5g after I called into AT&T. So don't freak out if at&t sends an old looking sim when you request a new one.

Lots of confusing information regarding SIMs. Despite a lot of conflicting information I believe that the SIM really has nothing to do with it*. It's about the correct provisioning of the SIM and phone.

*only caveat is if you've got a really old or damaged SIM. Those can be the cause of general issues.
 
Lots of confusing information regarding SIMs. Despite a lot of conflicting information I believe that the SIM really has nothing to do with it*. It's about the correct provisioning of the SIM and phone.

*only caveat is if you've got a really old or damaged SIM. Those can be the cause of general issues.
I too strongly suspect this.
 
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So I have had the exact same experience as many here. I first tried calling 611 to fix it which on both occasions did nothing. I wasted probably an hour on the phone both times. Both times they tried reprovisioning my SIM and IMEI number but it never made the 5G menu popup. I finally went in to the AT&T store today and got it figured out. I explained to him what was happening and how the 5G auto option was not showing up under CELLULAR DATA OPTIONS in the iPhone menu even though I was on a 5G+ plan and there was 5G+ coverage in our area. He was initially trying to tell me that it has to be an Apple problem and they would need to issue a firmware update to fix it. I told him that other people in the forums online were in the same position as me and were able to get it fixed and there had to be a solution. After a little bit of pressure and insistence, I finally got him to take his SIM from his Samsung (5G+ enabled phone and plan) and put it in my 12 and the 5G menu popped up immediately. He issued me a new SIM on the spot (orange and blue version - the all white version came in the phone) and it immediately worked.

TLDR: Get a new SIM from AT&T and your issues should be fixed immediately assuming you have a 5G+ capable plan already.

As a note: I did not put my SIM from my old phone into my new 12. I used the SIM that came in the phone when it was delivered and provisioned that SIM with the phone. That particular SIM card never game me the 5G option.
 
My ATT rep that helps with my business account said SIM cards released after January of this year are capable of 5G.
 
My ATT rep that helps with my business account said SIM cards released after January of this year are capable of 5G.
What does that even mean? How does your rep account for all the SIM cards that are working fine that were issued way before January? I have no evidence, but I am willing to bet that in most cases where the new SIM card 'fixed' the problem, it is really because there was now a properly provisioned SIM in the phone.

And look, I am not against getting a new SIM. In fact, if the first call to AT&T doesn't address the issue, getting a new SIM at a store may be the fastest way to get things resolved. It is SO hit and miss with phone support people.
 
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so my wife just got her 12 Pro Max yesterday. She is on business plan through her work. She activated her new SIM card which came with the phone via ATT website. she doesn't have 5G option under Cellular. Any ideas?
 
so my wife just got her 12 Pro Max yesterday. She is on business plan through her work. She activated her new SIM card which came with the phone via ATT website. she doesn't have 5G option under Cellular. Any ideas?

Her business cellular plan needs to support 5G in order for her phone to access the 5G network.
 
Her business cellular plan needs to support 5G in order for her phone to access the 5G network.

Same with me. When I spoke to our mobile department at my work yesterday, they told me we would not be getting 5g access anytime soon, as AT&T wants to charge double the cost to do that. What a joke of a company AT&T is. Rip businesses off, when consumers get 5g with free, at least with T-Mobile they do.
 
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Same with me. When I spoke to our mobile department at my work yesterday, they told me we would not be getting 5g access anytime soon, as AT&T wants to charge double the cost to do that. What a joke of a company AT&T is. Rip businesses off, when consumers get 5g with free, at least with T-Mobile they do.

I was on phone with AT&T and the guy assured me its the same cost as current plan so you won't be charged anything extra. please talk to your IT department! :/
 
Had the issue after transferring the eSIM from iPhone Xs Pro Max to iPhone 12 Pro Max, only see 4G and LTE available as options.

611 suggested to reset the network settings and that does not fix it after he try to reinforced that 5Ge is 5G many times. I asked him to send me a new eSIM but he don’t have one available and asked me to get it from the AT&T store, he will note the account that it should be free. Went to the store, got the last one available eSIM activated, a few minutes later the 5G On/5G Auto showed up..

If you already got 5G capable plan and have this issue, just go to the store and get a new SIM card
 
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Had the issue after transferring the eSIM from iPhone Xs Pro Max to iPhone 12 Pro Max, only see 4G and LTE available as options.

611 suggested to reset the network settings and that does not fix it after he try to reinforced that 5Ge is 5G many times. I asked him to send me a new eSIM but he don’t have one available and asked me to get it from the AT&T store, he will note the account that it should be free. Went to the store, got the last one available eSIM activated, a few minutes later the 5G On/5G Auto showed up..

If you already got 5G capable plan and have this issue, just go to the store and get a new SIM card
I have gotten 4 NEW SIM cards it doesn’t seem to fix the issue. This is a really old post but I just figured right now (in may 2021) after upgraded in october 2020 that I’m supposed to be in 5G and I have never got it.
I went to an AT&T store and the guy gave me a new Sim card, it did not work, I called 611 and they could not figure what’s the issue. They even change my plan to the elite one, nothing seems to work. I went to Apple to have my phone checked out and everything is good.
I have five lines with AT&T and I’m upgraded one of the lines to a new iPhone 12, in that line still shows 5GE. Not 5G.

I don’t know what else to do.
 
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