iPhone 12 Pro Max very poor 3G performance in UK

[Spannermonkey]

I have an iPhone 12 Pro Max and am experiencing very poor 3G performance in the UK on the O2 network. I upgraded from an iPhone X and transferred the SIM card from that phone to the new one, an iPhone 12 Pro Max. Although the iPhone 12 displays 2 or 3 bars of 3G signal strength in most areas around Lincolnshire, UK, the actual performance of the phone while using data is very poor and much worse than when I was using my iPhone X. Since I'm using the same SIM card in the iPhone 12, the poor performance has to be due to the phone and is either a software issue or a problem with the design of the hardware. Typical data download speeds of the iPhone 12 Pro Max with 3 bars out of 4 (4 bars equates to full signal strength) of 3G signal are; 1.04Mbps down and 0.1Mbps up. This is pathetic compared with the performance of my iPhone X which was 15.2Mbps down and 11.5Mbps at the same location with 2 bars of signal strength and the same SIM card. I had hoped that IOS 14.3 would address this issue, but it does not. Apple have really taken their eye off the ball in recent times and need to address these issues fast before they start to lose customers. I really wish I had kept my iPhone X and not bothered to replace it with an iPhone 12 Pro Max, which at this time of writing feels like a definite downgrade!

Is anyone else in the UK having issues with low speed or non-existent data speed on the 3G network? or can anyone suggest a fix, other than waiting for Apple to resolve these issues?

 

[oWoMo]

I’ve just upgraded from an iPhone 11 to a 12 pro max and I’m finding the 3G with o2 better than before

 

[Cybertox]

Since upgrading from my Xs Max to my new 12 Pro Max I am getting better, signal, connectivity and speeds on E, 3G and 4G. 5G is crazy fast here in Switzerland and coverage is pretty good too.

 

[Spannermonkey]

I’ve just upgraded from an iPhone 11 to a 12 pro max and I’m finding the 3G with o2 better than before

Hi oWoMo,
Just out of interest, what are your phones Mobile Data settings for O2? Mine are set to: APN idata.o2.co.uk with the Username vertigo, for each of the following: Mobile Data, Visual Voicemail, MMS and Personal Hotspot. The settings for LTE are blank, but it says it’s they’re optional.
Rgds

 

[oWoMo]

Hi oWoMo,
Just out of interest, what are your phones Mobile Data settings for O2? Mine are set to: APN idata.o2.co.uk with the Username vertigo, for each of the following: Mobile Data, Visual Voicemail, MMS and Personal Hotspot. The settings for LTE are blank, but it says it’s they’re optional.
Rgds

Yep my settings are the same

 

[J_C]

Hello,

I’m finding that the iPhone 12 Pro Max is terrible at maintaining it’s cellular service.

I’ve had mine replaced by Apple twice already. Using EE, O2 UK & Vodafone UK, if 4G service drops, the phone revers to 3G. Fair enough, as expected.
However, it remains on 3G regardless of which network is used, unless rebooted.
(I am testing using only one network at a time, to allow for MIMO, no Duel SIM) The iPhone won’t switch back. For comparison, my iPhone 11 (Which I still have), never drops down to 3G. It is as if the new antennas on the iPhone 12 aren’t as strong?