Canadian iPhone 18 Pro Max owners can breathe easy. The cellular problem Apple has now acknowledged looks confined to AT&T customers in the United States, and there may be a hardware reason for that. American models of the phone carry Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X80 modem, while units sold in Canada and every other country run Apple’s own C2 modem instead. Apple says it has only observed the issue on the AT&T network, and it remains unclear whether the modem difference has anything to do with it.
What is happening south of the border is stark. Apple says a small number of iPhone 18 Pro Max users on AT&T have lost cellular service completely, unable to make calls, send texts or use mobile data. Reports from frustrated owners number in the thousands across the Apple Support Community and other platforms, according to MacRumors.
Apple confirmed the issue in a statement shared with MacRumors on Friday afternoon, when many journalists have already logged off for the weekend:
“We have identified an issue affecting a small number of iPhone 18 Pro Max users on the AT&T network that may cause a device to lose service and be unable to make calls. We released iOS 27.0.1 earlier this week and strongly encourage all iPhone 18 Pro Max users to update now, and are also issuing a carrier settings update today. These updates together are meant to help prevent this issue from occurring.”
Apple’s answer for everyone else is to update. iOS 27.0.1 arrived earlier this week and installs through Settings > General > Software Update, while AT&T received a carrier settings update on October 2. That carrier update will download on its own over the next 14 days, or users can pull it manually under Settings > General > About.
Devices that have already gone dark cannot be revived with software, Apple says, so they must be swapped out entirely. Affected customers should contact Apple Support or AT&T, or visit an Apple Store or AT&T location. MacRumors reports the Apple Stores appear to be replacing them free of charge.
For now, Apple has seen no sign of the trouble on other carriers or other iPhone models, and it has not said what causes it. There is also no dedicated Service Program yet. Worth watching: whether Apple creates one for affected U.S. customers, and whether any cases surface beyond AT&T.
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