When technology works and does what it says on the box, it’s a bit of a blessing. But when it goes the total opposite way, it’s a problem that can result in screaming and hair pulling and finger pointing and such.
Hopefully that doesn’t happen all that often to you, but if you’re a Telstra customer with an older iPhone this week, it may well be the predicament you find yourself in.
Telstra has this week confirmed that older iPhones are struggling to connect to its network thanks to an update rolling out this week to owners of the iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X, models that would be nine years old this year.
The update in question is for iOS 16.7.13, a change Apple released this week alongside some curious updates to the iPhone 5s, iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone 7, and iPhone SE, models that for all intents and purposes are well and truly beyond their typical update cycle.
Unfortunately for Telstra, some of those updates have not gone according to plan, and iPhone 8 and X models are now seemingly disconnected from the Telstra network, and can’t even make calls to triple zero.
With devices this old, it’s unlikely the drama will be quite as severe as the network outages seen by Optus in the past year, but it’s definitely not good or ideal that any phone is struggling to connect with a network, especially when triple zero is a requirement for any phone to use the network.
As it is, Apple has reportedly paused its older iPhone updates alongside while it investigates.
Essentially, if you have one of these older devices, you might just want to hold off for the moment, as the issue could go deeper than simply one telco being disconnected.
Update (January 29): Apple has sent word that the issue has been identified and that a fix is coming, but wouldn’t say when.
“We are aware that some customers on the Telstra network in Australia are unable to make and receive calls on iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X after updating to iOS 16.7.13. We have identified a fix that will be available in an upcoming software update,” said a spokesperson for Apple.
For people with iPhones that won’t connect, a changed update should be here shortly, though we’ll let you know as and when that rolls out. While that may affect emergencies, and will certainly affect anyone trying to call you, know that in an emergency, a phone will try to connect to the closest tower regardless of whether it’s from the carrier they’re a customer of.
Update 2 (January 29): Apple is now rolling out a fix, and advising all affected customers to connect their iPhone to WiFi, and download the update to make things right.
To get the fix, the process is a little bit different, with the following instructions needed:
- Connect your impacted iPhone to Wi-Fi
- Tap Settings > General > About
- Accept the carrier settings fix by tapping “OK”
- Confirm the update installed by going to Settings > General > About and make sure it says “Telstra 54.1” next to Service Provider.
From there, the update should work, and the mobile bars should show up, noting that your phone is connected again.
