iPhones aren’t particularly known for bugs; one of the major reasons for the success of the iPhone line over the years is that it just works. When your device stops performing a vital function, you’ll need to find a fix as soon as possible, while admitting that it has defeated the purpose of paying top dollar for an iPhone.
In this case, it’s iPhones making calls but being unable to receive them. This issue became widespread with a certain iOS update, with many iPhone users complaining of the inability to make calls from their smartphones. Since making calls is a basic feature, your device is a brick without it.
In this article, you’ll learn why iPhone can’t make calls but can receive. You’ll also learn about some fixes to try if you’re having this problem and how to prevent it from happening in the future.
How to fix iPhone Can’t Make Calls But Can Receive
When your iPhone can make calls but can’t receive them, there are so many things that could have possibly gone wrong. Since there’s no way I can tell what it is exactly, I’ll show you all the possible fixes for an iPhone that cannot make calls.
Note that most of the suggestions here won’t make a negative impact on your smartphone. In cases where they will, I’ll ensure to add a disclaimer that’s clear enough for everyone. That said, here are some fixes to try when your iPhone can’t make calls but can receive.
- Toggle Airplane Mode On and Off
The Airplane Mode on your iPhone works by disabling your device’s cellular and Wi-Fi networks. That way, you’ll neither be able to make calls nor will you be able to receive them. Since you can receive calls, in this case, an active Airplane Mode is certainly not the problem.
However, you can perform a soft reset on your network by enabling your Airplane Mode and disabling it instantly. To do that, swipe down from the top right corner of your iPhone’s display to bring down the control center and tap on the Airplane Mode icon to enable it.
Once it’s enabled, you can tap on it once more to disable it and check if the problem with your iPhone has disappeared. If it hasn’t, you may want to proceed to the rest of the fixes below.
- Check for a carrier update
When problems like this happen to a huge collection of iPhones at once, Apple usually collaborates with their carrier for your device to roll out an update that will fix the problem. Before trying any drastic measures to fix the problem, you may want to check if there’s an update for your device.
You can check for an update by heading over to the Settings app on your smartphone. From there, tap on General and scroll down to select the “About” option. You should see a prompt that lets you install a carrier update if it’s available.
- Restart your iPhone
Restarting your iPhone takes only a couple of seconds, but it’s capable of fixing any issues that may have happened to your iPhone. In some cases, taking a few seconds to restart your device could be the magic wand that will restore its ability to make calls.
If you use an iPhone with a home button, you can press and hold down the power button until you see the slider that lets you turn off your iPhone. Drag the power icon on the slider to the extreme right to power off your iPhone and hold down on the power button again to turn it on.
On the other hand, if you have an iPhone X or later, you’ll need to press either volume button while you press the side button to turn off your iPhone before turning it on again. After doing that, the problem with your iPhone should be gone completely if a restart was the solution.
- Confirm the availability of cellular signal
In some remote locations, it’s difficult or even impossible to get enough signal to make a call from your iPhone. You may have also noticed that your phone tends to drop signal when it’s raining or snowing, so you might want to put that into consideration too.
Before continuing with more extreme measures, check the signal indicator at the top right corner of your iPhone, besides the notch. If it has dropped one or two signal bars, you may want to wait until you get to a place with a better signal before trying to make a call. You can also check a coverage map to see if your network provider’s coverage extends to that location.
- Reset your iPhone’s network settings
If you’re having connection problems with your iPhone, resetting the device’s network settings to the factory default is a logical solution to try. When you reset your network settings, it deletes every network of data that is saved on the device, including Wi-Fi networks and connected Bluetooth devices.
A network settings reset shouldn’t affect the files on your iPhone. It’s very distinct from a factory reset, and both work in very different ways. To reset your network settings, head over to the General option from the Settings app and scroll down to select “Transfer or Reset iPhone.” From the two options that appear, choose to reset your iPhone and show that you intend to reset the network settings.
You may need to enter your iPhone’s passcode for verification and your iPhone will restart, after which you may need to reconnect to your Wi-Fi network. Also, the calling functionality should be restored for your device.
Conclusion
When an iPhone is incapable of making a call, you can also refer to it as a brick. Since you don’t want to pay a thousand dollars for brick, you should implement troubleshooting tips to ensure your iPhone regains the ability to call. This article shows you exactly how you can go about that.