Cellular Data Not Working On iPhone 12 mini? 15 Fixes to Try!

If your iPhone 12 mini cellular data isn’t working then you won’t be able to get online. In this article, i’ll explain exactly why your iPhone 12 mini cellular data is not working and exactly how to fix the issue!

See also: My iPhone 12 mini Says No Service. Here’s The Real Fix!

Although the iPhone 12 mini is a powerful device, it’s 4G and 5G connections can occasionally stop functioning and leave you wondering, “Why is my iPhone 12 mini cellular data not working?”

Causes of iPhone 12 mini Cellular Data Not Working

There are many reasons why your iPhone 12 mini cellular data is not working, including:

• You’re outside of your cellphone carrier’s network.
• Your area is experiencing network outage.
• Airplane Mode is enabled.
• There’s a problem with your SIM card.
• Your iPhone 12 mini needs a software or carrier settings update.
• There’s a problem with your carrier account.
• Your network settings need to be reset.
• Your iPhone 12 mini is damaged.

Below are some of the proven solutions to get your iPhone 12 mini cellular data working again.

How to fix iPhone 12 mini cellular data not working

Without further ado, here’s how to fix the iPhone 12 mini cellular data not working issue.

Be sure to test your cellular data again after each step to find out if it’s working. And remember to let us know in the comments which fix works for you!

Note: The following solutions applies to iPhone 12 mini, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max.

1. Check Coverage In Your Area

Are you out in the middle of nature? Maybe you’re in a concrete building. Or you’re simply going through an area with spotty reception. There is always a chance you’re unreachable to the network, which will cause problems with your iPhone 12 mini cellular data.

Also, consider that, while rare, carrier networks can go down too, causing service outages. We like recommending DownDetector.com to check when services are down. The website collects consumer reports and lets you know if there is an outage. There’s also a live map to see if the problem is local. Just go in there, type in your Carrier, and hit the search button. If the network is down, all you can do is wait.

2. Check your plan

Some mobile data plans have limitations and throttles. Look into your plan’s terms and see if you’ve used more data than you should. You might be capped or throttled. Also, consider the fact you may be late on your payment. Even the best of us forget about bills sometimes. Not to mention sometimes cards get declined for no apparent reason.

3. Disable Airplane Mode

Airplane mode turns off all wireless antennas, including mobile data, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth. It’s common to turn it on by accident (or at least it happens to me all the time!). Go ahead and check if this happened to you. There’s a toggle in the control center, but you can also do it in the settings.

How to turn Airplane mode on/off:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Look for Airplane mode. There will be a toggle next to it. Tap on it to turn it on or off.

Furthermore, turning airplane mode on and off can reset settings and bring everything back to normal. If your phone wasn’t on Airplane mode, then go ahead and turn the feature on and off and see if that fixed your iPhone 12 mini cellular data issues.

4. Turn on Cellular Data

The next solution you need to try when you find data not working on your iPhone 12 mini is check if the cellular data indicator in the Control Center is on.

You can do this by swiping down from the top right side of your screen. You’ll know cellular data is on if the antenna icon is green:

Alternatively, you can follow these steps to enable cellular data on iPhone 12 mini:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Cellular and check if the toggle next to Cellular Data (first line) is in the on position:

If the data mode was on on your device, you can try to toggle it to off and turn back on again. This will prompt the phone to reconnect to the network and might fix the iPhone 12 mini cellular data issues you are facing.

5. Restart your iPhone

It may seem silly to remind you of this basic rule, but most problems encountered on a smartphone can be solved this way. It is therefore important to specify that the first reflex to have when a bug occurs, whatever it is, since it does not only concern the problem related to mobile data, is to turn your smartphone off and on again.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap General.
3. Tap shut down.

6. Check For Carrier Settings Updates

Carriers sometimes send cellular updates over the air, independently from an OS update. To check for a carrier update, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Select General.
3. Tap About. If a carrier or mobile update is available, a prompt will show up on your screen.

7. Update your iPhone to the latest version

Sometimes updating your phone to the latest version will fix the iPhone 12 mini cellular data issues. To update your iPhone, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Select General.
3. Tap Software Update.
4. If an update is available, tap Download & Install. If it says that your software is up to date, then move on to the next solution.

8. Allow the use of mobile data for all apps

The iPhone allow users to disable the use of data for specific applications. If, for some reason, some applications are prevented from using cellular data, you will need to go to Settings and search for applications prevented from using data.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Choose Cellular.
3. Scroll down to the list of apps under “Use Cellular Data For”. If an app you are using is prevented from using data, toggle the switch on (from grey to green).

9. Remove and Reinsert Your iPhone’s SIM Card

SIM cards can move around, and sometimes pins can get out of line. It’s a good idea to play with the SIM card a bit if the steps above don’t fix your iPhone 12 mini cellular data problem. Pull it out and reinsert it. Maybe try to clean it a bit? It won’t hurt to try! It’s an excellent way to try to get your iPhone 12 mini mobile data working again.

Using a SIM tool or any alternative, pop out your sim card slot on the side of your iPhone, wait a few seconds, and then reinsert it.

10. Turn Off VPN

If you are using or are subscribed to a VPN on your iPhone, in some rare cases, it can also prevent your cellular signal from connecting. Having a VPN can be used for things like staying safe on public Wi-Fi or bypassing geo-restricted viewing restrictions. Should you find that your iPhone 12 mini is having trouble connecting to cellular signal, disable your VPN temporarily and see if that helps resolve the connection issue.

It might also help to disable the VPN by going into the VPN settings and toggling your app of choice to “off” and then doing a forced restart. With the forced restart, you can be sure that you are completely disconnected. Now see if your iPhone 12 mini cellular data is working, and if not, move to the next solution.

11. Check date and time settings

If you are still experiencing cellular data issues on your iPhone 12 mini, make sure that the date and time on your phone are set correctly for your time zone. Here’s how:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap on General.
3. Tap on Date & Time.
4. If the date and time are incorrect, update them or turn on the option to set date and time automatically.

12. Reset network settings

If none of the methods above fixed the iPhone 12 mini cellular data not working issue, it may be network related. Resetting the network settings to factory default settings may be the answer to this problem.

How to reset network settings:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Select General.
3. Tap Transfer or Reset iPhone.
4. Hit Reset.
5. Tap on Reset Network Settings.

13. Factory reset your iPhone

If all else fails to fix iPhone 12 mini cellular data not working issue, go ahead and reset your iPhone to factory settings. This will erase everything on your phone and bring all settings to factory defaults. This means your phone will be left like the first time you turned it on (software-wise).

This fixes pretty much any software issue you may encounter. It is the best solution to many problems, but it should be used as a last resort due to the inconveniences deleting all data entails.

How to factory reset your iPhone 12 mini:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Select General.
3. Tap Transfer or Reset iPhone.
4. Hit Erase all content and settings.

14. Contact Your Cellular Carrier

In some cases, the issue could be at your mobile data carrier end. Try to reach out to your service provider to check about proper cellular settings or if any outages in your area that might be the cause of unresponsive iPhone 12 mini cellular data.

15. Get help from Apple

If you continue to have iPhone 12 mini cellular data problems, take your phone to an Apple Authorized Service Provider or make a Genius Bar reservation at an Apple Store, as there may be a corrupted hardware component.

See also: iPhone 12 mini Personal Hotspot Not Working? Here’s The Fix!

Did you fix your iPhone 12 mini cellular data problems?

As someone who has dealt with this issue firsthand, it can be very frustrating. Thankfully these steps have resolved cellular data issue for many people. If not, you can always get help directly from Apple or your carrier.

Did our solutions fix your iPhone 12 mini cellular data issue? Did another solution work that we didn’t mention? Feel free to share it in the comments section below!