iPhone 5 Cellular Data Usage Over Wi-Fi Bug May Be Also Affecting Users On Other Carriers

BY Jason

Published 1 Oct 2012

iPhone 5

Yesterday, Apple released a Carrier update for Verizon iPhone 5 to fix an issue where cellular data was being used while connected to a Wi-Fi network.

9to5Mac reports that the issue may not be limited only to Verizon iPhone 5 and my be also affecting users on other carriers.

9to5Mac reports

We received multiple reports of the same issue from AT&T customers, indicating the problem might be related to iPhone 5/iOS 6 rather than Verizon-specific.

As noted in the tweet above, like Verizon iPhone 5 users, some AT&T customers experienced hundreds of dollars in overages. One iPhone 5 user reported gobbling up to 2GB of cellular data over a three-day period while connected to Wi-Fi.

This thread on Apple Support forums also indicates that the issue may not be limited to Verizon iPhone 5. The New York Times has also reported that the problem may affect iPhone 5 users on other carriers as well:

the problem may also affect iPhone 5 owners on other carriers, including AT&T and Sprint. Those two carriers and Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But it also possible that just like 4G LTE iPad users, iPhone 5 users are burning through their monthly data limits quickly thanks to the ultrafast 4G LTE speeds.

Anyways, it may be a good idea to check the cellular data usage on your iPhone 5 to confirm that you’re not facing the issue by following these simple steps.

  • Launch the Settings app
  • Tap on General
  • Then tap on Usage
  • Scroll down and tap on Cellular Usage

You can check the cellular data usage under Cellular Network Data and compare it with your cellular data usage prior to buying the iPhone 5.

Let us know if you’ve noticing unexpectedly high data usage on your iPhone 5.