Why is ‘General” under ’System Services’ using excessive cellular data?

I really do think I have fixed the issue now. I still don’t know what was causing the problem.

My fix was rather drastic - I erased my phone and did not restore from a backup. I took screenshots of the apps etc and only reinstalled those that I absolutely “had” to have. It’s surprising how few of the apps that I used to have on my phone I actually need!

Everything seems to be working just fine at the moment.

I erased it and then restored it from a backup. A couple of days OK and then about 1Gb in less than 1/2 hour while driving from of WiFi to another one. I switched to unlimited data now and since then I had 0 extra bytes. Odd. Could it be a conspiracy from the provider to force users to switch to unlimited data? Just an idea although I am not a conspiracy theorist.

The culprit is not the provider, it’s Apple. My wife’s samsung and my daughter’s iphone don’t have this problem, we share a data plan. I reset mine to factory settings and recovered from backup and the issue is still there. Weeks with no unusual System/General usage (MB) and all of a sudden it shows GBs worth of usage. I’m a minimal user (just online maps and offline books and downloaded music), don’t have any game installed. Wasted many hours with Xfinity and Apple support to no avail. It forced me to pay for an unlimited plan even though my entire family uses about 3-5 Gb per month. My next phone will be Android.

Nope, System Services/General suck up huge amount of data in just a couple of days, I have reset Statistics tens of times and monitor it while paying for many extra GB in my cell data plan. The culprit is not the provider, it’s Apple. My wife’s samsung and my daughter’s iphone don’t have this problem, we share a data plan. I reset mine to factory settings and recovered from backup and the issue is still there. Weeks with no unusual System/General usage (MB) and all of a sudden it shows GBs worth of usage. I’m a minimal user (just online maps and offline books and downloaded music), don’t have any game installed. Wasted many hours with Xfinity and Apple support to no avail. It forced me to pay for an unlimited plan even though my entire family uses about 3-5 Gb per month. My next phone will be Android.

This worked for me:

1. Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Analytics & Improvements
2. Turn off: Share iPhone Analytics

Mine was always off and still is. Still I have this general data usage issue. Let me know if your soulution worked in

the long run, i.e., come back to the forum in a month or so and let us know what happened.

I have been dealing with this for over a year. I had just resigned to keeping cell data off. In some occasions where I need to turn data on, my phone just likes to consume 200-300mb in general for no reason. It usually happens within an hour.

i use DataMan so I can tell where it happens. I just have no idea what causes the issue. Had looked for a vpn that would log ip addresses and data amounts to see if I could find out what site is being contacted for the transfer. But could not find a suitable one. I’m not even sure it would log this anyway.

I have a new 16e since earlier this year and it is not any better over my se3. Am thinking I will erase and start fresh.

i called Apple once early on. The tech on the phone said that they (Apple tech support) have no idea what general means! They said the developers do not tell them. I found this infuriating. At least tell me what it is you are doing that’s so important you can’t wait for a WiFi connection!

My shared data plan is via xfinity so each extra gig costs $20. I suspect this bug has cost me at least $300.

I would love to have Apple tell us what consumes this data.

This absurd issue forced me to switch all our 3 Xfinity lines to Unlimited, even though only my 15 Pro Max was the culprit with huge System/General data use (more than 5GB/month). My teenage daughter has the regular 15 and did not experience these huge spikes in cell data (and she uses her phone much more than me).

I have a problematic iPhone 13, and I have also made a warranty claim to AASP, I have also received news that my iPhone has been replaced with a new unit. What I want to ask is that the iPhone 13 has been discontinued, is the replacement unit that I received still the discontinued iPhone 13? Thank you for answering my question🙏🏽

I would love an answer to this question as well. My wife does not have the problem, even if though she has the same settings. My “General” category under “System Settings” regularly consumes a third to half of all my data. I have a VPN, but almost never have it on. Maybe adblocker software? Apple support recommended low data mode, turn off notifications and location, which did nothing. Seemed like generic, clueless advice from their chat. It is quite expensive to buy twice the data, especially since I am traveling and using a second e-sim. My wife is with me, and has the same provider/settings and not the same problem. Thank you!

[Edited by Moderator]

When I'm in range of WiFi (95% of the time), turning OFF both Apple Intelligence and Cellular Data eliminated the excessive cellular data use for me. I'm on a low-cost prepaid cellular plan with a Verizon MVNO, so I monitor cellular data usage.

There are a few similar threads posted in Apple Support Communities in the last few months, including these two where I've also posted responses:

Excessive General data use over cellular network while in nightstand mode

Unread, Why is System Services consuming excessive data on iPhone 15 Pro Max?

Here's why I conclude that Apple Intelligence is using huge amounts of cellular data:

1) I did not have excessive cellular data use until I upgraded to an Apple refurbished iPhone 15 Pro in mid May 2025. My prior iPhone 12 Pro did not have Apple Intelligence capability. After the upgrade, I used about 4Gb of cellular data in less than 2 months, instead of my typical usage of 150-250Mb per month.

2) Apple Intelligence is NOT listed separately among the detailed Settings>Cellular>Cellular Data>System Services>Cellular data usage list. General shows over 4Gb used. No other Cellular Data service listed used more than 100Mb over that data collection period.

3) Turning off both Apple Intelligence and Cellular Data fixed the problem for me.

When I am out of WiFi range, traveling and using Apple Maps, Mail, Contacts, and a few other low-data apps, I DO turn on Cellular Data, but I leave Apple Intelligence 'off'. I have not experienced excessive data consumption since.

As long as WiFi is available, turning off Cellular Data has no effect on my ability to use my iPhone as a smartphone.

I'm going to submit a 'bug report' to Apple, recommending that Apple Intelligence cellular data be listed separately instead of included in General, and add a toggle that forces Apple Intelligence to use Wifi, instead of allowing unrestricted cellular data.

Even doing a factory reset and just having the “stock” iOS apps I’ll observe the same problem (typical Apple genius excuse of it must be other app of company VPN configuration so reset test and slowly add back). Given it’s under the cloak of System Services, General one would have hoped the Genius Bar may have been able to explain.

Odd how my partner’s phone (16Pro but 5 months younger) with near identical configuration doesn’t do it.

Now I am testing the following: I offloaded (not deleted) almost all apps I had (about a hundred) and kept only those that are absolutely essential for me. We will see how it works out for me. I will report back later.

These were already off for me (what I normally do). Popped in to the Apple Store yesterday, it seems to be an unknown problem, so spent some time with a someone at the Apple Genius Bar ploughing through all settings and postulating what else could contribute to the magic System Services/General outflow. Current iteration was to turn off all under Privacy and Security/Location Services/System Services/Product Improvement and see what the week brings...

Less than a week later after the visit to the Apple Store and yet another 1.2GB chewed up by System Services/General (thought the latest iteration of settings twiddling had sorted it earlier in the week. However, yesterday when out and about in the city, regularly checking usage the high consumption by System Services appears ti start after taking a series of photos using the stock camera app (even though the camera app itself claims to have used a few 10’s of kB).

So another trip to the Apple Store to some poor bewildered soul to try and figure out what next (hardware tests claim OK) and another comparison of configuration to my partner’s phone (identical model, broadly similar software installed, purchased 3 months later, doesn’t see the issue). Now upgraded the phone contract to unlimited data so as to not unexpectedly run out of data when away from home/wifi. Does seem to be an Apple issue.