iPhone 14 Pro keeps changing time in the middle of the night.

Question

Level 1

16 points

iPhone 14 Pro keeps changing time in the middle of the night.

This has happened twice now. Phone changes time in the middle of the night (back an hour). I have gone to “Settings-Date and Time” to turn off “Set automatically” but am unable to because the “time zone” setting is spinning. Last time, I fixed it, but can’t remember how. Probably just powered the phone down and restarted. That’s fine to do if I’m awake but can’t do it in the midddle of the night if I’m sleeping and then wake up late.

iPhone 14 Pro, iOS 18

Posted on Jul 19, 2025 3:39 AM

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Answer 1

Jul 19, 2025 5:26 PM in response to Shall1320

Reset or a Force Restart,

Force restart iPhone - Apple Support

Restore from backup, restore as new device.

Restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod to factory settings using a computer - Apple Support

Update your iDevice - the current stable release, including bug fixes iOS 18.5

Update your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

Put your iPhone in diagnostics mode - identify potential hardware and software issues

How to put your iPhone in diagnostics mode - Apple Support

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Answer 2

KiltedTim

Level 10

224,868 points

Jul 23, 2025 5:43 AM in response to Shall1320

Where do you live?

Set Automatically gets the time and date from the cell towers.

It sounds like you're either very near the border of a time zone or there is a problem with your carrier's network.

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Answer 3

Shall1320 Author

Level 1

16 points

Jul 23, 2025 5:10 AM in response to leroydouglas

My phone has done it again! I plugged it in overnight to charge, alarm set for 6:15 AM. Woke up late because time was an hour back!

I restarted it last time and was then able to toggle off the “set automatically” and a few min later the time corrected itself, but that didn’t solve what is causing it to do it in the first place as it has now happened for the 3rd time.

Restart phone- done
Already updated to iOS 18.5
Last backup has been AFTER the very first time it happened

I will try diagnostic mode because I really don’t want to restore to factory settings unless absolutely necessary.

Ugg

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Answer 4

Shall1320 Author

Level 1

16 points

Jul 28, 2025 11:22 AM in response to KiltedTim

It has done it again! I went to settings and the “set automatically” was spinning with no option to toggle it off, just like the other times. I powered the phone off and restarted it. The time remained an hour behind for about a min, then changed automatically to the correct time. When I looked at settings again. the “set automatically “ is togged on, NOT spinning, but is grayed out, with no option to turn off.

I do live very near a different time zone, maybe 15 miles away, so maybe my phone is pinging off a cell tower in central time, but this has never been an issue before. (And it always happens sometime between 2AM and 5 AM while I am asleep). It wouldn’t be an issue now if I could just turn off the “set automatically” option and stick to Eastern time.

[Edited by Moderator]

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