iMessage sporadic after switching to T-Mobile on iPhone 13 Pro Max

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Level 1

8 points

iMessage sporadic after switching to T-Mobile on iPhone 13 Pro Max

Switched to T-Mobile from Verizon. iMessage is sporadic, even with contacts. Cleared cache, toggled iMessage on/off, restarted phone and iMessage works when it wants to. Any ideas or is it because the account is only three days old?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: I switched to T-Mobile from Verizon and for some reason, iMessage is sporatic. I have an iPhone 13 Pro Max. I did all the stuff as fas as clearing cache. toggling iMessage off and on, restarting the phone and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn

iPhone 13 Pro Max, iOS 18

Posted on Aug 31, 2025 03:26 PM

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Answer 1

Mac Jim ID

Level 9

53,108 points

Aug 31, 2025 03:59 PM in response to whn393

Are you connected to WiFi?
Do you have Wifi Assist turned on?
Is this a SMS message (green bubble)?
Do you have 5G turned on?

There are several factors that will determine how the iMessage is sent/received. Your current connection will have a direct affect on how those messages are delivered and the coverage area of T-Mobile at your location. Here are some of the factors that need to be considered.

SMS (green bubble) does not use WiFi or Cellular Data. The message is sent over the same voice channel used for phone calls.
iMessages (blue bubble) are only sent over WiFi or Cellular Data.
5G has a shorter range than LTE, so in some cases turning off 5G will provide a more stable data connection in fringe areas for any message that is not SMS.
Try changing the WiFi Assist toggle. The feature will switch to cellular data when WiFi is determined to be poor. It may be that the cellular data connection is worse the than Wifi or that you should allow the message to be sent over cellular data because the WiFi connection is poor.
If T-Mobile does not have good coverage with a tower near you, it may be WiFi that will need to be used for messages that are not SMS.

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Answer 2

whn393 Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 31, 2025 09:10 PM in response to Mac Jim ID

According to the map, I am in the Ultra Capacity range. I still get the green bubbles. Everything is on that’s supposed to be on and off that’s supposed to be off. I’ve signed out of my iCloud account, powered the phone off and signed back in, thinking that would help but it did not so I’m thinking it’s time to give TM tech support a jingle because it’s probably on their end.

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Answer 3

whn393 Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 31, 2025 09:17 PM in response to whn393

Ok so I have a secondary TM number from the free trial account. It’s a secondary number. THAT has the blue bubble but not the primary number. I am responding with the secondary number so it appears that I need to call those guys to straighten things out. Thank you so much for your help and the fact that you responded to my query as quickly as you did. You’re awesome! Thank you.

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