I encountered an odd issue while upgrading from an iPhone 12 to iPhone 15 Pro Max. I successfully transferred all data from my old iPhone 12 to the new iPhone 15 in order to set it up. I also fully wiped the iPhone 12 and traded it in to AT&T for the rebate. Both of this upgrade practices are fairly normal and is what I also did when I received the iPhone 12 year ago... however this time, "merge calls" and the ability to place a call on hold were both disabled in the user interface.
I found similar posts and they were either closed due to inactivity or had a simple cut-and-paste solution with no follow-up regarding whether or not the issue was fixed.
- My iPhone cannot merge calls - Apple Community
- I can't merge calls anymore - Apple Community
- how to merge calls on iphone 12 - Apple Community
- merge calls on iphone 12pro - Apple Community
- can't merge calls on my iphone11 pro max - Apple Community
Apple recommended resetting network connections, remove all VPN apps, disable DND & focus mode. No effect. AT&T requested that I disable call forwarding, but I'm not sure why it would have any impact considering I usually merge by performing multiple outbound calls originating from my phone. (AT&T also attempted to do some remote assistance, but their support server failed and only returned 500 errors when attempting to open the webpage.)
Over the course of a week of going back and forth, AT&T blamed Apple while Apple blamed AT&T. Both companies performed extensive tests, made modifications to my configuration & disabled features while the merge/hold features were still disabled.
- https://twitter.com/gamesover/status/1714295817237082133
- https://twitter.com/gamesover/status/1715033801142001774
Has anyone been able to determine why this may be happening? I think I may have it figured out and will be meeting up with an Apple specialist & AT&T tomorrow to discuss further. If successful, I'll post the solution here. #fingersCrossed
I noticed that if I went to "Settings | Apple ID, iCloud, Media & Purchases" (the top-most item in settings which also displays your name), there's a group of account-connected devices. I saw my older iPhone in the list and it displayed the current phone number associated with my active device. I viewed the "Device Info" and clicked the "Remove from Account" button. A warning popped up with a header that read "Contact Carrier to Deactivate SIM Card" and description that stated "To prevent this iPhone from receiving text messages and phone calls, contact your carrier to deactivate your SIM card." I press "ok" and the old device was removed. I processed to make a phone call, clicked "add", selected another number and the "Merge Calls" option was now enabled (and no longer greyed out).
I'm not sure if "contacting the carrier to deactivate SIM Card" is required. The local AT&T store salespeople and AT&T Business Mobility Technical Support weren't much help when I inquired about it.
After resetting, clearing & returning my old iPhone, the device's information was still apparently registered & connected to my Apple account. An Apple support stated that this was normal as they don't auto-delete devices. (I shared this information with my business parter and he checked these settings to discover that he had an outdated "iPhone 6" still connected, but it wasn't causing him any call-related issues.)
STEPS TO CORRECT MERGE CALL & HOLD ISSUES:
- Open "Settings" app.
- Navigate to "Apple ID, iCloud, Media & Purchases" (the top-most item in settings which also displays your name)
- Identify any outdated devices listed on this screen. Click to view details.
- Screenshot the information (just to be safe) and then click "Remove from Account".
- Contact Carrier? (Unsure if required or not. Apple recommends making contact, so feel free to call your carrier and explain what you just did.)
I'm posting this because I spent hours interacting with both AT&T & Apple support and neither checked out this option to determine whether it could be the issue or not. In the past, if I had phone issues after upgrading to a new phone, I'd visit the local AT&T store and a representative would blame it on the SIM card and insert a new one and provision it with their system. I've owned an iPhone 3, 4, 6, 8, 10 & 12 in the past. They all used physical SIM cards and the "replacement" method was the approach that AT&T took to fix any connection issue. Newer iPhones use an eSIM and it seems there may be some bugs when migrating services to a new device. While I'm not exactly sure what caused the issue, Apple has requested more information from me and are looking into it. I believe that AT&T hasn't logged any information that I've provided as I've never received any ticket #. Each time I've called, I've had to re-explain everything. I don't believe I've spoken with any AT&T individuals that were qualified to do anything other than follow internal scripts & procedures.
NOTE: Posted in Apple Discussion Forums on 2023-10-19 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/255216701