iOS 26 update breaks personal hotspot on iPhone 16 Pro Max

Hello,

After updating my iPhone 16 Pro Max to iOS 26, I can no longer use Personal Hotspot. In Settings, the option shows as “Personal Hotspot – Off” and it is grayed out.

I already tried:

Restarting the iPhone
Turning Airplane Mode on/off
Resetting Cellular and Wi-Fi connections
Updating Carrier Settings (no update available)
Changing Hotspot password and device name

But the issue is still there. My carrier plan includes hotspot, and it was working normally before updating to iOS 26.

Is anyone else facing the same issue? Any fix or workaround until Apple releases a patch?

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Original Title: Personal hotspot

iPhone 16 Pro Max, iOS 26

Posted on Sep 23, 2025 12:33 PM

Top-ranking reply

Horourskes

Level 1

18 points

Posted on Oct 8, 2025 9:25 PM

Yeah, you’re not alone — the iOS 26 update breaks Personal Hotspot for a bunch of people. My iPhone 16 Pro Max started doing the same thing right after the update — the toggle’s just gray and stuck on “Off.”

What helped me (temporarily) was going to Settings → Cellular → Personal Hotspot, turning Maximize Compatibility off and on again, then rebooting. Weirdly, it came back for a while. Another trick: remove your carrier profile (Settings → General → About → Carrier → tap “Remove”) and let it reinstall after a restart.

But honestly, this looks like a carrier-profile bug inside iOS 26, not your plan. For now, the only real fix is waiting for Apple’s patch — tons of users reporting that iOS 26 update breaks Personal Hotspot completely.

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47 replies

Nov 11, 2025 10:01 AM in response to NateMekonnen

Thanks thats works for me as well

Dec 1, 2025 10:47 PM in response to ilyas_emvigo

after setting access point (APN) worked fine

iOS 26 update breaks personal hotspot on iPhone 16 Pro Max