Some iPhone 13 owners are reporting that they’re unable to get 5G Ultra Wideband. PCMag found three solutions that may help.
iPhone 13 Verizon 5G
According to the report, there isn’t anything wrong with your iPhone 13; the problem lies with Verizon’s network. You probably have to get a new SIM card.
As opposed to GSM carriers like AT&T and T-Mobile, Verizon’s network is CDMA. In simple terms it means there is a closer relationship between the SIM card and the device. For example, you can buy an unlocked iPhone 13 and put a GSM SIM card inside and it will work fine. But if you insert a CDMA SIM card inside an unlocked phone it probably won’t work.
Solution One
There’s a solution for this. If you bought your phone with a Verizon SIM, you need to activate the new physical SIM using Verizon’s app or website, use that one, and throw out the old one. If your phone didn’t come with a Verizon SIM, call Verizon to get a new SIM overnighted or to activate your phone via eSIM.
Solution Two
Some people on the thread have gotten their service to work by having Verizon support remove every feature from their account on the old SIM, and then add all the features one by one on the new SIM.
Solution Three
In that case, use this online tool to check to see if your phone’s IMEI number is in Verizon’s database. Everyone agrees that US iPhone 13 models are approved and certified by Verizon, so one missing from the database is just a bug. If it’s not in the database, that’s the problem. Call Verizon and explain the issue; reps will probably need to file some forms to implement a fix.