Major iPhone software issue causing triple-0 outage resolved for some users after 12 hours

A software issue preventing old iPhones from connecting to a major telco and accessing triple-0 has been resolved for some users after Apple released a carrier settings update.

WA Police warned on Wednesday that certain Apple devices — including three iPhone models with iOS 16.7.13 — registered to the Telstra network were experiencing issues making or receiving phones calls.

Several hours later, police provided an update confirming some devices were “currently not correctly connecting to triple-0”.

“It has been identified some phone users may experience a 20-30 second delay when dialling triple-0,” a police spokesperson said.

“The WA Police Force has been advised by Telstra that any users experiencing this issue are urged to remain on the line, and you will be put through to an operator.”

Police issued a statement on Thursday morning confirming the matter had been resolved for some users.

Telstra said Apple had released a carrier settings update to resolve the issue, and directed customers to install the latest update by accepting the new settings.

“We’re currently investigating an issue preventing some older Apple devices from connecting to our network,” a spokesperson said.

“We’re working on this as a priority with Apple and will share updates as we have them.”

Telstra said Apple had paused iPhone software updates, which were released this week, as they continued to investigate the incident.

The software updates include iOS 18.7.4, iOS 16.7.13, iOS 15.8.6 and iOS 12.5.8.

“We’re currently investigating an issue making and receiving calls, including calls to 000, on older Apple devices,” the telco said on Wednesday.

“We’re working on this as a priority with Apple and will share updates as we have them.

“We recommend customers using these devices delay updating the software on their device until we confirm the issue is resolved.”