Apple iPhone 14 Plus cannot make calls or send messages

6.7-inch all-screen OLED, at 2778-by-1284 at 458 ppi. That matters more than it sounds — a procedure written for a different size in the same line puts controls in different places, and gestures that depend on reach behave differently.

Lightning. A USB-C cable will not fit at all, which is the usual explanation when a charger that works on a newer iPhone in the same household does nothing here. Lightning cables also fail internally at the strain point, so a cable swap is the first test for slow or intermittent charging.

Face ID. It is deliberately quick to refuse when not confident, which is why darkness, strong backlight, unusual angles and lying down all reduce it — and why a case lip or a screen protector over the sensor area disables it entirely.

The A15 Bionic. This determines how long the model keeps getting iOS updates, and it is the reason an app can drop support for this iPhone while running fine on a newer one — a support-window matter rather than a fault to troubleshoot.

128GB/256GB/512GB. Before assuming capacity is the problem, read the storage breakdown: photos and video are usually the dominant category, and a full recently-deleted album is the most common reason deleting appears to free nothing at all.

No — water resistant, rated IP68, which Apple specifies as a maximum depth of 6 metres for up to 30 minutes under IEC standard 60529. That is a laboratory figure for a new device in fresh water; it degrades with age, drops and seal disturbance, and liquid damage is not warranted.

Yes — Dual eSIM, with two active eSIMs and storage for eight or more profiles. Note that the default line for calls, for messages and for cellular data are three separate settings, and crossing them produces calls on one number while data or messages use another.

Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) with 2x2 MIMO. That is worth knowing before blaming the phone for slower Wi-Fi than a newer device on the same network — a router running a newer standard falls back to what the phone supports rather than refusing it, so the difference is specification rather than fault.

Bluetooth 5.3. Version affects range, reconnection behaviour and which accessory features are available. A newer accessory paired here operates at this version's capabilities rather than failing, which is regularly mistaken for a pairing fault when the accessory simply cannot do everything it does on a newer phone.

800 nits maximum brightness (typical), with 1200 nits peak (HDR). Brightness is among the largest single consumers of battery, so outdoor use at full brightness costs real runtime — and poor outdoor readability on this model is usually this figure rather than a display fault.

Apple rates it at up to 15W over MagSafe. Wattage differs across this line, so a charger that fast-charges a newer iPhone may deliver less here — and if wireless charging has stopped while cable charging works, take the case off first, because a metal plate or a card defeats the alignment entirely.

Apple rates it at up to 50% charge in around 30 minutes. That assumes an adequate adapter — a low-output adapter, a laptop USB port or an old car charger falls well short, and that is the usual reason a phone charges far more slowly than the specification suggests.

Check three things: call forwarding, the block list, and any silence-unknown-callers setting. All three produce exactly this, all three leave the phone looking perfectly healthy, and all three are easy to leave switched on without knowing.

That rules out service, the account and the phone — all of which would affect everyone. What remains is a block list entry, that contact's stored number format, or the messaging transport being used for them specifically.

Send the same message as a plain SMS if the app allows it. Modern messaging silently chooses between RCS, an internet service and SMS, and success as plain SMS localises the fault to the internet transport rather than the network. Also check that their number is stored in full international format.

Turn Wi-Fi off and retry. Wi-Fi calling prefers Wi-Fi even when the Wi-Fi is worse than the cellular signal available, so a poor home network can produce worse calls than no Wi-Fi at all. One test identifies it.

That usually means the phone found a network and was refused by it, which points at the account or the SIM rather than the radio. Check the account status with the carrier first — a suspended line and a failed radio look identical from the status bar.

Check for an active focus mode and its allowed-callers list. Focus and bedtime modes silence calls deliberately and on a schedule, and nothing about the network or the call itself is involved.

Check call forwarding first — it is commonly enabled while travelling and left on afterwards, and the phone gives no indication. Then check that the network selection has been returned to automatic rather than left on a manual foreign network.

That points at the internet messaging transport rather than SMS. The two use completely different paths, and a transport that works on one connection and not the other is describing the network rather than the phone or the recipient.

That is a microphone problem rather than a calling one — and the first thing to check is whether a Bluetooth accessory is connected somewhere, because it takes the call's microphone with it. Record a voice note to test the microphone alone.

No. It is scoped to A2632/A2885/A2886/A2887/A2888. Apple iPhone family; connector, modem, camera, biometric and iOS eligibility vary by exact model.

Record the complete model identifier, exact message or indicator, software/firmware where visible, the operating stage and what still works.

A reset can erase accounts, networks, maps, schedules or preferences without distinguishing calls, messages. The ordered checks preserve that evidence.

Use another reliable path for urgent or emergency communication.