Apple is introducing a new location privacy control in iOS 26.3 that limits how precisely mobile carriers can identify a user’s position, adding another layer of protection beyond existing app-level location permissions.
With iOS 26.3 and later, Apple introduces controls that limit how mobile networks infer a device’s location through cell tower connections, which function separately from app-level location permissions.
How Limit Precise Location works
The new Limit Precise Location setting restricts the granularity of location information shared with carriers, reducing it from street-level accuracy to broader area data such as neighbourhood or district-level positioning.
This approach reflects a wider industry shift toward minimising data exposure at the network level, rather than relying solely on application permissions that govern how software accesses GPS and location services.
Apple explains that the feature operates by limiting how much location detail carriers can derive from cellular network interactions, without changing how the phone connects to towers for coverage and data transmission.
Apple states that the restriction does not affect call quality, data performance, or emergency services, which can still access precise location data during emergency situations when required.
Users can enable the feature by navigating to Settings, opening Mobile Service, selecting Mobile Data Options, and toggling Limit Precise Location, with a device restart required for changes to take effect.
The restart requirement highlights how deeply the feature integrates into the device’s network behaviour, rather than functioning as a surface-level software permission applied on the fly.
Device and network availability
Limit Precise Location will not be available on all devices, as the feature requires newer hardware including the iPhone Air, iPhone 16e, or iPad Pro models equipped with Apple’s newer cellular modem designs.
Network support also remains limited at launch, with compatible carriers currently including Telekom in Germany, EE and BT in the United Kingdom, Boost Mobile in the United States, and AIS and True in Thailand.
These restrictions place the feature within a broader transition period, where privacy enhancements depend on both updated hardware and carrier-side support rather than software updates alone.
The feature requires iOS 26.3 or iPadOS 26.3, which have not yet rolled out publicly but are expected to arrive within the coming weeks across supported devices and regions.
While the setting limits what carriers can access, it does not change how apps receive location data, which still relies on separate controls under Privacy and Security within the system settings.
Over time, wider adoption of Apple’s newer modems is expected to expand availability, signalling a gradual move toward tighter network-level privacy controls becoming standard across future iPhone and iPad models.
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