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Apple Expands This Location-Focused Privacy Feature to More Users

If you have a newer, lower-end iPhone, you may be able to stop your carrier from knowing your exact location. But the feature still isn’t supported by most US carriers.

 & Will McCurdy Contributor

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Apple is slowly expanding access to its Limit Precise Location feature, which is now available on 10 carriers, up from six at launch in January.

Unfortunately, it’s still only available on Boost Mobile in the US. However, as 9to5Mac reports, anyone with a SIM (physical or eSIM) from a carrier in the EU or UK can turn this feature on.

Limit Precise Location lets you restrict the location data your iPhone shares with your cellular network. With it turned on, your carrier “might be able to determine only a less precise location—for example, the neighborhood where your device is located, rather than a more precise location (such as a street address),” Apple says.

If you're concerned about the potential drawbacks, Apple's support page says the setting “doesn't impact signal quality or user experience” and enabling it “doesn't impact the precision of the location data that is shared with emergency responders during an emergency call.”

There is another limitation, though. You need a device equipped with one of Apple’s cellular modems, the C1 or C1X. Apple launched its own cellular modems—which connect devices to telecom networks—in 2025, and they’re currently used in the iPhone Air, iPhone 17e, iPhone 16e, and M5 iPad Pro. Still, this is an improvement from January, when iPhone 17e wasn’t out yet.

If you’d like to try the feature out, head to Settings > Cellular > Cellular Data Options > Limit Precise Location. Here’s the full list of officially supported carriers:

  • Austria: A1
  • Denmark: YouSee
  • Germany: Telekom
  • Ireland: Sky
  • Thailand: AIS and True
  • United Kingdom: EE, BT, and Sky
  • United States: Boost Mobile

About Our Expert

Will McCurdy

Will McCurdy

Contributor

I’m a reporter covering weekend news. Before joining PCMag in 2024, I picked up bylines in BBC News, The Guardian, The Times of London, The Daily Beast, Vice, Slate, Fast Company, The Evening Standard, The i, TechRadar, and Decrypt Media.

I’ve been a PC gamer since you had to install games from multiple CD-ROMs by hand. As a reporter, I’m passionate about the intersection of tech and human lives. I’ve covered everything from crypto scandals to the art world, as well as conspiracy theories, UK politics, and Russia and foreign affairs.

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