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CSWRO
User level: Level 1 (12 points)

Sluggish Airdrop IOS 27 / iPhone 18 Pro Max

Since I received my new Iphone last friday and upgrading to IOS 27 airdrop from my Mac Mini M4 Pro to my phone is working very sluggish. Most of the times the transfer stops at whatever percentage and gets stuck foverer never compliting the process until I have to cancel on any of the devices or giving an error. Anyone else having this issue?


When it works it is really fast, but thats only 1 out of 3 times or so...

Posted on Sep 22, 2026 10:24 AM

2 replies

WheelieNick
User level: Level 9 (74,110 points)

Sep 22, 2026 2:23 PM in response to CSWRO

Hi there


Please try this


  1. On your iPhone 18 Pro Max, open Settings > General > AirDrop.
  2. Temporarily turn off "Bring Devices Together" (NameDrop/Proximity sharing). This prevents the phone from trying to negotiate secondary proximity handshakes if you place it too close to the desktop setup.
  3. Switch your receiving status from Contacts Only to Everyone for 10 Minutes. 

4. Reset Network Settings on the iPhone

Because this is a brand-new iPhone 18 Pro Max, restoring the default wireless configuration clears away setup-transfer bugs.

  • Go to Settings > General > Transfer or Reset iPhone > Reset > Reset Network Settings. (Note: This will erase saved Wi-Fi passwords, but it clears the corrupted network cache causing the AirDrop timeouts). 


CSWRO Author
User level: Level 1 (12 points)

Sep 26, 2026 2:39 AM in response to WheelieNick

Hello,


Thank you very much for the reply.

I tried all recommendations and still having the same issue. Specially when trying to airdrop more than one file at the time or if the file itself is bigger than a few MB.

Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256362851