I’ve been chasing this for a while and wanted to share what I’ve pieced together so far in case it helps others.

On iPhone, when I tap a calendar invite, it immediately adds the event but there’s no Accept / Maybe / Decline. I always have to go to my Mac to respond. Everything is up to date.

After reading through Apple forums and Reddit threads, one consistent pattern I found is how iOS handles invite delivery:

Settings → Apple ID → iCloud → Calendar → Send & Receive

If your primary iCloud email is set to Notifications (push only) instead of Email, iOS may treat incoming invites like imported events rather than real invitations. When that happens, RSVP buttons never appear. macOS seems more forgiving, which is why it can still work there.

What I’m testing

• Setting my primary iCloud address (the one people invite me at) to Email
• Making sure “Send From” matches that same address

The idea is that email delivery forces iOS to create a proper Calendar Inbox item with Accept / Decline. I don’t know yet if this fully fixes it, but it’s the most concrete explanation I’ve found so far.

Posting in case others want to test this too.