iPhone X GPS Not Working

[jwzimm]

Hey all,

I have had issues with the GPS in my iPhone X since I got it last year. In the past I have been able to clear it up with a simple reboot. Yesterday it reared its ugly head again. I was unable to get any satellite reception on the phone and it defaulted to cellular for location data. This is not good as the location is only approximate and updates every 12-15 seconds. When you are trying to use the phone for navigation while driving a 15 second update interval means you miss turns constantly.

When I was finally able to arrive where I was going I decided to try and troubleshoot a bit. I have a GPS diagnostic app on the phone due to my previous issues so I pulled it up. As I expected, the phone was not seeing any satellites and relying on Cellular for location. I rules out interference or some external effect due to my fiance's iPhone 6 (my old phone) had its GPS working flawlessly while standing right next to me. I rebooted the phone a couple times but it did not fix the issue. One thing I did note was that the compass was messed up. After each reboot the compass would calibrate about 90 degree off from the proper direction. I had to re calibrate the compass after each reboot to get it to point north again (move the phone around in circles). Then, after a couple more reboots the GPS suddenly started working again. I am not sure the compass issue and the GPS issue are related (is the compass built in to the GPS chip?).

Some googling shows I am not alone in this. It looks like many folks are having similar issues on their iPhone X's and 8's. I have made an appointment at the Apple Store for tomorrow to bring it in. Since this is intermittent and the GPS is currently working again I am expecting to get some resistance but I want this phone replaced. It is not acceptable for a core functionality of the phone to fail like this. When I need to use the GPS to get me somewhere I expect it to function and not glitch out like this.

 

[chabig]

Taking it to the Apple store is the right thing to do. Report back after.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

GPS on my X has been less than perfect compared to my 6S that’s for sure. I first tried to reset location/privacy settings with no improvement. Someone on his forum suggested shutting the phone off, removing the SIM card, reinstall it then powering the phone back on and sure enough my location was exactly right. Not sure why that would make a difference and it possibly will revert back to being inaccurate but, for now it’s working ok.

 

[jwzimm]

Update: They replaced the phone no questions asked. When I explained what I was seeing he recognized very quickly that the only way to resolve it was to replace the device. He did say that they have no way to record a GPS failure in their fault description system so he had to call it a failure of the gyroscope. He said he has never seen a GPS failure in the iPhone X either.

 

[joeblough]

Update: They replaced the phone no questions asked. When I explained what I was seeing he recognized very quickly that the only way to resolve it was to replace the device. He did say that they have no way to record a GPS failure in their fault description system so he had to call it a failure of the gyroscope. He said he has never seen a GPS failure in the iPhone X either.

is the diagnostic app you are referring to something that apple installed for you?

i have the same problem; for now a network reset seems to have cured it. i assumed the problem must be the GPS, but it might also be the gyroscope chip(s) as you point out.

applecare chat support really played dumb, as usual. asking me to kill apps and erase the phone to factory state, etc. since the network reset seems to have worked, i'm sure those things would work also, but the question is for how long.

 

[jwzimm]

is the diagnostic app you are referring to something that apple installed for you?

i have the same problem; for now a network reset seems to have cured it. i assumed the problem must be the GPS, but it might also be the gyroscope chip(s) as you point out.

applecare chat support really played dumb, as usual. asking me to kill apps and erase the phone to factory state, etc. since the network reset seems to have worked, i'm sure those things would work also, but the question is for how long.

It was not an Apple diagnostic app. It is called GPSdiagnostic.