iPhone XS Max Is the mobile reception on the xs Max even worse than iPhone X ?

[indychris]

Not necessarily. iPhones and routers (from all sorts of manufacturers and models) have a long and distinguished history of not playing together nicely.

Really? I’ve not ever noticed that. What routers have you had trouble with? I’ve used my iPhones starting with the very first version at all sorts of different locations and in countries all over the globe. WiFi is actually one of the things that for me has never been a problem.

Now I do still think there are some iOS 12 issues that need to be ironed out as I have still noticed some glitches in my 8+ that have only been introduced since the advent of 12.

 

[PBz]

Hey, how are you liking your Xs so far? Like you I have an 8+, and am extremely on the fence about which one I'm getting. I love the screen of the Max, but at times the overall size of the phone is a pain. Just wondering your thoughts so far.
Thanks
Devin

I will preface that I have been using a Plus since they came out.. but in the last 6 months I have grown tired of the BIG phone. A year ago I passed on the X becusae I wanted the XSM to-be. I do video on my phone but not a lot. I watch a YT video here or there and might catch part of a game if needed. I will also add that ignoring the BIGness of the 8 Plus I think it is one of the best phones Apple has ever made. Excellent build quality.. crazy fast. Amazing screen.

The XS after a day...
I am 95% convinced I made the right call on XS instead of XSM. I really like this small(er) phone. Reading text is great. I haven’t done any video yet. FID, for me is AMAZING. I am on the record that my wife’s FID works 50% of time time but it has been flawless or me, often opening as soon as I can swipe up. Regarding the screen, text is nice and crisp but I can’t say it’s a huge change/improvement over the screen of my 8+. There is color shift but it isn’t drastic. I will have to think about my photo edits.. are they accurate based on the angle I am viewing when I edit.. I also may move more edits to my IPP. I have only been on a few calls but no RF issues so far. Cellular and WiFi seem same/better than my 8+.

I have taken limited photos but I will say I am not impressed with the front camera. I took some photos of my boys this morning waiting in line at school and they were really soft and mushy. The back camera took a pretty good sunrise image. I will know more about the camera the more I shoot with it.

In summary, if you like the Plus size phone I wouldn’t be in a rush to upgrade. If you want something a tad smaller the XS is really nice.
[doublepost=1540581866][/doublepost]I will add.. I am not saying the screen of the XS isn’t nice. It is very nice.. It is better in overall clarity than my 8+. WTS, it isn’t a huge difference in day to day use.

 

[decypher44]

Mine has gotten worse as time has gone on. Having WiFi and LTE issues now, more than before. Also, the BT connection keeps dropping in my car. It’s like it waited a while before becoming a bigger problem.

I reset network settings. Somehow, it kept all my connection after it rebooted. What?!?

I’ll wait until next week when 12.1 *should* be released. Maybe it’ll shake some things loose. If I’m still having issues, I’ll try and exchange for another unit.

 

[DevinNj]

I will preface that I have been using a Plus since they came out.. but in the last 6 months I have grown tired of the BIG phone. A year ago I passed on the X becusae I wanted the XSM to-be. I do video on my phone but not a lot. I watch a YT video here or there and might catch part of a game if needed. I will also add that ignoring the BIGness of the 8 Plus I think it is one of the best phones Apple has ever made. Excellent build quality.. crazy fast. Amazing screen.

The XS after a day...
I am 95% convinced I made the right call on XS instead of XSM. I really like this small(er) phone. Reading text is great. I haven’t done any video yet. FID, for me is AMAZING. I am on the record that my wife’s FID works 50% of time time but it has been flawless or me, often opening as soon as I can swipe up. Regarding the screen, text is nice and crisp but I can’t say it’s a huge change/improvement over the screen of my 8+. There is color shift but it isn’t drastic. I will have to think about my photo edits.. are they accurate based on the angle I am viewing when I edit.. I also may move more edits to my IPP. I have only been on a few calls but no RF issues so far. Cellular and WiFi seem same/better than my 8+.

I have taken limited photos but I will say I am not impressed with the front camera. I took some photos of my boys this morning waiting in line at school and they were really soft and mushy. The back camera took a pretty good sunrise image. I will know more about the camera the more I shoot with it.

In summary, if you like the Plus size phone I wouldn’t be in a rush to upgrade. If you want something a tad smaller the XS is really nice.
[doublepost=1540581866][/doublepost]I will add.. I am not saying the screen of the XS isn’t nice. It is very nice.. It is better in overall clarity than my 8+. WTS, it isn’t a huge difference in day to day use.[/QUOTE

Thanks for your input. I appreciate it, as I'm going back and fourth on which one I'm going to get next. Good luck with your new phone.
Devin

 

[steve62388]

I don't know about that. It's certainly not part of my experience. And I have used tons of routers over the years from many different brands.

That’s like saying because other people don’t experience about the problems posted in this thread they don’t exist.

Asus, Netgear and Synology routers have had problems with iOS devices. Posts on this forum, the manufacturers forums, Smallnetbuilder forums and Reddit among others testify to that. I have been frequenting them for many years.

 

[archer75]

That’s like saying because other people don’t experience about the problems posted in this thread they don’t exist.

Asus, Netgear and Synology routers have had problems with iOS devices. Posts on this forum, the manufacturers forums, Smallnetbuilder forums and Reddit among others testify to that. I have been frequenting them for many years.

That's not what i'm even remotely saying.

I have asus and netgear routers. No problem. If it were a known issue one would expect all IOS devices to have issues with the same routers. Not some. After all, we would have the same hardware. Why would you have two identical phones but one has an issue with a router and the other does not? If they're identical this should not be the case.
I'm not saying there isn't issues for some. But if it's so widespread, and I frequent tech forums often, why is this the first time i'm hearing of it? Most likely just a faulty batch of phones. When you sell as many phones as apple even a small batch of faulty phones may number in the tens of thousands but only be .000001% of total phones.
Wireless has a lot of variables. Could be a ton of different things. But saying ios devices have known issues with wifi is an incorrect statement. Better to say SOME.

 

[gigapocket1]

At Apple... I dont know... I’ve traveled all over the past few weeks.. MEMPHIS, Tulsa, Wichita, Kansas City, and now Orlando..
still slow speeds, call drops, or losing people for a few seconds at a time

 

[Juanefny]

So does the XR not have the signal issues the xs does?

 

[ssls6]

Based on antenna gain, you could say "in the general sense" that the XR has 2 antennas each with twice the gain "efficiency" as the XS which has 4 antennas each with 1/2 the gain.....so on the fringe the XR should be better while in dense areas the XS should be better. There are other factors but in the general sense this is correct.

 

[jim29411]

The questions are:

1. Why would apple release the XS with such poor antenna characteristics? This is apparently a design flaw.

2. What is apple going to do to fix the antenna issues? Are they going to replace existing phones with new phones having a better antenna design?

...or...

Will Apple stay with the inferior antenna design until the next phone release in September of 2018?

See the following to understand the antenna characteristics:

https://www.wiwavelength.com/2018/09/iphone-xs-and-xs-max-mostly-fail-to.html

 

[Packers1958]

The questions are:

1. Why would apple release the XS with such poor antenna characteristics? This is apparently a design flaw.

2. What is apple going to do to fix the antenna issues? Are they going to replace existing phones with new phones having a better antenna design?

...or...

Will Apple stay with the inferior antenna design until the next phone release in September of 2018?

See the following to understand the antenna characteristics:

https://www.wiwavelength.com/2018/09/iphone-xs-and-xs-max-mostly-fail-to.html

That link has been posted multiple times in this thread already, and discussed ad nauseam. The fact is, nobody knows the answer, except Apple.

 

[OTACORB]

Final update for me on the XS Max. I drove 2 hours to Apple Store and returned it. I got the XR today and I've had none of the issues that myself and others have had. My last report I indicated that WiFi seemed better with 12.1 beta 5 and it was. Nonetheless... this phone is just too problematic for me to invest $1500. No, I will enjoy my XR knowing I put $450 back into my bank account. Some may think going from Max to XR is crazy.. but I think the display on the XR looks great and the pictures I took today look good. I traveled for 4 hours today.. no connection issues whatsoever. Pulled into my driveway and my wireless connected immediately.. That had never happened on my Max, until I was well within my home. So there you have it. I am done with XS or XS Max. XR is the the keeper for me!

 

[smoking monkey]

Final update for me on the XS Max. I drove 2 hours to Apple Store and returned it. I got the XR today and I've had none of the issues that myself and others have had. My last report I indicated that WiFi seemed better with 12.1 beta 5 and it was. Nonetheless... this phone is just too problematic for me to invest $1500. No, I will enjoy my XR knowing I put $450 back into my bank account. Some may think going from Max to XR is crazy.. but I think the display on the XR looks great and the pictures I took today look good. I traveled for 4 hours today.. no connection issues whatsoever. Pulled into my driveway and my wireless connected immediately.. That had never happened on my Max, until I was well within my home. So there you have it. I am done with XS or XS Max. XR is the the keeper for me!

Great but disheartening news. Great in that the XR doesn't seem to have these issues but unfortunate that the phone that you really wanted, the Max, is too problematic.

I was just looking at the 8+ instead of the XR due to screen width but its more expensive than the XR (256+ v 128XR)!!!! Screw you Apple! You stingy buggers. Haha. Shocking. It should be cheaper.

 

[solodogg]

2. What is apple going to do to fix the antenna issues? Are they going to replace existing phones with new phones having a better antenna design?

See the following to understand the antenna characteristics:

https://www.wiwavelength.com/2018/09/iphone-xs-and-xs-max-mostly-fail-to.html

Just out of morbid curiosity, I’m interested in how you would prooose that Apple redesign 4 antennas to have a higher gain in the exact same amount of space that 2 previously took up? Do you actually understand anything about antenna design, or that antenna gain is only a portion of what creates good reception?

I’m so sick of seeing this article now it’s not funny. The guy who wrote this article took 2 phones FCC reports and attempted to correlate cellular reception issues based upon his interpretation of these findings. Where are the other 4x4 phones to compare to the Xs/Max? Where is the investigation into overall internal amplifier gain, outside of the assumption that Apple had no room to increase it? What are this guys credentials relating to radio frequency and general transmission and reception of radio waves?

I would say it’s safe to say that over 99% of Apple customers will never experience signal issues with their new phones, and those that are will have a resolution in an upcoming software update. Revisit this thread next year when the new phone comes out, and everyone is going back to their Xs to get better reception...

 

[Nhwhazup]

Final update for me on the XS Max. I drove 2 hours to Apple Store and returned it. I got the XR today and I've had none of the issues that myself and others have had. My last report I indicated that WiFi seemed better with 12.1 beta 5 and it was. Nonetheless... this phone is just too problematic for me to invest $1500. No, I will enjoy my XR knowing I put $450 back into my bank account. Some may think going from Max to XR is crazy.. but I think the display on the XR looks great and the pictures I took today look good. I traveled for 4 hours today.. no connection issues whatsoever. Pulled into my driveway and my wireless connected immediately.. That had never happened on my Max, until I was well within my home. So there you have it. I am done with XS or XS Max. XR is the the keeper for me!

Wasn’t it just just kind of incredible to get back to a working phone? Shouldn’t have to be that way but it just felt so good ( with me the X).

I set up my daughter’s XR yesterday and it’s a great phone. I think the screen looks fine.

 

[Never mind]

The questions are:

1. Why would apple release the XS with such poor antenna characteristics? This is apparently a design flaw.

2. What is apple going to do to fix the antenna issues? Are they going to replace existing phones with new phones having a better antenna design?

If it’s a design flaw then it would affect all the iPhones, wouldn’t it ? ‍ Someone please explain this to me.

 

[Hernan4651]

If it’s a design flaw then it would affect all the iPhones, wouldn’t it ? ‍ Someone please explain this to me.

Remember the Note 7 problem. Only less than 1% exploded . This could be a design flaw that only affects some users in some specific environment

 

[Ifti]

2 questions:

1. Have Apple acknowledged that they are working on a resolution at all?
2. Is this an issue that can be fixed with a software update?

 

[PBz]

Had two bars in my house. Went to three during this test. XS on TMO. I’m in a good signal area it seems.

 

[Never mind]

Have two or 3 bars inside and three bars during test, and different times of the day. Both LTE and Wi-Fi. Thank goodness no issues with a 100 GB. data plan.

 

[jabbok]

I picked up the XR yesterday the screen is good not as nice as the XS Max but it’s still good. The XR connected to my AW right away no issues with it at all and also connected right away to my car, with the Max it was hit and miss with connecting to my car and it would disconnect from the AW all the time way too frustrating. The wi-fi was slow on the Max opening different pages was really slow.

I have until Wednesday to keep the 2nd XS Max before my 14 days are up but at this point I am leaning towards the XR.

Also played the same video from Netflix side by side the XR was flawless the Max kept stopping just another reason to return the Max.

 

[kneezmo]

2 questions:

1. Have Apple acknowledged that they are working on a resolution at all?
2. Is this an issue that can be fixed with a software update?

1. At this point, not sure if apple can really fix this..
2. Same, really dont know if the porblem is software, hardware or both.

 

[Ifti]

Ive initiated a replacement. Will see if its any better.....

With me the issue only happens in certain areas - inside a building for example. It just seems like the cellular isn't as strong as it should be. Thats why I thought it was a software issue - maybe they can boost the signal strength?

 

[apacho]

Are there more XS Max than XS affected?

 

[Packers1958]

Are there more XS Max than XS affected?

The fact that you are showing 2 to 3 bars and having that issue, tells me either there is a carrier issue, or you have a defective phone, not related to the issue discussed. Those of us with the issue have it occur when the signal is weak. Your signal does not appear weak.