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

[smoking monkey]

Just switched from an iPhone 7 to a X(s) and can hardly make a call from my office at work, where I used to make calls all the time before. My bars keep switching from full bars LTE to 2 bars 3G back and forth every few minutes. I've had dropped calls or calls where connection drops in and out. Apple support tried a remote diagnostic and confirmed there are no hardware issues with my specific phone, and suggested I contact Verizon. No one else in the office is experiencing this issue with Verizon though with thier Apple devices, so its not like a temporary outage or anything.

What version of IOS are you using, 12.1 or 12.0.1?
Perhaps try the downloading the public beta and see if that helps. Apparently it's quite stable. Even if it's not overly stable, what have you really got to lose when the phone is having serious problems. If the Public beta fixes your problem it would be a great sign that Apple is on top of the problem.

A few previous posters have stated the beta has helped their LTE, so perhaps it will work for you.

 

[crouch]

Just switched from an iPhone 7 to a X(s) and can hardly make a call from my office at work, where I used to make calls all the time before. My bars keep switching from full bars LTE to 2 bars 3G back and forth every few minutes. I've had dropped calls or calls where connection drops in and out. Apple support tried a remote diagnostic and confirmed there are no hardware issues with my specific phone, and suggested I contact Verizon. No one else in the office is experiencing this issue with Verizon though with thier Apple devices, so its not like a temporary outage or anything.

Welcome to the club my friend. Come join our frustration.

So this is happening to a decent number of people, just how many no one knows. I just replaced my XS yesterday with a new one, for the very reasons you're describing, and sure enough, the new one's just as bad.

Apple has a problem here. Their engineers do know about it (I called 1-800-MY-IPHONE and opened up an incident; many others here have too). On the plus side, the betas do seem to be addressing the problem, albeit slowly. Apple will probably improve things incrementally, adjusting the carrier settings and modem software as they fine tune the reception. (12.1 improved things a little, 12.1.1b2 improved things a little, etc.)

In the meantime, yeah, it's frustrating.

 

[vinegarshots]

Vinegarshots,

Is you phone still performing exceptionally well? Have you traveled outside of your local area into other areas that have low signal levels and could possibly have different cellular bands deployed on the towers? You can determine what band your phone is on my invoking test mode if test mode is still available on the XS.

Mine's still working fine. I'm on Tmobile band 4 most of the time and no problems. The worst area I've tested in was in a concrete theater auditorium that's almost a dead zone. I only get a connection to band 12 in there, and at the lowest possible signal. I still maintained a connection most of the time (dropped to no service for a minute once), but very slow data speeds, as would be expected. A guy next to me with a Galaxy on Verizon tried to load facebook and it took about 30 seconds for the page to come up, so we were all suffering in the connection realm.

 

[talbotini]

What version of IOS are you using, 12.1 or 12.0.1?
Perhaps try the downloading the public beta and see if that helps. Apparently it's quite stable. Even if it's not overly stable, what have you really got to lose when the phone is having serious problems. If the Public beta fixes your problem it would be a great sign that Apple is on top of the problem.

A few previous posters have stated the beta has helped their LTE, so perhaps it will work for you.

I had iOS 12.1 on mine from the beginning. I had upgraded to that on my iPhone 7, so I had to update right away to restore from backup. I'll look into the beta version.

 

[vinegarshots]

So this is happening to a decent number of people, just how many no one knows. I just replaced my XS yesterday with a new one, for the very reasons you're describing, and sure enough, the new one's just as bad.

But didn't you say the new one was working better with the beta update?

Also, as i recall, your cell reception at your house is absolutely dreadful based on the field test numbers you posted before. I'm sure that's not helping either (and also, band 12, which you said you were on, is low capacity and is oftentimes congested and slow...and it gets worse on the outer edge, too)
EDIT: One other question, what phone did you have before your XS?

 

[jkozlow3]

If it is a software issue then why are some of the XS phones working fine in low signal conditions with no problems? If it is a software band switching problem, then why do some folks not see the problem? Could it be that the bands that are having problems are not deployed in areas where folks are reporting good results?

Your guess is as good as mine. Lots of variables at play however.

Phones typically only switch bands or towers when they need to (i.e. when the signal strength gets above/below a certain point - otherwise they are typically happy to "stay put" if the signal is strong enough). There are a combination of factors at play - instructions the tower gives to the cell phone (i.e. prefer band 4 vs. band 13), what the cell phone decides to do and when (i.e. when the signal gets below X, switch bands or look for a different tower), how often does the phone look for better alternatives (every 5 seconds vs. every 30 seconds), etc.

Between all the bands in use across all the carriers and variable levels of signal strength everyone has while using their phone, it wouldn't surprise me at all if some combinations were more problematic than others and if the software has not been optimized for all situations.

 

[vinegarshots]

Your guess is as good as mine. Lots of variables at play however.

Phones typically only switch bands when they need to (i.e. when the signal strength gets above/below a certain point). There is a combination of factors at play - instructions the tower gives to the cell phone (i.e. prefer band 4 vs. band 13), what the cell phone decides to do and when (i.e. when the signal gets below X), how often does the phone look for better alternatives (every 5 seconds vs. every 30 seconds), etc. Between all the bands in use across all the carriers and variable levels of signal strength everyone has while using their phone, it wouldn't surprise me at all if some combinations were more problematic than others and if the software has not been optimized for all situations.

I'm also wondering how many people upgraded from an iPhone6 or earlier (that didn't support band 12), and now have phones choosing to connect to band 12 in weak areas and seeing crap speeds because of bandwidth and congestion.

 

[HeadphoneAddict]

Hi folks, some interesting news:

Yesterday was day 14 of my 14-day return limit, so I went to the Apple store and exchanged my XS, as I was still having terrible connection issues. The Apple employee who exchanged my phone didn't really question why I was bringing it back; he just made the exchange quite happily. When I got home afterwards, I began testing it, and sure enough, I had the same terrible connection issues, with the speeds even appearing worse. So this morning I tried something: I signed up for the beta program, and installed 12.1.1b2.

Oh my gosh is my phone behaving better. My download speeds have significantly increased. Using apps that stutter out with data connection issues (like Facebook, Reddit, etc.) hum along quite nicely. Upload speeds have increased too. Walking around my house, which would usually cause data connection issues, doesn't seem to be a thing now.

I want to caveat all of this by saying it's a beautiful, sunny day here in DC, with clear skies, and yesterday was grey, overcast, and dreary -- environmental factors might be in play. That said, I'll continue testing my connection over the next few days, and report back. Fingers-crossed.

iphone XS, AT&T, week 34 model

I'm glad that the Beta is helping you. You mention environmental factors can affect things if it's not really a problem with the phone itself.

Another thing that can cause issues when it's not actually the phone, and something I just remembered, but in the past if we had connection problems a new Sim card would fix many problems.

 

[crouch]

But didn't you say the new one was working better with the beta update?

Yes, definitely. It's made the phone useful. It's not blazing fast over LTE, but I have a decent 2 to 5.5 Mbps down now. That said, sometimes coming off of Wi-Fi the phone just gets around 0.1 - 0.3 Mbps down, but after a minute or two that improves. There's definitely been improvement.

Also, as i recall, your cell reception at your house is absolutely dreadful based on the field test numbers you posted before. I'm sure that's not helping either (and also, band 12, which you said you were on, is low capacity and is oftentimes congested and slow...and it gets worse on the outer edge, too)
EDIT: One other question, what phone did you have before your XS?

Absolutely, the reception is terrible. But the answer to your next question might help explain why I'm so bothered: my last phone was an unlocked 8+. Qualcomm modem. I'm not gonna argue about modems and antennas but that phone worked perfectly in my reception-nightmare of a house. I took it for granted.

 

[vinegarshots]

Absolutely, the reception is terrible. But the answer to your next question might help explain why I'm so bothered: my last phone was an unlocked 8+. Qualcomm modem. I'm not gonna argue about modems and antennas but that phone worked perfectly in my reception-nightmare of a house. I took it for granted.

Do you still have the 8+ or access to another one? I would be curious to see field test on other phone too.

 

[ROLLTIDE1]

Can you try the new beta and see if it helps ?

 

[jkozlow3]

Can you try the new beta and see if it helps ?

Are you asking Crouch?

His earlier post today said that he swapped his XS for another and the new one was just as bad until he installed 12.1.1 B2 and that he then saw improvements.

Sounds like his 8+ Qualcomm model was still better however based on his most recent post.

 

[ROLLTIDE1]

Are you asking Crouch?

His earlier post today said that he swapped his XS for another and the new one was just as bad until he installed 12.1.1 B2 and that he then saw improvements.

Sounds like his 8+ Qualcomm model was still better however based on his most recent post.

Yes I was asking Crouch not sure why the quote didn't show up. I am going to pick up an XR Saturday and take it to some rural areas and see how it performs . It can't be any worse than the XS can it ?

 

[jim29411]

Just switched from an iPhone 7 to a X(s) and can hardly make a call from my office at work, where I used to make calls all the time before. My bars keep switching from full bars LTE to 2 bars 3G back and forth every few minutes. I've had dropped calls or calls where connection drops in and out. Apple support tried a remote diagnostic and confirmed there are no hardware issues with my specific phone, and suggested I contact Verizon. No one else in the office is experiencing this issue with Verizon though with thier Apple devices, so its not like a temporary outage or anything.

Don't let Apple bully you into trying to pass the problem off to Verizon when it is not Verizon's problem as is clearly evidenced in this thread. If Apple insists on passing the problem to Verizon, then elevate the problem at Apple to the person's supervisor until you get to a reasonable Apple technical support person that understands the issue.

 

[OBirder]

I am going to pick up an XR Saturday and take it to some rural areas and see how it performs . It can't be any worse than the XS can it ?

I don't think it can ... Looking forward to your result.

 

[kwk1]

It must be due to the new antenna design and the replacement of Qualcomm.

You would think a large company like Apple would try these devices out before selling them to customers.
If they tested a large number of phones in each state, they would surely have caught this connectivity issue.
[doublepost=1541741038][/doublepost]

I don't think it can ... Looking forward to your result.

+1, XR most likely be my next phone.

 

[MrInquestador]

I haven't observed a noticeable difference between my Xs Max and my 8 Plus.

 

[jona2125]

Can testers share their experiences on 12.1.1 beta 2 regarding LTE? (T Mobile, but any carrier)

Specifically regarding T-Mobile I have noticed 12.1.1 beta 2 "seems" to be better so far. I'll know more through the weekend.

 

[Juanefny]

So I decided to try the Costco offer on the xr combined with the T-Mobile trade in promo (got $150 for an old 5c) and I must tell you I frankly don’t miss the XS and I don’t think it’s worth $500 more than the xr. Signal seems better... I like the bigger screen... over all very satisfied with the xr

 

[stan646]

So I decided to try the Costco offer on the xr combined with the T-Mobile trade in promo (got $150 for an old 5c) and I must tell you I frankly don’t miss the XS and I don’t think it’s worth $500 more than the xr. Signal seems better... I like the bigger screen... over all very satisfied with the xr

Did you try the XS before this purchase?

 

[Nikhil72]

If anyone hasn’t given 12.1.1 a run yet and are nervous about the beta, I wouldn’t be. It’s super stable and brought some great LTE changes. I’d encourage giving it a run, it’s certainly been far more satisfying for me after the LTE issues began cropping up.

 

[ROLLTIDE1]

If anyone hasn’t given 12.1.1 a run yet and are nervous about the beta, I wouldn’t be. It’s super stable and brought some great LTE changes. I’d encourage giving it a run, it’s certainly been far more satisfying for me after the LTE issues began cropping up.

What provider are you using and what changes are you seeing ?

 

[jona2125]

Did some more today with my new XS and my XS Max just to confirm whether the new replacement XS did any benefits and I can say that both devices running 12.1.1 beta 2 have seemed to be quite better. Went in and out of bunkers (big thick walled buildings that offer zero reception) and the phones both came back to 4G for a moment then LTE, something I have NEVER seen yet with previous software on either XS or XS Max devices and the data actually worked. Also did some cruising around that previously no matter where I was would leave me stuck on LTE but offer no data throughput and sure enough things have seemed to finally improve a bit and I was able to maintain streaming and consistent data usage. Speeds could be better of course (they are better than the X and 8 and on par with the XR but my Samsung [Note9 and S9] devices absolutely crush it by about another 30-40% depending on the area) but the main thing is it's not locking me out of using internet and making phone calls despite giving me a signal. Fringe wise it still seems to be worse than my Qualcomm X and my XR though so I definitely think the issue is a fine mix between hardware capability and software performance.

 

[Nikhil72]

What provider are you using and what changes are you seeing ?

see my previous posts. Verizon and LTE reaquiring signal after temp loss like subway lines. manhattan doesn’t have much fringe signaling so cant help there, strong signal with good speeds. one to two bars of stable LTE still nets me 50+mbps and 10-20 up.

 

[Nhwhazup]

Rolltide - you ended up with a good working Max, right?