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

[JPack]

And you work for Apple and know this for a fact?

The FCC reports tell this fact.

In the reports submitted to the FCC, there is no difference between a Qualcomm and an Intel iPhone X in terms of antenna gain values. Both were tested last year.

The XS and XS Max have significantly lower antenna gain values compared to Qualcomm and Intel models last year.

 

[AMTYVLE]

I believe this to be an Intel problem, or even a carrier problem. My iPhone X on AT&T has had a connectivity issue since I got the phone last November. When I run a speed test with my iPhone on LTE it only pulls in about 38 Mbps, sometimes only 12 Mbps. When I put my X on my home WiFi it pulls in about 48 Mbps, which is about right since I only have a 50 Mbps WiFi plan at home. Multiple times during the day while browsing Facebook or Safari images fail to load and I notice my X auto switches between LTE and WiFi multiple times. While in Safari I get “Safari cannot load the webpage because you are not connected to the Internet.” Which then I either have to toggle Airplane mode or reboot the phone. I have Reset Network Connections many times which is only a temporary fix.

I’ve never reported the issue to Apple, but now I wish I had since reading the issues with the XS Max. Other people I know with iPhones on AT&T have the same issues, regardless if they have an X, XS, 8, or 7.

 

[Jtludwig]

And you work for Apple and know this for a fact?

Lol.

Him and Rolltide were taking apart phones in Tim Cook’s garage last night. That’s how they have all of this “inside” information.

 

[ROLLTIDE1]

Lol.

Him and Rolltide were taking apart phones in Tim Cook’s garage last night. That’s how they have all of this “inside” information.

Trolling me 5 years later and following me from another site says it all about all sad your life is. How are you helping anyone with your postings ? I am at least working with apple Engineering team trying to find a fix for the cellular problems. I even took a phone call from that team in the middle of the Alabama game

 

[Smoothie]

And you work for Apple and know this for a fact?

This is a quote from an analysis of the antenna gain issue that's based on the FCC filings by Apple:

"But first to nip in the bud one potential conspiracy theory, Apple's decision to forgo Qualcomm this year and source all cellular modems from Intel is not responsible for the RF power output limitations in the new iPhone models. The cellular baseband modem is separate from and well upstream of the amplifiers that generate the conducted power and antennas that generate the radiated power being measured in lab testing."

The link to this analysis has been posted several times earlier in this thread. The author seems knowledgeable about the issue. So far, no one with relevant experience has chimed in to dispute his analysis. I'd like to hear Apple's response.

 

[Packers1958]

One thing Apple has learned from the iPhone 4 is to never admit there is an issue. That blew up in their face. First Jobs telling us we are holding it wrong, and then giving us a cheap case to mask the issue. If it is a hardware issue, they won't admit it, even after the cows come home. They will silently fix it, and by January, it wont be an issue with newer phones. They will say as they always say, they back their product, and those that send them in for repair, will get a refurbed replacement. They are betting that only a small percentage will be aware of this issue.

 

[JPack]

One thing Apple has learned from the iPhone 4 is to never admit there is an issue. That blew up in their face. First Jobs telling us we are holding it wrong, and then giving us a cheap case to mask the issue. If it is a hardware issue, they won't admit it, even after the cows come home. They will silently fix it, and by January, it wont be an issue with newer phones. They will say as they always say, they back their product, and those that send them in for repair, will get a refurbed replacement. They are betting that only a small percentage will be aware of this issue.

We'll know if Apple fixes it because there will be a new FCC filing.

It's hardware issue but most people won't notice it or will simply blame their wireless carrier.

 

[Packers1958]

We'll know if Apple fixes it because there will be a new FCC filing.

It's hardware issue but most people won't notice it or will simply blame their wireless carrier.

True, but 99% of the people won't even be aware of a new filing if that does occur. The carriers won't take the blame for long, especially if they start dealing with a lot of complaints. Of course, they will tell their customers it's the phone and go to Apple since it has a 1 year warranty.

 

[Truefan31]

yeah i have a Xs Max but i'm seriously considering just returning it and waiting. Still have 14 days though.

 

[Packers1958]

yeah i have a Xs Max but i'm seriously considering just returning it and waiting. Still have 14 days though.

A lot of us bought through the carrier. Most charge a $50 restocking fee, especially Verizon. So you paid $50 to rent phone for 2 weeks. And if you bought Apple Care, you now have to go through Apple to get that money back, pro rated of course.

 

[ROLLTIDE1]

yeah i have a Xs Max but i'm seriously considering just returning it and waiting. Still have 14 days though.

your time is quickly running out to return the phone

 

[Truefan31]

A lot of us bought through the carrier. Most charge a $50 restocking fee, especially Verizon. So you paid $50 to rent phone for 2 weeks. And if you bought Apple Care, you now have to go through Apple to get that money back, pro rated of course.

I bought mine full price from Apple. And I haven't bought Applecare plus yet.
[doublepost=1538248098][/doublepost]

your time is quickly running out to return the phone

I just got mine Thursday.


I mainly decided to get it for the dual sim capability, but because it's not ready yet, I'm thinking by that time maybe Apple will have ironed out this possible issue. Absolutely nothing wrong with my 7 plus which is a Qualcomm one, not that it may matter on the issue.

 

[ercsliberty]

I got my wife the xs and the max for me and we both noticed far worse reception on T-Mobile in los angeles.
I decided to take both new phones with me to work for few days, I travel around the city alot and compare to my 2017 iphone x.
I’ve done over ten tests in different locations, put the same sim in the 2 new iPhones and in my old x and in Every single text, the iphone x had double the download and upload speeds then the new iPhones , and in the some areas, the X had one bar reception where the new iPhones didn’t have any signal.
Has the same results on wifi.
I then went to apple, told them about the issues, returned both phones and got another xs to test. Exact same results, so returned it too.
We’re both keeping the iPhones x , this years iPhones have terrible cellular snd wifi reception and coverage. If you need a phone that actually works well as a phone, Stay away !!!

 

[Freakonomics101]

I got my wife the xs and the max for me and we both noticed far worse reception on T-Mobile in los angeles.
I decided to take both new phones with me to work for few days, I travel around the city alot and compare to my 2017 iphone x.
I’ve done over ten tests in different locations, put the same sim in the 2 new iPhones and in my old x and in Every single text, the iphone x had double the download and upload speeds then the new iPhones , and in the some areas, the X had one bar reception where the new iPhones didn’t have any signal.
Has the same results on wifi.
I then went to apple, told them about the issues, returned both phones and got another xs to test. Exact same results, so returned it too.
We’re both keeping the iPhones x , this years iPhones have terrible cellular snd wifi reception and coverage. If you need a phone that actually works well as a phone, Stay away !!!

I guess we’ll see when Apple decides to release an iOS update about this issue and see if that helps it. If it isn’t a software issue, this is going to be a giant mess for Apple and people who purchased these models. I bet you the resale values of the 2017 X will increase as time goes on. I wonder if this has been made it to TV news media yet.

 

[DotCom2]

This is a quote from an analysis of the antenna gain issue that's based on the FCC filings by Apple:

"But first to nip in the bud one potential conspiracy theory, Apple's decision to forgo Qualcomm this year and source all cellular modems from Intel is not responsible for the RF power output limitations in the new iPhone models. The cellular baseband modem is separate from and well upstream of the amplifiers that generate the conducted power and antennas that generate the radiated power being measured in lab testing."

The link to this analysis has been posted several times earlier in this thread. The author seems knowledgeable about the issue. So far, no one with relevant experience has chimed in to dispute his analysis. I'd like to hear Apple's response.

BELIEVE ME! SO WOULD I !!!

 

[Nhwhazup]

my replacement phone has the same cellular reception issues and will be going back. Will upgrade next year when the 5G Iphones are out

Oh no! I was so hoping it was just a bad phone.

 

[PBz]

One thing Apple has learned from the iPhone 4 is to never admit there is an issue. That blew up in their face. First Jobs telling us we are holding it wrong, and then giving us a cheap case to mask the issue. If it is a hardware issue, they won't admit it, even after the cows come home. They will silently fix it, and by January, it wont be an issue with newer phones. They will say as they always say, they back their product, and those that send them in for repair, will get a refurbed replacement. They are betting that only a small percentage will be aware of this issue.

2016 and 2017 MBP confirm this.

 

[ksec]

According to latest FCC data, may be the Xr is worth waiting for purely in terms of Antenna performance compared to Xs.

 

[vinegarshots]

2016 and 2017 MBP confirm this.

They were pretty open about the iPhone 8:
https://www.apple.com/support/iphone-8-logic-board-replacement-program/

 

[Nhwhazup]

We'll know if Apple fixes it because there will be a new FCC filing.

It's hardware issue but most people won't notice it or will simply blame their wireless carrier.

You are absolutely correct. I noticed a dropped signal in my downtown area and also did notice the charging issue with my phone but initially thought they were both flukes. It wasn’t until I saw others also having the problems on MacRumors that I realized it was the max at fault.
[doublepost=1538264438][/doublepost]

A lot of us bought through the carrier. Most charge a $50 restocking fee, especially Verizon. So you paid $50 to rent phone for 2 weeks. And if you bought Apple Care, you now have to go through Apple to get that money back, pro rated of course.

I got the full AppleCare price refunded to me.

 

[ercsliberty]

Anyone tested on beta 12.1 to see how is cellular there?

 

[nephipower]

It's the antenna, not the modem.

Just because the antennas did not test as well in the FCC report does NOT mean it is the cause of the issue. It certainly doesn't help the situation but we have zero evidence to show what exactly is the root cause. The best we can say at this time is that the weaker antenna gain is likely making things worse.

At least for me when I run into LTE issues it is from going into a weak or no signal area and it has a difficult time recovering an LTE signal. However, this isn't 100% of the time and there are plenty of times it recovers just fine on its own. I know because I use an elevator a lot at work that has terrible reception.

When I do have a problem if I do a simple airplane mode cycle I am able to reacquire a good and very usable LTE connection. If it was an antenna problem then I would expect to get the same bad LTE connection again.

So if you claim that the root cause is completely attributable to a bad antenna then explain to me how using Airplane mode temporarily works around the issue?

 

[Hotpinkflamingoaz]

What if I have no modem options to choose between the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz?

 

[Trey M]

One thing Apple has learned from the iPhone 4 is to never admit there is an issue. That blew up in their face. First Jobs telling us we are holding it wrong, and then giving us a cheap case to mask the issue. If it is a hardware issue, they won't admit it, even after the cows come home. They will silently fix it, and by January, it wont be an issue with newer phones. They will say as they always say, they back their product, and those that send them in for repair, will get a refurbed replacement. They are betting that only a small percentage will be aware of this issue.

Agreed, and I think with how many iPhones they sell nowadays, admitting a hardware fault is really not an option. Their losses on something like this if they really had to replace millions of devices would be in the billions of dollars. Even with the iPhone 4, iPhones were no where near as prevalent as they are these days.

I strongly believe they'll at least be able to significantly improve the situation via software, but if not, I really think this could be an incredibly complicated next few months for Apple in terms of navigating this. More and more reports will come out over time, and once this thread reaches a certain number of posts, it'll reach widespread publication. It already has to a certain degree, but not mainstream media.
[doublepost=1538265235][/doublepost]

Just because the antennas did not test as well in the FCC report does NOT mean it is the cause of the issue. It certainly doesn't help the situation but we have zero evidence to show what exactly is the root cause. The best we can say at this time is that the weaker antenna gain is likely making things worse.

At least for me when I run into LTE issues it is from going into a weak or no signal area and it has a difficult time recovering an LTE signal. However, this isn't 100% of the time and there are plenty of times it recovers just fine on its own. I know because I use an elevator a lot at work that has terrible reception.

When I do have a problem if I do a simple airplane mode cycle I am able to reacquire a good and very usable LTE connection. If it was an antenna problem then I would expect to get the same bad LTE connection again.

So if you claim that the root cause is completely attributable to a bad antenna then explain to me how using Airplane mode temporarily works around the issue?

Agreed the behavior I've seen is very intermittent, not consistently reproducible, which leads me to believe this is solvable via software updates on Apple's side (or carrier firmware or a combination). If you recall, the Series 3 had a connectivity issue related to WiFi in the first few weeks last year and they quickly identified this and solved it. I would expect something similar within the next week due to the importance of the iPhone in their overall portfolio of products (especially THE flagship!)

 

[jtrue28]

What if I have no modem options to choose between the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz?

Modem has nothing to do with it. What router do you have?