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

[PBz]

They are not even close to having the same amount of coverage . Great if it works for you and you live in a major city but in rural areas T-Metro is still a joke especially in the deep south and plains . No 600 mhz coverage anywhere near me .

Anyone else have cellular problems who bought the Sim free version from Apple ?

I stated this earlier and I think it bears some thought.. a few years ago I bought a 6+/6S+ (can’t remember which one) but the sim-free version had ‘new’ LTE bands in it. Supposedly, they were not in-use. This phone was a total PITA in North OC, CA. Areas where I was on the edge of having no service (on PCH South right before entering Huntington Beach) with previous iPhones I was dropping calls like mad on the new iPhone. I know VERY little about RF but I wonder if it’s a band-selection issue.

I returned the sim-free and got the carrier version (which lacked the new bands) and service was back as it had been. Weak but not constant dropped calls in that area. It was my daily commute so I could ‘test’ a lot.

 

[nephipower]

pcmag did some extensive lab testing with the iPhone XS and found the performance overall is much better than the Intel iPhone X but not quiet as good as the Qualcomm X20 in the Note 9.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/364116/iphone-xs-crushes-x-in-lte-speeds-but-still-falls-short-of

In the last section titled "Software Matters" they talk about the reported LTE issues and show how last year the Intel iPhone X performed bad however now with iOS 12 it has been fixed to be much better. I suggest reading the whole article but check out this quote.

We saw a noticeable jump in performance from iOS 11 to iOS 12 on our Intel iPhone X unit, bringing it closer to the initial performance of the Qualcomm iPhone X. Early versions of new phone firmware are sometimes buggy. When the Samsung Galaxy S8 came out, the first version of Sprint's firmware had a bad timer in it that caused the phone to drop from the faster Band 41 to the slower Band 25 too frequently; that was later fixed in a software update, making the phone's performance appear to improve.

The first versions of the iPhone XS firmware may, in some places, be causing trouble with signal reception. We were unable to find any issues in the hardware that would explain negative experiences, but we also don't want to deny the experiences a few people are having. To them, we say: Don't return your phone, because we bet a fix is coming.

Based upon how much Apple improved the performance for the Intel iPhone X don't discount how much the iPhone XS LTE issue can be fixed via software

 

[spinedoc77]

Even more weirdness. While on wifi apps seem to work ok, but I had to switch off wifi and rely on LTE at my office and I noticed some apps such as google voice were not refreshing at all. As soon as I turned wifi on again they instantly refreshed. This is on 4-5 bars of strong LTE signal in a 3rd floor office with lots of windows.

Weird stuff, I hope it's just growing pains of a new phone design.

 

[PBz]

Based upon how much Apple improved the performance for the Intel iPhone X don't discount how much the iPhone XS LTE issue can be fixed via software

.. just don’t hold it to your head for too long.. as your ear will get warm.

 

[Smoothie]

pcmag did some extensive lab testing with the iPhone XS and found the performance overall is much better than the Intel iPhone X but not quiet as good as the Qualcomm X20 in the Note 9.
https://www.pcmag.com/news/364116/iphone-xs-crushes-x-in-lte-speeds-but-still-falls-short-of

In the last section titled "Software Matters" they talk about the reported LTE issues and show how last year the Intel iPhone X performed bad however now with iOS 12 it has been fixed to be much better. I suggest reading the whole article but check out this quote.



Based upon how much Apple improved the performance for the Intel iPhone X don't discount how much the iPhone XS LTE issue can be fixed via software

Thanks for the link. Good info.

 

[intervenient]

Aye aye aye. I want to order one so bad, but this is so....discouraging.

 

[DotCom2]

I wonder what Consumer Reports is going to come up with since they've bashed Apple so much in the past!?

 

[Packers1958]

Aye aye aye. I want to order one so bad, but this is so....discouraging.

If you live in an area with decent coverage, you will not have LTE issues. It's the fringe areas where this phone suffers.
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I wonder what Consumer Reports is going to come up with since they've bashed Apple so much in the past!?

CNET hasn't even caught on to this.

 

[PBz]

I’m in a really good area for the most part. Likely to give in this week. Ready to leave this big ol’ 8 Plus and go pocketable with the XS. Also did some camera comparisons and wow.

 

[vinegarshots]

And yours is also good?

No apparent problems with mine so far

 

[alFR]

People don't seem to realize that this guy is not some anadtech or smallnetbuilder (excellent wifi wouter site), who is actually testing the hardware.

I’d expect anandtech to be all over this yet AFAIK they aren’t. Strange.

 

[kingston73]

It's not the 00s. Tmobile's coverage is very close to that of AT&T, especially now that the iPhone Xs you hate so much supports Tmobile's 600MHz B71.

Not having any problems with my Xs Max on Tmobile. I have gigabit internet and the appropriate ubiquiti wifi hotspot too, so my wifi speeds are well over 500mb/s.

Same for me on tmobile, in some areas I’m getting a little better signal and usability than my 7plus.

 

[cshaver101]

I have a Max on Sprint and have to constantly put it in Airplane mode and toggle it on/off for the network speed to get back to LTE speeds. It happens several times a day and it’s not Sprint as it doesn’t happen with other phones.

I have sprint as well and have been working with an executive and the Tier III tech support for the past week and they are finally just now agreeing to replace my husbands and my phones.

 

[Hotpinkflamingoaz]

So I was out in several areas today and got much better readings than in my house. My signal bars still jumped around a bit but it seems it just doesn’t like the power lines right next to my house. Plus I’m thinking a generic century link modem and lower internet doesn’t play well either.

 

[Ryand123]

It's more like some people want to wait for facts and evidence before deeming someone guilty (not a reference to current day politics at all either). What I've been preaching over and over now; no one is right or wrong yet, simply wait (or return your phone if you cannot).

Maybe this is an Intel coding issue in their modem baseband and Apple has NOTHING (or very very little, no one knows who does what part exactly in secret) to do with it.

Buh buh buh Apple tho!! No one knows squat yet.

Even if that's true, it's still Apple's fault. The product I bought has an Apple logo, not an Intel logo. Apple is responsible for their product and all of its components working right.

 

[doboy]

Tmobile's coverage is very close to that of AT&T, especially now that the iPhone Xs you hate so much supports Tmobile's 600MHz B71.

TMo very close AT&T, you gotta be joking. I have TMo and had it for 2-3 years now and I can say for certain that they suck. There’s no B71 anywhere in Southern CA. Maybe your area is acceptable, but indoors suck balls.

 

[PBz]

TMo very close AT&T, you gotta be joking. I have TMo and had it for 2-3 years now and I can say for certain that they suck. There’s no B71 anywhere in Southern CA. Maybe your area is acceptable, but indoors suck balls.

T-Mobile rocked in Seal Beach, Long Beach and Newport Beach for me. Now rocking in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. I can get 100-250 down on TMO.

 

[doboy]

T-Mobile rocked in Seal Beach, Long Beach and Newport Beach for me. Now rocking in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL. I can get 100-250 down on TMO.

Yes, I have spots that I can get 100+ down, but as far as coverage goes it sucks especially indoors

 

[PBz]

Yes, I have spots that I can get 100+ down, but as far as coverage goes it sucks especially indoors

Ours was OK indoors. Now while driving through canyons.. 73.. Laguna was definitely not good. Also a week spot on PCH south heading into HB.

 

[jacklivehere]

Yes, I have spots that I can get 100+ down, but as far as coverage goes it sucks especially indoors

Coverage on new iPhone XS max is really really bad, exposing T-mobile weak signal /band 12 across board. Tried in four states during business trip, pretty much useless in suburbs and indoor. On freeway or down town, I get awesome speed. Previously same trip, I never had to worry about signal on iPhone 8 plus.

Hopefully Apple is working on recovery.

 

[doboy]

Coverage on new iPhone XS max is really really bad, exposing T-mobile weak signal /band 12 across board. Tried in four states during business trip, pretty much useless in suburbs and indoor. On freeway or down town, I get awesome speed. Previously same trip, I never had to worry about signal on iPhone 8 plus.

Hopefully Apple is working on recovery.

Actually for me, signal seems to be more or less the same as my Qualcomm 7+ on TMo. Meaning they both suck the same indoors

 

[brosenz]

Coverage on new iPhone XS max is really really bad, exposing T-mobile weak signal /band 12 across board. Tried in four states during business trip, pretty much useless in suburbs and indoor. On freeway or down town, I get awesome speed. Previously same trip, I never had to worry about signal on iPhone 8 plus.

Hopefully Apple is working on recovery.

Same experience with my XS Max and T-Mobile, in Minneapolis no 600 Mhz, coverage indoor is super bad, and it seems everything got worse with the XS phones, before I had 8+ and it was decent and usable, now it is: UNUSABLE

 

[PBz]

Re: TMO.. I won’t be uploading any YT videos but this is pretty good for indoors IMO (8+)

 

[gadgetfreaky]

Just to comment a bit on the testing by PCmag. My first reaction was- wow this is a lot better than I was experiencing- I feel reassured.

However, this test in no way measures one off the most common use cases like signal re-acquisition like when coming out of an elevator or garage. This is where the modem is very slow - minutes rather than seconds in picking up good signal.

 

[Packers1958]

I think many more on Verizon notice this issue because we always had the Qualcomm LTE/CDMA modem which was vastly superior to the Intel modems. Now that we have intel modems we suffer like the rest of you.