I'm confident that Apple is working on these issues. They probably want to make sure the problem is resolved before they release an update to address it.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone XS Max Is the mobile reception on the xs Max even worse than iPhone X ?
- Thread starter mydogeatsbeats
- Start date
-
- Tags
- iphon xs max
- Sort by reaction score
I'm confident that Apple is working on these issues. They probably want to make sure the problem is resolved before they release an update to address it.
Hope so. It’s just really annoying though. Wish they would at least acknowledge and let people know they have a resolution coming. I’m glad I still have a cellular iPad on 11.4 that works as it should.
I did a speed test with my XS Max against my wife’s 7+ both Verizon, IOS 12. Speed test results were nearly identical. 20.5 up, .90 down (Pretty bad). Real world performance is as good as my previous 8+ Which was excellent. I’m starting to believe it’s IOS 12 too.
For comparison sake. TMO, 3 bars indoors on 8+ w/ iOS 12. This seems better than I normally get. TMO in our area is strong.
I just did about a dozen speed tests and found that my cellular download speeds are exactly the same with LTE turned on or off (approximately 3mbps) on my iPhone Xs Max. With LTE turned on my phone shows 3 bars of LTE reception and with LTE turned off it shows 4 bars of 4G reception. Upload is slightly faster (2-3mbps vs 1-2 mbps) with LTE turned on.
We spent the week at Disneyland last week. As you would expect, My Max lost signal on underground rides and buildings with thick wall. The problem was that when I emerged from these places with no cellular connection, the only way to reconnect was to Power cycle the phone. Had it regained signal upon emerging from these no signal areas on its won, I would not be concerned. I have until tomorrow to return or exchange my phone and am struggling with that.
I’ve been seeing more and more posts from people with older phones on iOS 12 with similar issues. Maybe it IS the OS.
This whole thing has been weird, to say the least.
This whole thing has been weird, to say the least.
iOS 11.4.1 is still signed so it's easy to prove or disprove this theory.
It means you install that version, since Apple is still digitally signing it for use. Once Apple stops that, your device will need to be upgraded to the newer version or else it wont function.
But can XS/Max even have 11.4.1 installed? Not that I would even try that, just curious.
What a cluster.
What a cluster.
They can’t install 11.4.1 since they shipped with iOS 12.
Not quite true. Please don’t post false information - people believe it.
Apple still signing it means you can install it from a DFU restore if required and it will validate against the Apple servers. iPhones running 11.4.1 will still function as normal as long as you don’t require a restore once Apple stop signing it.
In my case, I don't think it's iOS 12 in that my spouse has iOS 12 on his X and I have the Max. We were also at Disneyland the other day and as the other poster above indicated, mine also would not connect to LTE but the X did and held. My Max would not connect (or connect much lower and have trouble re-connecting) the whole time we were there. Not only that but I tested the X against my Max the entire drive there and the X consistently outperformed my Max not by a little, but by a LOT! Same carrier (AT&T) same place, same plan. I think it's the hardware or at the very least, a combination of software AND hardware. I will be returning my Max next week. 
Unfortunately I don’t have a backup phone so I won’t be returning it. I’m retired and live in the SF BayArea and get very good cellular coverage here. I don’t travel much. My XS Max performs perfectly here so I can live with it until next year when, hopefully, the next iPhone will work as it should. I won’t be an early adopter.In my case, I don't think it's iOS 12 in that my spouse has iOS 12 on his X and I have the Max. We were also at Disneyland the other day and as the other poster above indicated, mine also would not connect to LTE but the X did and held. My Max would not connect (or connect much lower and have trouble re-connecting) the whole time we were there. Not only that but I tested the X against my Max the entire drive there and the X consistently outperformed my Max not by a little, but by a LOT! Same carrier (AT&T) same place, same plan. I think it's the hardware or at the very least, a combination of software AND hardware. I will be returning my Max next week.
[doublepost=1538861840][/doublepost]I took my XS Max to the Geek Squad to have them run a diagnostic. They are an authorized Apple retailer and the Geeks are Apple certified. I figured Best Buy doesn’t have a vested interest in lying to me about the condition of my phone as Apple might. Even so, as expected, my Max passed. I really want to hand it back to Apple but, I have no backup phone. I don’t want to buy another 8+.
Look, I strongly believe in the hypothesis this is a hardware (antenna) issue. Here's the broad strokes
What is most damning, is now that the XR FCC filing are out today, it looks like the antenna on that phone that does not have the 4x4 mimo is an absolute beast with great reception, but more importantly, the XR does not push the power to the antenna to the max like the xs and xs max. The fact that apple would max out the power going to the xs and xs max at the expense of battery life looks like they caught the antenna problem late in the manufacture cycle, tweaked the firmware to do what they could (although adding power has limited impacts on antenna gain, but some for sure.) Also compare how much better the xr is on battery life. Antenna power is a constant factor that can't be shut off, so it looks like a the XR is benefiting from less power to the antenna as well as other factors like screen downgrade. Now Apple is in between a rock and a hard place.
I'm using AT&T window to return my SECOND xs max and go back to my 8+ which I was using for my side by side tests. Likely pre-ordering XR, unless xs max is magically fixed somehow.
If I'm wrong, and I really hope I am because I'm sure this is as frustrating to you as it was to me going through 2 xs max devices with same issues and seeing the problem in side by side comparison with 8+; then I honestly believe you're in for a long and bad time with this device. Apple would have no choice but to slow play this problem as long as possible if it's a hardware issue, and we'll know if they go public about that because they will submit new FCC filings about the antenna if they change it for a replacement. I'm not a hardware expert, but if they had a way to disable the 4x4mimo part of the antenna, that may do the trick, but I'm pretty certain the antennas are powered together as a unit, not individually.
Oh, and just because I don't see anyone saying this clearly: you can't detect the problem with great reception, the problem exists in the margins where you don't have a clear and super strong signal to begin with. It's entirely possible that you have a generally 4 bar daily life, but I bet if you found yourself in a 2 bar zone and did a side by side with a different phone, you'd be hard pressed not to see the problem. Also, just go into airplane mode and test as you get further away from the router wifi, side by side with a diff device. That shows the prob too.
Oh, also the XR has the aluminum body, not the steel. Another possible culprit.
What is most damning, is now that the XR FCC filing are out today, it looks like the antenna on that phone that does not have the 4x4 mimo is an absolute beast with great reception, but more importantly, the XR does not push the power to the antenna to the max like the xs and xs max. The fact that apple would max out the power going to the xs and xs max at the expense of battery life looks like they caught the antenna problem late in the manufacture cycle, tweaked the firmware to do what they could (although adding power has limited impacts on antenna gain, but some for sure.) Also compare how much better the xr is on battery life. Antenna power is a constant factor that can't be shut off, so it looks like a the XR is benefiting from less power to the antenna as well as other factors like screen downgrade. Now Apple is in between a rock and a hard place.
I'm using AT&T window to return my SECOND xs max and go back to my 8+ which I was using for my side by side tests. Likely pre-ordering XR, unless xs max is magically fixed somehow.
If I'm wrong, and I really hope I am because I'm sure this is as frustrating to you as it was to me going through 2 xs max devices with same issues and seeing the problem in side by side comparison with 8+; then I honestly believe you're in for a long and bad time with this device. Apple would have no choice but to slow play this problem as long as possible if it's a hardware issue, and we'll know if they go public about that because they will submit new FCC filings about the antenna if they change it for a replacement. I'm not a hardware expert, but if they had a way to disable the 4x4mimo part of the antenna, that may do the trick, but I'm pretty certain the antennas are powered together as a unit, not individually.
Oh, and just because I don't see anyone saying this clearly: you can't detect the problem with great reception, the problem exists in the margins where you don't have a clear and super strong signal to begin with. It's entirely possible that you have a generally 4 bar daily life, but I bet if you found yourself in a 2 bar zone and did a side by side with a different phone, you'd be hard pressed not to see the problem. Also, just go into airplane mode and test as you get further away from the router wifi, side by side with a diff device. That shows the prob too.
Oh, also the XR has the aluminum body, not the steel. Another possible culprit.
Last edited:
My reception sucks. I hate to believe in conspiracies, but all the favorable press the Xs is getting for LTE performance seems like it was rigged so Apple can point to that and tell us our phones are fine.
You should stick to your initial gut instinct of not believing in the tin foil.
I’m not entirely sure it’s a hardware design issue (but perhaps a hardware manufacturing defect issue). My friend and I both have Xs Max Space Gray 256GB phones on AT&T (both pre-ordered). We stood next to each other running LTE speed tests yesterday evening. He was able to regularly get 25+ mbps down every time and I could never get over approximately 3mbps download (both connected to the same server). This happened over and over and over again and was repeatable every time. Cases were taken off and phones were placed next to each other on brick to control for variability. All cellular settings were also matched for control.
If the hardware design were solely at fault, then we should both have had somewhat similar poor speeds. That leads me think it is a hardware manufacturing issue perhaps combined with software.
Ok, I did a wifi test in my garage. Connected to 5 Ghz. First pic is my Max with a thin silicone case. Second is with the leather case. Both times I set on the hood on my car, so the metal frame should have an effect. With the leather case, DL speeds were 50% of that compared to the silicone case. I also tested my X with silicone case, and speeds were just as fast as Max with silicone case. I also tested Max with no case on hood of car, and had no signal whatsoever. I tested all scenarios multiple times, and the the Max with the thin silicone case provided much better reception when placed on hood of car.
Last edited:
There really seems to be no rhyme or reason. I’ve been on these forums since the issue was first starting to be reported. I’ve had the issues with my XS Max on AT&T in NYC since launch day.
I’ve tried everything. I’ve been in touch with Apple for over a week now. Doing what others on this forum have with installing log profiles and sending them sysdiagnose files etc. I’ve been a very patient customer. Quite frankly if I hadn’t already sold my 7+ I would have returned this phone and been for the better. Unfortunately I don’t have a back up phone so I’m stuck.
I know identifying the root cause and issuing a proper statement or fix takes time but I’m really losing my patience. Today I was driving to upstate NY trying to use my phone for GPS and it was infuriating. Waze was struggling to ever find internet and plan my route. My wife’s 6s had no issue and we had to use that. Then I received a call from my mother, answered but she couldn’t hear me at all. Voice cutting in and out. I had to call her back from my wife’s phone. There’s no excuse for this.
Being told over and over to “hang tight” while still waiting for Apple to address those with issues is mind numbing. Not being able to use this expensive phone is not acceptable. Whenever I’m by another device like my iPad or MacBook I am forced to have to use those instead given this phone is a glorified brick. I’ve posted on this and other threads throughout this whole nightmare. I’m just livid at this point.
Screenshots over the past 24hrs.
Attachments
Apart from mentioning that the XR has higher radiated power than the XS/max it doesn’t say anything about power or the current being pushed to the antenna by the XR vs the XS in the linked article. Also, that FCC filing came out on the 27th September, not today, and that Toms Guide article is based on the opinion of the same guy who wrote the other article you linked, who (as has been pointed out earlier in this thread) both has no obvious RF engineering qualifications (although he has apparently been a longtime commenter on cellular tech on other forums) and has a record of being anti-Apple on those same forums. It might still be hardware but at this point no-one really knows.