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

[msooffutt]

I have had the same issue with the X. Mine was just replaced so maybe this one will be different but not sure. I may have noticed it reconnects, but don’t remember. If Apple can get this fixed and there’s tons of evidence it’s better than the A1865 X, I would be tempted to upgrade due to the camera but as of now, I feel safer staying where I’m at. My X takes amazing pictures so it’s definitely not a big temptation. It would be nice for Apple to fix the reconnection issue. My 7 Plus did the same thing.

You’re probably smart to hold off for now. Seems like a lot of people still having issues. Be interesting to know if your replacement handset fixed the issue.

When I set up my max, I set up as new, because I wanted to make sure I didn’t have any leftover jailbreak files. It’s a pain in the butt, but it does rule out a lot of things. I haven’t read this whole entire thread, so I may have missed it, but for the people having this issue, did you try setting up as new?

 

[jlt1984]

I have to ask, do you live in the Atlanta area? I have a cell ID 285 on band 66 near my house.

Nope, this is in Houston...so maybe the cell ID is not what it seems.

 

[jtrue28]

have a feeling, in order to fix LTE issues, they'll have to work with all of the carriers to get appropriate firmware updates to/from them to make all this work...

 

[Frankfurt]

have a feeling, in order to fix LTE issues, they'll have to work with all of the carriers to get appropriate firmware updates to/from them to make all this work...

As I mentioned previously, I presume this is a similar issue as with the iPhone 7 LTE Verizon connectivity problem. It took about 4 weeks to deploy a VZ firmware update that fixed the issue. It may now require many more carriers to deploy an update - hence might take longer than that.

This does not preclude a (small) batch of faulty hardware as well but I don't believe this is a "design" issue leaving all in the dust.

 

[Nhwhazup]

You’re probably smart to hold off for now. Seems like a lot of people still having issues. Be interesting to know if your replacement handset fixed the issue.

When I set up my max, I set up as new, because I wanted to make sure I didn’t have any leftover jailbreak files. It’s a pain in the butt, but it does rule out a lot of things. I haven’t read this whole entire thread, so I may have missed it, but for the people having this issue, did you try setting up as new?

The Genius as the Apple store reset up mine as new but it didn’t fix the problem.

 

[newborneyes]

I updated to 12.1 beta 3 At&t carrier 34.0 and there is absolutely no change in the poor LTE performance. I’m on phone number two and starting to think there is a major defective batch problem.

 

[jtrue28]

I updated to 12.1 beta 3 At&t carrier 34.0 and there is absolutely no change in the poor LTE performance. I’m on phone number two and starting to think there is a major defective batch problem.

what about wifi?

 

[newborneyes]

what about wifi?

Wifi is fine.

 

[Lammy]

Even in an area where your X was barely hanging onto a signal? Was it the Qualcomm or Intel?

My X was an intel modem device. And yes my Xs max is the same or slightly better.

 

[ROLLTIDE1]

Hold the phones boy and girls . My 4th phone now running 12.1 Beta 3 has the best cellular reception I have ever seen from the XS. Going to put it into field test mode and hit the road

 

[Nhwhazup]

Hold the phones boy and girls . My 4th phone now running 12.1 Beta 3 has the best cellular reception I have ever seen from the XS. Going to put it into field test mode and hit the road

Fingers crossed!

 

[lsbuffs]

On my Xs Max I am on the public beta 3 w/Verizon service and continue to experience dropped calls at the same intersection every day. Previously with my X and earlier phones I never dropped a call at the intersection, although my Series 3 Apple Watch would usually lose coverage there. It's obvious that my Xs Max isn't able to hang on to a weak signal the same way my earlier iPhones could.

Fortunately I haven't experienced dropped calls in my home office despite spending 2-3 hours on the phone at home (not using WiFi calling).

 

[maccuser]

My first XS had both the LTE and WIFI issues. (rubbish LTE, most of the time on 3G, WIFI speeds significantly slower than 8+, 6S, 6). I returned the phone last week and the techs identified a 'manufacturing defect'. I just got a new XS in return and it is in perfect order. No more WIFI issues, no more LTE issues.

This leads me to believe that there is indeed a hardware issue which only affects a small number of users.

Good luck to everyone still having connectivity issues.

[doublepost=1539373524][/doublepost]Your problems went away with exchanging your phone? Maybe there are different manufacturers for the antenna module that may be producing inferior quality? That’s interesting. I may consider doing a replacement

My first XS had both the LTE and WIFI issues. (rubbish LTE, most of the time on 3G, WIFI speeds significantly slower than 8+, 6S, 6). I returned the phone last week and the techs identified a 'manufacturing defect'. I just got a new XS in return and it is in perfect order. No more WIFI issues, no more LTE issues.

This leads me to believe that there is indeed a hardware issue which only affects a small number of users.

Good luck to everyone still having connectivity issues.

Your

 

[petesavage]

Hold the phones boy and girls . My 4th phone now running 12.1 Beta 3 has the best cellular reception I have ever seen from the XS. Going to put it into field test mode and hit the road

Was that fourth phone experiencing all the same issues as the previous ones until you installed 12.1 Beta 3?

 

[anticipate]

It's not about data speeds it's about 24-7 flowing data and dropped calls . Stream something and drive around or make a call and drive around in places where a 7,8 work fine the XS will not and it's not even close .

I get none of those issues call-wise. I -have- noticed some speed degradation but I am well over my 22GB limit (over 100GB so far this month) and live in the city, so I figure some of that must be deprioritization. I hope.

 

[zemaker]

I really hope Apple does something for this quick, I now get numerous dropped calls where the X used to do just fine.

 

[newborneyes]

I found a couple co-workers with the same phones but different serial batches, one with At&t and works perfectly, the other on Verizon with the same terrible performance as mine. It’s got to be faulty hardware!

 

[GarrettNolan]

I have a question for those that have had LTE issues and got a new device. Does your device have poorer connection reception to your airpods and apple watch? The airpods are taking longer to make a connection and are more easily knocked and lose connection, same goes for the watch. I'm not having the ideal experience when using all of these connected devices together and wondered if I'm alone in this phenomenon. Do they use the same antennae?

As per the LTE issues, my new device is getting really good connection speeds that are fast even at the lower end of the reception. I'm still having issues here and there where I lose LTE connection completely though, which is rough in more spots than it was before the latest carrier update. I find that having to use the airplane mode reset trick is the only way to fix it in areas I know LTE is present. Cell quality is all over the place and thus the phone quality is low due to that, and even dropping calls now and again.

This experience hasn't been the ideal experience and it's all over the place. At least Apple has continued to work with me on these issues as they try and reign them in. Unfortunately they aren't very transparent when it comes to these issues.

 

[stevefo]

Hold the phones boy and girls . My 4th phone now running 12.1 Beta 3 has the best cellular reception I have ever seen from the XS. Going to put it into field test mode and hit the road

Is it the Beta that made your phone better or the 4th phone?

 

[Smoothie]

I just re-read the WiWavelength blogger's analysis of the XS and the Pixel 3 RF performance. I've got one week left on my return window, and I'm getting a little discouraged about the likelihood of a software fix for this. It's unfortunate since I really like the XS Max. I have an Apple Watch 3 and an iMac and I like the way they work together. I've never owned an Android phone, although I've got an Android tablet. I'd feel a little better about taking a risk on a software fix if the XS Max didn't cost as much as it does. Returning the XS Max and waiting to see what, if anything, Apple does would certainly be the objectively smarter route. And so far I haven't seen any credible rebuttals to the conclusion that the XS phones have subpar antennas in them. Even if a firmware update to the baseband chip might force the phone to grab the strongest signal and hold onto it (if the problem is that it doesn't), the fact is that the physical antennas are what they are. While the XR antennas look a lot better, I'm just not as excited about that Phone.

Edit: But then there's this article which was mentioned earlier in this thread:

https://www.pcmag.com/news/364116/iphone-xs-crushes-x-in-lte-speeds-but-still-falls-short-of

In the PC Mag testing, they did slowly attenuate the generated signal to see how the XS performed, so it does test theoretical performance in a low signal environment.

 

[rebretz000]

If anyone knows someone that is an engineer or would understand the actual FCC documents for the iPhone Xs. I've been looking at them but obviously understanding nothing.
https://apps.fcc.gov/oetcf/eas/reports/ViewExhibitReport.cfm?mode=Exhibits&RequestTimeout=500&calledFromFrame=N&application_id=06L8pZ5HOG0gkQw1Jf96aQ==&fcc_id=BCG-E3218A

 

[ROLLTIDE1]

Is it the Beta that made your phone better or the 4th phone?

The 4th phone is what made it better. Now back to testing One strange thing if I airplane mode it it will go back to full signal then if I keep using data it stays full signal but when it no longer needs data it switches to another band and goes back to 2 bars. This is on AT&T .

 

[Gdwheel]

The 4th phone is what made it better. Now back to testing One strange thing if I airplane mode it it will go back to full signal then if I keep using data it stays full signal but when it no longer needs data it switches to another band and goes back to 2 bars. This is on AT&T .

That is not that strange. I have AT&T and it shows a strong signal when on band 5, but data (LTE) is poor and slow on band 5. It is showing the GSM signal even though LTE is technically available on band 5. Most of the time, it is on band 2, which shows a poorer signal because it is just showing the LTE signal, but the data speeds are good. I have no problems using band 2 even though it shows a lower signal. This is the case with various phones (mostly Android since it is easier to see the measurements on Android phones).

 

[msooffutt]

I just re-read the WiWavelength blogger's analysis of the XS and the Pixel 3 RF performance. I've got one week left on my return window, and I'm getting a little discouraged about the likelihood of a software fix for this. It's unfortunate since I really like the XS Max. I have an Apple Watch 3 and an iMac and I like the way they work together. I've never owned an Android phone, although I've got an Android tablet. I'd feel a little better about taking a risk on a software fix if the XS Max didn't cost as much as it does. Returning the XS Max and waiting to see what, if anything, Apple does would certainly be the objectively smarter route. And so far I haven't seen any credible rebuttals to the conclusion that the XS phones have subpar antennas in them. Even if a firmware update to the baseband chip might force the phone to grab the strongest signal and hold onto it (if the problem is that it doesn't), the fact is that the physical antennas are what they are. While the XR antennas look a lot better, I'm just not as excited about that Phone.

Edit: But then there's this article which was mentioned earlier in this thread:

https://www.pcmag.com/news/364116/iphone-xs-crushes-x-in-lte-speeds-but-still-falls-short-of

In the PC Mag testing, they did slowly attenuate the generated signal to see how the XS performed, so it does test theoretical performance in a low signal environment.

So far, my experience with the max follows very close to what pcmag reported. I don't know much about radios and antennas, but my max performs better than my x did, when it comes to real world situations, and I don't really think the antenna is the problem. With that said, it is an expensive phone, and Apple hasn't figured out the problem yet, so I understand your reluctance.

 

[alent1234]

Hold the phones boy and girls . My 4th phone now running 12.1 Beta 3 has the best cellular reception I have ever seen from the XS. Going to put it into field test mode and hit the road

not surprised. i've noticed that my networking has been really buggy since 11.4.1