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Apple Looking Into LTE Connectivity Issues Affecting Some iPhone XS and XS Max Owners
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Mobiles used to be reliable, when released, before it was possible to update the software ota.
I suspect it's more that companies are competing on appearance and time to market rather than day one reliability.
I actually contacted apple last night wrt the WiFi not switching automatically to the stronger signal. They installed a temporary profile on my phone and grabbed the logs from there and sent it to the engineers for further investigation. We’ll see what happened next.
https://www.wiwavelength.com/2018/09/iphone-xs-and-xs-max-mostly-fail-to.html?m=1
I was reading this site, and the part below concerns me, and maybe it may not be fixed. Seems to be a hardware oversight...
"Now, both iPhone XS and XS Max this year incorporate four antennas operational across many but not all bands. That antenna diversity in and of itself is a good thing. However, even with the four antennas -- and possibly because of the four antennas crammed inside -- antenna gain is universally negative. And simultaneous transmission from multiple antennas is not possible due to a "break before make" switching mechanism among the antennas."
I was reading this site, and the part below concerns me, and maybe it may not be fixed. Seems to be a hardware oversight...
"Now, both iPhone XS and XS Max this year incorporate four antennas operational across many but not all bands. That antenna diversity in and of itself is a good thing. However, even with the four antennas -- and possibly because of the four antennas crammed inside -- antenna gain is universally negative. And simultaneous transmission from multiple antennas is not possible due to a "break before make" switching mechanism among the antennas."
It's a poor implementation for sure. My opinion is that in their rush to get away from Qualcomm they overlooked antenna design issues, and the intel modem ins't up to the job yet, so the two things combined are resulting a much more noticeable issue than they expected. It's a shame.
Hang on; Apple has brainwashed you into thinking they can sell you a lemon and fix it later?
Apple may send out an update to maximize the reception from the current antenna design but the update will not change the current poor design.
I wonder if it's possible for Verizon to detect if an Intel modem is using it's network and throttle it.
Nope. I just have just sufficient experience with Apple devices. Every phone release there are the same issues: LTE/WiFi/BT connectivity, the famous yellow screens etc. etc.. Rarely things get not fixed at all.
If this stresses you out, just don't buy on first release or return it - and done.
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Apple phones never had the strongest "phone" capabilities - there was always some compromise due to design over function. Reality is the vast majority of XS/Max phones are just doing fine for 99% of use cases --- why do I know this? Because otherwise there would be way more noise. Some of the issues will be fixed with iOS / firmware updates, some may remain unaddressed. You may complain about it, but reality is for the vast majority there is no issue (including my XS).
In the end, when in doubt, return it - and move on with your life.
I don't know that we can go THAT far, this is not the first year Apple is working with Intel modems... Fodder tends to fill the vacuum chamber of the unknown.
It's good Apple is taking it seriously; it's also a little disconcerting they are reaching out to so many and getting logs, hints they don't really have an idea yet either...
I'm jealous. I work downtown and get ~1-3mbps. I’ve tested across my typical areas in the city and it’s the same. Connecting to WiFi at work is my only option but then it’s still only ~10mbps.
Posting some screenshots. One is me trying to load macrumors; no internet despite showing LTE. The other is a speedtest from the office.
Attachments
Forbes published an article on the connectivity issues/weak signal of the new XS and XS Max. This could really help shed more light on the situation. Someone else posted this in another thread.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewansp...s-max-lte-connectivity-problems/#4c6e7336c423
https://www.forbes.com/sites/ewansp...s-max-lte-connectivity-problems/#4c6e7336c423
I never felt the need in the past to not buy on launch day. I’ve been using Apple phones back to the 3GS. However, I’ve now had two iPhone releases with major problems, the iPhone 6 Plus and now the Max. I kept the Plus and although it was a little better after software updates, it continued to be a dog of a phone. The Max for me just didn’t get signal in locations where I previously had LTE. It was returned when the in-store Genius saw the issue and couldn’t fix it. I’m happy for the mass majority but its bizarre to be at the Apple store and side by side with others not having the problem. I could totally get it, it Apple would come out and say this is not the right phone for those in fringe areas but my phone also had the problem right there at the Apple store. If it were just my single phone, I’d be all over getting a new one. I just don’t want to keep buying and returning. That’s not right.
It's the first time Apple has used Intel for CDMA carriers like Verizon. I'm not a wireless expert but a cursory look at the complaints makes it seem like many are Verizon users. Intel also struggled in low reception environments compared with Qualcomm the last 2 years. And the antenna thing, isn't MIMO supposed to mean multiple antennas being used simultaneously? That's my understanding as a typical consumer and the article posted based on the FCC filing makes it sound like that's not happening, so then what's the point of them.
I am on iPhone X on iOS 12 as well, just tried this fix. On data only got download of 54.4, on voice and data got 48, this is with two bars of LTE and faster than the ATT claimed WiFi speed of 75 I am paying for.
The high variability between network connections in a single location (I tested by repeatedly toggling airplane mode and data roaming, forcing the device to reconnect to the cell negwork) tells me this is a software issue. It is picking the wrong frequency or subband. I saw huge variability in this experiment, reported in detail several pages before.
As for WiFi, I am seeing much better performance on the iOS 12.1 beta 2 so far, though it still has issues (which I can’t rule out being caused by the complicated mesh network I am on while testing)
Are you kidding?
The price gap to other manufacturers is getting bigger, and the relative quality of the experience is getting smaller.
That’s interesting. I’m on Verizon with an X on iOS 12 and my speeds doubled when I tried the data only LTE setting, but it was inconsistent after that.