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Apple Looking Into LTE Connectivity Issues Affecting Some iPhone XS and XS Max Owners

When did we, as consumers, start accepting that it was okay to spend our money on products that are essentially still in beta testing?
I love Apple and have bought lots of products from them over the years but they, as well as other companies are releasing products with some major issues.
Is it that there is so much pressure that they have to keep releasing products that still need tweaking? Or is it that these devices are so complex that it's almost impossible to test for every use scenario.
I think we're all expected to put up with these problems when you are an early adopter but I also think that it spoils the whole experience of getting a new tech gadget when things don't work 100% out of the box.
I understand that in the scheme of things it's probably a small amount of devices with problems but that's cold comfort to the person who's just spent their hard-earned money.
I wonder what needs to change so that this stops happening?
 
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ROLLTIDE1 said:
12.1 Beta 2 does nothing to improve the piss poor cellular connectivity
[doublepost=1538598160][/doublepost]
On the phone the other day after they did a device capture on my XS
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They did the same thing to my first iPhone X’s Max and I was contacted back and told the same thing.
 
JumpDog said:
You... don’t understand how software works, do you?
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I guess not? Maybe you can inform me in your deep wisdom how a hardware issue with weak antenna gain. I swear, every time I make one post on here there is bound to be someone who ends up making comments back to me that are snarky, rude, and borderline degrading. It’s frustrating... back on topic.
 
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M5RahuL said:
Anyone having connectivity ( LTE ) issues with TMobile ? Occasionally, opening a webpage or even logging into an App takes a while, or just hangs.

Also, on WiFi, while the speedtest shows downstream/upstream speeds very similar to other devices, sometimes webpages take forever to open.

I will be calling Apple about this, just wondering if any other TMobile users are facing a similar issue.
Click to expand...

Yep - iPhone Xs on T-Mobile, having similar issues with pages hanging for a few seconds. Like you said, happens on both LTE and WiFi.
 
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Packers1958 said:
If it's the modem, why are the bulk of the problems occurring in the US. Very few reports from Europe. The phones are all the same this year.,
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Because it's not the modem and will likely be fixed with software (despite what you read about it being impossible). NOT true.
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JPack said:
The FCC reports clearly show the XS and Max have weak antenna gain.

If Apple can fix this using software, their team has a good chance of winning the Nobel Prize in Physics.
Click to expand...
Get the awards ready then, because it's about to happen. You're wrong, BTW.
 
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5Ghz wifi is terrible.
It's fast after a disconnect and connect but during the day slower an slower.

A new disconnect and connect fixes the issue temporary
 
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YegorH said:
How about WiFi? My iPhone Max doesn’t like 5Ghz, keeps switching to 2.4 when other iPhone X in the household retain connection even if the signal quality is subpar.
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Seems like the iPhone Xs series utilizes aggressive power throttling like dimming the screen, preferring slower 2.4GHz WIFI over faster 5GHz WIFI, etc.
 
Mojohanna32 said:
Kinda sorta. It’s the first phone to exclusively use the intel modem. Previous versions have been a mix of Qualcomm and intel.
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He's technically right since he said "on Verizon" - they've exclusively used Qualcomm historically.

If a majority of the issues are on Verizon then you can be sure it has to do with their quirky LTE handoff / handover - Qualcomm had that mastered since their modems (and modem drivers, software, etc.) are on pretty much every Verizon device. Intel has little experience in that arena with Verizon.

Software tweaks will likely improve it. LTE handoff on Verizon was horrible early on and has improved significantly since LTE was first released, but is still very much imperfect.
 
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falainber said:
They don't have CDMA (Verizon/Sprint) in Europe. Also, in general Europe has much better wireless coverage than US. Maybe this explains it.
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The issue in the US is not with CDMA, it's LTE connectivity that is the issue. I doubt it's the modem. All the carriers in US are using new LTE bands with the Xs and Xs Max. i don't know if that's the case in Europe. It could something as simple as the phone is connecting with the new bands improperly, instead of the stronger older bands. And it may not be occurring with some people because they do not live where the new bands have been installed.
 
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I'm on TMobile and having this issue. Jumped from an iPhone X to an iPhone Xs Max. The max has awful connectivity and I often get the "Not connected to the internet" message everywhere.
These new models are supposed to have new radios that improve T-Mobile coverage but I'm experiencing the opposite. The unreliability of coverage is concerning and I've called apple to get a fix.
They made me install a Wifi Diagnostic profile despite me telling them repeatedly this is a Cellular issue. The process of logging the wifi inconsistencies was oddly tedious so I gave up.

I will call again and see if I can get that Cellular Diagnostic profile installed.
 
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A good read: https://www.pcmag.com/news/364116/iphone-xs-crushes-x-in-lte-speeds-but-still-falls-short-of

"The iPhone XS is a huge step up from the iPhone X when it comes to LTE download speeds, according to exclusive new data from Cellular Insights and Ookla Speedtest. But it still doesn't quite match the Qualcomm X20 modem used in the Samsung Galaxy Note 9."

"Between the three 4x4 MIMO phones, you can see that in good signal conditions, the Qualcomm-powered Galaxy Note 9 and Google Pixel 2 still do a bit better than the iPhone XS Max. But as signal gets weaker, the XS Max really competes, showing that it's well tuned."

"The iPhone XS shows, on average, 6.6Mbps faster download speeds on all US carriers than the iPhone X, according to Speedtest Intelligence. In Canada, that difference jumps to a massive 20.2Mbps."


"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."
 
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archer75 said:
A good read: https://www.pcmag.com/news/364116/iphone-xs-crushes-x-in-lte-speeds-but-still-falls-short-of

"The iPhone XS is a huge step up from the iPhone X when it comes to LTE download speeds, according to exclusive new data from Cellular Insights and Ookla Speedtest. But it still doesn't quite match the Qualcomm X20 modem used in the Samsung Galaxy Note 9."

"Between the three 4x4 MIMO phones, you can see that in good signal conditions, the Qualcomm-powered Galaxy Note 9 and Google Pixel 2 still do a bit better than the iPhone XS Max. But as signal gets weaker, the XS Max really competes, showing that it's well tuned."

"The iPhone XS shows, on average, 6.6Mbps faster download speeds on all US carriers than the iPhone X, according to Speedtest Intelligence. In Canada, that difference jumps to a massive 20.2Mbps."


"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."
Click to expand...

Sounds like fake news to me bought and paid for by Apple
 
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While there are times I can get up to 20Mbps download on Verizon LTE on my Xs Max, most of my Speedtests show 1Mbps or less. I'm in a decent Verizon coverage area and haven't seen similar issues with any previous iPhones (most recently had the X)

As an aside, why is it that every time I call Apple Support to report an issue, the advisor makes it seem like I'm the first one who's ever reported it to Apple? I'm on the phone with them now and the advisor wants me to reset network settings, Airplane Mode, Wifi, LTE, etc., etc. Fine, but already done all that. Then he goes and talks to a senior advisor and comes back with something about this is a known carrier issue "in the south" and it's been going on "since September". I politely explained that 1) I'm not in "the south" (I'm in Phoenix) and 2) that this issue is being widely reported related specifically to the Xs and Xs Max. I even mentioned it's the top story now on Macrumors. They then explained to me that it's a third-party sight (duh) and they couldn't access it.
 
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Jut today I’ve been having issues with my XS on AT&T. I have what looks like a normal signal strength on the icon in the status bar, but cannot load any data. WiFi works fine at least tho
 
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