Received my iPhone 12 Pro today and noticed right away that I am getting full bars LTE in my house on the Verizon network, which I wasnt getting with the intel modem on my 11 Pro. May be just anecdotal for now, but curious how the reception is on your 12's and 12 Pros with the new modem.
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iPhone 12 Pro Better reception with Qualcomm modem in iPhone 12 Pro
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I came from an Intel modem and see no difference in reception yet. Haven't looked at test settings to see the actual levels, though. 1-2 bars in all the same places, and a total cut out in a known spot.
I am getting 5G now instead of LTE but the speediest result is pretty similar. I'm sure it will get better with time.
I am getting 5G now instead of LTE but the speediest result is pretty similar. I'm sure it will get better with time.
No, the 11, XS, X, 8, and some 7 models all had Intel. https://www.pcmag.com/news/iphone-xs-crushes-x-in-lte-speeds-but-still-falls-short-of-qualcomm
The X and 8 also had Qualcomm versions.
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Thank you. I should have been more specific. Verizon iPhones had Qualcomm modems until the 11 and 11 Pro.
Before the 12, the last time the Verizon version had Qualcomm modems was the 8, 8+ and X. The XS, XS max and XR had Intel, even on Verizon.
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Before the 12, the last time the Verizon version had Qualcomm modems was the 8, 8+ and X. The XS, XS max and XR had Intel, even on Verizon.
Apple says Qualcomm refused to sell it chips for the latest iPhones
Apple’s testimony on Qualcomm doesn’t make the chipmaker look good
Apple Wanted to Use Qualcomm Chips for 2018 iPhones, But Qualcomm Wouldn't Sell Them
As the FTC's antitrust trial against Qualcomm continues, Apple's chief operating officer, Jeff Williams, has taken the stand to share details...
Ok. My point was that I am getting better reception with the Qualcomm modem in my iPhone 12 Pro, compared the 11 Pro that had the intel modem. I didn't have any of the XS models. I had the X, went to an 11 Pro and now the 12 Pro. The 11 Pro was worse than the X with reception and also worse than the 12 Pro. So at least for me with the Verizon network, the Qualcomm modems in the X and now the new one in the 12 Pro are much better than the intel modem.
Sorry about that, but yes, the Qualcomm modems are much better. For me, the modem in the 11 pro was an improvement of the modem in the XS. But I’m definitely looking forward to when I can get back to a Qualcomm modem. Glad to hear that you’re seeing better reception as I’m hoping for that myself!
I'm not sure that the number of bars are really important since they are pretty arbitrary. More important is performance, especially in marginal areas. The Intel modem on my 11 worked better than the Qualcomm modem in my X in some spots. But that may be due to the B71 support and not the modem itself. (Maybe a Qualcomm modem with B71 would have been even better). I may know more in a month or 2.
Also would love to know. I have an iPhone X and I usually get below 20 mbps with its crappy intel modem. Plenty of times I’m in a public place and my internet crawls to the point of being unusable. There’s also a spot that always drops calls on my way home and I hope a new modem fixes that.
The bars mean absolutely nothing. Let me repeat, NOTHING. One given phone can have 4 bars, another 2 bars, and each may have exactly the same signal strength.
In order to find out whether or not the 12 is getting better reception you have to go into field test mode and look at the DBm.
Do this by going into the dialer and dial *3001#12345#*
Press the call button
In the next screen, select "serving cell info"
Next select LTE
On the next screen look at the entry on the line rsrp0
This will show your receiving signal strength.
Anything below -80db is terrific, anything below -90db is very good, anything below -100db is good, anything below -110db is fair, anything below -120db is marginal and anything over -120db is not good and can possibly drop the call.
If you have both a 12 and an older 11 with SIM cards in both from the same carrier, you can compare the phones side by side. Be aware that the exact placement of the phones and the angle at which they are held or lie can have an affect, so it's a good idea to swap their positions from time to time. Also be aware that either of the phones may be looking at different towers at any given time, so don't just do this, take a look, and come to a conclusion. Give it some time to get a sense of an average reading over several minutes...the more, the better.
The numbers will change periodically, so have patience and look at the results over a period of several minutes to see if one of the phones averages better than the other.
I myself am very curious because I have always preferred iphones over Android except for the signal strength. I have found that iphones routinely do anywhere between 3db to about 7 or 8db worse than Androids.
My wife has an iphone 11 Pro Max and I have compared it to Pixel 3a and Samsung S20 FE 5G, again seeing about 6 or 7db better using either of the Androids. If the iphone 12 is showing to be better than the 11, I'd consider going back to iphone.
BTW, download speeds have very very little to do with reception either and the differences you see have more to do with network congestion at any given time than anything else.
In order to find out whether or not the 12 is getting better reception you have to go into field test mode and look at the DBm.
Do this by going into the dialer and dial *3001#12345#*
Press the call button
In the next screen, select "serving cell info"
Next select LTE
On the next screen look at the entry on the line rsrp0
This will show your receiving signal strength.
Anything below -80db is terrific, anything below -90db is very good, anything below -100db is good, anything below -110db is fair, anything below -120db is marginal and anything over -120db is not good and can possibly drop the call.
If you have both a 12 and an older 11 with SIM cards in both from the same carrier, you can compare the phones side by side. Be aware that the exact placement of the phones and the angle at which they are held or lie can have an affect, so it's a good idea to swap their positions from time to time. Also be aware that either of the phones may be looking at different towers at any given time, so don't just do this, take a look, and come to a conclusion. Give it some time to get a sense of an average reading over several minutes...the more, the better.
The numbers will change periodically, so have patience and look at the results over a period of several minutes to see if one of the phones averages better than the other.
I myself am very curious because I have always preferred iphones over Android except for the signal strength. I have found that iphones routinely do anywhere between 3db to about 7 or 8db worse than Androids.
My wife has an iphone 11 Pro Max and I have compared it to Pixel 3a and Samsung S20 FE 5G, again seeing about 6 or 7db better using either of the Androids. If the iphone 12 is showing to be better than the 11, I'd consider going back to iphone.
BTW, download speeds have very very little to do with reception either and the differences you see have more to do with network congestion at any given time than anything else.
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Unfortunately those instructions aren't accurate anymore. Dialing that number is correct. A page called Dashboard then appears. Click on the 3 horizontal bars on the top right of page next to the Home picture. Then select Rach Attempt to get rsrp as rsrp0 is not listed anymore.
Dang, wish I would have bought a Verizon iPhone X for AT&T then. I did buy a Verizon iPhone 7 Plus for use on AT&T specifically for the Qualcomm modem, but for the life of me I can’t remember why I wouldn’t have done the same thing for the X.
Sorry about my post on the method of seeing signal strength. I didn't know Apple changed this. However, using the revised method listed later, has anyone had a chance to do a comparison between the iphone 12 and an earlier model?