iPhone XS Max GPS not working in airplane mode on an airplane anymore?

[isobel76]

Hi,
I have a quite annoying problem with my launch day XS Max. I travel a lot and always used my iPhones in airplane mode to track my flights while on the plane. With all iPhones prior to the XS Max, I was able to acquire a GPS fix quite quickly during the flight, even if not sitting close to a window. It was very convenient to always know where you are and get photos taken of the landscape below geotagged correctly. Not so with my XS Max. After a couple of minutes no GPS fix is possible at all and it won't come back until after touchdown and getting close to the gate. What could be the reason behind this? I thought about a speed or height cap in the GPS receiver or a weak GPS antenna. The latter is rather unlikely as GPS on the XS Max works fine on the ground and performs similar to my previous iPhones.

Any thoughts on this?

 

[AbSoluTc]

Hi,
I have a quite annoying problem with my launch day XS Max. I travel a lot and always used my iPhones in airplane mode to track my flights while on the plane. With all iPhones prior to the XS Max, I was able to acquire a GPS fix quite quickly during the flight, even if not sitting close to a window. It was very convenient to always know where you are and get photos taken of the landscape below geotagged correctly. Not so with my XS Max. After a couple of minutes no GPS fix is possible at all and it won't come back until after touchdown and getting close to the gate. What could be the reason behind this? I thought about a speed or height cap in the GPS receiver or a weak GPS antenna. The latter is rather unlikely as GPS on the XS Max works fine on the ground and performs similar to my previous iPhones.

Any thoughts on this?

GPS should work in airplane mode. I have a Max that recently went on a flight and had no issues. I didn't check my GPS but I know it works as I took pictures in flight over Chicago and Wyoming. All pictures were geo tagged accordingly. Perhaps it was a fluke on the plane? Something else?

 

[bambooshots]

Happened on my iPhone X last week too.

iPad Air 2 on iOS 9 worked fine.

 

[chabig]

It all depends on the airplane type and your seat location.