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iPhone XS Max Horrific Bluetooth range on iPhone XS Max?

ideal.dreams

ideal.dreams

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Jul 19, 2010
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I've had my iPhone XS Max since launch day and lately, I've been noticing that the Bluetooth range is getting worse and worse. If I walk away from my iPhone and enter another room in my house, my Apple Watch falls out of range and disconnects. I was at my fiancé's parents house last night and walked away from it in the same room and it showed the phone disconnected symbol on the watch face when I checked the time.

I also noticed that if I leave my phone in my coat pocket while driving in my car, the music being streamed from it to the car via Bluetooth will start to skip and break up until I take it out of my coat pocket and put it out in the open in the center console.

I'm not sure if this is a hardware or software problem at this point but figured I'd start here before calling Apple to see if it's something I can fix on my own first.
 
Bluetooth not working in another room from the transmitter is kinda normal. Sometimes it works, but it depends on the walls.
 
now i see it said:
Bluetooth not working in another room from the transmitter is kinda normal. Sometimes it works, but it depends on the walls.
Click to expand...
This has never happened before in the 4 years I've owned an Apple Watch. I could go to a different level of the house and have it stay connected. Not to mention there should be no excuse of it losing connection within 10 feet of the phone in the same room.
 
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Yes bluetooth sucks on iphone XS Max. I have a iphone 6, 6s plus, 8plus and now XS Max, no issues with the other phones using bluetooth audio but the xs max cuts in and out regularly. makes a phone call impossible and playing music annoying as well. Have to keep the phone in a very inconvenient place in the car to maintain connectivity.
 
I've had no problem with mine; it will cut out a bit if I move to a different room, but I've found I can put it on its charging mat in my office and BT streaming still works in my living room with the door closed and that's good enough for me.
 
Same exact XS Max Bluetooth problems happening to me too. Apple is aware of the problem but has not figured out how to fix it yet. I'm seriously considering getting a replacement iPhone via Apple Care.
 
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I’ve been having same issues.

One thing I noticed after doing a reset on the Apple Watch, is that it wouldn’t automatically pair with the iPhone and required manual pairing.

Tested with another iPhone XS Max and everything worked fine.
 
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I have exactly the same issues you describe, furthermore if I put the phone in my pocket with the top part facing down it will disconnect from the watch, also if I cover the top of the phone with my hand, the streaming music to my car suffers interruptions. Another problem (Not so important though) if I open my Airpods case the classic white box that shows the battery etc, won´t show up on My XS Max, but I have another 7 Plus in my room that is more far away and it shows up immediately.

It's pretty frustrating especially considering I took the phone months ago to Apple and the guy at the genius bar insisted that it was software related. He told me to delete everything and not start from backup as that was the problem. I did that and it fixed nothing. Now I can´t take it as I don´t live in the US.

Does anyone has information on this?

Thanks!!
 
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nalbagli said:
I have exactly the same issues you describe, furthermore if I put the phone in my pocket with the top part facing down it will disconnect from the watch, also if I cover the top of the phone with my hand, the streaming music to my car suffers interruptions. Another problem (Not so important though) if I open my Airpods case the classic white box that shows the battery etc, won´t show up on My XS Max, but I have another 7 Plus in my room that is more far away and it shows up immediately.

It's pretty frustrating especially considering I took the phone months ago to Apple and the guy at the genius bar insisted that it was software related. He told me to delete everything and not start from backup as that was the problem. I did that and it fixed nothing. Now I can´t take it as I don´t live in the US.

Does anyone has information on this?

Thanks!!
Click to expand...

You need to get Apple to replace your phone. I went round and round with them and FINALLY got them to send me a brand new XS Max, and it works perfect as it should. Bluetooth range is very good with this one too. I was able to walk across the street from my house, somewhere around 50-60 feet before I would lose Bluetooth connectivity. I don't care what Apple says, its NOT software related.
 
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nalbagli said:
I have exactly the same issues you describe, furthermore if I put the phone in my pocket with the top part facing down it will disconnect from the watch, also if I cover the top of the phone with my hand, the streaming music to my car suffers interruptions. Another problem (Not so important though) if I open my Airpods case the classic white box that shows the battery etc, won´t show up on My XS Max, but I have another 7 Plus in my room that is more far away and it shows up immediately.

It's pretty frustrating especially considering I took the phone months ago to Apple and the guy at the genius bar insisted that it was software related. He told me to delete everything and not start from backup as that was the problem. I did that and it fixed nothing. Now I can´t take it as I don´t live in the US.

Does anyone has information on this?

Thanks!!
Click to expand...


I can you give an update on what happened for me.

I did more testing and noticed how the range was very small with the Apple Watch.

A friends phone did not show this issue.

I took both to the Apple store. Usual stuff, reset the phone, diagnostics. No improvement.

Then we tried to call the phone and answer on the Apple Watch.

It worked perfectly on friends phone while it did not for me at all.

They took my phone and gave me a new one right there.

No more issues. I never noticed how my Apple Watch did not pick up calls from phone.

See if you can answer calls from your watch.
 
Thanks, my big problem is I am not from the US so I am kind of screwed, I guess I´ll have to live with it. When I took it I showed him all the problems tight there and he just wouldn´t replace the phone, so frustrating to be honest. Hope I get someone going to the US soon who can take it for me
 
Keep on them, they know this is a problem but are very resistant to giving out new phones. Tell them you know someone who had the exact same problem and it was fixed once they got a replacement iPhone.
 
treimche said:
You need to get Apple to replace your phone. I went round and round with them and FINALLY got them to send me a brand new XS Max, and it works perfect as it should. Bluetooth range is very good with this one too. I was able to walk across the street from my house, somewhere around 50-60 feet before I would lose Bluetooth connectivity. I don't care what Apple says, its NOT software related.
Click to expand...

I tried getting them to send me a new phone. They ran OTA diagnostics and the results all came back fine. They insisted that software was inhibiting the Bluetooth range and that I should spend hours troubleshooting on my own by factory restoring my phone and installing each of my 200 apps back one by one until I find the one responsible for the decrease in range reduction.

I told that advisor to pound salt and I'm still living with ridiculously embarrassing Bluetooth range, meanwhile Apple refuses to acknowledge that there is an issue with my phone.

To be an Apple representative in 2019 and suggest to someone even slightly competent that software is inhibiting the physical Bluetooth range of their $1,100 phone is an insult. Software has no impact on Bluetooth range much the same way the color of the shirt I'm wearing right now has no impact on how fast I can run.
 
Last edited:
in the OLD days we blamed the ham next door or the CB radio in trucks now it is RFI from other devices like un-shielded USB-3 cables.

Try a set of BT ear pods and test the range on a clean install or different phones should be easy to show at a Apple store
it won't work .

thing about radio circuit getting worse overtime sounds a bit off.
Unless it is the 11 year sun spot cycle :)
 
ideal.dreams said:
I tried getting them to send me a new phone. They ran OTA diagnostics and the results all came back fine. They insisted that software was inhibiting the Bluetooth range and that I should spend hours troubleshooting on my own by factory restoring my phone and installing each of my 200 apps back one by one until I find the one responsible for the decrease in range reduction.

I told that advisor to pound salt and I'm still living with ridiculously embarrassing Bluetooth range, meanwhile Apple refuses to acknowledge that there is an issue with my phone.

To be an Apple representative in 2019 and suggest to someone even slightly competent that software is inhibiting the physical Bluetooth range of their $1,100 phone is an insult. Software has no impact on Bluetooth range much the same way the color of the shirt I'm wearing right now has no impact on how fast I can run.
Click to expand...

I went through the exact same thing with Apple. They even had me install some software on both my iPhone and Apple Watch so they could log data while the problem was happening. Then they sent me to the local Best Buy (there's no Apple store here), since they were an "authorized service provider" and after all their restoring and troubleshooting, the problem persisted. They told me they didn't have phones to replace mine with since Apple doesn't give them any. I basically ended up totally flipping out on the Apple service rep on the phone and finally got them to send me a phone.

My last argument was that Apple can take their ****** phone back and figure it out, and give me one that actually works, instead of me being the one doing all the troubleshooting. It sucks, but you have to be very persistent with them. Software updates won't fix your phone.
 
I think I'm going to give them a call tomorrow and speak with their executive relations team. They have been super helpful for me in the past so hopefully they can help me get a replacement pushed through. It's just ludicrous that they're so adamant on not replacing the phone for something that is very blatantly a hardware issue.
 
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nalbagli said:
I have exactly the same issues you describe, furthermore if I put the phone in my pocket with the top part facing down it will disconnect from the watch, also if I cover the top of the phone with my hand, the streaming music to my car suffers interruptions. Another problem (Not so important though) if I open my Airpods case the classic white box that shows the battery etc, won´t show up on My XS Max, but I have another 7 Plus in my room that is more far away and it shows up immediately.

It's pretty frustrating especially considering I took the phone months ago to Apple and the guy at the genius bar insisted that it was software related. He told me to delete everything and not start from backup as that was the problem. I did that and it fixed nothing. Now I can´t take it as I don´t live in the US.

Does anyone has information on this?

Thanks!!
Click to expand...
I'm having the exact same issue! Don't want to waste my time at apple store if they won't replace it and tell me its software related.
 
Bluetooth range on my Max is excellent. AirPods 2nd gen work about 70 feet away from the phone before cutouts start. My Silverado sometimes has an issue, but I attribute that to the car itself as even an android device family have cuts out. You might have a hardware defect.
 
My Bluetooth with xs max sucks. I can’t use my AirPods. I can’t use maps or listen to music in my car. Apple says it’s TMobiles fault and TMobile says it’s Apples fault.
 
It took 7 months but I was finally able to get a senior advisor to replace my iPhone for me. All of the issues are completely fixed. My watch no longer disconnects and I have no other issues with any other Bluetooth devices. Disappointed it took this long to get a replacement but glad the issue is fixed nonetheless.
 
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