Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
iPhone 5s accelerometer/gyroscope/compass values incorrect
- Thread starter tharepairguy
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I returned my first 5s (week 39) for refund a few week ago because it wasn't clear if the motion sensor issue was hardware and the power button had an irritating rattle.
I did order a new 5s after 7.0.3 was released and a week 42 unit arrived yesterday. It was running 7.0.2 and on its back on a level surface showed 9 degrees and was out between 2-3 degrees on its sides. I udpated to 7.0.3 which still showed error so I performed the reset/DND calibration. The sides now appear more accurate but on it's back it's still shows 1 degree.
The other issue for me is the power button has the same irritating rattle and after talking with Apple this unit is also going back for refund.
Last edited:
I returned my first 5s (week 39) for refund a few week ago because it wasn't clear if the motion sensor issue was hardware and the power button has an irritating rattle.
I did order a new 5s after 7.0.3 was released and a week 42 unit arrived yesterday. It was running 7.0.2 and on its back on a level surface showed 9 degrees and was out between 2-3 degrees on its sides. I udpated to 7.0.3 which still showed error so I performed the reset/DND calibration. The sides now appear more accurate but on it's back it's still shows 1 degree.
The other issue for is the power button has the same irritating rattle and after talking with Apple so this unit also going back for refund.
The poll shows that 1 in 5 show -1 degree on their back (and zero on their sides). There is an arguement that this is the least critical measurement, but it is still not correct, so I can see why you are sending it back.
Are you going to try another 5s?
I'm going to leave if for a while and see how things pan out.
It feels like apple rushed it out and the little things and attention to detail that made a real difference for me are just falling away. Will now seriously look at what is else is out there and continue to use ip4 in the meantime.
Same here, I agree that waiting is the smartest thing to do. Let all the fan-boys either ignore the issues, stand in line, camp in front of an Apple store, swap/replace their iPhones 5S's until hell freezes over, or brush issues under the carpet, pretending that inferior sensors do not matter.
One thing always remains true: never buy the 'mark one' of anything!
The 5S will (most probably
) still be around in 2-3 months time and hopefully with all the kinks & teething problems worked out. Let the fan-boys play the guinea pig, whilst paying $849 + tax for the privilege. 
iPhone 5s accelerometer/gyroscope/compass values incorrect
My replacement 5S is like this, 0 on the sides, 1 off on the back. Using a third party app I can see it's actually less than 1 on the back, but more than 0.5 do the Compass app rounds up to 1. It's not perfect, but it's not terrible and doesn't seem to cause problems.
My old one was off by about 1.4 on the back and close to 2 on the sides even with 7.0.3.
Edit: I just checked and my 5S is reading 0 on the back now. I'm checking in a different location though, so either it calibrated itself or the floor isn't level.
My replacement 5S is like this, 0 on the sides, 1 off on the back. Using a third party app I can see it's actually less than 1 on the back, but more than 0.5 do the Compass app rounds up to 1. It's not perfect, but it's not terrible and doesn't seem to cause problems.
My old one was off by about 1.4 on the back and close to 2 on the sides even with 7.0.3.
Edit: I just checked and my 5S is reading 0 on the back now. I'm checking in a different location though, so either it calibrated itself or the floor isn't level.
Mine was reading zero on both sides and its back immediately after I installed 7.0.3. But then a few hours later it had drifted off again (1 degree off on its back and long edge). I think being left on-charge+DND does result in some fine tuning of the calibration, but in my case it made it worse for some reason. Perhaps yours improved (as it should)?
My iPad air was off about -1.9 on the back and 2 of the sides even with 7.0.3. It was fine on the other 2 sides so I just remembered to use those when playing games, star apps etc. I ended up returning it as I feel like the mini will be better for me. I posted this on the iPad forums and got 0 responses. Im guessing because the iPad doesn't have the level app built in.
I returned my first 5s (week 39) for refund a few week ago because it wasn't clear if the motion sensor issue was hardware and the power button had an irritating rattle.
I did order a new 5s after 7.0.3 was released and a week 42 unit arrived yesterday. It was running 7.0.2 and on its back on a level surface showed 9 degrees and was out between 2-3 degrees on its sides. I udpated to 7.0.3 which still showed error so I performed the reset/DND calibration. The sides now appear more accurate but on it's back it's still shows 1 degree.
The other issue for me is the power button has the same irritating rattle and after talking with Apple this unit is also going back for refund.
Are you sure it's the power button!? It's most likely the camera - and is perfectly normal.
Nope I'm absolutely certain beyond any shadow of a doubt that it's the power button which is visibly loose. The slightest pressure on the button stops the rattle. I think Apple are well aware of the issue and just hope people accept a sub-par product as perfectly normal and lap it up.
LOL - Why would it be perfectly normal for a recoding product to rattle and pollute recording. My other iphones don't rattle. Seriously
Nope I'm absolutely certain beyond any shadow of a doubt that it's the power button which is visibly loose. The slightest pressure on the button stops the rattle. I think Apple are well aware of the issue and just hope people accept a sub-par product as perfectly normal and lap it up.
LOL - Why would it be perfectly normal for a recoding product to rattle and pollute recording. My other iphones don't rattle. Seriously
Practically *every* iPhone camera will rattle. It won't add any noise.
On my unit it's not the camera but the loose power button as stated earlier. Non of my other iphones rattle and my ip4 is over 3 years old.
Here's an example - http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=FfUKH0GjzB4
I know that's the case on your unit. I was referring to your statement about the recording device.
Nope I'm absolutely certain beyond any shadow of a doubt that it's the power button which is visibly loose. The slightest pressure on the button stops the rattle. I think Apple are well aware of the issue and just hope people accept a sub-par product as perfectly normal and lap it up.
LOL - Why would it be perfectly normal for a recoding product to rattle and pollute recording. My other iphones don't rattle. Seriously
There are a couple of other threads about this, i recieved a replacement today week 43 F2 that has the ratlling button issue too (as wll as screen interlacing for good mesure), the apple leather case dosent mask it eather.
I am going to call it quits and just live with it, really bored the replacement game, put my finger on it when videoing/voice memo. If i had my iphone 5 i would have just returned for refund, considered the nexus 5 but its just too big for me and my previous android experience (galaxy nexus) sucked, also i use airplay a lot.
The bummer is that i actually had a unit without the rattle week 41 c3, it unfortunatly had a piss yellow screen tint that annoyed me.
As this is the "iPhone 5s accelerometer/gyroscope/compass values incorrect" thread, can you post your level readings? And did it come with 7.0.3 installed?
Nope I'm absolutely certain beyond any shadow of a doubt that it's the power button which is visibly loose. The slightest pressure on the button stops the rattle. I think Apple are well aware of the issue and just hope people accept a sub-par product as perfectly normal and lap it up.
LOL - Why would it be perfectly normal for a recoding product to rattle and pollute recording. My other iphones don't rattle. Seriously
Seriously
This is a joke, right. How can a slightly loose power button rattle enough to ruin your video? Only in these Apple forums.
They will fix this on 7.0.3 and a bottle of crazy glue.
Thanks for that!
7.0.3 came out in week 43, and I wonder if the sensor calibration is a bit better on iPhones with 7.0.3 on them on the production line?
I speculated earlier in this thread that the level reading problems before 7.0.3 could be due to the OS failing to apply calibration data (and I still think this is the case). But my level readings drifted a few hours after I installed 7.0.3 (were 0,0,0, then drifted to 1,0,-1), so I think there is some fine micro calibration being applied when connected to power (and possibly with DND as well). It is possible the macro and micro calibration are better matched if 7.0.3 is on the phone when the macro calibration is carried out.
My replacement 5s is still processing one week into its 2-3 week dispatch window. Hopefully mine will be 0,0,0 (and stay 0,0,0) when I eventually get it!
Mine new one is still off by 1 on the back when level, but I think it's really about 0.6, rounding up to 1. All the sides are 1.
One thing that's a bit troubling is that the green doesn't exactly match up with the line in the center of the screen, meaning the pitch is off.
Also both iTunes and my iPhone locked up at the end of the sync after the restore. My new iPhone actually blue screened (panic crashed) when I tried to run the settings app while iTunes was stuck. My original iPhone 5S also panic crashed when I originally restored it from my 4S backup. Not sure what that means. Probably an iOS 7 bug.
Edit:
I checked the logs folder on my PC after syncing and I saw there was a "power log" synced with a recorded date of about 30 minutes prior to my appointment. I looked at the log and it showed a bunch of apps like AppGenius and the like. It looks like the Genius guy just grabbed a phone they were testing and put it in a white box and gave it to me. That means it's definitely refurbished.
The log could have came from them upgrading the phone to the latest iOS before handing it to you. The only way to check if it's a refurb is to look at the model number. MD are new phones, ND are refurbished.
But they didn't upgrade the iOS. I did it after they gave me the phone. When they gave it to me it had iOS 7.0
Interesting thread. I checked my wife's iphone against my 5s and my 5s against a level. It seems to be spot on in all orientations.