iPhone X iPhone X GPS problem

[purpleparrotuk]

So I’m taking my iPhone into Apple today. When I use Waze etc it keeps drifting away from the road and takes a few seconds to get back on track. The iPhone 7 never does this. I have compared both phones with the gps diagnostic app and the 7 has a much stronger gps than the x.
I have tried all the tricks online about taking the sim out, reset network settings etc but doesn’t seem to make a difference.

Because of the weaker gps could it be that the heated windscreen or dashcam in my car is interfering with it? It probably interferes with the 7 but because of the stronger signal it doesn’t make it go off track.

Just wondered if it’s worth them replacing the phone to try a new one or if the same is going to happen with all the phones since the gps signal is not as good on an X compared to 7. After googling it’s seems to be a difference of opinion.

 

[Vundu]

For me GPS drift is worse on my X than the 6S I came from. Hoping the XS has improved it.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

I have the same issue with my X. I’ve tried everything also and I’m convinced it’s a hardware issue. My 6s is always spot on with my location, the X jumps around. If I leave the map app on for awhile eventually it zeros in on my location.

 

[purpleparrotuk]

Thanks for the replies. Makes me wonder if all the X phones do this and I’m wasting my time if they replace it.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

Thanks for the replies. Makes me wonder if all the X phones do this and I’m wasting my time if they replace it.

If I was keeping the phone I would replace it. I’ve only read a handful of complaints with the gps jumping around and they all were solved with a replacement. I’m due for an upgrade December so I’m not going to bother replacing mine. I’m sure the Xs will solve the problem..

 

[BugeyeSTI]

Well it’s seems iOS12 has fixed my poor gps performance. It’s been perfectly showing my location since the update this morning

 

[joeblough]

my new-to-me iphoneX was doing this the other day. i reset the network settings and it seems to be working properly again, but who knows for how long. have never seen this with any other iphone i've ever owned.

most of the stuff i read online about this happened in the ios11 timeframe, or in the ios12 beta timeframe, so maybe it is not a widespread issue anymore? apple seemed very reluctant to entertain the idea that the problem is related to hardware, but then again that's probably their normal response to any iphone issue.

 

[Banglazed]

Have you tried to reset location and privacy?

 

[joeblough]

not yet, i will try that if the problem comes back. the thing is it must be real - my dad owned the phone all last year and he said that from time to time he had to reboot it to make map navigation work right. so that's 2 different operating system versions and 2 different user software environments but the same problem. to me that rules out a software issue, but who knows.

 

[joeblough]

came back to say that the problem persists despite a variety of resets. i don't often drive to places i don't already know, but lately i have been doing more driving / needing directions and have gotten lost once due to the bad GPS.

i do have applecare+ and i assume apple is going to fight me tooth and nail if i try to get this thing replaced, since the applecare+ runs out in a few months.

i wonder what happened with OP's iPhone X

 

[purpleparrotuk]

came back to say that the problem persists despite a variety of resets. i don't often drive to places i don't already know, but lately i have been doing more driving / needing directions and have gotten lost once due to the bad GPS.

i do have applecare+ and i assume apple is going to fight me tooth and nail if i try to get this thing replaced, since the applecare+ runs out in a few months.

i wonder what happened with OP's iPhone X

Hi. I just think all the iPhone X’s are the same. Changing them will make no difference. I haven’t really used my phone for gps since so can’t really say if iOS 12 has helped or not because haven’t really tried it. We use hubby’s iPhone 7 instead over CarPlay.

 

[Tom G.]

The original posting mentions this as happening while using the Waze app, does it also happen when using the Apple map or other navigational apps? In other words could it be the app that is the problem?

 

[joeblough]

Hi. I just think all the iPhone X’s are the same. Changing them will make no difference. I haven’t really used my phone for gps since so can’t really say if iOS 12 has helped or not because haven’t really tried it. We use hubby’s iPhone 7 instead over CarPlay.

that sucks. i dont think ios12 helped me. my wife has an Xs and using the GPSdiagnostic app i can see that the gps signal strengths are uniformly higher on the Xs even when both phones are sitting next to one another. i should try this while driving - it could be that it just takes longer for the X to get a lock when its moving. not that will help me solve it.
[doublepost=1557509550][/doublepost]

The original posting mentions this as happening while using the Waze app, does it also happen when using the Apple map or other navigational apps? In other words could it be the app that is the problem?

for me anyway the app doesn't matter - apple maps or google maps do the same thing.

 

[robrobrobro]

Ok it's really interesting that this thread just resurfaced. I had purchased a refurbished X last week, and was LOVING it, until I realized that the GPS doesn't work. I usually use Google Maps, but then I downloaded Apple Maps, and that didn't work either. Same issues described by the OP.
I literally just got back from the store after returning it. I'm bummed, but thankful I realized this within the return window. It sucks because the phone had the best speed and cell reception out of any phone I've owned. But GPS is a MUST for me. I was going to purchase another refurb X, but now thinking maybe that's not the best idea.
Does anyone out there have an X with perfectly functioning GPS? Would love to know this before deciding my next move.

 

[joeblough]

well i just noticed this post in the "similar threads" below:

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...is-it-better-than-the-intel-iphone-x.2152467/

no replies, but there's another person with a lousy X GPS.

googling "intel iphone X gps", i came across this:

https://medium.com/@plotupdates/iphone-x-gps-defects-553491037a50

so there's at least circumstantial evidence that all intel iphoneX suck at GPS. it would seem that the trick would be to get apple to replace your phone with model A1865 but who knows if anyone has been successful at that.

 

[robrobrobro]

well i just noticed this post in the "similar threads" below:

https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...is-it-better-than-the-intel-iphone-x.2152467/

no replies, but there's another person with a lousy X GPS.

googling "intel iphone X gps", i came across this:

https://medium.com/@plotupdates/iphone-x-gps-defects-553491037a50

so there's at least circumstantial evidence that all intel iphoneX suck at GPS. it would seem that the trick would be to get apple to replace your phone with model A1865 but who knows if anyone has been successful at that.

Ugh, sadly the refurb one I had purchased and since returned was A1865, and still had unusable GPS. I hope some people chime in stating their X GPS works fine, in which case I might try another refurb.

 

[joeblough]

bogus... i was going to try to fight apple on this since i have applecare+ but it sounds like it may not be worth the hassle.

 

[joeblough]

old thread but dredging this up again - i bought a used Xs the other day because this problem was so bad. this frees up the X to play their game - went into the apple store today and they insisted that i had to start fresh from DFU mode with a clean image and not restore my backup. this was never an option with the X since i didn't want to lose my configurations/apps that i've had since the very first iPhone 1.

the guy kind of implied that all of this is just to establish the paper trail of going thru all the steps - reset/restore from backup, then restore with no backup, and if it happens again then they'll address it somehow. but i still don't have confidence that a new phone will fix this problem. since apple is so opaque on this stuff, i doubt they would be receptive to a request for a 'verizon' iPhone with the qualcomm chipset, but i feel like that's the only true solution to this problem.

btw, iCloud tracks so much stuff that they knew that i had done a reimage/restore but never a fresh start on this phone, which i guess is why they insisted on it.

 

[robrobrobro]

old thread but dredging this up again - i bought a used Xs the other day because this problem was so bad. this frees up the X to play their game - went into the apple store today and they insisted that i had to start fresh from DFU mode with a clean image and not restore my backup. this was never an option with the X since i didn't want to lose my configurations/apps that i've had since the very first iPhone 1.

the guy kind of implied that all of this is just to establish the paper trail of going thru all the steps - reset/restore from backup, then restore with no backup, and if it happens again then they'll address it somehow. but i still don't have confidence that a new phone will fix this problem. since apple is so opaque on this stuff, i doubt they would be receptive to a request for a 'verizon' iPhone with the qualcomm chipset, but i feel like that's the only true solution to this problem.

btw, iCloud tracks so much stuff that they knew that i had done a reimage/restore but never a fresh start on this phone, which i guess is why they insisted on it.

Sadly I don't think a qualcomm phone will fix the problem. Further, I returned and bought a new 8 with the same chip. And guess what? The EXACT same problems. I'm furious, but have just been dealing with it for the past three months. If I had any integrity I'd give up on iPhones at this point. Going to wait for the new phones to come out before deciding for sure.

 

[joeblough]

Sadly I don't think a qualcomm phone will fix the problem. Further, I returned and bought a new 8 with the same chip. And guess what? The EXACT same problems. I'm furious, but have just been dealing with it for the past three months. If I had any integrity I'd give up on iPhones at this point. Going to wait for the new phones to come out before deciding for sure.

both my used Xs and the one my wife got last year seem fine... but that's no guarantee that the iPhone 11 will be OK.

you're saying that your iPhone 8 has the qualcomm modem chipset and it still has GPS problems?

i guess what really irks me is that apple's response to this is at best gaslighting. even if they know there are problems they won't just come out and say it, leaving me feeling like an idiot for going back to service multiple times, and somehow putting the blame on me (that somehow my software environment/configuration is the cause)

 

[robrobrobro]

both my used Xs and the one my wife got last year seem fine... but that's no guarantee that the iPhone 11 will be OK.

you're saying that your iPhone 8 has the qualcomm modem chipset and it still has GPS problems?

i guess what really irks me is that apple's response to this is at best gaslighting. even if they know there are problems they won't just come out and say it, leaving me feeling like an idiot for going back to service multiple times, and somehow putting the blame on me (that somehow my software environment/configuration is the cause)

Yep that's exactly what I'm saying. I have found a debatable fix that makes the GPS SLIGHTLY more stable. I use GPS all the time for work, so this problem is especially troublesome for me (not to mention a driving safety risk). If you reboot the phone. Then, go Settings --> Privacy --> Location Services --> all the way to the bottom for System Services --> then toggle "Compass Calibration" off and on, it seems to make the GPS work for a day or so until it become useless again. An annoying routine I need to go through almost daily now just to do my job.

Wasn't Apple's motto once "It just works"? Yeah not so much.

 

[joeblough]

interesting, thanks, i have not tried that one. it does seem to me that the compass gets wonky when this starts happening. in fact i just checked my Xs against my X under GPSDiagnostic's navigation tab and the X was reporting a compass direction almost 180 degrees off of the correct direction. toggling that setting seemed to help it. i can't help but think this is related.

edit - well, maybe not - i had just cold booted the X and now i see that the Xs does the same thing from cold boot. if you turn the phone around and around about it's long axis, eventually the compass seems to start working right on both phones. oh well. but it is true that the compass in the X seems to go wild while driving, which actually might just the the poor GPS feeding into the compass calibration.

 

[joeblough]

well just to keep this going lol -

the full reset / restore with no backup did not change anything. i found another good GPS app - "GPS Tracker" which is free, but only reads in metric... but that's OK. i did some side-by-side testing of my X and Xs and predictably the X is all over the place, sometimes showing me running down the freeway on the wrong side of the road, missing turns and showing the path on the map "late", meaning the curves are there but they are offset from the road. the Xs does not do any of this while running the same app simultaneously. it is dead-on.

so i took it back to the apple store... here's where it gets fun. the genius starts referring back to the notes from customer service chat about a year ago. the guy who made me restore the phone didn't log anything and it was as though i never showed up for that support visit! luckily he was in the store and i pointed him out to the genius that happened to be helping me this time. so she was all like "well, we have to erase the phone and install a fresh copy of the OS"... to which i said we already did all that. she talked to the other genius but i don't know what they said.

this is kind of bunk as the guy telling me they needed to establish a paper trail expressly did not create one.

at some point before then, she was talking about asking her manager if she could just replace the phone but in the end after consultation with someone she decided the phone had to go out to a 3rd party for analysis and repair. since i already solved my problem with $$ and have another phone, i didn't push back on this idea.

i can see why they are reluctant to just replace it in-store - from their standpoint they probably think i'm trying to scam them out of a new phone near the end of applecare+. so anyway, who knows what will happen. they said it takes 7-10 business days to complete the analysis/repair. the standard nonsense applies - if they find any water damage or any unauthorized repairs then they will charge me for whatever they do but only if i agree - else they just send the phone back to me. supposedly they will call/email with a resolution to the problem before shipping the phone back to the apple store.

 

[protobiont]

I had problems with the gps on my X as well. I use GIS apps for work and was often seeing long waits before the phone would acquire an acceptable level of accuracy. Did some testing and it was far worse than an iPhone 7. Also notice the weird behavior in navigation apps where it would think I was going down an off ramp, for example. I dont live near an Apple store, so basically I’ve just lived with it. I really hope the 11pro is better.

 

[apollo1444]

So I’m taking my iPhone into Apple today. When I use Waze etc it keeps drifting away from the road and takes a few seconds to get back on track. The iPhone 7 never does this. I have compared both phones with the gps diagnostic app and the 7 has a much stronger gps than the x.
I have tried all the tricks online about taking the sim out, reset network settings etc but doesn’t seem to make a difference.

Because of the weaker gps could it be that the heated windscreen or dashcam in my car is interfering with it? It probably interferes with the 7 but because of the stronger signal it doesn’t make it go off track.

Just wondered if it’s worth them replacing the phone to try a new one or if the same is going to happen with all the phones since the gps signal is not as good on an X compared to 7. After googling it’s seems to be a difference of opinion.

Had exact same issue with this iPhone, its just erratic and it takes time to get on track, the GPS on this phone wasn't very good, not sure if a replacement will do anything. Worst GPS on an iPhone and I've had them all.

The XS fixed this issue