iPhone XS and XS Max Owners Complain of Wi-Fi and LTE Connectivity Issues

[ghettogeisha]

Apple's iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max launched last Friday, and shortly after, some customers who purchased one of the new devices started noticing an issue with LTE and Wi-Fi speeds and connectivity.

According to multiple threads on the MacRumors forums, iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max users are experiencing connectivity problems with Wi-Fi and LTE on the two new iPhones when compared to other, older Apple devices.

Multiple users have said that there are noticeable differences in cellular reception between the iPhone XS models and the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, with a 15-page thread suggesting this is a widespread problem that quite a few people are noticing. As described by MacRumors reader onepoint:Users are noticing fewer bars and poorer signal on iPhone XS and XS Max compared to devices like the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, especially in areas where signal is weak. Many of the complaints come from Verizon users, suggesting the issue could potentially be carrier specific. Multiple AT&T users, for example, have said the signal is the same or better, while Verizon users are seeing signal issues.

Some iPhone XS owners have theorized that the issue is related to Qualcomm vs. Intel modems. The new iPhone XS and XS Max are using Intel modems, while older devices used a mix of Qualcomm and Intel modems. AT&T iPhone 8 and iPhone X models used Intel modems previously, while Verizon iPhones had Qualcomm modems. As explained by MacRumors reader radiologyman:Some AT&T and T-Mobile users are, however, complaining of connectivity problems too, while others have noticed better signal, leading to a confusing mix of user reports.

It's not clear if modem differences are causing the perceived connectivity issues that iPhone XS and XS Max owners are noticing or if there is a genuine bug with the new devices, but in the days following a new iPhone release, there are often carrier updates that can solve connectivity problems.

Given the confusing mix of information coming from users on the forums, the LTE connectivity problems may be related to software and could be fixed through the aforementioned carrier update or a software update from Apple, but we'll have to wait for more information to figure out exactly what's going on.

In addition to the LTE problems, there appears to be a separate issue with Wi-Fi. On the MacRumors forums, users began noticing slower Wi-Fi speeds on iPhone XS models compared to other Apple devices, which readers quickly deduced was a 2.4GHz vs. 5GHz Wi-Fi issue.

It appears that the iPhone XS and XS Max are preferring 2.4GHz networks over 5GHz networks when connecting to routers that use the same SSID for both the 2.4 and 5GHz bands. From MacRumors reader playtillyadrop:The majority of people experiencing slower speeds found that their iPhone XS models were indeed connected to the 2.4GHz network rather than the 5GHz network. In our own testing, we found that when comparing an iPhone XS Max and an iPhone X, the iPhone XS Max connected to the 2.4GHz network while the iPhone X connected to the 5GHz network.

With routers that do not have separate SSIDs for the two bands, it can be difficult to tell which you're connected to, leading to perceived slower connection speeds.

This is clearly a bug that needs to be addressed by Apple through an update to make the iPhone XS models prefer the faster 5GHz network to the 2.4GHz network, but in the meantime, providing separate SSIDs for the 2.4 and 5GHz bands can allow you to make sure your iPhone is connected to the 5GHz band at all times.

Some users have also had luck with resetting their network settings and/or forgetting their Wi-Fi network and reconnecting, but the iPhone XS models appear to default back to 2.4GHz often if not made to connect to the 5GHz network.

This connection issue appears to be at the root of most of the slow Wi-Fi complaints, but there have been a few other complaints of poor connection speeds when connected to a 5GHz network, so it's possible there's also something else going on.

We've contacted Apple to ask about both the Wi-Fi and LTE issues that customers are experiencing with the iPhone XS models and will let MacRumors readers know if we hear back.

Article Link: iPhone XS and XS Max Owners Complain of Wi-Fi and LTE Connectivity Issues

[doublepost=1538062501][/doublepost]I am having the same issue. I am moving from the X to the Max. I can be on cellular or wifi and experience super slow speeds and usually just move to my laptop

 

[Nhwhazup]

Interesting, thanks for sharing. It doesn't fully explain the problem though. Even if the new antenna design could be responsible for a worse coverage in certain scenario the low speed seems related to something else, maybe a software issue.
Let's say we can't expect a better coverage with the new iPhones, that's what your link is about. Not a great news, but it shouldn't change a lot for the average user

I don’t expect better coverage than my 6S Plus but not 26 times worse.

 

[Eagle1337]

Guys do any of you have those WiFi/LTE issues in Europe?

Is there a chance that simply resetting network settings resolves them?

I’m sitting in Denmark where i easily get 50-70 Mbit on 4G - usually.

I did the reset of network settings but still get 0,5 - 1,5 mbits on 4G at work where i on same carrier Got Way faster on previous phone. Will bring the old phone to work tomorrow to do 1:1 comparison, same carrier, same sim, same spot and have proof that at least my Xs Max has buggy something.

 

[mfrank29]

I just checked our Aruba Wireless controller and my iPhone XS Max is using 802.11a-VHT, same as my MacBook Pro. I have not seen this issues at home either, though I have my 2.4 and 5ghz networks broken out.

As far as Verizon LTE, I get about the same speeds as I did on my X. If next to my wife's 6S, sometimes hers is a little faster, but nothing dramatic and it can vary by how I hold our phones. All of my phones usually prefer to switch to VZW WiFi since that feature was introduced.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Hopefully it gets fixed with a software update.

I’ve had my max for about 8 hours and this is what I’ve noticed so far:

Download speeds for my max over WiFi top off at about 140 mbps. On my X I was getting about 200. It could be that the max is busy downloading and setting things up in the background. Not an issue as I can do what I need to do with ease with 140 although I’ve not tried steaming for more than a few minutes.

LTE is about 10mbps slower than my X but it could again be became the phone downloading things in the background.

I’ve had one call which I was taking over the HomePod. It cut off but the person I was talking said it was on there end but I’m not sure.

 

[mfrank29]

Hopefully it gets fixed with a software update.

I’ve had my max for about 8 hours and this is what I’ve noticed so far:

Download speeds for my max over WiFi top off at about 140 mbps. On my X I was getting about 200. It could be that the max is busy downloading and setting things up in the background. Not an issue as I can do what I need to do with ease with 140 although I’ve not tried steaming for more than a few minutes.

LTE is about 10mbps slower than my X but it could again be became the phone downloading things in the background.

I’ve had one call which I was taking over the HomePod. It cut off but the person I was talking said it was on there end but I’m not sure.

I get a new iPhone every year and I feel like it is a week before I can judge performance and battery life. It's busy syncing icloud stuff, like photos, and indexing, battery seems to break in a bit...ect.

 

[GDMcG]

For more empirical Wifi Data you can download the Airport Utility app (no need to actually have an Apple Airport), and follow the following instructions from https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT203068 to run the scanner utility from your XS and other iOS devices at the same location to get comparative data.

The Wi-Fi scanner in AirPort Utility
Apple’s AirPort Utility includes a Wi-Fi scanner that logs the client’s view of the network. Administrators can use it to validate the client’s view of the network at a specific location.

For accurate results, use the Wi-Fi scanner on a dedicated device that’s the same model as the iOS client.

On your iOS device, go to Settings > AirPort Utility to turn on the Wi-Fi scanner.

Next, open Airport Utility and tap Wi-Fi Scan.

By default, Wi-Fi Scanner runs continuously. Use the slider to set a scan duration of up to 60 seconds.

To start the scan, tap Scan. AirPort Utility lists all the SSIDs that it finds. This includes hidden networks, which appear as "Network name unavailable."

The AirPort Utility scans all available bands at four-second intervals. Enterprise networks that have multiple access points are grouped by BSSID. The scanner shows information about:

• SSID
• BSSID
• Last RSSI
• Channel
• Last Time Found

To view a trace log of the scan results for an SSID and BSSID, tap the SSID:

The trace log shows the date and time of the scan, along with the channel and RSSI.

After the scan completes, you can share the results. Just tap the share icon (

), then choose one of these options:

• AirDrop
• Message
• Mail
• Copy

AirPort Utility sends the results as a comma-separated list:

SSID, BSS, RSSI, Channel, time

"ACES", "18:64:723:E9:40", "-57", "11", "12:02:03 PM"

"Cuba", "F8:1EF:F9:56:BC", "-53", "149", "12:02:03 PM"

"ACES", "18:64:723:E9:50", "-63", "149", "12:02:03 PM"

"Cuba", "F8:1EF:F9:56:BB", "-69", "11", "12:02:03 PM"

"ACES", "18:64:723:E9:40", "-67", "11", "12:02:07 PM"

The first line is a column header that shows the SSID, BSS, RSSI, Channel, and date fields. To analyze or chart the results, import the list into a spreadsheet or other tool.

 

[chrissaid]

hey. i'm chatting with Apple Support right now and they said they have "no known issues with the iphone xs and xs max." and that "the issue with forums are this is often times the views of persons who may not have the devices themselves."

 

[Nhwhazup]

hey. i'm chatting with Apple Support right now and they said they have "no known issues with the iphone xs and xs max." and that "the issue with forums are this is often times the views of persons who may not have the devices themselves."

That’s awful as so many on this forum, including me had the phone and worked with Apple to try to fix the problem to no avail. It’s sad that they can’t just say they will look into your issue and leave it at that.

 

[IlluminatedSage]

I have the Iphone XS MAX and i've been noticing there are times it has a hard time holding wifi connection and has had issues. not good.

I hope they can figure out where the gremlin is

 

[^^BIGMac]

hey. i'm chatting with Apple Support right now and they said they have "no known issues with the iphone xs and xs max." and that "the issue with forums are this is often times the views of persons who may not have the devices themselves."

This is always their response.

Makes you think all those techs are just stupid or told to deny, deny, deny.

 

[elitypes]

This is always their response.

Makes you think all those techs are just stupid or told to deny, deny, deny.

I think it's case by case. The apple genius I met with did not deny. He and his colleague told me they are hearing about more and more people with similar issues across carriers. They told me to hang tight for news or an update from apple.

In conjunction with that an apple support person called me and he also said apple is aware of the issue and they wanted me to send logs. The support person told me that he specifically was looking into the poor wifi issue and that similarly I may be contacted about the poor cell issues. Unfortunately I am at work and can't easily send them logs.

If they didn't think this was an issue, or didn't think it was affecting a percentage of folks, I highly doubt they would even have contacted me or asked for logs. If they thought it was nothing, the genius at the apple store would have just swapped out my phone and sent me on my way.

I believe others on these forums have also said apple support techs have reached out asking for more details and logs as well.

 

[decypher44]

Oh, they are aware. They are tracking down those of us posting on their support boards and calling us. They’re working on it. How soon a fix will come, who knows....

 

[elitypes]

Oh, they are aware. They are tracking down those of us posting on their support boards and calling us. They’re working on it. How soon a fix will come, who knows....

It was a bit jarring to get a call at first. I didn't realize they actually tracked their support forums and CALLED you.

On one hand I'm glad to know they are investigating, but on the other it doesn't seem like they're anywhere close to figuring it out. Also I told the tech that despite my garbage wifi speeds, that I am much more concerned about the horrendous cell/LTE speeds.

 

[DotCom2]

hey. i'm chatting with Apple Support right now and they said they have "no known issues with the iphone xs and xs max." and that "the issue with forums are this is often times the views of persons who may not have the devices themselves."

That's PR talk for we know there is an issue and are looking into it but don't want to admit it publicly. (yet)

 

[Nhwhazup]

It was a bit jarring to get a call at first. I didn't realize they actually tracked their support forums and CALLED you.

On one hand I'm glad to know they are investigating, but on the other it doesn't seem like they're anywhere close to figuring it out. Also I told the tech that despite my garbage wifi speeds, that I am much more concerned about the horrendous cell/LTE speeds.

At the end of my Apple visit yesterday, they asked if Apple could contact me and told them emphatically “yes”. I wish they would call me.

 

[TechTeacher101]

Oh, they are aware. They are tracking down those of us posting on their support boards and calling us. They’re working on it. How soon a fix will come, who knows....

I can't speak for anyone else, but I could not risk $1300 that Apple might admit there was a problem or have a software fix. My Xs Max got shipped back to Tmobile this morning. Gotta say, I am happy to have TouchID on my 7 plus back.

 

[Berzerker7]

Having been in this industry for 20+ years overseeing many roll-outs of larger complexity (but smaller scale) I can tell you that the resources and time alotted are never enough. So the practical compromise to be found is a difficult one and your initial statement in itself a guarantee for a flawed compromise.
If it was made by one of my employees, it would have been his last in the company.
Another flawed assumption: it's not Apple's testing that defines the norm - it's the experience of end-users in the field.
Qualifying those as "placebo, overblown" just illustrates your own attitude of derailed self-fulfillment
Coincidentally, I was not referring to Wifi hw per se, but to domestic appliances where modems, magnetrons, DECT phones, cleaners, walls, materials etc. collide and the combination effects define real-life situations. Here, your comprehension of the modem market hardly matters.
My initial assessment (reading customer reports) in this case is that testing has not been thorough enough.
That can't be seen apart from the strict confidentiality regime at Apple, complicating larger scale field tests, and liberal/loose definitions of beta testing & "software only"-issues such as yours and maybe others.
Hence my advise to you to stay out of matter like this - as your attitude is where quality degradation starts in the industry, indeed, even at Apple.
It is intolerable.

I'm glad you're righteous in your quest to release a bug-free product, but as well on my end, *from experience*, you should know it's a fruitless task. You seem to have misunderstood my initial point. I never made the claim that Apple knew or intentionally mislead anyone regarding this situation. All I'm saying is the more and more information that comes out around this issue, it seems very likely that because this issue was so overblown (re: the many *many* comments on these blogs, reddit threads, twitter feeds, and facebook pages) being contrary to reports of service being degraded compared to previous models, that it was due to resources being constrained, and not from an intentional deception from Apple and an assumption that people will beta test software/hardware for them. Obviously I didn't mean that literally, but companies (and I admit this blame does mostly fall within software more than hardware) do frequently leave the final "bug finding" up to the general public, since it doesn't cost them any more money to fix things in a post-release setting than they've already allotted, and the many more situations the public can put the product through is much better testing than anything a company can do internally.

My advice (watch your spelling) to you would be to not tell me what you think I should be doing, my opinion isn't worth any less than yours, even without pulling out random, unprovable numbers to pad my experience to make myself look "better."

 

[decypher44]

I finally figured out how to check WiFi connection. Mine stays on 5GHz.

So, no WiFi issue, but a slightly weaker LTE connection.

 

[torana355]

Intel modem = poop

 

[mib1800]

Of course you gonna have problems if you choose the chip from Intel who just got into this business.
Qualcomm have been testing+fine tuning their baseband firmware and hardware for a long time.

So brace yourselves that you may have to live with the issues for sometime until Apple+Intel can come up with some solution. It may not be easy or fast fix (since these problems are being solved by novices - apple and intel)

 

[Truefan31]

If this is truly an issue then hopefully some kind of software update can help

 

[KM661]

I was hoping my phone wouldn’t have issues because it’s been working great. This morning it just started disconnecting from WiFi, going to LTE, reconnecting to WiFi, disconnecting, etc.

Going to try to reset network settings and see if that makes any kind of difference.

 

[busdriverstu]

I'm a newbie iphone user. Coming from android - the latest being an Essential phone with terrible signal issues. I thought I'd have killer lte with the new XS Max (max signal -boooom!)

Much to my chagrin, the lte signal is on par with my Essential phone :/ (though it absolutely smokes the essential when on good wifi)

I'm within the 14 day window, so I guess I'm going to bring it back. This is the ONLY thing that is making me bring it back too. ios12 is great, the hardware is outstanding (that screen - swooon). Software wise - apple has definitely closed the gap with android. (particularly android auto and carplay).

I did a very unscientific test with my wife's iphone 6s plus and the xs max side-by-side in our basement (a notorious dead zone). I could scroll through the internet on her phone, while the xs max got nuthin ...

Advice? Should I wait it out??

 

[recoil80]

I was hoping my phone wouldn’t have issues because it’s been working great. This morning it just started disconnecting from WiFi, going to LTE, reconnecting to WiFi, disconnecting, etc.

Going to try to reset network settings and see if that makes any kind of difference.

Let us know if you solve by resetting the settings.
You started to have problems this morning in the same places were you used the phone in the past? Same wi-fi, same LTE cell?