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

[jeffjank33]

I think many people don’t realize they may be having issues. Primarily because many people have a single SSID for both their 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks and Speedtests may appear to be slower but not crazy out of the ordinary (for me I get about 117 Mbps down usually on 5 GHz and when my XS connects to the 2.4 GHz I get around 60 to 70 Mbps). So most times it will still be passing traffic generally well. Additionally, there is no easy way in iOS to see what band you are connected on unless your network has separate SSIDs for each band (mesh networks like mine do not). However, I can see on my router what bands clients are connecting on. The XS is the ONLY iOS device in my household of a half dozen that won’t readily connect to 5 GHz. I can force it and then after a few minutes it will fall back to lower throughput 2.4 GHz. It will also have a second or two of no connection when that happens. It actually looks to me like the 5 GHz radio just stops as for a few seconds after it won’t even see my neighbors 5 GHz networks either. Using WiFi scanning in the Airport utility and comparing with other older iPhones in the house the RSSI at least looks comparable, so to me at least the WiFi antennas don’t look to be a culprit.

I’m jealous your getting anything from 802.11ac. Tried both an Xs and Xs Max. Both can connect an obtain an IP address from my netgear R7000 (802.11ac 2.4 and 5 ghz)but neither transmits ANY data, zero.

I have to connect to my old 11n. I know this is a Xs/Xs Max issue because I have 3 other ipads, MacBooks, Apple TV and iPhones including iPhone X working wonderfully with the netgear. This sucks!
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Are you simultaneously broadcasting under one ssid or separate dual broadcasting under two ssid ? I think the simultaneous routers are the issue here.

I posted addressing my situation. I have separate SSIDs on my 2.4ac vs my 5 ghz ac, NEITHER transmits any data. I can connect a dozen other apple products with no issues including iPhone X and iPad Pro 10.5. This is def an Xs issue..

 

[Chrisram626]

Same network, same spot in my home , same server on Speedtest app. Both naked phones.

iPhone Xs and S9+ on T-Mobile service. While 5mbps is ok to 4g standards, the difference is outstanding.


Edit: WiFi has been decent with the iPhone but still significantly less speeds connect to my 5ghz

 

[jeffjank33]

I’m jealous your getting anything from 802.11ac. Tried both an Xs and Xs Max. Both can connect an obtain an IP address from my netgear R7000 (802.11ac 2.4 and 5 ghz)but neither transmits ANY data, zero.

I have to connect to my old 11n. I know this is a Xs/Xs Max issue because I have 3 other ipads, MacBooks, Apple TV and iPhones including iPhone X working wonderfully with the netgear. This sucks!
[doublepost=1538235020][/doublepost]
I posted addressing my situation. I have separate SSIDs on my 2.4ac vs my 5 ghz ac, NEITHER transmits any data. I can connect a dozen other apple products with no issues including iPhone X and iPad Pro 10.5. This is def an Xs issue..

In case this will help anyone else, was extremely frustrated. I was traveling all week so didn’t have a ton of time to play around. I just updated the firmware on my netgear router and that fixed the issue.

So if you are having WiFi issues check if there is updated firmware available, fixed mine 100%. No curious what in the firmware didn’t work well exclusively with the Xs and Xs Max but did with EVERY other Apple product I own (which is more than a dozen)...

 

[GDMcG]

I’m jealous your getting anything from 802.11ac. Tried both an Xs and Xs Max. Both can connect an obtain an IP address from my netgear R7000 (802.11ac 2.4 and 5 ghz)but neither transmits ANY data, zero.

I have to connect to my old 11n. I know this is a Xs/Xs Max issue because I have 3 other ipads, MacBooks, Apple TV and iPhones including iPhone X working wonderfully with the netgear. This sucks!
[doublepost=1538235020][/doublepost]
I posted addressing my situation. I have separate SSIDs on my 2.4ac vs my 5 ghz ac, NEITHER transmits any data. I can connect a dozen other apple products with no issues including iPhone X and iPad Pro 10.5. This is def an Xs issue..

Please be sure to contact Apple Support, even via Twitter if you have to so they can open a ticket. Given that this has happened on two separate XS devices for me I don’t think replacing it at this time is worth the trouble. I am hoping that this is a software issue. Also be sure and apply the latest firmware to your R7000 if you haven’t already.
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Please be sure to contact Apple Support, even via Twitter if you have to so they can open a ticket. Given that this has happened on two separate XS devices for me I don’t think replacing it at this time is worth the trouble. I am hoping that this is a software issue. Also be sure and apply the latest firmware to your R7000 if you haven’t already.

Sorry, replied too soon before I saw that you updated your software on the router. Glad that worked for you. I am running the latest on my eero mesh network and 5 GHz still isn’t consistent or reliable.

 

[littyboy]

I saw a video where the you-tuber held the top fo the top and it dropped wifi connection. Not sure if a software update will fix this since that's physically touching antenna bands... Could possible be another iphone 4 deathgrip

 

[Martyimac]

Please be sure to contact Apple Support, even via Twitter if you have to so they can open a ticket. Given that this has happened on two separate XS devices for me I don’t think replacing it at this time is worth the trouble. I am hoping that this is a software issue. Also be sure and apply the latest firmware to your R7000 if you haven’t already.
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Sorry, replied too soon before I saw that you updated your software on the router. Glad that worked for you. I am running the latest on my eero mesh network and 5 GHz still isn’t consistent or reliable.

Interesting about your Eero, my Eero is giving me 118Mbps down and 10Mbps up. That is my rated ISP specs (100/10) and solid 5 GHz connection. I am using the speedtest app on my XS

 

[SactoGuy18]

In the end, I wonder could it be a firmware issue with the Intel XMM 7560 modem radio chip. Maybe a modem firmware update (part of iOS 12.0.1) should fix this problem. I have an iPhone X (A1901 with the Intel XMM 7480) and never had any connectivity issues under iOS 12.0, and in fact recently I recorded an amazing 115 mbps download speed on LTE!

 

[GDMcG]

Interesting about your Eero, my Eero is giving me 118Mbps down and 10Mbps up. That is my rated ISP specs (100/10) and solid 5 GHz connection. I am using the speedtest app on my XS

Even moving around the house your XS is staying on 5 GHz? I can get mine to connect only if I am right near the node, or engage Airplane mode and turn Airplane mode off or reset network settings - otherwise it falls off of 5 Ghz and quickly reverts to 2.4 GHz and pretty much stays there. I have a ton of other Apple devices in the house that stay on 5 GHz throughout the house. Only the XS is having issues.

 

[Martyimac]

Even moving around the house your XS is staying on 5 GHz? I can get mine to connect only if I am right near the node, or engage Airplane mode and turn Airplane mode off or reset network settings - otherwise it falls off of 5 Ghz and quickly reverts to 2.4 GHz and pretty much stays there. I have a ton of other Apple devices in the house that stay on 5 GHz throughout the house. Only the XS is having issues.

Speeds drop to 70Mbps, and inside the Eero app the signal strength bars turn red/orange and drop to 2 bars. All the while the iOS/XS wifi signal strength stays at 4 bars/full. This is about 48', the furthest I can get from a beacon inside the house.

 

[elitypes]

Update on my end.

I spent about 2 hours with a very friendly apple technician yesterday. They had contacted me via a post I left on the apple support forum and to follow up on the ticket.

They had me download a profile on my XS max as well as on my iPad Air 2. They used the iPad as a comparison given my XS max was having the issues. They had me run WiFi speed tests and cellular LTE speed tests. I took screenshots and generated system diagnose files. I sent everything to Apple and they are trying to figure out the problem.

The engineer said she’d follow up with me next week after analyzing my logs. She definitely said they are aware and trying to identify a root cause and why it’s impacting some but not all users. She said they weren’t sure if it’s software or hardware or a mix. She said an option would be that after analysis they may just give me a new phone, but I told her that made me uneasy given some on these forums have swapped units to no benefit.

 

[SactoGuy18]

elitypes, I still wonder is there is an unusual issue with the Intel XMM 7560 radio chip on the iPhone XS and XS Max. My iPhone X with the XMM 7480 doesn't appear to have this problem even with iOS 12.0 installed.

 

[GDMcG]

Speeds drop to 70Mbps, and inside the Eero app the signal strength bars turn red/orange and drop to 2 bars. All the while the iOS/XS wifi signal strength stays at 4 bars/full. This is about 48', the furthest I can get from a beacon inside the house.

That’s much better than what I am seeing. Makes me wonder if it is a hardware issue affecting a certain batch of hardware. Apple contacted me again this morning. Sound like they are actively working the issue which is good.

 

[nviz22]

I’ll try to test this out on two iPhones and a Note 8 soon.

Edit:Wifi: I tried it on two iPhone XS Maxes. My phone won the download speeds and the other person won upload speeds 4 out 7 times.

It did alright, about par, with the Note 8 a few times. I did notice the Note 8 spiked to 40 mbps more than my XS Max, but my speeds were faster on download. The upload was quite a bit behind though.

LTE: I noticed the Note 8 was able to touch as high as 30 mbps. iPhones barely grazed 3 mbps with a high spike of 13.4 mbps. My XS Max beat the Note 8 only once. The rest of the time, the Note 8 won.
Definitely think something is wrong with the antennae or modem.

Will wait for a software update before proceeding to replace my unit.

 

[lionkin]

I don’t have any issues with my connectivity. So far my lte speed Is over 100 mbps or near. This issues hitting Verizon and Sprint. GSM phones have good speed.

 

[Martyimac]

That’s much better than what I am seeing. Makes me wonder if it is a hardware issue affecting a certain batch of hardware. Apple contacted me again this morning. Sound like they are actively working the issue which is good.

FYI, my iPhone SE, with ios 12, has essentially the exact same response as my XS. Same signal strengths both in the Eero app and ios, same DL and UL speeds. That tells me that the issue, if there is one, lies in the software. Have you reset network settings?

 

[vinegarshots]

It's disturbing to read and hear this. If Apple used Qualcomm modems and not resorted to installing additional antennas this likely wouldn't happen. On the plus side, Apple is very aware of the dismal performance with Intel modems. Will they ever acknowledge the issue? Probably not, they will just roll out an update in iOS 13 that will hopefully reduce or resolve the issue.

The intel modem doesn’t have anything to do with WiFi, and the issues are Wi-Fi and LTE.

 

[Martyimac]

The intel modem doesn’t have anything to do with WiFi, and the issues are Wi-Fi and LTE.

LTE DEFINITELY is affected by the Intel modem, not sure about wifi.

 

[falc410]

I thought the Intel Chip is for both, LTE and WiFi.

Just arrived at the office and did a speedtest on the WiFi - the new Intel Chip performs much worse than my old iPhone 7+.

But still, the biggest problem is LTE signal strength. Although, it is better than on Friday and Saturday (where I had no signal at all on the street), it still is about half as good as my old iPhone.

 

[vinegarshots]

I thought the Intel Chip is for both, LTE and WiFi.

Just arrived at the office and did a speedtest on the WiFi - the new Intel Chip performs much worse than my old iPhone 7+.

But still, the biggest problem is LTE signal strength. Although, it is better than on Friday and Saturday (where I had no signal at all on the street), it still is about half as good as my old iPhone.

WiFi is a Broadcom component. And the intel modem is not necessarily the cause of the cellular problem.

 

[falc410]

Well I did reset the Network settings just now and the WiFi Speed increased a lot! So that definitely helped. (Before only 50 Mbit/s down, now it's 400 Mbit/s down and up). However the connection is not stable anymore. It drops every few minutes now. Before at least it was stable. I am sitting right next to the access point.

LTE signal is still extremely poor. At the office I have only one bar and the speed is extremely slow, 15 Mbit/s down and 0.8 Mbit/s up. That is my biggest problem with this phone.

If it is not the Intel modem's fault, then what is it? I am running iOS 12.1.

 

[thering1975]

This shows the wifi issue quite well, apologies if already posted

 

[SactoGuy18]

Since there is specific firmware for the Intel XMM 7560 modem, maybe it needs an update to fix the problem, like I said earlier.

 

[tonyy]

Count me in as another user experiencing LTE speeds and connectivity.

Areas where I had ok to poor reception with my X, I was still able to use safari etc. although slow. Now, in the same areas with my Max, I can’t get anything to load at all.

Hope this can be fixed in an update because it’s pretty disappointing.

On Sprint, btw.

 

[skorpeon]

usually

Can confirm:

When I get in my Ferrari and try to connect to the wireless with my Xs MAX (with maximum storage option) I sometimes have to wait a few seconds. I'll even try removing the gold-leaf leather case that's embedded with sapphires. It's getting really annoying. Sometimes I'll just hand the phone to my butler and tell him to figure it out and bring it back to me when it's working, and with an espresso. I went into the city and almost couldn't call the cops on a homeless person that had the audacity to ask me for some spare change because my signal was so poor!

Tbh, Ferrari owners are a bit more clever than your post ))

 

[ph001bi]

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

I have the slow speed on Wifi and wifi dropping issues too. You can add Bluetooth problems to the list.
My Xs Max connected to my car without issue at the first try but, it doesn't give network coverage info, so my dashboard only shows "Network search" rather than the number of bars I am getting or the network I am on. The second issue is "do not disturb while driving". The phone doesn't automatically switch do not disturb when it connects to the car Bluetooth system. I had to set the phone to activate "Do not disturb" while in movement instead. It's not as practical.

Hopefully 12.0.1 will address both the wifi and bluetooth issues. It's painful.