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iPhone XR Signal strength

SquireSCA

SquireSCA

Suspended
Original poster
Dec 5, 2008
346
764
Atlanta, GA
Noticed a huge difference in signal strength between my new XR and my Galaxy S9+.

When I bought my 8+, I made sure to get the international version, as that used the Qualcom modems which are much better than the Intel modems that the AT&T iPhone 8+ was shipping with... But I don't believe that was an option here with the XR...

I didn't even think of it, to be honest, when I bought it.

At my house I used to have 4-5 bars with the Samsung, now I have 1-2... Still works, but yesterday we drove 2 hours to get to the ATV park, and I ran through so many dead spots with the XR, that never popped up on my non-Apple phones...

It's very obvious that the XR doesn't have anywhere near the signal strength of my other phones...

Anyone else seeing this? I assume that Apple switched all of their phones over to the Intel modems at this point, or, as I am still in my exchange period and can swap it out for a VZW or International version, if they have the better modems, like I did with the 8+...

Thoughts?
 
For me, I’ve noticed the signal strength seems to be similar to my iPhone 7+ (Qualcomm version on Verizon). Where I didn’t have service before, I still don’t. At first I thought it recovered faster than my 7+, but it’s actually much slower.
 
Does anyone know if Apple is using Intel modems in all the XR's?

I remember it being a significant difference with the 8+ phones...
 
You can't compare bars between devices. But besides that, the ability of a radio to separate signal from noise is based on an entire chain fo things, starting with the antenna. The modem is just part of the signal chain.
 
SquireSCA said:
Ok, that explains it then... I am not sure why Apple went Intel for the modems, maybe to cut costs, but it's been known for years that they have inferior performance... Thanks.
Click to expand...

The current massive litigation battles between Apple and Qualcomm is presumably the driving factor why Apple has gone all Intel.
 
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