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iPhone XS Max XS Max losing cellular connectivity

C

CyberGene

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 3, 2011
155
372
Ever since I updated to 12.1.2 (around Christmas 2018) I've been having a persistent problem with the phone losing cellular connectivity on a daily basis. Once that happens it won't restore connectivity until I restart it. And it's really awful since it's not apparent when that happens. It would be like the phone is suspiciously quiet for some time: no emails, no iMessages, etc. after which I need to restart it and then would realize I've missed important emails from my boss, important messages from my wife, etc. I mean it's ridiculous, I bought the most expensive smartphone on the market right now and it behaves like a stupid non-connected phone! I've been reporting that issue to Apple, I've sent them baseband logs and ultimately they responded to me that they have fixed it and will release it with 12.3. They advised to me try the public betas of 12.3. Indeed, it was fixed in the first public beta, but reappeared in the beta 2 and I'm now on fifth public beta and it's still there. I've been reporting it with each public beta by using the feedback app, attaching baseband logs. No action from them whatsoever. I AM FED UP! Please let me know what to do? I've been a loyal Apple fan since 2010 and I've purchased literally every Apple product, I have so many of them. But this is unbearable and apparently nobody cares about my case. I'm planning on just selling it and buying an Android phone although I don't like them :( And I don't want to be tracked by Google which is why I like Apple products. But I can't tolerate s subpar performance from a premium product and if the only way to have working smartphone is to switch to Google, then I will have to do it.

Please, let me know what you think and which Android smartphone would be the best one for me? Possibly one where I can switch off the Google services and use alternatives, e.g. switch to another browser (Firefox?) with DuckDuckGo, etc.
 
I thought you may have been in the US. I’m not familiar with the state of cellular networks in Bulgaria. The iPhone XS Max is comparable to the pixel 3 xl / s10+ in terms of network performance.

Concerning Bulgaria - is your issue present on other carriers in the country, have you tested others?

Android —
If you want to switch to Android probably best to wait for the pixel 4. If you need something now probably the pixel 3 XL is what I’d recommended. Or the s10 if you don’t mind the bloatware.
 
Updated to the official 12.3 last night. This morning I went out of home (hence no WiFi) and my phone had no cellular connectivity. I had to restart the phone to restore cellular connectivity. So, the issue is still there. Reported it again to Apple but it's now apparent to me that if they can't fix it for 6 months (since it started happening around Christmas 2018 and I've been reporting it through either my Apple Developer account and the Bug Reporting, and through the Feedback app on the public betas attaching baseband logs), they probably won't fix it ever.
 
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Sounds like a hardware issue.
Should probably contact apple support for a replacement.
 
I have iPhone 8, I am in Bulgaria and use A1. I observe connectivity issues as well. Mine are not as severe as yours. By default cellular data is off (preserving battery) and I turn it on only sometimes. I have an Android phone connected to Telenor (another Bulgarian provider). Quite often I would see 3G on the iPhone but there is in fact no cellular connectivity and I cannot connect to Internet. On the same geographical place I have no issues with my Android phone and Telenor.

I do not think that A1 offers worse service than Telenor. In fact it would be the other way around. So in my opinion the problem is in the phone itself.

I have not restarted the phone so I cannot tell you if it fixes my issue. As I have a second phone I just use it when the iPhone cannot connect to Internet. I can test this next time it happens and let you know if it fixes it for me too.

I understand your frustration. In my case the iPhone is a company phone and I have not paid for it. If I had, I would have been pissed about those issues too.
 
secretk said:
I have iPhone 8, I am in Bulgaria and use A1...
Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads-up. IMO this issue is a purely software one, since it happened after a particular iOS update: 12.1.2. It's either in iOS or incompatibility with the carrier settings (or even something in A1 operator configurations) or all of them. It's a shame since otherwise it's a great phone, very fast, with long battery life, I can't find any other fault other than this ridiculous cellular connectivity problem which Apple won't fix.
 
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CyberGene said:
Thanks for the heads-up. IMO this issue is a purely software one, since it happened after a particular iOS update: 12.1.2. It's either in iOS or incompatibility with the carrier settings (or even something in A1 operator configurations) or all of them. It's a shame since otherwise it's a great phone, very fast, with long battery life, I can't find any other fault other than this ridiculous cellular connectivity problem which Apple won't fix.
Click to expand...

No problem! I have this phone since February and I immediately upgraded it to latest iOS version so I cannot provide you information on cellular connectivity with earlier versions. I do know that what I experience is not normal and to me seems like a bug so we are aligned there.

Btw it is not just the lack of connectivity. It is also slow. Again on the same spot I have observed that it takes more time for the iPhone to load certain sites in Safari (or Chrome) than on my Android phone. It also applies for using apps that rely on Internet like OneDrive, OneNote, chat clients, Instagram.

The iPhone is visibly slower than my Android phone and it is either the hardware (CPU, RAM etc), the iOS version or the connectivity to Internet. I bet on the combination of the last two as I see the phone slower in WIFI as well. I do not think that it is the CPU so I am betting on the iOS software itself.

ETA: I just saw now that you are also asking for Android recommendations. It depends on your budget. It also depends on your preferences and what is important for you. For example is camera important for you? In other words do you want an Android phone that has camera that is at least good as your current iPhone. If this is the case then the phones for you are the latest Samsung and Huawei flagships or latest Google Pixel.

If camera is not important for you then there might be other options.
 
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I’ve just seen OnePlus 7 Pro is announced and can be purchased. Looks like a gorgeous phone! Ironically I read about it on MacRumors :)
 
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