Apple doing 'outreach' to address weak LTE for some iPhone XS & XS Max owners
Apple is reaching out to some iPhone XS and XS Max owners suffering from LTE connection problems, which have been ongoing since the devices shipped in September.
Those affected by the issue have encountered weaker connections than with earlier iPhones, even devices as recent as 2017's iPhone 8 and X. The problem is inconsistent however, as some other XS owners have seen no trouble, or even improvements.
"Apple just reached out to me to see if I could answer some questions about my XS Max reception issues," Twitter user Devin Meredith wrote on Wednesday, adding that "they're doing an outreach to some affected users and are asking to install a baseband logger to track my connection to the tower."
The root of the problem is uncertain. While hardware defects are a possibility, it could also be a software glitch, whether in iOS or carrier firmware. Apple has pushed out software updates for similar issues in the past.
Sources inside Apple not authorized to speak on behalf of the company have confirmed to AppleInsider that there is a "limited data collection effort" in progress.
Apple is already testing iOS 12.1, which could include related fixes. If the issue is deemed serious enough however, the company could push out a smaller interim fix.
The current outreach was first highlighted by MacRumors.
Those affected by the issue have encountered weaker connections than with earlier iPhones, even devices as recent as 2017's iPhone 8 and X. The problem is inconsistent however, as some other XS owners have seen no trouble, or even improvements.
"Apple just reached out to me to see if I could answer some questions about my XS Max reception issues," Twitter user Devin Meredith wrote on Wednesday, adding that "they're doing an outreach to some affected users and are asking to install a baseband logger to track my connection to the tower."
The root of the problem is uncertain. While hardware defects are a possibility, it could also be a software glitch, whether in iOS or carrier firmware. Apple has pushed out software updates for similar issues in the past.
Sources inside Apple not authorized to speak on behalf of the company have confirmed to AppleInsider that there is a "limited data collection effort" in progress.
Apple is already testing iOS 12.1, which could include related fixes. If the issue is deemed serious enough however, the company could push out a smaller interim fix.
The current outreach was first highlighted by MacRumors.
Comments
I noticed the problem whenever I leave the area of my WiFi connections either from home or at work. So, I’d leave my home and drive away, my WiFi drops and LTE doesn’t pick up. I would have no data connection but had voice service. I was able to place a call to Verizon from now iPhone and ended up resetting my network connection only on my iPhone (Reset Network Settings). That work around worked until next day.
Next day leaving work, I had the same issue. Worked fine all day on WiFi, get into my car and no data but had voice only like the day before. Drove through an area and I saw LTE go away and when the iPhone picked up 3G, I had data again, albeit slower connection.
Next day, leaving home, same issue; called Verizon and they told me it wasn’t their end. I then reset the iPhone by Resetting the Network Setting and that resolved the issue. I was prepared to reset the network 2 to 3 times a day until I could go to Apple Store and all of sudden, the issue went away on its own. So, fix for me ended up being 2 maybe 3 network only resets.
Edit: Before release is what I mean. Strenuous testing before release.
You can be assured there is no iOS 12 situation with LTE or WiFi connectivity where Apple said ‘Hey, it works in our controlled and perfect test labs, so ship it!’
Don't be an idiot. Apple does a lot of real world testing outside of their labs and campus.
Talk sense.
This ^ Nobody ships a perfect software/hardware device, not Apple or anybody else. It is the nature of tech. I'd love to be able to say 'Apple always gets it right!" but they don't. They do almost always make it right, though.
Maybe Samsung has found a way to test for every possible scenario and permutation of hardware and software interaction, before every model of every phone ever ships.
At the Apple Store, they started by taking my SIM card and installing it in an older phone, which had full strength ... not the SIM card. Then they did a full factory reset, no change. They swapped the phone for a new one. The new one started out at 3 bars, so I left, but within minutes it had dropped back to 1. I also updated to iOS 12.1 beta 2 when I got home to see if it had a fix; no change.
I tried to make another Genius Bar appointment, but when I identified the problem, the Apple support site wanted to do a call with a tech instead of letting me make an appointment. I got routed to a second level tech who told me Apple is aware of the issue and investigating, and asked if would I provide data from my phone for their engineers. I did, and it ended up being an hour long call while she took me through installing remote diagnostic profiles, multiple reboots, toggling WiFi on and off, Airplane Mode on and off, taking a gazillion screenshots of every step, and finally syncing to iTunes on my MacBook Pro and uploading the resulting gigabyte of log files and screenshots to Apple. And there were two 10 minute waits in the middle of it while the phone ran diagnostics. Thankfully the tech was delightful so those waits weren’t painful.
Hopefully others are doing the same and giving Apple data to solve the problem quickly.