[mogelijk]

The coverage on my Max has seemed to be good on T-Mobile, no complaints. My previous phones were unlocked/Verizon models, so I had the Qualcomm modems previously.

[ItnStln]

All of them are blaming the new Intel modem chipset for that. Apple does not install Qualcomm chipsets any more. Same experience was already made last year where there was a discussion re both Modem chipsets.

It’s the Intel modem.

[Al Paca]

Based on my call quality and data speeds and I believe that the LTE and WiFi is fine but the iPhone is displaying the incorrect number of of bars, etc. Just my 2cents

[TheLegoJoker]

My LTE signal is trash. Where I live, we recently switched to unlimited data and got rid of WiFi because the WiFi is slower than LTE. On my new phone, however, it keeps telling me I’m not on the internet and it takes forever for any graphics to load. I almost feel like I’m back in the dial up days. Hoping there’s a software fix for this because I absolutely love the screen size on this phone.

[atlas9171]

My LTE signal is trash. Where I live, we recently switched to unlimited data and got rid of WiFi because the WiFi is slower than LTE. On my new phone, however, it keeps telling me I’m not on the internet and it takes forever for any graphics to load. I almost feel like I’m back in the dial up days. Hoping there’s a software fix for this because I absolutely love the screen size on this phone.

Which carrier are you using?

[TheLegoJoker]

Which carrier are you using?

Verizon, and it’s always been outstanding where I live. (Cincinnati)
To put it into perspective, I was trying to watch a YouTube video last night and it wouldn’t play so I grabbed my iPad Pro, which was always waaay slower than my iPhone X, and it played with no issues.

[atlas9171]

Verizon, and it’s always been outstanding where I live. (Cincinnati)
To put it into perspective, I was trying to watch a YouTube video last night and it wouldn’t play so I grabbed my iPad Pro, which was always waaay slower than my iPhone X, and it played with no issues.

Having switched from Verizon to T-Mobile a couple years ago, this is what has me concerned the most. There hasn't been a dramatic difference in the two other than Verizon having CDMA to fall back on whereas T-Mobile has nothing worth falling back on in my area (Lansing, MI). Usually the only place I struggle to get a signal is at work, some areas I just don't get a signal on my S8 Active, and with Qualcomm being better than Intel in the modem area, I'm a bit hesitant to make the switch.

If I had to guess, your phone might have an issue, hopefully software fix is all that's needed.

[bamf-hacker]

There is a new intel modem and some Verizon and Sprint phones need to be optimized before full speeds will be seen.

[imwjl]

Sounds good. Think mine is doing same as my old phone. Really like the Max other then the price.

My assessment for the most part. There are occasions when I miss the finger as credentials. Brief moments of liking the way matte anodized AL feels vs glass, but the glass is really nice with dry skin.

On performance, I think it depends on the phone company's infrastructure. At this point I've traveled within my region and with my daughter who's got my 7 Plus. The Max never did not work when the 7 Plus did. My phone reported turn on data at a moment when my daughter's 7 Plus was moving between reporting 1x and 3G. Mine said 3g at that moment.

At our cabin I had the same 2 bars from Verizon but speed was faster than I ever sensed with the old phone. I don't know if that was because the Gigabit LTE was there or if a cool weekend in late September meant there was a fraction of the people using Verizon's infrastructure in the area.

For now the phone cellular service seems fine. It's a ways away yet, but I'll have an international trip ahead where there's always been a mix of carriers and at times choosing the CDMA roaming option on past phones. I figured that would be a good test.

On the whole I have a hard time believing Apple would put a poor performer or truly inferior modem in a flagship device that will be sold by the millions. It's really clear to me that selling a truly premium phone is a key strategy in the industry. It is clear Samsung, Alphabet, Apple and others are counting on their premium phones as brand leaders if not profit centers. Risking that core function of a phone would be poor seems crazy.

[salscott]

For those that are running into lte or wifi shortcomings, did you rest network settings?

[imwjl]

The more I use the phone, the more I discount a lot of comments on radio performance. It might be v 12 of software or the new phone reporting things differently but in real use I'm not finding any problems.

Work has me in areas where WiFi and cellular coverage can be poor. I've not yet been with an associate using another phone working when mine has not. I'm guessing I'm a demanding user in the spectrum of what's out there. Sr IT admin in a place with 750 employees has me getting voice calls, using web apps, and using VoIP and video conferencing. I'm in a data center that is a challenge for all phones and WiFi. I'm around coolers and compressors that are a challenge for devices.

Nothing has made me think the phone has real problems except for the funky behavior with some 2 meter long non-Apple Lightening cables.

My advice to non-owners worried about the Intel vs Qualcomm news that has been out there is chill or wait for more reviews testing this modem against others. Even if something does have an edge, all I can sense going from 7 Plus to the Max is performance is generally better and same at worst.

[mogelijk]

Apparently Apple is reaching out to various users of the XS that are complaining about poor signal, to try and figure out what might be going wrong and attempt to solve the issue. I'm curious if Apple has talked to anyone here about their experience with LTE on the XS Max?

[Annie_M]

It might be worth submitting feedback to Apple if you haven't already!

[anon(1733)]

I ended up returning mine today. It will not stop dropping phone calls. Haven't had that problem in a long time. I'll try again down the road.

[lv1]

Apparently Apple is reaching out to various users of the XS that are complaining about poor signal, to try and figure out what might be going wrong and attempt to solve the issue. I'm curious if Apple has talked to anyone here about their experience with LTE on the XS Max?

Apple has been in contact with me about the issue. My WIFI falls back from 5GHZ to either 2.4 GHZ or to LTE in some parts of my house where I have not had problems in the past. Also sometimes I get loud crackling soumds on phone calls where the LTE signal seems to be very good. There are many complaints on the Apple forum and Apple has reached out to a number of people to diagnose the problem. Apple called me last weekend and asked me to install some diagnostic software.

[C6TX6]

"Bars" are useless...
I really miss having actual dBM displayed all the time. This feature was removed in iOS11.
You can still put your phone in field test mode to see actual signal levels but compared to having your real signal displayed where the signal bars are, it's a huge setback.

Probably done on purpose.

That said, coverage seems similar but if I were to guess LTE throughput doesn't seem as high but I haven't tried any real tests to prove it. Wifi throughput is better on the XS / XS Max vs. X, however.

[Tarah Sorber]

My max had horrible reception if it lost reception I would have to restart the phone to get it back. I would ask others if they had signal and they said yes.
Once I got the 12.1 update I’ve had no issues getting signal in places I didn’t have it before the update.

[torbach1]

My max had horrible reception if it lost reception I would have to restart the phone to get it back. I would ask others if they had signal and they said yes.
Once I got the 12.1 update I’ve had no issues getting signal in places I didn’t have it before the update.

I’ve got the same, even after the update to 12.1. I even had the phone replaced and the new one also seems to have the same issue. 12.1.1 came out today. If this doesn’t resolve the issue, I’ll switch back to Android reluctantly. I’ve tested signal against the OnePlus 6T carrying it with me all day. It doesn’t have these issues at all. Neither does my wife’s Galaxy S9.

[imwjl]

I’ve got the same, even after the update to 12.1. I even had the phone replaced and the new one also seems to have the same issue. 12.1.1 came out today. If this doesn’t resolve the issue, I’ll switch back to Android reluctantly. I’ve tested signal against the OnePlus 6T carrying it with me all day. It doesn’t have these issues at all. Neither does my wife’s Galaxy S9.

What carrier? My phone is Verizon and it's been great all over but no international travel yet.

[joemd60]

When at home, my 8 Plus is no bargain for signal strength on Verizon.
If my memory doesn’t fail me, it used to be a lot better.
I sometimes get complaints from certain people of the inferior call quality.

[torbach1]

What carrier? My phone is Verizon and it's been great all over but no international travel yet.

T-mobile

[imwjl]

T-mobile

That might be your problem.

We have 700+ employees, dozens of company owned devices, and the BYOD (bring your own device) trend has had more and more people interact with IT over using enterprise applications.

Starting with Android users who moved to fi and then a group of company phones over to US Cellular people who had reliable cellular phones lost it. One of the owners had an iPhone 7 that went from Verizon and then got a Max on US Cellular. He with some others got fed up and moved back to Verizon. Now they have reliable service again. Bars on the phone screen didn't really report issues the way they just had crappy service overall.

At a high level and across carriers I think these work fine overall. There are only a few of our hundreds of employees who do not use the HR system or Office 365 on their phones. At this point I see a lot of the use the late model phones. The all screen and camera make them stand out. I'm not believing a top tier product would be released with a liability such as all of then not having a core function that works well.

More and more I believe WiFi is a problem for users. There's fi, people who set their phones for WiFi calling, and in recent months the Spectrum (Charter) users are showing up. I provision absolute state of the art networks and it's still a challenge. Every day I see 90 - 400+ users using some of the WiFi networks. The Internet connection is symmetrical 250 Mbps fiber. The hardware is new state of the art Cisco gear. It is a must to have short leases and traffic shaping. For home users I often find they have crappy stuff that works better after a reboot. In my home office I feel the difference using the Internet before 6 AM vs peak times. Now we have more and more people relying on that for voice calls.

[TylerLV76]

That might be your problem.

So you think the issue is the carrier even though other devices work perfectly on the same carrier in the same area? Seriously?

T-Mobile isnt what it was years ago. Here T-Mobile destroys Verizon in coverage and speed.

The issue is the extra antenna and intel modem. People are having the problems across all major carriers including Verizon. The problem has been reported at large since launch and apple has reached out to many people to ask them to install diagnostic software in hopes of fixing the issue.

[bamf-hacker]

I now have an eSIM from AT&T and nano SIM from Verizon so I will be able to compare signal strength.

[torbach1]

That might be your problem.

We have 700+ employees, dozens of company owned devices, and the BYOD (bring your own device) trend has had more and more people interact with IT over using enterprise applications.

Starting with Android users who moved to fi and then a group of company phones over to US Cellular people who had reliable cellular phones lost it. One of the owners had an iPhone 7 that went from Verizon and then got a Max on US Cellular. He with some others got fed up and moved back to Verizon. Now they have reliable service again. Bars on the phone screen didn't really report issues the way they just had crappy service overall.

At a high level and across carriers I think these work fine overall. There are only a few of our hundreds of employees who do not use the HR system or Office 365 on their phones. At this point I see a lot of the use the late model phones. The all screen and camera make them stand out. I'm not believing a top tier product would be released with a liability such as all of then not having a core function that works well.

More and more I believe WiFi is a problem for users. There's fi, people who set their phones for WiFi calling, and in recent months the Spectrum (Charter) users are showing up. I provision absolute state of the art networks and it's still a challenge. Every day I see 90 - 400+ users using some of the WiFi networks. The Internet connection is symmetrical 250 Mbps fiber. The hardware is new state of the art Cisco gear. It is a must to have short leases and traffic shaping. For home users I often find they have crappy stuff that works better after a reboot. In my home office I feel the difference using the Internet before 6 AM vs peak times. Now we have more and more people relying on that for voice calls.

I hear you, but my issues mostly occur when I’m driving and on major highways where the signal is fine on Android phones tuned to use Band 12 on T-Mobile. I would be ok if it just disconnected the phone. But it’s not acceptable that the signal stays off until I reboot. I’ve heard from colleagues experiencing the same thing that turning cellular data off and back on again will have the same effect. But I’m driving at the time, usually on work meetings which don’t require screen sharing. So taking my eyes off the road, saying “I’m not driving” and then swiping down to do all this is not safe.

So far since 12.1.1, this hasn’t happened to me on the road yet, so I’m hopeful. But if it starts again, I’m going to be pretty unhappy with Apple, and may switch back to Android.