iPhone 11 Pro Max 4G LTE Signal Issue

I bought 11 ProMax at the end of January. Had iPhone 5, XSMax and one other one in between...maybe a 6 or 7. Never had problem until the 11 ProMax. I am on Verizon. Phone worked for about two weeks; then started to have trouble hearing people and them hearing me, then started dropping calls. Bars would start at 4, then within a few minutes drop to 3, then to 2 then to 1. Exchanged phone with Apple - got new one in April. Same scenario. Worked fine for about a week or two; then trouble hearing and being heard, 4 bars to 3 to 2 to 1 within minutes; then dropped calls. Last week - actually no signal at all for days now. Got new SIM card from Verizon. That didn't fix it. They did all they could do. Apple did a few things including full reset and then reset using info on iCloud back up. Kept my fingers crossed, but alas. New phone, new SIM card. Nothing works. Verizon said I have 5 cell towers within a ½ mile of where I live. My neighbor downstairs, right under me, has cell signal, but I don't. Can't believe two 11ProMax didn't work. Don't know if I should try one more, and then three strikes and your out - either new model or new carrier.

It's a design flaw that can't be fixed. I got my 11pro max in September last year and had/have the same experience. When I first went to the Apple store the 'genius' told me that the X also had terrible reception. After reading hundreds of comments on the Apple blog it's clear that it's not the carrier (I haver Verizon too) and it's not the individual phone. It's just a terrible product, but the camera is great! I'm waiting to see if the new iPhone 12 will have the same terrible Intel modem chip or if they changed back to Qualcomm. And if the new iPhone 12 has Intel I am switching to a droid.

Thanks btheaudiophile. Just spoke to Apple again. I am going to try one more time with the ProMax. Senior Advisor said they don't actually get as many calls for the 11 Series as they do for others. Also said the Intel chip will be in the 12's and "they will be using the Intel chip more and more because it is so fast." I'm sure its fast - if it connects, but if the phone doesn't connect, the speed doesn't matter. Wheels spinning, going nowhere. We'll see - should have the 3rd ProMax in a couple of days. It will take a couple of weeks to see if it degrades, as both prior ones worked fine for a week or two, then slowly developed problems.

Signal strength is terrible, 1 bar and barely usable and often not usable. I tried everything to fix and the only work around I've been using is to force the phone to 3G. That puts signal strength back to full as it was with four previous iphones. Pretty sad to downgrade new phone to be able to use!

Can anybody tell me if they have Verizon?

I also have an 11 Pro and this is my fourth replacement device the signal strength is absolutely abysmal unless you are in a very strong LTE area even then after having four bars I will occasionally lose reception and I have to do airplane mode to bring back the data connection to Internet texting etc.. Am I the only one having this problem on Verizon or is this a common problem among all the major carriers?

Thanks to those who have responded. Seems that the 11 Pro Max does terribly with 4G.

Apple has sent me the second replacement for the iPhone 11 Pro Max, meaning the third Pro Max since the end of January. The first two all had the same problem, and with this third one, I have had some instances of dropped call, and once the person couldn't hear me even though I was showing four bars!! Never had this before with iPhone 5, 6, XsMax. I have Verizon. Verizon told me I have 5 towers within a half mile of my home. Yet, mostly I have 1 or 2 bars at home; sometimes 3. This never happened on any other phone. The first two 11 Pro Max' started out ok, and gradually degraded on the service. The second one got to the point where there were no bars at all for two weeks - after a few days, I got on with Apple, waiting for a new one - the third one. I've had it two weeks.

Do people have the same problem with the 11 Pro that many of us have with the 11 Pro Max?

I have this same problem. Well had this problem. My phone went black and no longer works and the Apple store is closed indefinitely. I have had this phone less than two months and it has been horrible. My first IPhone, the experience 5 negative stars.

I have tried connecting it to ITunes and the side button combinations. No results. No help. No phone. I had to have my Android phone reactivated.

I just upgraded my wife and I to the iPhone 11 Pro Max from the iPhone X about 2 days ago and have had the same signal issues as some of you guys. But, after troubleshooting like crazy, I felt stupid when I discovered it, but our signal issues were due to our phone cases. I bought us both a 15 dollar metal magnetic case from Wal-Mart as a temporary case until the cases come in that I ordered, and that was the issue the whole time! We would have numerous dropped calls, and only 1 or 2 bars in areas where we had 4G LTE before. If you have a case on your phone that is metal, or magnetic, take the case off and try that. Apparently, those types of cases absolutely KILL the reception. Good luck to all!

I am on the third iPhone 11 ProMax. Have had this one since August 1. This seems to be following the same pattern as the other two, but I am waiting to see more. It often has one bar less than my iPad. Never had a problem with my iPhone 5, 6, XsMax (and any other iPhone I might have had that I am not remembering in between the 6 and the X - don't recall if I had a 7. I know I did not have an 8). Problems first started when I got the 11 ProMax in January, 2020. Worked ok at first, but then within a few weeks, experienced calls breaking up and some dropped calls. Apple allowed me to send the first 11 Pro Max back and they sent me another one, as some report that it is a problem with the individual phone and a replacement fixed the problem. I think I got the second one in April or May. Same thing except worse. Worked ok for a few weeks, then gradually more and more breaking up and dropped calls until the phone did not work at all - did not pick up any cell signal at all and I was basically without a phone for many days until I spoke with Apple and they sent me a new one. Got my 3rd one August 1, 2020. Dropped a couple of calls at first, then was ok for several weeks. OK, but not good. Cell signal very low in my home, which was never a problem with prior models. But mostly I could call and hear and be heard until gradually getting worse in September. Now it mostly works, but sometimes the call breaks up and I have had a few dropped calls at home last week. One person at Apple I spoke to said that there is now an Intel chip in the phone, different from prior models. They say it is faster than before and they will stick with it for the 12. However, if this is the issue, it clearly does not work for me and I may have to go back to an 8 or something. Maybe switch to a Samsung or something, as it is really frustrating not to be able to use it at home. Also...Verizon says that there are 5 cell towers within a half mile of my home, so it isn't a Verizon problem.

Note...some people do report that having a metal case is the problem, or that having WiFi off is a problem. Not so for me. I never had a metal case. I have the plastic ones and even tried having no case for a while. But the phone is very slippery without a case. Also, problem I report (breaking up and dropping calls, getting worse over the weeks I have it), happen with no metal case and WiFi on.

Apple support suggested getting a new SIM card so I did that and trying it now. I don't think it has helped so will be sending the phone back to Apple - they offered to replace it if this fix didn't work.

After to complaining to everyone about how my iPhone 11ProMax is absolutely the worst cell phone I have ever owned in 20years I decided to have it replaced. (My kids call it my iCamera because at least the camera is amazing!)

Apple support was, as always exceptional and two days later I received my replacement phone.

I have to admit it is better, but just marginally. Calls are still very choppy and what's really odd is that it will show four bars and the second I make a call it drops to one or two. I hang up and it's at four again.

I vaguely recall, but can't find where someone mentioned a setting in the cell phone setup where you can maybe turn off LTE or something like that?

Anyone have any ideas?

And I will be 110% replacing this as soon as the iPhone12 is available. I assume that's what next week's announcement is about.

I have tried getting a new Sim card also. Has not helped. Always has less bars than my iPad. On my third 11 promax. Never had a problem in my home with earlier models, including the 10 S max. Wish I never gave that up. Now it is only available from resellers. So third 11 promax starting to fail just like the two before them did. Never had a metal case. Have tried new Sim cards. Wi-Fi is on so that’s not the problem. Have five cell towers within half a mile according to Verizon. It’s the phone. The only thing I have not tried yet is trying to force it back to 3G. Some people have said that works. Seems like a dumb thing to have to do to get the latest model to work.

I just received my replacement 11 Pro Max. It works much better - now at 2 to 3 signal strength mostly but still dips to 1. Still at least it's usable.

Switching to 3G adds one bar of signal strength. To do that... Settings/Cellular/Cellular Data Options/Voice & Data/ (from here you can select LTE or 3G).

I just fixed this same issue after days of it occurring on and off. Below is a link with various possible fixes but the one that absolutely works and worked for me was to simply turn off the phone, and then removing SIM card. Making sure it was placed correctly (I also wiped a little as an added precaution) then re inserted the sim, powered back on and the issue was fixed permanently.

https://www.saintlad.com/iphone-11-pro-max-4g-lte-signal-issue/