iphone 13 pro max gps problems

It appears I have the same exact problem as the OP. My location in both Apple Maps and Google Maps apps on my iPhone 13 Pro Max oscillates between accurate and 0.25 miles off. It's quite dangerous when you are driving and using turn-by-turn directions because the directions keep changing and recalibrating.

When I'm at home on WiFi, my GPS shows accurate when I view it through both Apple Maps and Google Maps. When I'm moving in a vehicle, the GPS goes haywire. Any help by Apple would be appreciated.

I’ve been having this same problems since I got my iPhone 13 Mini, just about three months ago. In this photo, I was driving on the highway. This was the first photo proof I got of it happening. Since then, my location is almost ALWAYS at least 600 ft off. This issue is almost unbearable as I have to use my navigation/location for deliveries. Turning my phone off and on seems to do the trick, but when I’m needing turn by turn directions, I can’t do that! Having to turn it off and on every 30-60 minutes when I’m working is just ridiculous. Apple, please fix this! I’m this close👌🏼to just returning this thing and going for a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3. I’ve heard they’re quite nice.

Phone: iPhone 13 Pro Max 256GB

GPS not always accurate, most of the time it’s half a road / one road away which would cause navigation chaos. I was meeting someone and sent them my location on WhatsApp, it said I’m in the river! Restarting the phone would fix the issue but it was very frustrating I had to keep doing this.

Logged a ticket with Apple and the technician suggested resetting location & privacy settings. This did not resolve the issue.

The next step was to connect my phone to a computer, in my case I have a MacBook running Big Sur, restore my iPhone using the MacBook. You can find your iPhone in Finder once connected, for older versions of iOS you’ll need to check the link below:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201252

I was told to use this method as wiping the phone via settings and restoring from backup could potentially put the corrupt software back on. 

Right so I restored the phone using the MacBook and selected manual setup (once again was told not to restore from backup, reason mentioned above). Go through the setup process and once on Home Screen, go to settings and login into iCloud. This will download all your pics, vids, notes, messages etc depending on what you have backed up. So please ensure to backup to iCloud or iTunes/Apple computer before restoring phone, you can either do this via settings >your name >iCloud >Backup or connect to a Apple computer, click on Finder >select phone >backup 

Tip: Double check to make sure WhatsApp is backed up, go to iCloud and scroll down to make sure WhatsApp is selected. Thereafter go into WhatsApp >Settings >Chats >Chat Backup >Backup now

Tip: Take screenshots of your Home Screen pages, so you can refer back to what apps you have etc

I was told to use the link below to see what apps I’ve purchased, it was a bit useless to be honest:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT204088

Downside to this method:

• You’ll have to download all your apps again from AppStore 
• Sign back into all your apps
• Set wallpaper & lock screen
• Setup personalisation for phone calls etc
• Mail settings / personalisation 
• I had to reset my Apple Watch to reconnect it

Along with the GPS issue I was experiencing issues with calendar not updating properly, certain software seemed laggy and not smooth, Instagram as an example used to have laggy reels. My new AirPods Pro were cutting out intermittently for a split second from time to time.

It’s been 3 days now and I can confirm the issues above seem to be resolved, GPS seems to be spot on I went on a few drives. AirPods seem to work fine now too and software in general seems to be working properly.

I’ll report back after another week to let you know if I’m experiencing any issues but so far it seems to be fine. It could be down to corrupt software on the base build of the phone (iPhone 13 Pro Max)

Hope this helps others out there with the same issues. If you need any help with the methods above please feel free to reach out.

Cheers

Yeah the fact that there has been only one response from apple on this thread is pathetic. I’m going to attempt to return my phone this weekend and move to Samsung. A paper map is more useful than my $1300 phone. Good luck to all others that are getting screwed by apple.

How many people need to complain to apple before this gets resolved. I had to buy a gamin gps due to my phone not working correctly. I haven’t had to have a separate gos from my phone in years. Guess I need to sell my Apple products and go to android

Update 12/6

Apple now has the log files that the custom profile they had me install on 12/2 was collecting. (See my Update 12/2 post for more details). I've also sent them two more videos showing the issue.

I missed a call this morning by Apple's Sr Support Specialist, but I have left a message for them.

I'm curious if your solution sticks over a period of a month. If it does, that's going to be the fastest route to a resolution. I'm currently in Apple Support loop where they have me doing the rounds of capturing multiple recordings and log files, and send all of this to them. I'm a little baffled by how many of these recordings they really need.

I am replying directly to an apple support person so that hopefully they can help us after almost 3 months of nothing. Many of us have this issue and Apple (as far as we can tell) does not care, will not respond, does not give information on this on the phone, did I say, DOES NOT CARE?. Please read this post where apple told someone it was a carrier issue which is false because we have Verizon, ATT, T-Mobile (at least) all having this issue in this thread alone. We have a report that Apple replaced someone's phone but the issue was not fixed. We have seen updates with no fix. We have someone in here with screen captures showing the issue. Did I say, it appears Apple does not care and will not even admit there is an issue. Help us, its your job. I would work with the person who has the screen captures if you need info but we all have this same problem. It is all map programs, multiple carriers, and it sounds like people from different countries as per at least 1 post. We are all (I am sure I can speak for others) so freakin' fed up.

I’m having the same issues as OP and several other people on this post. They’ve been happening while local to my home and while traveling. It doesn’t seem to be tied to 4G, LTE, or 5G, as the issue happens sporadically on any level of service. My cellular data, wifi, and Bluetooth have been enabled the whole time, so that isn’t the issue. I also tried to resetting my Privacy and Location settings and made sure that Precise Location is turned on for Maps. I thought resetting things fixed it, but my phone is back to throwing my location 100 yards off most of the time. Are there any other steps that can be taken to remedy this issue?

Shut down the phone and restart. That works for my iPhone 13 Pro Max.

I was convinced it was a h/w issue before I figured out the restart method to (temporarily) remedy this. I have an open support ticket with Apple. I’m sending them a screen recording of the issue so they can send to their engineers. I’ll keep you posted.

Hi MiksteR_RdY,

It seems you're having issues with your location and we can help.

You took some great steps so far to ensure your location is enabled.

Are you seeing the status bar changes when you're being located?

Turn Location Services and GPS on or off on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Do you have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled for your iPhone in Settings?

Keeping all your radios enabled makes sure all your antennas are being used for the best accuracy.

Let us know what results you get.

Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities.

Update 12/2

Apple called back explaining the engineers want log files. They had me install a new Profile that allows me to capture Location and Motion logs. The next time I witness the GPS problem, I'll enable screen recording and send the video to Apple along with the log files being captured. This will give them the additional diagnostics they need.

To be clear, at this juncture I've sent Apple two screen recordings showing the GPS problem. This will be their third recording that they have.

Stay tuned...

So - yeah - me too. I see it when driving (in Waze) and when using my Apple Watch to track a workout. I'd thought these were separate issues, but I'm wondering now if the workout map I see in Fitness is using the phone GPS. You can see how wrong the GPS is - this walk was all on streets, but the workout map shows me anywhere BUT streets. I have more where this came from.

As you can see, they do not care.

I run and walk every day, tracking each one using RunKeeper and/or Strava. I have experienced GPS issues since October 25, 2021. This seems to correlate to iOS 15.1. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Very frustrating.