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iPhone 6 GPS not working

Hello there,


For just about the past year (since about iOS 9 release), my phone's GPS has not been working. When I would try to use Apple Maps, it would say my car was off the road somewhere in the grass, and sometimes many roads over. It could never keep up with me while driving. This also occurred while using Google Maps, so I knew it wasn't just a problem with the Apple Maps app.


I tried to restart the phone several times, delete GPS apps and reinstall them, fully wipe the phone and start it from scratch, etc. The problem still exists. So for a while I just dealt with it. I just used my car's GPS if I needed one. Though it always bothered me that my 128GB iPhone 6's GPS was not working. However, with the release of the game "Pokemon GO" which relies on GPS, I am quite disappointed as I keep getting an error message that my GPS signal is not detected (yes, I enabled location services for the app).


Is there some app or something I can use to diagnose my GPS antennae within the phone? I have full 5-bar (dot?) signal, and my phone is in developer/debug mode, so I can also see the detailed signal strength is -81. I have AT&T as my carrier. There must be some way to determine if something in my phone is damaged. I would go to the Apple Store, but the closest one is about an hour and a half away, so I would like to avoid that if possible.

iPhone 6, iOS 9.3.2, 128GB

Posted on Jul 7, 2016 7:11 AM

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152 replies

Nov 15, 2017 5:09 PM in response to Stu Axelrod

That is exactly what I did to fix my dead GPS. I replaced the flex cable and antenna (and used a newly purchased magnetic mat -- essential for keeping track of so many tiny screws and parts!).

Thanks for your post, Stu!

A reputable repair shop I called said dead GPS is "very very common" with iPhone 6 and that it was not fixable because the failure is in the logic board. Then I saw this forum and decided to spend $20 in hope that my problem was fixable. $20 is way better than $zillion for a new phone!

Oddly, my new flex cable did not have the sticky gritty compound (bare metal only) but my old one did.

Jan 18, 2018 5:32 PM in response to SHADOWSTRIKE1

Thank you for those that suggested replacing the flex cable. I ordered the parts and toolkit from ifixit.com and after replacing this cable my GPS is now working. $19.99 including shipping for both the part and the tool kit. If you are not very handy - or have less than perfect close vision - I would recommend that you have this installed by a professional. I regretted this project once I rolled up my sleeves to tackle, and by blind luck (literally with these 50 year old eyes) I installed this deeply embedded part.

Jan 30, 2018 2:16 PM in response to SHADOWSTRIKE1

I have this problem too. It also affects my bluetooth connection...I have to place my phone next to the car dashboard to get a connection. I've called Apple support about this. I was told that this was a known issue and would be fixed in future iOS releases. My gut feel is that this was a non-answer meant to evade the real issue: that this is a hardware problem. It's quite disappointing that such a key feature--location services--would be subject to failure and not be repaired by Apple.


If anyone can confirm that this is indeed a software issue, I would love to hear about it.

iPhone 6 GPS not working

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