iPhone 8 GPS problems

Yes Akuphon, I remember your post, as well as those by others, and my own experience. That is why I wrote "people here are having problems with accuracy worse than that in open spaces, not in downtown NY etc"

While I have been on the middle lane of a five lane highway for 30 minutes, I experience both google and apple maps running on my iPhone 8 plus sometimes suddenly thinks I am on a side road, and attempts to direct me back on the highway.

Other times I am on a road parallel to the highway and it suddenly thinks I am on the highway, and tries to direct me back off the highway.

I've taken many screen shots of this phenomenon. It even shows the arrow icon representing my car accurately while showing the direction offset to the next street over.

Apple support doesn't seem to be aware of this and despite having seen all the screen shots, want me to reset my phone, which would be extremely inconvenient, and prove that a reset phone also shows the issue. I have heard a number of other excuses, that were implausible.

As with the other posters here, my iPhone 6 never showed this issue.

So, you would have to backup your phone to iTunes, factory reset the phone, and then only re-install the GPS app you need (leaving the rest of the phone in its initial state for testing purposes), test the GPS app, and then restore your entire backup if the test fails.

Before that, you might want to to try to the "SIM trick"- it worked for me (do so at your own risk; see warning about doing it while phone is left on).

Also, look in this and the other GPS threads for posts by people who had issues with Bluetooth systems and/or magnetic holders within their vehicles.

I also have this problem, but Apple is not aware nor heard of this issue.

For those who don't know the issue, this is not software issue. Model A1901 with Intel chip have GPS hardware issue, model A1865 or previous models such as iPhone 6 or 6s with Qualcomm GPS chip never had this issue. Apple are unwilling to replace the phones for another model.

Next generation of iPhones will all have Intel chip/GPS.

jihui88

Have you read other people's posts here or on other GPS-related threads?

Why do you assume your situation applies to everybody else?

Some people have fixed their problem by repairing or replacing their phones, others have found different solutions.

Also, I had problems with an iPhone that had a Qualcomm GPS chip- the Qualcomm MDM9655 Snapdragon as used in the iPhone X A1865 model.

And, I am curious: can you provide the source of your information that the next generation of iPhones will all have Intel chip/GPS?

Hi jihui88,

Do you have any source for the claim that the problem is hardware (Intel chip) based? If Apple hasn’t acknowledged it, then who has confirmed it? I’m just curious.

If this really is a hardware issue, then I guess I’ll have to start thinking to change to Android phone.

PS: Jihuii,

I checked your previous posts in other threads. Your Intel chip may have caused problems with cellular reception, as some sources say Qualcomm is better/faster although other sources seem to say the opposite.

https://www.reddit.com/r/tmobile/comments/7bmqp4/qualcomm_iphone_x_vs_intel_ipho ne_x/

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/09/28/iphone-8-cellular-bandwidth-tests/

Also read the section "Some iPhone X handsets are slower than others" in this article:

https://www.macworld.co.uk/news/iphone/iphone-x-problems-3639808/

Either way, the top link above says "using GPS both work just as expected without any delay" (admittedly this was just one guy testing iPhone Xs)

Also, even if the cellular connection is a bit slower due to the chip, that would probably only affect the "Assisted" part of the Assisted-GPS system, which in turn would affect the TTFF (Time-to-first-fix) i.e. the time it takes for your GPS app to show your position accurately on the map. I don't think having a slightly slower cellular reception would affect accuracy during your journey itself...

Plus, as I mentioned I had a Qualcomm chip, not an Intel one, and I had problems. In fact I still do, to some extent on my replacement iPhone which also has a Qualcomm chip, so going Qualcomm is not necessarily the solution -at least not in my case.

I have had the GPS issue on my 6s ever since iOS11. The SIM trick seems to have worked for me now. I usually resorted to factory restore which would fix the issue temporarily, but would crop up again. Hopefully the SIM trick can be used in the future without having to resort to factory restore.

Update:

Since doing the “SIM trick” back in May (do so at your own risk; some sites advise against SIM insertion/removal while phone is on), I have been able to use GPS apps on my iPhone X with sufficient accuracy.

However, finding the initial location i.e. “the time to first fix - TTFF” has grown gradually longer over time. Yesterday, it didn’t work at all at the start of my jog, and when I tested it later, it only found a fix after more than a minute of standing stationary.

I decided that I had had enough and tried the SIM trick a second time. It worked again! The TTFF is much shorter now.

Nothing has changed on the phone as far as I can see. Same iOS, same apps, same carrier, same location. My wife’s iPhone 6S has the same iOS, and testing apps, and uses the carrier as my iPhone X and is tested at the same locations, BUT her GPS has functioned perfectly the whole time, with no delays etc! The only difference is that I have some additional apps such as Motion X - I don't see how that should affect the functioning of the phone, and if it is, then Apple is responsible, as Apple checks 3rd party apps downloaded via the App Store.

I have to do this procedure every time the lag on my GPS/A-GPS system occurs, while my wife doesn’t. This suggests there is a software or hardware design flaw that has affected a large segment of iPhone users for whom the SIM trick has worked. The only other solution was factory resetting the phone when I replaced it with an identical iPhone X but the problem soon recurred even when I manually set up the phone from scratch!! In these cases, I strongly suspect there is a software or hardware design flaw related to the cellular network/SIM card that seems to be affecting the A-GPS function.

GPS is a pretty basic function to get wrong for a high-end device as expensive as the iPhone X. This issue has dragged on for ages now - look at all the posts in these forums and elsewhere - and yet there has been no public acknowledgement of it. Not even a clear reference to the problem in iOS update notes as far as I am aware - someone please correct me if I am wrong on that.

Do you know the percentage of iPhone X owners (or iPhone 8 owners) for whom GPS is an issue?

And can you tell me what percentage do you deem it so insignificant that the problem doesn’t merit attention by the maker?

I can’t give you either percentage but judging by activity on this forum and elsewhere, it seems to be an issue that the maker should fix or at least acknowledge.

Otherwise, how do you explain the 52 pages in this thread which started in Sep 2017 and has been viewed 40,491 times as of now, or the 51 pages on the iOS11 and GPS thread, which started in Oct 2017 and has been viewed 81264 times as of now, or other threads here which have also attracted plenty of posts and attention ?

Relative to other issues raised in this forum, this GPS issue has become prominent and persistent, which is reflected by the length and views of these threads, as well as by the number of blogs and articles attempting to find a solution.

I have to report that the GPS issue is not just pertains to iPhone X but also the 6s, my 6s GPS was working just fine before iOS11, I even got the device replaced by Apple and the new device works fine for a certain amount of time and then the TFF is in 10s of seconds or minutes. Ever since I have found out about the SIM trick, I have been able to reset the GPS and make it function as before, before iOS11.

Prior to the SIM trick, I would restore the phone as a new phone and that would help in the short term. I was getting frustrated with this process. SIM trick is far more livable than restoring the phone. Resetting network and location/privacy setting did not help with the GPS issues.

I have observed that after traveling internationally and using a different SIM abroad and then returning back to US caused GPS issues readily. SIM trick helped a lot. Thanks for posting that here on the forum.

William,

Even if one in every 100 iPhones were to be faulty, as you posited, that would be a MAJOR issue.

You also seem use yourself as the benchmark of everything. i.e. you don’t have an issue with GPS so anybody else who does, is whinging. And you claim to have viewed this thread hundreds of times just out of curiosity (you have zero issues). First, I doubt you have viewed it “hundreds of times”, otherwise you would have a better idea of what was going on. Second, surely most people don’t come here just out of curiosity, unlike you. You seem to post on these forums on a daily basis, which is admirable, but not typical of a regular users.

Far more importantly, this thread has had over 40,000 views and the other main thread has over 80,000 views, which is way more than other issues that have been acknowledged and/or fixed by Apple.

And what do you mean “if you feel it’s an issue” ??

Did you actually read my post above before making your previous dismissive reply? (“the vast majority are fine, period”)

Having to stand stationary for up to a minute to get the first fix on my GPS-based location and eventually getting no location at all until I reinsert the SIM card IS an issue.

I have already taken it in to the Genius bar, as noted earlier, and they gave me another phone which had the same issue.

It is patently obvious that there IS an issue judging by many of these posts.

You may also note that the post following your most recent one was from another user with the same “non-issue” that was was fixed by the “SIM trick”.

Note this is a makeshift solution; it enables me to get a GPS-based location but the time to first fix is way too long and gets longer over time - having to stand stationary or walk slowly for 30-40seconds until it finds my location is NOT normal- and eventually I have to reinsert the SIM card.

This long-standing issue DOES merit acknowledgement by the maker. So far there has only been an alleged comment from an insider in an AppleInsider article, and possibly a vague reference in an update, but I have yet to see evidence of the latter.

And yes, I have already used the feedback forms…

I appreciate you may be trying to help, but please don’t dismiss others' problems so easily.

I wasn't being dismissive, just noting I don't have the issue, no one I know has the issue, no iPhone I've ever tried in an Apple Store has had the issue, and in general when an issue is widespread there are a lot more responses to a thread than there have been here. I literally have never seen a phone exhibit the issue you state and I'm always playing with store demo phones, locally and across the country when I travel.

Do note however that there are limitations on how GPS works. If you're in a steel building, odds are your phone will not be able to figure out where it is if Wi-Fi is shut off as there's no way to receive GPS signals without a direct, unobstructed view of one or more GPS satellites or mild obstruction like a residence. Shopping malls, office buildings and urban areas mean you very likely will not get enough of a GPS signal to locate yourself (which is why the GPS is called "Assisted GPS.")

I also stated that if you feel you are having this issue, your best bet is to visit the Genius Bar at an Apple Store. Why? Numbers of posts here don't matter as much as what Apple sees going on in their stores with their support personnel. If you exchange your phone for a new one and it has the same issue, keep insisting they exchange your phone with another until you get one that works. Just to make sure it's the phone, set it up in the store as a new phone without restoring any of your content to it and see if it works then. If they say yours is behaving normally, compare it to a demo phone on the floor. If yours acts differently, ask why. Don't be afraid to get store management involved if need be. I'm not being snide here, I've had to use the "Mine does it but your demo does not" rule a time or two in the past in order to get something fixed. Since there are always at least three or four demos on the floor, be sure to try them all.

Once again, this isn't to be dismissive, it's the reality of the situation.

Apple can't fix something they don't know is broken, and posts on a message board aren't going to sway them as much as having to give out two, three or more replacement phones if the situation you describe is as common as you say it is.

Posts here cost Apple nothing; replacement phones directly impact their cost centers.

I have the same problem on Waze and Google maps. On the iPhone 7+ and the 8+. Both programs run beautifully until I plug in CarPlay and the BLOOIE. Within seconds the get hopelessly lost.

Bluetooth and Wi-Fi enabled and iOS current.

I’m getting kind of desperate. If this can’t be resolved CarPlay will be useless.

I tried that it worked for about 30 seconds. I may try to sacrifice a chicken next. It’s about as useful as that idea!

This is a CarPlay bug. Someone at Apple has to look at it and not just point fingers.