I recently got a new AT&T iPhone X. I have a couple gps apps I use a fair amount. Accuracy is significantly worse than my old iPhone 6. I saw that iOS 11.2 was rumored to perhaps fix it, but just did that upgrade and no improvement.
Any ideas? Fixes?
After extensive investigations, including hours running multiple GPS apps on both iPhone X and older models, Apple replacing my iPhone X, and a ton of Internet research, it is clear to me what the problem is and everyone with this problem needs to be complaining to Apple. The more of us that tell them this is unacceptable, the more likely this will be fixed in the future.
There are two models of iPhone X - one (A1901) has the GPS accuracy problem and the other (A1865) works properly. If you purchase your phone through AT&T, or purchase an AT&T phone through Apple, you will get the A1901 phone. If you purchase an unlocked SIMless phone or through most other carriers, you will get the A1865 phone. Why does this matter?
The A1865 phone uses a Qualcomm chipset (cellular modem and the GPS chip) and these work great. It is the same family that has been in older iPhones for a long time (which is why this has not been a problem in the past). The A1901 phones (AT&T) come with an Intel chipset that seems to have lower specs all around, and in particular the GPS has more trouble connecting to satellites, and even with the same number of connected satellites, the accuracy is about half that of the Qualcomm (accuracy will show twice the distance).
If you are an AT&T customer, I recommend that you purchase an unlocked phone from Apple (this will be the A1865 version), then get it activated on AT&T and you will be fine. In my case, I purchased my iPhone X from AT&T and it took more than 14 day working with Apple to figure out what the problem was, so AT&T won't take it back. Apple also is unable to exchange this for me because it is not from their inventory, so can only exchange for the same model. If you are in my situation, you need to have them escalate this to engineering. There seems to be no other option for us at this point. This is why I am encouraging as many people as possible to communicate clearly to Apple what the problem is so that they will acknowledge the problem and help us. Hopefully it will become harder for them to claim that your phone is the only one that is having this problem.
It is really not cool of Apple to sell us a phone with severely reduced GPS specs and not tell us there is a difference! Apple, please help us with this.
My husband and I also encountered the similar problem. Both Iphone X GPS is fine in my husband's car (Audi A6L), but very very weak in my car (Audi A4L), however, no GPS issues occurred when I using my previous phones (Iphone 5/6P) in my own car. I called the service line of Apple China, and the operator told me it is the first complaint she received on Iphone X GPS issue. Are my husband and I just bad luck?? We bought A4 and A6 in the same year, I really do not think it is related cars.... Why Apple can not fix this problem!!!!
I’m having the same issue. I drive uber and I literally doesn’t keep up with me and gets stuck at random locations. Imagine my distraction when the app tells me turn left and it’s really a righty. The app thought I was on the other side of the street smh
Sounds terrific! Could you share links to the sources that can be considered legit for the press (and for Apple) supporting the key statements of your research? Most importantly (a) which model has which chipset, and (b) which model does massively have accuracy issues, and which does not at all?
We need to pursuade Apple; for that we need authoritative sources that they find hard to deny. Do you have something proving that most A1901s have poor GPS accuracy? Or that A1865 all have good GPS accuracy?
We recently drove to a nearby city in two cars, with me and my shiny new iPhone X in the lead. I started making turns following my gps that led us into neighborhoods we shouldn’t have entered. My kids in the back car phoned us and told me their phone were showing we should go straight, rather than turning into the hood. We had to use my wife’s older iPhone 7 for the rest of the trip. Now what I have to do is put in my destination and memorize the route I will take, and not pay attention to the directions. I also have an old Polaroid phone I use for gps directions. Ridiculous when you pay $1200 for a **** phone.
A1901 here. GPS accuracy is poor; it drifts - sometimes even hundreds of meters - when not moving and occasionally places you far away from your actual location and won’t move at all.
Can anyone tell if this is a problem that can be fixed with a ios update?
I use GPS exploiting apps a lot. If it’s something that can’t be fixed I’ll take my X back to the reseller and cancel the deal.
I have also noticed that the gps accuracy of the iPhone X is far worse than my old iPhone 6.
The accuracy of the iPhone 6 has always been quite good but the accuracy of the iPhone X is really bad.
I have now tested and run them side by side running the latest iOS 11.3 in both and the same software and operator. The error in positioning of the iPhone X is about 10-15 meters of the iPhone 6 which is very good in its positioning.
It is hard to find information regardning this in the forums and I do not seem to find a solution. You definitely would expect a product like the iPhone X to have a much better performance.
Do anyone know a better solution or workaround? Is this a software or hardware issue?
Thanks for the tip. It is a shame that you have to use 3rd party apps to see if there is a fault on the phone.
When I use Apple Maps the position on the iPhone 6 is steady while the iPhone X positions is very flimsy.
I do not use the wifi when I compare so that cannot affect the positioning.
Did you ever resolve this problem? I’m having the same issue.
no and I installed 11.2.5 already!
what is your vehicle brand
I got mine replaced. The model I have now works fine.
I tried GPS Diagnostic on my old and replacement handset and the replacement was about 25% better.
This is, as I see it, a hardware defect. I got mine just after release, perhaps there were quality control issues.
This link helps you tell if you have Qualcomm or Intel
http://www.iphonehacks.com/2017/12/how-to-find-out-if-iphone-x-has-qualcomm-inte l-lte-modem.html
I have Qualcomm in my iPhoneX, which I bought without a SIM lock from the Apple Store.
Despite this, I am having GPS issues, so it is not relevant in my case at least.
Try using a GPS app, such as GPS Diagnostic, on both phones to test satellite signal strength (some apps rely a lot on cell towers and Wifi also, so you need to measure GPS alone).
You could also try backing up your phone and resetting it via iTunes to get the latest iOS (not via your phone's internal settings which will reinstall the old iOS) and then test the GPS on Apple Maps before restoring your apps and settings etc. If it doesn't work properly, get it replaced. I did for my iPhone X and the GPS is working fine now - that is, it can track me accurately walking or jogging through parks etc. I don't now about iPhone 6S but my replacement iPhone X seems as at least as accurate now as my iPhone 6 was.
I agree with your statements above. I'm a long time iphone user and still have multiple iPhones in the family. Ever since I bought the iPhone X (A1901) in Dec‘17 I experienced the bad GPS performance. It's unusable for tracking runs and navigation is bad as well. I contacted the apple support about it, did all the things they suggested and even had it diagnosed at a local authorized store. They claim the device is o.k. Also, they treated me as if I was the only one with this problem!
After not getting any help from Apple I did some tests myself using an iPhone5s (A1457), 6s (A1688), 7 (A1778) and the X (A1901). I did a side-by-side comparison of the gps accuracy under various conditions using the app “GPS Diagnostic”
Under all conditions the 5s and 6s performed great. The iPhone 7 and iPhone X, however, performed significantly worse. Worst performance was seen on the iPhone X (e.g. horizontal acc. 6s <5m, iphoneX < 48m or more). Both, the X and 7, almost never reached 100% reception strength reported by the App. Especially in areas with low signal-strength (inside a car, behind a window), the performance dropped significantly.
When comparing the tech specs of the phones I used there is one thing that seems to correlate to the observation. IPhone5s and iPhone6s use a Qualcomm chipset whereas the iPhone7 and the iPhoneX use Intel's.
So, I agree with your statement that this problem could be related to the chipset used within the different models. I’m pretty sure Apple knows about this. Considering the fact that this, most likely, didn’t just start with the iPhoneX I’m outraged that Apple sold me a 1400€ device knowing about the flaw. I also encourage everyone to let Apple know that this is not acceptable.
Unfortunately, the A1865 model is not available in Europe. It’s only sold at AT&T or sim-lock free at US Apple stores. I guess that the people who reported that the issue was fixed after they got the device exchanged at the Apple store got their A1901 model replaced by an A1865 model. It’s hard to believe that Apples technicians don’t know about that. I also think the problem is known here in Europe, but the stuff simply doesn’t have the option to swap the device.
It’s a petty that the only option seems to be selling the iPhoneX, as Apple doesn’t comment on the problem. I don’t think that’s how premium buyers should be treated! Apple, please help!
iPhone X GPS accuracy is weak
