I have tried all the of the restarting the location services, updating, all of it, and the GPS is still intermittent at best. Is there a fix for this on the $1000 phone?
iPhone X, iOS 11.2.1
Cross posting from thread "Q: iPhone X GPS accuracy is weak" because this thread also needs the answer...
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.
Here is a page that shows what model iPhone X you get with each carrier in each country - https://www.techwalls.com/iphone-x-models-a1865-a1901-a1902-differences/
DO NOT BUY THE A1901 IF YOU CARE ABOUT GPS ACCURACY!
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.
I have an iPhone X A1865 model with iOS 11.3 and have the same GPS issues when using the phone in a 2013 Audi A4 allroad. Not cool.
moe52 wrote:
The car is a BMW Z4, 2005 (E85).
No problems with a Honda Fit. Perhaps you should consider upgrading!
Thanks for this information. When I call Apple again about the interference with my BMW 525d 2015...I will reference this!
Me too. I bought my phone a couple of months ago and GPS is very flaky.
I don't think this is the right answer at all. I got an unlocked phone without a SIM to use on Verizon. I have GPS issues with my phone. How do I check to see which cellular modem/GPS I have?
No, there isn't a fix and they are acting like they have no knowledge of this happening. I'm pretty ticked off. I rely on my GPS for my work since I work in unfamiliar areas a lot.
That made no difference to my phone.
We have to be more vocal about it.
Anyone know if this problem still happens with the new iPhone XS or XR?
Went to Apple store in Covent Garden with my IPhone X experiencing the GPS issue.
The Genius told me it was a known issue which has been escalated to the US, they took my serial number and told me a replacement phone would not solve the problem.
They are looking to resolve the issue with a software patch, and I was told to wait.
Another update. My issue was escalated further, to a super-senior, wizard tech at Apple who is managing the case with engineering. We re-did the logging steps and replicated the problem (again) and this time, engineering reports they saw it and verified. They have filed a bug report.
I still anticipate that it will be a long time before we have a fix but this is progress.
I have updated to latest beta ios. No improvement yet. The GPS is mostly completely wrong when I use some of the sky / planet watching software apps (have no issues on 6A etc). Sometimes as much as 180 degrees, walking around and calibrating compass do not help either. Other than GPS issues, I love this phone.
Good day to you all. i just deal with the minor repairs with apple. But when ever such a problem occurs with the iPhone people do bring to me to repair, such as the searching issue where by your device shows searching instead of the network bars, calling but not able to end, location services i usually do the following steps.
- Do go to settings and check if all is set OK according to what you want.
- Reset all network settings in your settings.
- if is still not OK, i first of all do a backup of some important info using iTunes or iCloud, after that is done i do a system restore of my device using iTunes. (Do make sure you are using the latest iTunes which as of now is 12.9).
After that is done set up your device and check if you issue is Fix. And is there is no solution for me do take it to the nearest Store dealing with apple or a good repairer who can check for any hard ware issue like if the network antenna has an issue, better still do call customer service.
11.2.6 seems to have fixed the GPS/Bluetooth glitch. Fingers crossed.
iPhone X GPS not working
