iPhone Xs Max poor cell phone reception fix?

I was so excited by my upgrade from a 6s to an xs. In most ways it’s amazing!! However, the LTE reception is absurd. Standing outside in Downtown Brooklyn I get one bar. I almost never have more than 2 bars anywhere in the city. My friend with an 8 on the same network has 4 bars in the same places.

It seems to me that the phone is failing to connect to the strongest band available. It seems to take whatever it finds first and stick with it.

Sometimes going in and out of airplane mode and forcing a reconnect to the cellular network will improve my reception.

I’m dropping calls left and right.

This has to be addressed!

Having the same issue with Verizon, spotty in areas. I even got a new XS to try to resolve. It's 100% the phone antennas and it should be addressed in an update, I'm assuming. Had great service with my 7plis. Almost wish I didn't switch, don't want to rely on WiFi. Apple told me to get a new SIM card ....

I got a new one too...out of the box....which was NOT restored from a backup, but set up as a new phone. I STILL have poor cell signal, dropped calls, texts not arriving.....my 8+ had better reception than this phone. My husband still has his, and it's very obvious the issue is with my phone, probably the antenna.

I had the same issue. Went to Verizon (got $130 credit for my issues). Went to apple, got a new phone, didn't work. Went to get a new sim (they were all out because of this issue). It's a phone issue not carrier. Apple needs to address this and I hope 12.1 will fix this. PS I have the iPhone XS, happening to me too.

As always, if your wife is unhappy with her XS, that's why Apple has a return policy.

While some have had issues, the WiFi issues have been largely ameliorated by iOS 12.0.1, and cellular issues often are fixed by carrier updates.

If you have done both and are still having issues, you may just happen to have a situation in which the XS performs poorly for whatever reason.

If that's true, you can either hope it gets fixed in a future software release or return the device and purchase something else.

Update your carrier settings on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

I used to get 3-4 bars of 4G signal at home. I only get 1-2 bars after upgrading to XS Max. It took me 40 minutes to download iOS on this phone compare to 15 minutes on my 7 Plus.

Note signal bars only indicate relative signal strength on a particular device, not an absolute measure across devices.

"3 bars" on an iPhone 7 does not necessarily mean the same thing as "3 bars" on an XS.

Previous iPhones use Qualcomm LTE chips, now iPhone Xs and iphone Xs max switch to use Intel LTE chips. That might be the reason?

Apple told me it was Verizon's issue. It's every phone that's been sold. I was told to get a new SIM card. Due to this issue NO Verizon's have sims for an iPhone left. INSANE!

This is just a forum for people to talk about issues. Please contact apple and let them know. There is a link I posted several times to complain to apple support as they do not look at these forums.

I have IPhone XS on Sprint carrier, I noticed a significant reduction in LTE service and wifi speed, I had moved from my samsung Galaxy S8, and that phone is two years old and had better reception... what is going !?

Hi,

I have recently purchased an Iphone XS Max. Here is the issues i have:

- Phone calls drops randomly either just after I dialled or after 20 sec or after 5 min.. This is extremely annoying an people thinks i'm rude.. Also if i have to make important call, i can be sure this basic phone call will work properly

- Wi-fi drops randomly or being extremely slow.. => Also very annoying.

Can you help me, please ?

I was really hoping regarding a $2000 AUD phone..

My Samsung was slower but at least i could call normally and internet was never being funny.

I have the iPhone XS and I have the same connectivity issue with a very poor cell signal. I have 1 or 2 bar with the iPhone XS in places where I have 3-4 bar with the old iPhone 5. I have contacted Apple support and after testing the phone they said they don’t find any problem with the phone. They suggested an appointment to the store and will try to go to have it fixed. It’s a shame that such an expensive phone doesn’t perform as it should on the cell signal. In some place, the phone has no signal at all and the phone is therefore useles! this is not what I expected from Apple!!!

Prior to obtaining the iPhone max, I had the iPhone X. I always had 3 to 4 bars of signal strength. It wasn’t until I got the Max that I noticed my connectivity was lacking. Everyone else in my household have older iphones which continued to have strong connectivity. I contacted Apple who troubleshot the issue by having me reset my network options. When this failed, they forwarded me to my cellular provider. Everyone shares the same provider in my household and the only variable that has changed is my iPhone upgrade. With the only change in variables being my iPhone upgrade, Apple still saw fit to forward me to my cellular provider. I am very disappointed and Apple’s response.

Same exact problem here.... 1600 dollars and my 6S Plus got better reception....I’m calling tomorrow and if a fix isn’t in place I’m returning it ....just bad business.... Hey Apple! how about testing these phones and not worrying so much about release deadlines . Just bad business.....

Same issue here. On my XS max I get 1-2 bars and the other phones have 2-3 bars. Also my Iphone x had no issues. It is not the bars but the reception and quality of the phone calls that are new with this phone that is the issue. Working with apple and still no answers