Apple iPhone XS And XS Max Owners Complain Of Bad Wi-Fi, Cellular Reception

Apple unveiled its new 2018 iPhone models earlier this month, and the devices included the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR. Not long after the devices were announced, a report surfaced that claimed the devices offered faster downloads than previous generation iPhones. However, some iPhone XS and XS Max buyers are complaining that their devices suffer from bad Wi-Fi and cellular signal strength.

Some of the owners of the new devices are claiming that their previous iPhone 7 and iPhone X smartphones offered better signal strength. One Twitter user, Justin Flood, reports that his iPhone 7 had a significantly better signal than his new iPhone XS. He also mentions that Speedtest shows an issue with long ping times. Flood notes that it takes a long time to make a connection, but once made "it goes." Another user responding to Flood says that his XS Max can’t keep a WiFi signal "farther than outside my front door" while noting that his iPhone X held a signal without issue.

Anyone else having less than great LTE performance on iPhone XS? My iPhone 7 held signal way better.

— Justin Flood (@JustinFlood) September 24, 2018

A thread on Reddit has owners of the new iPhone devices talking about signal strength issues and Wi-Fi woes, and the problems aren’t limited to a single carrier. The lower signal strengths on the new iPhones are noted in a report from WiWavelength via tests in a lab environment. Those tests showed significantly weaker signal strengths than the iPhone 8 and iPhone X devices offered. The curious part about the weaker signals is that the new iPhone models have an antenna band around the bottom edge of the smartphone that last year's devices lacked. That should mean better signal, but many owners of the new devices report the opposite.

The good news for owners of the poorly performing iPhone devices is that the iPhone 7 had a similar issue when it was new, and a software update fixed the problem. Perhaps Apple will be able to issue a software update to address the poor cellular and Wi-Fi signal strength reported by iPhone XS and XS Max owners. Apple hasn’t officially confirmed the issues or noted that it is working on a fix.