iPhone 8 and X Users Report GPS Issues, Bug Fix Coming Soon
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A growing number of iPhone 8 and (some) iPhone X users have lodged complaints about their experience with GPS-connectivity issues on their devices, according to a thread over on Apple’s official Support Forums.
Specifically, afflicted users claim to be experiencing an accuracy-related issue on their iPhone 8 or 8 Plus which results in iOS Maps’ blue location marker mysteriously “drifting away” from where they actually are on the map — an issue which some say appears to increase in severity, for example, as they approach higher speeds driving on the Freeway.
Additionally, thought to a lesser extent, Apple’s all-new iPhone X flagship may be experiencing the same issue — however, considering that the iPhone X just launched less than a week ago, there’s presently not enough service data on the handset to determine whether or not a statistically significant number of users are having GPS troubles.
The fact that only iOS 11-running iPhone 8 and X models are experiencing this issue, however, is a clear indication that it’s software-related and not a hardware defect.
Is There a Solution?
When addressing iOS software issues that hinder certain features, the general course of action to fix them would involve either disabling and re-enabling the feature (in this instance, Location Services) by toggling it on and off in Settings; or, by alternatively doing a hard reset of the device and starting from scratch. However, at least with regards to fixing GPS accuracy issues, neither of those methods are helping.
Apple has provided some Support Forums members with a range of responses to the issue — suggesting that some should try exchanging their devices for a new one, for example; however doing so doesn’t appear to solve the problem and therefore Apple will simply have to address it in a future software update.
Fortunately, AppleInsider claims that sources within Apple (who were not authorized to speak, but did anyways) suggested there are “assorted GPS fixes” included in the upcoming iOS 11.2 software update, which are actually present in the iOS 11.2 beta release, currently. Some Apple Support Forums members, accordingly, have acknowledge that the issue has been rectified on their iPhone 8/X running iOS 11.2 beta. So a fix is clearly in the mix — it’s just a matter of time now before the problem is patched for good.
