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iPhone 14 Pro comes with dual-frequency GPS

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191–200 of 205 posts

Re: iPhone 14 Pro comes with dual-frequency GPS

#191

Honest concern: how do we know that Apple isn't going to secretly share this data anyone who asks for it politely? I know they've been very good at maintaining privacy-first appearance, but where is too much good stuff a bad combo? Seriously though, I love iPhones as the next guy, and find them very convenient, but are we trading convenience for carrying an unbound GPS tracker in every pocket, and if so, how do we ch…

Use android AOSP, and only specifically control what application controls you give, you can turn GPS access off on android and it is truely off.

Re: iPhone 14 Pro comes with dual-frequency GPS

#192
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The single frequency situation isn't all that bad though since there are a dozen satellites in view and tracked even in urban outdoor environments.

I live in San Francisco. We don't exactly have the tallest buildings, but I can assure you from years of tracking runs in the downtown area here and nearby forested areas, GPS gets very screwed up unless it has a clear view of the sky. This is with a variety of Garmins, Apple iPhones and Apple Watch. I'm looking forward to the newer devices with L5.

Given how many Android phones already have this, maybe you could borrow one and compare? I want to know the answer.

Re: iPhone 14 Pro comes with dual-frequency GPS

#193
post #29

For Android users, there's an interesting article about dual-frequency GPS at https://barbeau.medium.com/dual-frequency-gnss-on-android-de... (source: https://github.com/barbeau/gpstest/blob/master/FAQ.md#does-g... ).

So my 2 year old Android device already had a feature that was only now implemented by Apple in their top of the line products. Neat. Does anyone have personal experience of how dual-frequency improves GPS? As I'm not really using GPS a lot, I'm not sure I noticed a difference from my previous devices (I live in EU, so also no high rise skyscrapers here)

I really don't care that you already had this feature.

Re: iPhone 14 Pro comes with dual-frequency GPS

#194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't bother trying to reason on this. I'm an Android developer, but use an iPhone. I've noticed some Android users really need their wins against Apple. It's almost like a Linux user trying to convince you how awesome and slicker the dev experience is, vs how bloated and slow your Macbook is: the point isn't to inform you, it's to reassure themselves.

I don't know which rock you're living under but Apple users do this way way more often to validate their purchase.

Ok.

Re: iPhone 14 Pro comes with dual-frequency GPS

#195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GNSS is a generic term for satellite based positioning systems. It looks like you're referring to the iPhone adding Galileo support in the 8/X. L5 support has been available in a number of devices for a couple of years now. Garmin was one of the first to use L5 in commercial devices, with their Fenix watches a while back. The phone I'm currently using, the Pixel 6 Pro uses the L5 band. It's nice and I can definitely…

In my experience I find Apple tends not to add features that don’t meet a reliability or quality bar, which is why they’re usually not first movers on things like 4G or 5G. I had an LG phone that was one of the first in 4G (at least on my carrier) and the thing ran so hot it was often painful to touch.

I hear this claim a lot, especially by Apple brand enthusiasts, but is there really any data supporting this?

From my memory Apple is just often late to the party. Especially for 4G and LTE.

Re: iPhone 14 Pro comes with dual-frequency GPS

#196
post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ahead in what? Money they fleeced from US market? Core fanbase satisfaction? I don't think they were technologically ahead in anything in a decade or so. Unless you count inventing new charging ports and removing headphone jack or discovering that screen can have notches and customers still buy it.

unless you count the fast mobile chip year over year for the last decade, developed and designed in-house

Are they leapfrogging their competition or just keeping pace with the first place going alternatively to Apple and Android chips every generation where simply the newest chip is the fastest?

Re: iPhone 14 Pro comes with dual-frequency GPS

#197
post #178

Earlier quoted context omitted.

unless you count the fast mobile chip year over year for the last decade, developed and designed in-house

Are they leapfrogging their competition or just keeping pace with the first place going alternatively to Apple and Android chips every generation where simply the newest chip is the fastest?

When was the last time a Qualcomm (let alone an Exynos or Kirin etc) was faster than the Ax of that year? I can't even remember. Any ideas?

Re: iPhone 14 Pro comes with dual-frequency GPS

#198
post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My Google Pixel 6 can already do this. I can see L5 and L1 GPS satellites at the same time right now. I can also see a lot of other systems ones.

How is the positioning accuracy outdoors? My iPhone 13 is rather disappointing in this regard. Even in my garden, with a clear sky, Maps.app will show my location at least 5 m off my actual position.

I live in a building. From my window I can see 28 satellites and I have a 2m precision radius.

Re: iPhone 14 Pro comes with dual-frequency GPS

#199
post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it still requires an initial lock to GPS before feeding them in Is there any technical reason, or is it just protectionism? (as in, no GPS lock? No lock at all, even if Galileo and Glonass are 100% fine!) > Beidou is still banned and blocked in firmware while in US even though the satellites are broadcasting, since this constellation lacks US approval Is it legal to use a Xiaomi phone in Wifi only mode with Beidou…

> Is there any technical reason, or is it just protectionism? (as in, no GPS lock? No lock at all, even if Galileo and Glonass are 100% fine!) No technical reason. It's a mixture of both legitimate concern for public safety (they are newer constellations with a shorter reliability track record) and the uh, more political concerns over privacy and national security. I wouldn't be surprised if China does the inverse co…

> It's legal to use if it doesn't transmit on someone else's licensed spectrum

Great then! I only want to listen, to study the performance of the different networks when non-technical limitations are removed.

> No technical reason

Then it's exactly what I thought: protectionism.

I'll try to get my hands on some devices and play with them - or mod existing ones if possible!

> More than anything I want the choice to be able to enable and disable whatever constellations I want and not deal with the bullshit that is Qualcomm's undocumented GNSS receiver firmware

Let's get in touch by email, I want to explore the GNSS firmware to allow "everything and the kitchensync"!

Re: iPhone 14 Pro comes with dual-frequency GPS

#200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been thinking about getting one of those, I would really want to buy a GPSMap 66sr but I also use InReach a lot. Which the 66i has, but it lacks the dual-band GPS... So neither option is really perfect. And it's a big expense for me so I don't want to buy something that gets superseded a month later (again) In the end I decided I'd wait until Garmin comes up with a GPSMap which has both dualband and InReach. But…

Would the iPhone 14's built-in Satellite SOS (and satellite location sharing with friends) feature replace your need for an InReach device? It depends on how you use the InReach, I guess.

I don't know.. I don't use iPhones anymore (for software compatibility and price reasons - on a Spanish salary they are simply too expensive) but if Samsung would get a similar feature then perhaps...

It depends how well it works though. And how much fussing around is actually required with that targeting stuff. Of course in an emergency I may not always be able to fuss with it a lot. It depends on real-world usability. I'm sure the various hiking sites will put it to the test when it comes out.

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