iPhone 5S sensors and why they’re broken

They aren’t exactly what one might call “calibrated”. That’s putting it lightly. It’s a shame that something with so much hype, so many minds looking at it and testing it, could have missed something so oddly simple.

The iPhone 4 had Antennagate, the iPhone 5 had Scuffgate – and now, if a huge number of reports on the Apple Support site and elsewhere are to be believed, the iPhone 5S is suffering from Sensorgate.

It’s hard to believe that Apple would mess up so momentously, but it seems that the gyroscope, compass, and accelerometer are all faulty on the iPhone 5S. It isn’t clear if the sensors themselves are broken or poorly calibrated, but the result is the same: You should not use your iPhone 5S for anything that relies on these sensors, such as playing games, checking the level of your latest DIY efforts, or navigating dense woodland.