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FFArchitect

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 14, 2010
196
0
I don't know if this is a case of reception bars not being displayed correctly or a genuine issue with the antenna.

The following video can describe the issue better. Holding the iPhone 4 in your hands with your fingers touching the antenna seems to immediately and consistently send the bars plummeting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ixIHyEPO5g
 

RonHC

macrumors 6502a
Apr 27, 2010
996
7
Yea it is strange

I usually had 2-3 bars in my room
Now on my iPhone 4, i have 1 bar
 

mugwump

macrumors regular
Jan 10, 2004
219
0
At the very end of that video, the hand is blocking the lower notch, which is the antenna. Is that the problem here? On a normal conversation, that notch is not really covered.
 

Apollo 13

macrumors 6502a
May 29, 2010
679
16
hmm...maybe that's what my GF is experiencing, but don't see how a software update can fix it when it's a hardware problem.
 

magpie maniac

macrumors 6502
Aug 24, 2007
308
125
This is exactly what I'm getting. It's a great phone when left on the table, but the moment you pick it up, it's a paperweight. I've had more dropped and failed calls today with the 4 than I ever had with the previous iPhones combined. Seriously.
 

fsck-y dingo

macrumors 65816
Jun 14, 2009
1,008
0
In Mossbergs review he reported that this was a known issue and a fix is coming soon.

Hmm. You'd think the iPhone testers would have caught this but then again maybe they were too drunk to notice.

Between the reception, facetime security rumor and the yellow screen issues popping up the wait for the FedEx truck gets less and less exciting.

At least there seems to be a remedy for the reception coming sometime in the future.
 

jimithing1

macrumors regular
Feb 16, 2008
184
36
Well apparently the signal is fine it's just the animation on the bars is what is messed up.
 

Stangs55

macrumors 6502a
Jul 3, 2007
777
46
The Lone Star State
In Mossbergs review he reported that this was a known issue and a fix is coming soon.

From what I remember, he just mentioned that the iP4 reports less bars than the other phones however reception was still at least as good or better...yet in this video, he completely loses reception and goes to 'Searching'...doesn't seem like software fix for that...
 

mo0620

macrumors regular
Jun 15, 2010
113
2
according to ifixit teardown, the iphone 4 chooses a tower with less strain, rather than full signal, it's to improve call reliability
 

WhySoSerious

macrumors 65816
Jun 30, 2007
1,450
68
Dallas, TX
the "fix" usually isn't to make the reception better........the "fix" usually is to just visually increase the bars that appear as "reception" to fool the user into thinking they are getting full reception, when in reality, you can't fix reception unless you redo the hardware.

so all the iP4 users who used to get 4 bars on their older phone, will see the iP4 show 1 bar. then after the "fix" comes out, the bars will increase visually to 4 again, but in reality the phone is only receiving 1 "bar" of reception still.

it's all just a visual trick to calm the masses.
 

gloss

macrumors 601
May 9, 2006
4,811
0
around/about
That video is incredibly depressing. One wonders how such a thing made it past prototype. This is worse than the EVO's touchscreen response issues.
 

FFArchitect

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 14, 2010
196
0
We've tried placing fingers in different positions to see if there is an exact spot triggering it, but all we seem to find is that, with great consistency, the bars plummet when we hold it and the palm and fingers come in contact with the sides.
 

auero

macrumors 65816
Sep 15, 2006
1,386
114
Well apparently the signal is fine it's just the animation on the bars is what is messed up.

Yes it would be one thing if the signal dropped to now bars but the phone goes into SEARCHING... which means its completely lost service. That's horrible!
 

bahooki

macrumors regular
Jun 20, 2010
224
0
The worst part is that it happens when you hold it like a phone. I guess for now I'll need to make all speakerphone calls. This is dreadful.
 

slsl0

macrumors member
Jun 15, 2010
63
0
Am I the only one this doesn't happen too?

Edit: Gasp, it happened, it degraded when I turned WiFi off and was actively using the signal
 

FFArchitect

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 14, 2010
196
0
One more followup:

What we really want to know is if anyone else is seeing this symptom?

It's not so much of an issue to us about the masking raw reception (we do know about that), it's the sharp decrease when one comes in contact with the antennae.
 

Shaddow825

macrumors 6502
Mar 13, 2006
445
44
I noticed this a while ago and was messing around seeing if it was all in my head of not. I do not know if it really affects anyhting as I havent had time to just use it real world yet
 

amps

macrumors member
Jul 2, 2009
99
26
No doubt that looks really bad, but in my case, I am fairly close to a tower and always have a strong signal and I'm not able to duplicate that problem at all. In fact the bars never move from full bars no matter how I hold the phone. It must have something to do with the tower locations or signal strength in the area.
 

coz

macrumors member
Oct 2, 2008
75
0
maybe you need the bumper on it so you don't ground out the antenna? that stinks
 
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