iPhone 4 Drops Calls when Left Corner is Touched

[dagomike]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03PQyWp0mWE

iPhone 4 consistently drops call when touching the lower left corner of the device. I did it four times on video, but could have done it all night. Hopefully this is just a lemon.

[dolphindolphin]

There are tons of threads (and a story on the homepage) about this problem. Please refer to them.

[mikethebigo]

That vid's a pretty good one actually about the whole issue. Seems they're able to reproduce it fairly well.

[211269]

Wow, thats inexcusable.

[Coolero]

Web pages won't load if the bottom left edge is pressed up against your palm. Take your hand off and watch page load. Easily reproducible

[211269]

Originally Posted by Coolero

Web pages won't load if the bottom left edge is pressed up against your palm. Take your hand off and watch page load. Easily reproducible

Seriously? I hold my phone in my left had too, not cool.

[dagomike]

Originally Posted by dolphindolphin

There are tons of threads (and a story on the homepage) about this problem. Please refer to them.

I appreciate keeping things organized, but as far as I can tell this is the first with actual dropped calls demonstrated, not relative bar strength which might not mean anything.

[mashinhead]

My 3GS must have had a four left corners then.

[splashnader]

Damn I guess I should have made friends so I would have somebody to call to verifacate this.

[protekt0r]

I smell a conspiracy here. There's NO WAY the iPhone made it out of testing w/o this issue cropping up. It sounds to me like Apple found a relatively novel way of solving the problem AND making a crapload of money. It's called the Bumper case. Those stupid things probably cost 5c to make and 15c to package.

I cannot possibly conceive how a software update would fix this issue. But a $29 rubber case certainly will.

[Neil1138]

Thank you for posting a proper video of this problem. Those shaky cam videos were giving me seizures

[Coolero]

Originally Posted by 211269

Seriously? I hold my phone in my left had too, not cool.

Yup. I grip it with my left hand and do the scrolling/clicking with my thumb. The page loading just hangs everytime until I lift my hand off the lower left edge.

[trekkie604]

This video deserves it's own thread. Very clear illustration of the problem. Wow if this is hardware related and not fixable by software... That isn't good...

[markthrash]

The antennae is on the outside now. So covering it up will mess up the signal. Don't know if that's too smart. I'm assuming that's what the bumpers are being used for.

[mgmusicman94]

Originally Posted by protekt0r

I smell a conspiracy here. There's NO WAY the iPhone made it out of testing w/o this issue cropping up. It sounds to me like Apple found a relatively novel way of solving the problem AND making a crapload of money. It's called the Bumper case. Those stupid things probably cost 5c to make and 15c to package.

I cannot possibly conceive how a software update would fix this issue. But a $29 rubber case certainly will.

I absolutely agree. It's a good thing I like the bumper case and will be getting mine tomorrow.

[appleguy123]

How could this get through Apple's testing? BTW I subscribe to your YouTube, you seem very good.

[dagomike]

FWIW, in another video I held the phone with heavy duty chemical rubber gloves. I still lost signal, although didn't actually try to talk on the phone wearing them. I'd think that would be as good if not better than any rubber case.

So... I wouldn't hold out hope for the Bumpers. Something weird is going on... I just hope there's only a small-ish batch of bad phones out there and not something bigger.

[chylld]

mike, as has been previously said, well done on the video. very clear and easy to understand and didn't give me motion sickness

[dagomike]

Originally Posted by appleguy123

How could this get through Apple's testing? BTW I subscribe to your YouTube, you seem very good.

Thanks man...

I keep thinking about that 3GS testing shell may have sufficiently insulated it. (shudder)

[MACis122]

if apple made this so we would buy the bumpers we should be recieving bumpers for free with this phone

[guru_ck]

Yeah my iPhone 4 is routinely searching for signal when I hold it. This is a huge disaster for Apple. They are going to be replacing a lot of phones.

[bahooki]

Thanks Mike! You nailed it perfectly. Now I can at least make some calls if I hold the phone in my right hand and avoid touching the lower left side with my fingers.

This kinda backs up what Walt Mossberg noticed, but allowed himself to be squelched by Apple who claimed it was no big deal. Its in fact a very big deal.

[Figbash Acrobat]

[GASP]

OMG. That and the signal difference is appalling. What the hell happened to improved signal strength, Steve?! I think his inbox might just explode tomorrow!

[Figbash Acrobat]

Okay. This HAS to be turned into a poll.

[Eddyisgreat]

Dummy

That's actually a feature. It's a faster way to end a call while you have it up to your face