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iPhone 4 Reception Issue? [Video]

J

jimithing1

macrumors regular
Feb 16, 2008
184
36
magpie maniac said:
You keep saying that, but it's not true. Has your iPhone 4 arrived yet or are you just jabbering?

It's not just about the pretty vertical bars. It's the reception. I've had more dropped and failed calls today than I've ever had with previous iPhones.
Click to expand...

I'm just reporting what Mossbergs article said, but this appears to be a greater issue than what he has reported. No need to get testy dude.
 
palmerc

palmerc

macrumors 6502
Feb 26, 2008
350
225
WhySoSerious said:
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.
Click to expand...

Nonsense. The bars on every phone are a very simplistic measure of an incredibly complex set of factors. Should a phone simply display a number of bars in relation to signal to noise? Or the overall strength? Or the predicted reliability of a potential connection? Wireless communications are an incredibly complex beast and boiling it down to a 5 segment bar is always an art not a science.

So basically every phone lies to you.

All cell phones change their reception characteristics when you touch them, and the chipset in the iPhone isn't anything exotic or custom so this can be fixed by tweaking the algorithm related to picking and communicating with a cell tower and how its quality is depicted on your simplistic little graphic.
 
B

bmms8

macrumors 68020
Dec 19, 2007
2,492
112
i just confirmed that when the phone shows no service, it doesnt even ring when someone calls.. :(
 
S

superscientific

macrumors regular
Mar 18, 2003
100
4
Spring Hill, TN
I just tried that on mine and it didn't do it at all. Weird. I did notice today though when I was out that it did switch signal alot more going from edge to 3G alot more than my 3gs did. That was annoying.
 
L

LowMach

macrumors member
May 7, 2008
89
0
well hell.. this doesn't sound promising at all.

the main reason i ordered one was thinking improved reception quality.

think i will wait to activate tell this clears up.
 
V

vertigo235

macrumors 6502
Jun 6, 2009
442
0
Can someone try this with wifi turned off ? Maybe by pressing both sides you are causing the wifi to interfere with the gsm antenna.
 
A

auero

macrumors 65816
Sep 15, 2006
1,386
114
This might sound stupid but what if it was because our bodies are all different. In a sense that some have screws or plates from surgeries. Even from the exposure from some of our workplaces? Just a thought.
 
S

superscientific

macrumors regular
Mar 18, 2003
100
4
Spring Hill, TN
I cannot produce this problem with the wifi on but I just turned the wifi off and it happened once. Never went to no signal but lost 3 bars. Then I couldn't reproduce it. weird.. Something is going on though
 
serialtoon

serialtoon

macrumors 6502a
Jul 1, 2009
643
139
1 of 8 bits
I had this same exact issue with my Nexus One and all i can say is that, it is not worth owning a phone that exhibits this issue. Google sent out 2 different updates to address the issue, until they gave up. I simply cannot be locked down to another phone with this same problem. Bumper or not, this is just bad design. This really got me thinking whether i want the iPhone 4 or not. Damn it, i was so excited to pick up my phone tomorrow too! Ugh.
 
FFArchitect

FFArchitect

macrumors regular
Original poster
Mar 14, 2010
196
0
auero said:
This might sound stupid but what if it was because our bodies are all different. In a sense that some have screws or plates from surgeries. Even from the exposure from some of our workplaces? Just a thought.
Click to expand...

We tried it with multiple people.
 
BruceEBonus

BruceEBonus

macrumors 65816
Sep 23, 2007
1,355
1,362
Derbyshire, England
About three years ago or so when I got my first iMac 24" Core Duo and the talk on here then was the dodgy colour imperfections on the screen .. a LOT of folks were getting it .. mine was part of the first batch an' all ... I was mighty worried ... however three years later ... not a whiff of a problem.. however the internal Optiarc DVD drive failed 18 months later and was replaced under extended Apple warranty and again its whingeing .. and making ropey sounds ... in other words ... you'll only hear bad stories on 'net forums like this .. never good things ... my one is coming tomorrow in the UK ... so we shall se .. and if its duff .. it goes back ... to Apple Meadowhall Sheffield ... and if they dont have a replacement then they MUST replace it when they do get one ... meantime I'll keep it ... cheers mates!!! :)
 
K

klovering

macrumors newbie
Jun 23, 2010
3
0
Just ran some tests

I've tested my new phone with 3G (WiFi on and off) and with just Edge on. They all have the problem. I go from 4-5 bars to none. We got 2 phones today, they both do it.

I did shove my old Incase slider case on the phone, no problems! Sounds like Apple needs to buy all of us a bumper case!

Kinda p*ssed at the moment...
 
S

superscientific

macrumors regular
Mar 18, 2003
100
4
Spring Hill, TN
serialtoon said:
I had this same exact issue with my Nexus One and all i can say is that, it is not worth owning a phone that exhibits this issue. Google sent out 2 different updates to address the issue, until they gave up. I simply cannot be locked down to another phone with this same problem. Bumper or not, this is just bad design. This really got me thinking whether i want the iPhone 4 or not. Damn it, i was so excited to pick up my phone tomorrow too! Ugh.
Click to expand...

I also have a AT&T nexus one but never have trouble with the 3G and bar reception. I do have it change to edge alot though from 3G inside buildings when I know there is 3G coverage there.
 
V

vhrocks

macrumors newbie
Jun 23, 2010
9
0
I dont see the dropping bars on my iphone 4, Or the yellow corner. i am hoping i got lucky
 
T

ttam110

macrumors 6502
Jun 19, 2010
280
187
Bars don't mean a thing

Someone dial
*3001#12345#*

hit call..
do the same thing but read the #'s instead of bars...
this is just a software glitch apple will fix in the next software update.
 
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