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2 iPhone 4's Signal Test. One works, One doesn't. Same Location

HLdan

HLdan

macrumors 603
Original poster
Aug 22, 2007
6,383
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I went to my local Apple store in the San Francisco Bay Area last week and saw that one of the iPhones 4's out of the 3 I tested had zero problems with signal. I could hold it any which way I wanted and no change in signal. The other iPhones I tested did have a signal problem as soon as I pressed my thumb against the buttons on the top side of them. Some members here were in disbelief of my findings and requested that I post a video so check it out. NOT All of the iPhone 4's are defective. :p

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTtzkZk8G-k
 
Not that I don't believe you but that video does not clearly show your hand placement on the first test around the bottom. You only focus on the top of the phone. I am sure that is going to get brought up.

Interesting find though.
 
Doesn't this severely complicate things now? So do those of us who are seeing the reception issues have faulty hardware? We should be given replacements then. According to this video not all show the reception issues. Apple did in fact produce bad batches, and this video should be more than enough proof to show we are deserving of new phones. I guess it's time to schedule that genius appointment now.
 
RTigay said:
Not that I don't believe you but that video does not clearly show your hand placement on the first test around the bottom. You only focus on the top of the phone. I am sure that is going to get brought up.

Interesting find though.
Click to expand...

On the first few seconds of the video on the first iPhone I show the sides of it to prove there's no bumper on it and then I place my finger on the bottom left side of the phone seam of the metal is. This part and the top part are where the iPhones tend to fail and it didn't. If you're talking about the very bottom of the phone I haven't heard of anyone mention that before.
 
I read somewhere here they won't let people get a replacement with reception issue since it a non-issue that will be fix with the upcoming update. Is this still true?
 
It's not proven to be a defect. And the difference in effect could easily be due to different spots in the strore having different RF signal strengths (5 bars covers a 10,000 to 1 range), different phones randomly connecting to different nearby cell towers, different hand moisture content, or even sweat or grease on the antenna from handling by previous store customers.
 
firewood said:
It's not proven to be a defect. And the difference in effect could easily be due to different spots in the strore having different RF signal strengths (5 bars covers a 10,000 to 1 range), different phones randomly connecting to different nearby cell towers, different hand moisture content, or even sweat or grease on the antenna from handling by previous store customers.
Click to expand...

Each iPhone 4 I tested was less than 2ft away from each other.
 
firewood said:
It's not proven to be a defect. And the difference in effect could easily be due to different spots in the strore having different RF signal strengths (5 bars covers a 10,000 to 1 range), different phones randomly connecting to different nearby cell towers, different hand moisture content, or even sweat or grease on the antenna from handling by previous store customers.
Click to expand...
This is correct. It could even be the difference between orientation as well. Cell connections are fickle.

HLdan said:
Each iPhone 4 I tested was less than 2ft away from each other.
Click to expand...
It's basically impossible to diagnose with the Field Test screen removed from iPhone 4 (or is it iOS 4?) because we have no idea if they're connected to two different towers, etc. The bars on any digital cellphone tell the user almost nothing anyway. It's mainly there as a hold over from the analog days and the marketers aren't going to stop using it.
 
JLEW700 said:
Did you get the serial numbers?
Click to expand...

Sorry no. The only requests I've been reading on the iPhone 4 threads has been just to show 2 iPhone 4's in the same location proving that at least one of them works and the other one doesn't. Since they are demos there's a very good chance they are made in the same week, plus the iPhone 4 has been out only less than a month.
 
HLdan said:
Sorry no. The only requests I've been reading on the iPhone 4 threads has been just to show 2 iPhone 4's in the same location proving that at least one of them works and the other one doesn't. Since they are demos there's a very good chance they are made in the same week, plus the iPhone 4 has been out only less than a month.
Click to expand...

How so...?
Please
 
To OP, if you at that store again , can you please put both phone in airplane mode and than put it back on and do the test, I still believe both phone are using a different tower.
 
CBR900RR said:
To OP, if you at that store again , can you please put both phone in airplane mode and than put it back on and do the test, I still believe both phone are using a different tower.
Click to expand...

Why would that suddenly make them on the same tower?:confused:
 
NT1440 said:
Why would that suddenly make them on the same tower?:confused:
Click to expand...

Not necessary on the same tower, just want to see if that would make a difference.

edit
4 things can happen
If nothing change, possible one of the phone is defective.
If the result is opposite, the defective phone become good and the good phone become defective, tower issue.
If both phone lose signal from death grip, tower issue.
If both phone don't lose signal from death grip, tower issue.
 
Benji222 said:
How so...?
Please
Click to expand...
I would guess that Apple stores all received their demo units at the same time, and that they were all manufactured at roughly the same time; thus I think it's a reasonable assumption to say they were made in the same week.
 
Thanks for sharing that. My i4 has none of the reported issues and people keep saying, "just wait, it will happen". No doubt, some time in the life of this phone, I will drop a call...just like I did with my 3GS, my 3G, and my Droid.

(the girl's voice in the background of the video was cracking me up, "OMG, ooooooo, it's so huge") Hope she was comparing iPhone and iPad.
 
My phone has the problem (I can make it drop from 5 bars to one in my house), but there are some days I just can't make the signal drop as sharply as others. In the same location.

I've also not been able to get it to drop a call, even though I purposefully bridge the gap with my finger, and watch the bars shorten. Thus, I try not to worry so much about it.

-HM
 
And to make it even more interesting:

Neither of these phones were using 3G...
 
Sorry but the fact that the phones were not in the exact same location basically invalidates any conclusions you make from the test. It is almost impossible to predict how an RF signal is going to behave in a very complex indoor environment like that. If you were outside in a clear area then I would say a couple feet might not matter, but inside a structure it can make a huge difference. As someone else mentioned, if you could have verified that they started out at the exact same dB level then it would be OK, but the bars don't tell us that.

Another possible variable is the amount of greasy/dirty buildup on the sides of the phone from so many people handling them. I would recommend at least wiping off the sides off the phone before doing a test like this.
 
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