Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MrSmith

macrumors 68040
Nov 27, 2003
3,046
14
Perhaps Apple should have spent the money building a walled ghetto so they could test the phone in a real world setting. I mean, I don't know anyone who makes calls from a room with blue bits sticking out the walls.
blah.gif
 

nkawtg72

macrumors 6502
Aug 16, 2007
308
0
i'm really not all that impressed. even Consumer Reports had a nicer testing room than that for their tests!!!

oh wait, NO THEY DIDN'T :rolleyes:
 

res1233

macrumors 65816
Dec 8, 2008
1,127
0
Brooklyn, NY
the best testing facility is real world

What do you call a van that drives around town? Kinda real world, right? Well, steve mentioned that they do indeed have a testing van, which I assume does exactly that. So, people, at least watch the video, because if you say that they didn't test it in the real world, then you are ignorant, because they did. Also, i'm sure that the iPhone that was lost in a bar was a part of a fleet of iPhones in 3gs disguises out for testing, which is as real world as it gets imo.
 

nkawtg72

macrumors 6502
Aug 16, 2007
308
0
What do you call a van that drives around town? Kinda real world, right? Well, steve mentioned that they do indeed have a testing van, which I assume does exactly that.

i dunno, if the van is based out of GA, it may be parked out back and up on bricks :D

(i live in GA, so i can say that)
 

iphonetester

macrumors member
Jun 18, 2009
92
0
After seeing this, consumer reports must be ashamed to even talk - did you see their testing equipment, I think I used to do physics experiments in high-school using those 11 years ago. Anyone who believe in CS conclusion should feel pretty dumb as well
 

res1233

macrumors 65816
Dec 8, 2008
1,127
0
Brooklyn, NY
i dunno, if the van is based out of GA, it may be parked out back and up on bricks :D

(i live in GA, so i can say that)

I've seen that... But i always wondered why they didn't just leave it on its wheels, i mean, wouldn't that be easier that propping it up on bricks?
 

.Andy

macrumors 68030
Jul 18, 2004
2,965
1,306
The Mergui Archipelago
After seeing this, consumer reports must be ashamed to even talk - did you see their testing equipment, I think I used to do physics experiments in high-school using those 11 years ago. Anyone who believe in CS conclusion should feel pretty dumb as well
As long as their equipment is consistent across the phones they test there really isn't a problem with their conclusions. If you think that the Apple testing facility was designed to test the same things that CS was testing then you've fallen hook line and sinker for the steve jobs reality distortion field. It's exactly why this media event was called today.
 

Glitterkidd777

macrumors newbie
Jul 15, 2010
27
6
Louisville, KY
I wish there was a way to tally how many of the folks complaining about the issue actually own an iphone 4. I only know one person who is actually dissatisfied with the phone, and in my line of work, i get to know a lot of people who own them.
 

reden

macrumors 6502a
Aug 30, 2006
716
823
my question is where did they build the rooms...on the current campus?

and rubberbands? really?

You should go invest in a facility like this, pay salaries, then see if maybe you will find that using simple items like rubber-bands will save you thousands of dollars and precious time before a deadline.
 

CFreymarc

Suspended
Sep 4, 2009
3,969
1,149
Whoah, Steve Jobs really IS Willie Wonka!!!!!! :eek:

Steve is the closest to Willie Wonka there is since Ron Popeil passed away.

I have worked in EM test facilities before but this is damn impressive. I haven't seen anything like this outside an independent test lab.

I'm very curious to see if they lease time in this lab to anyone else. I know a few companies that would gladly spend a few thousand a day for a facility like that.
 

ozie

macrumors newbie
Jul 16, 2010
3
0
Again, read here and they describe every way in which it is tested.

and just WHERE in all the crap does it say they tried it in a car.. does their $100mill room drive through tunnels like cars do.. go up and down elevators..did they drop the phone a few times to see just how well it still works after that..(although it would land on blue foam)

umm..NO!

so just how testing in the blue room does it come to EVERY DAY user use?

Apples own internal memo to apple care staff on the situation had a paragraph stating "DO NOT GIVE BUMPERS WAY" and what are they doing now?.. all this was just some distraction because if there wasn't a problem why give away bumpers.. and if there is a problem is that why they are giving them away.. they have not answered the question truly
 

firewood

macrumors G3
Jul 29, 2003
8,107
1,345
Silicon Valley
I'm a bit surprised that Apple would make a phone that cannot be used in the left hand by many w/o a case....but here we are.

Looks like for every 1% who cannot use it, there are maybe 10% who find that the i4 works better for them (I can get a connection with my i4 where my 3GS couldn't.) Sounds like a great engineering trade-off to me.

What Apple didn't realize was that that first 1% were all fanatical blog commentators. :eek:

BTW - Historical note: According to an Apple (very) old-timer, Apple's first RF test facility was a couple antennas and a card table sitting on a concrete pad in an open pasture out by Half Moon Bay.

They've come a very long way.
 

bjeadeh

macrumors member
Mar 4, 2009
39
3
$100 million for foam?

So exactly how does a bunch of foam lined chambers cost $100 million. No wonder the Droid X is $100.00 less. And how exactly does it not make the antenna loose decibels when holding the phone with the death grip? Sounds a bit like what people are calling the Willie Wonka syndrome is actually real in this case. Cheer up Charlie, Mr. Slugworth actually works for Apple. But since you touched the fizzy lifting drink antenna, you get nothing! You lose! Good day, sir!
 

Anonymous Freak

macrumors 603
Dec 12, 2002
5,561
1,252
Cascadia
...even Apple's PR representatives on the tour had never visited it before...

And why would a PR representative have any reason to visit such an engineering lab, anyway?

I worked as engineering-level tech support at Intel, and while I did technically have access to some serious hardware testing labs (the shock/vibe test lab, for example,) I never had a reason to go, even though it was in the same building. While yes, the rooms may be "required access only", a PR person wouldn't really have any reason to be there, anyway.

For example, I know that the PR person who accompanied a Tom's Hardware reporter through Intel's RF lab (along with the rest of the facility,) had never seen the inside of the lab before. And that's not even that secure a lab.
 

firewood

macrumors G3
Jul 29, 2003
8,107
1,345
Silicon Valley
I'm very curious to see if they lease time in this lab to anyone else. I know a few companies that would gladly spend a few thousand a day for a facility like that.

Probably not. Apple is too careful with their secrets.

But it's Silicon Valley. There are other large RF test chambers owned by other aerospace and tech companies just a few miles away. I've been in at least one (many many years ago), high ceiling, copper door, foam coned walls, and all.
 

Kintheory

macrumors newbie
Jul 16, 2010
7
0
Amazing, and yet the iPhones worst feature has always been the phone portion. Good job, Apple. You fail.
 

oakland6980

macrumors member
Jun 21, 2010
87
0
Yea i liked Steve's jab at consumer reports "we have all of our equipment outside of the room." CS needs to take a look at these pictures and step their game up. That being said come on Apple $100M+ investment for antenna research and still release a phone that can easily 'antennagate' (that just sounds stupid). Yes i know Steve all phones do this. But this iPhone does alot more and easier. Why not put the connecting gap for the two antennas on the top, there even is a gap. most of the time people aren't not holding their phone in landscape (well at least making a phone call). Oh well as long as the pros out wait the cons.
BTW they should have just waited on this update and fixed the proximity sensor. the only reason the release it was because they said they'd release an update 'in a couple of weeks'. And the new bar display looks stupid. I preferred the nice +1 slope of the bars.
 

macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,133
19,658
I kind of want to make an iPhone game out of this. You play as Jason Chen running around from shady test chamber to shady test chamber, avoiding falling into spike pits while also trying to reproduce the signal issue. You only have a limited amount of time to reproduce the signal problem, as a killer Robo Steve Jobs with laser beam eyes is chasing after you. Avoid the falls, reproduce the issue, upload it to YouTube and escape the facilities before it's too late!

Who wants to buy me a dev license? Lol. Also I only kind of know Qbasic, Pascal, VB, HTML and Javascript. So Objective C? Hmmm. But I do know Lightwave and Photoshop. Any takers? Haha! :D
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.