You've answered why you don't get dropped calls. The bumper insulates the gap between the two antennae and prevents you bridging the gap with your hand and detuning them.
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A year later, Antennagate Revisited.
- Thread starter eezing
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You've answered why you don't get dropped calls. The bumper insulates the gap between the two antennae and prevents you bridging the gap with your hand and detuning them.
It's pretty simple.
1. Certain carriers in various parts of the world were operating on already razor thin reception margins in many, many areas
2. The iPhone 4 has the death grip, an established fact, and generally just a slightly weaker signal than other phones (perhaps because, death grip aside, the position of the antenna is more prone to direct contact from the skin or general obscuring by hands)
3. The iPhone4 sold more units than any cell phone in history in all areas of the world.
4. Anybody that purchased an iPhone 4 and lived/worked/frequented areas that were on razor thin reception margins noticed an instant degrading of call quality and higher number of dropped calls.
If you disagree that the iPhone has, at the very least, the reception issues described above, you simply do not know what you're talking about, possibly because you've just been one of the many people who live/work/commute/otherwise exist in areas with ample reception.
I would bet a hefty sum of money that if there are any problems in the iPhone 5 (or whatever name it ends up having), they won't be related to reception. I cannot fathom Apple allowing another PR nightmare like that, and it is the first question everybody will ask upon reviewing the new device.
1. Certain carriers in various parts of the world were operating on already razor thin reception margins in many, many areas
2. The iPhone 4 has the death grip, an established fact, and generally just a slightly weaker signal than other phones (perhaps because, death grip aside, the position of the antenna is more prone to direct contact from the skin or general obscuring by hands)
3. The iPhone4 sold more units than any cell phone in history in all areas of the world.
4. Anybody that purchased an iPhone 4 and lived/worked/frequented areas that were on razor thin reception margins noticed an instant degrading of call quality and higher number of dropped calls.
If you disagree that the iPhone has, at the very least, the reception issues described above, you simply do not know what you're talking about, possibly because you've just been one of the many people who live/work/commute/otherwise exist in areas with ample reception.
I would bet a hefty sum of money that if there are any problems in the iPhone 5 (or whatever name it ends up having), they won't be related to reception. I cannot fathom Apple allowing another PR nightmare like that, and it is the first question everybody will ask upon reviewing the new device.
I still think Apple are slightly to blame here, in terms of where they set the reception thresholds for the signal strength meter to make the reception appear better. They set the point that 5 bars turns to 4 quite low, so the 5th bar covers a huge range of signal strengths. However, the flip side of this is that as soon as you drop to 4 bars, it doesn't take much degradation in the signal strength to drop more bars.
People who claim not to have the problem would do well to turn on the field test display, which shows the actual received signal strength in dBm and then try bridging the antenna gap. They should then see a real drop in signal, one which wouldn't show on the normal meter as their signal strength is strong enough not to cause 5 bars to drop to 4 (or less).
Getting back on topic though, 'AntennaGate' ceased to be any kind of issue, once Jobs offered full refunds and a free cases for a month, to serve every need.
Once every concession was made, the haters had nowhere to go.
I haven't read or heard the antennagate term used by any gadget site since then, which tells you that it was only news, because it was an Apple product. I guess that's the chaff, that comes with the wheat.
Once every concession was made, the haters had nowhere to go.
I haven't read or heard the antennagate term used by any gadget site since then, which tells you that it was only news, because it was an Apple product. I guess that's the chaff, that comes with the wheat.
The big hole in your argument is this: You shouldn't be forced to wrap your beautiful new phone in a crappy case just so it works as advertised.
Apple's "concession" was just to avoid a media disaster, which it didn't entirely accomplish. Now, though, everyone just says" "crappy antenna? Just get a case". Fail.
Hooray arguing!
I live in Sweden where the mobile networks are awesome. I can't get any noticeable signal drop no matter how hard I try. In my situation, the iPhone 4 is amazing at being a phone.
The design flaw in the antenna design coupled with AT&T's/insert crappy carrier here's crappy network together can give a poor experience. I don't think anyone is arguing that.
I live in Sweden where the mobile networks are awesome. I can't get any noticeable signal drop no matter how hard I try. In my situation, the iPhone 4 is amazing at being a phone.
The design flaw in the antenna design coupled with AT&T's/insert crappy carrier here's crappy network together can give a poor experience. I don't think anyone is arguing that.
I'm a straight up fanboy and I had the issue with both of my phones. If I bridge that gap then my signal goes down no matter how much signal I have. My dropped call history on my iPhone 3G is almost non existant where as I'm averaging 2 dropped calls per week on the i4 with a case on it. Same city, same house... I blame AT&T when they're to blame, like building penetration but this is an issue with Apple's design. I'll be getting the i5 just to improve the 'phone'.
Used to drop at least 2 calls daily on my (AT&T) iPhone 4 until I switched to a Verizon iPhone 4. I've dropped maybe 3 calls total since making the switch the first day they were available. While I'm sure it isn't the case for everyone, but for me, Verizon is the more reliable carrier here.
How can anyone think that this is a matter of opinion?
Here's the results of an experiment conducted by two scientists expert in antenna design:
Conclusion:
Here's one of the best videos made that demonstrates the problem area with the antenna: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNmXrVNeGzs&feature=player_detailpage#t=50s
Only a blind fool could watch that video and attribute the problem to AT&T.
Here's the results of an experiment conducted by two scientists expert in antenna design:
Conclusion:
Here's one of the best videos made that demonstrates the problem area with the antenna: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNmXrVNeGzs&feature=player_detailpage#t=50s
Only a blind fool could watch that video and attribute the problem to AT&T.
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I love my iPhone 4 to bits as it does so much so wel,l but being a phone is one of the things it does poorly for me. I live in a reception area where my phone gets two bars of signal and I can guarantee that I'll get a dropped call two out of three times when using it. I'll even put it on speakerphone and hold it with fingertips far away from the bottom left hand edge of the phone to avoid losing the caller and still the reception is awful. My wife has the same with her's although the two Nokia phones she has for work are fine on both the same network and a different one. Our iPhones 3G and iPhone 1 were also fine before we upgraded. Pretty shoddy really and like someone else pointed out in this thread, there will be times when I pull my phone out of my pocket whilst out and about and it will say "searching" for a few seconds before connecting at full strength. It's a real shame because it excels at everything else and I couldn't be without it, but as a phone it's just a bit meh.
I love the Iphone 4. But, I have to agree, the phone is the is the biggest weakness of the phone. I've had the 3g and 3gs, as have my wife and most of my family. Even with good signal strength I still get a number of dropped calls. It's a complaint I hear from many of the Iphone owners in my family. I think the 4 is the best phone out there but Apple needs to improve the most important aspect of the phone, the phone. When the next iphone comes out, I'll get it along with the one after that. I am totally invested in Apple/Mac. I just want a phone that makes great calls, especially to another Iphone.
My only issue with the device isn't with the device- it's the service. Never had problems with ATT, but their service quality has been on a steady decline since March. When my contract is up in April 2012, I am buying the Verizon iPhone. I probably won't switch right after my contract ends, but wait for the iPhone G6.
Love my iPhone4 but the Antenna still is laughably bad for me. Always has been.
Doesn't bother me as much anyone as I just get used to it (and have switched phones twice to make sure it wasnt my specific phone).
Hope they either improve it or move it or whatever for the next phone
Doesn't bother me as much anyone as I just get used to it (and have switched phones twice to make sure it wasnt my specific phone).
Hope they either improve it or move it or whatever for the next phone
I think whether or not this problem gets fixed this September will say a lot about Apple. Will they acknowledge they made a mistake with the antenna design and fix it, or will they continue to sweep it under the (bumper)?
This is a very tricky area, really. Unless the iPhone 4S/5 is a radically different design, they can't really change the antennae on the outside without implicitly admitting there was a problem. If they don't change the overall design, that only leaves them with some way of changing the outside antennae, perhaps with some sort of clear coating over the surface such that the antennae gap is insulated and cannot be bridged by a finger, palm of the hand etc.
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"Blown out of proportion".
When stooge Steve Jobs said that I knew immediately that the fanboys would parrot it over and over again.
When stooge Steve Jobs said that I knew immediately that the fanboys would parrot it over and over again.
Antennagate was ALWAYS massively overblown frankly. I've set up and support over a dozen iPhone 4's for work and know probably another dozen people, both in the UK and abroad, that have them. Some use cases, others go for slip cases, others don't use anything. Total reported issues with the phone part of the device = 0. Holds on to calls in low signal areas far better than most competitors, superior battery life and works very well while roaming abroad for both voice and data.