Apple Antenna Engineer and Carrier Partner Expressed Early Concern Over iPhone 4 Design

[Anuba]

I wonder if Apple's decision to put the antenna on the outside had anything to do with the Nokia antenna configurations patent dispute. It could have been a preemptive decision to avoid further litigation/having to pay a hefty licensing fee.

I doubt it. It was in order to make the phone thin.

If you've followed the Keynotes over the last few years you'll know that Steve isn't the only one getting thinner, but the products as well and he always make a big deal about it (pictures showing comparisons with the previous model from the side, etc). They've made 'thin' into such a big deal that people take for granted that each model will be thinner than the last, to the point where it would make headlines if it wasn't, and the new product would immediately be ridiculed as the iBrick, the iBurger, the FatPhone etc.

So... they had the 3GS which was already jam packed and now they were faced with having to shoehorn a much larger battery, a gyroscope, a front facing cam, LED flash etc into the phone and I'm sure 64 GB was on the drawing table at some point as well. Also, they wanted to solve the long standing issue with radio transparency dictating which material they put on the back of the phone. The previous designs were compromises (aluminum with a black plastic window wasn't ideal, and the full plastic back was kinda cheapo if people were used to aluminum.

Then someone had an Eureka moment and figured that if you put the antenna in the metal band around the edges, you kill two birds with one stone: You're free to put any material on the back because radio transparency is a non issue, plus you make more room on the inside with the internal antennas eliminated. There was just one catch, one that didn't go down so well with users as it turned out.

 

[JMax1]

Buy stock soon?

So now that the stock will inevitably fall, maybe it's almost time to buy! I'm still kicking myself for actually spending the money on the first iPhone instead of investing that same money in apple stock - I could afford lots of iPhones by now!

also -
- Did the guy who lost the iPhone in the bar have signal problems? I bet he's happy that he's no longer the "bad guy"
- This is all such a shame - the outside wraparound antenna was such a good idea in theory...

 

[the editor]

Wow a press conference.... its like a movie.

BTW... There will be NO RECALL... so don't start posting about how there will be one!!!!!!!!!!

Its a freakening signal issue that is 100% avoidable and fixable by the user. Recall is just stupid for such a non-critical issue.

haha are you on crack or just plain stupid? its freaks and fan-boys like you whom are the reason why apple is getting away with selling a malfunctioning phone and releasing crap to its customers. The freaking thing doesn't work the way it should, and it needs to be fixed POINTBLANK, if they need to do a recall than thats the way it should be, people payed for a 100% working phone, not 50% so Apple deal with it.

if its no biggie for you than by all means keep the damn thing, but speak for yourself...

 

[derek4484]

This whole story is just taking on a life of it's own now. Can Apple now do anything aside from a recall to convince people to trust them again? This could be damning evidence. Time to bust out more conspiracy theories, lol.

I'll tell you one thing: I've bought every iPhone on launch day. It's looking less likely that I will buy the next iPhone on launch day. If a hardened fan like me can think that, then imagine the millions of people trying to decide between Android and iOS. Makes it a little easier? Just enough to push them a bit in one direction? Apple needs to be honest above all else tomorrow.

I'm not a hardened apple "fanboy", but I do have a 5th gen Ipod video, and then bought a 2G iphone and love it. I then bought a mac mini (because I wanted to run the iphone sdk), and i really like all my apple products. I decided back in january to hold off on the 3gs and get the iphone 4. So I waited and waited. Finally on preorder day I tried to order and couldnt. I've still been trying to get one, every place is backordered. Now after hearing/reading all the bad reviews, I think I'm going to Android and getting the new Galaxy S phone this weekend. Its got better hardware, and you can actually hold it and make phone calls. Granted I'm a bigger fan of iOS than Android, but after all it is a phone first, and if you cant make a freaking phone call on it, what good is it anyways?

So I'm one customer apple lost for good. I know I'm only one person but it'll add up, I'm sure there's millions of potential iphone4 customers out there bailing on them and getting droid x's or t-mobile vibrants today.

 

[joeblowatl]

This is how I see it going down:

ENG: You want the antenna on the outside of the phone?
Ive: It is the ultimate in design. So sleek. So sexy.
ENG: But you will essentially be able to ground your antenna
Ive: It is the ultimate in design. It will reinvent the phone as we know it.
ENG: This will cause reception issues.
Ive: It is the ultimate in design. Magical. Beautiful. Sexy.
ENG: This is not going to work well.
Ive: We are gonna put the goddamn antenna on the outside.
ENG: After testing it this is gonna be the suck. People are going to basically lose connection.
Ive: It's beautiful.

Jobs: **** it we will sell a case.

 

[Manzanito]

Shhhh, no one wants to hear that your device is working well.

The Engadget staff says (each comment from a different staffer):



Yet somehow the naysaying engineer is suddenly a hero?

Hey folks, let's not let reality get in the way of a good scandal!

In that very same article, some of the staff state they have experienced the issue and had dropped calls.

Weird that you choose not to quote them, only the ones with nice things to say (to be honest, most of them, but still, "let's not let reality get in the way").

The whole article can be read here.

 

[betab]

Tomorrow press conference poster...

 

[Eminemdrdre00]

How is this press conference going to be handled?
Is it going to be on TV? Blogged?
How do we get the info live? Or do we?

Engadget will be live blogging. I don't think we'll get live video. I also wonder if Apple will put up the press conference on Apple.com? I'm sure news stations will be filming it and playing clips on the nightly news.

 

[psac]

Tomorrow press conference poster...

Nice!

 

[mr.steevo]

i dont get why there is all this in-fighting. Some people have a problem, some dont. Apple still need to rectify it. It doesnt help by telling me to just take it back if not happy. I've spent a lot of money in the appstore to just walk away

Good point.

s.

 

[adztaylor]

Clearly he didn't express enough "concern"

 

[anomie]

Phunnie how money can buy people off!

Why not? It´s not about a social revolution or something. It´s about a product, a phone.
If their is need for a case to use it, then they shall offer cases or money for cases. Would be a fair thing.
Anyway, to me it´s not a big issue. Some phones drop more some less when being held. iPhone 4 obviously drops more, so consider a case if you feel afraid or just don´t buy it.
I still don´t know anyone unable to make phonecalls as usual with the new iPhone.

 

[derek4484]

Yeah, like a senior engineer is allowed to talk to steve.

Absolutely a Sr Design Engineer is allowed to talk to Steve. As integral as steve is in the design of the iphone, you bet your ass he's in design meetings all the time.

Also, if a peon like you can send jobs an email, you dont think his Sr Engineers know his email address as well?

Stop drinking the jobs kool-aid

 

[SteveSparks]

If all the field testing was done in a super secret 3GS looking case, no wonder they had no problems. That's the fix, a case.

 

[madmaxmedia]

To me, the real question here is whether Jonathan Ives has developed way too much power at Apple (with the assistance of Steve Jobs). The form over function mentality at the company has gotten way out of hand. Ironically, this is probably the same mentality that drives people who refuse to use bumpers and cases. In the latter case, it's no big deal because it's simply a matter of your own life choices. But in the case of Apple, the company's products are really suffering because of nutty aesthetic theories being given way too much weight in product design. Ives has become like a contemporary Frank Lloyd Wright, producing the equivalent of Wright's leaky houses. (I'm just using Wright as an example. Most name architects these days produce monstrosities that don't function well as buildings but serve simply as works of art reflecting their creators' egos).

If I had to guess, I am guessing that Apple did not know the impact of the iPhone antenna design on reception. Actually that seems hard to believe as well, but...

I am doubting that this whole thing is due to Ives having too much power, and demanding that the phone be constructed in exactly this manner, reception be damned.

If they had discovered and studied the decreased reception when the antenna gap is bridged, you would think they would have applied some sort of non-conductive coating to the bands. It wouldn't totally alleviate the problem, but from reading anecdotal reports it would have helped. Perhaps enough that then any decrease in signal strength would be comparable to any other phone.

Of course, compounding all of this is the fact that not all reports about reception are consistent, even when you take into account signal variability.

I don't know, the whole thing is really strange. The iPhone 4 was the best reviewed iPhone update yet, and now all this. The good thing is that Apple is going to hold a press conference. It's possible in the last couple of days they've discovered things that we don't know yet (of course this could be for the better or for the worse.)

 

[Eriden]

Ruh-Roh!

IANAL, but if this story is true, methinks that Apple will be settling that lawsuit for hundreds of millions of dollars. If not, expect to see Ruben Caballero and Steve Jobs at the top of the witness list for the Plaintiffs.

 

[ender21]

I love the design and it works great for a lot of people and I know this is just a bunch of people with mob mentality! I can't believe nobody will just take it back if they feel as passionate as some of these posts, you would be a complete IDIOT not to take it back! Mine as well as a few of my friends work absolutely great, even in bad signal areas if I put my finger on the "sweet spot" and get it to drop 1-2 bars no dropped calls or data, then with strong signals I can't get it to drop even one!!! Give Apple a chance and I hope they leave the phone the way its is, it's awesome! BTW I don't use a case, still works great!!!

One of the reasons people care so passionately is because they DO like it and they DO want it to work well for them. I certainly know that's the case for me. I'm not a yes man for the things I like. I hold them to greater account than the things I *don't* like. But I'm also not a zealot and know that every product has its flaws, and can also accept that competitors being competitive is good for us the consumers. So I *try* not to hate any one brand or product. That said, this is a design flaw and should have some sort of positive resolution. It's good business.

We tend to want more from the things we care about. If we were indifferent, THEN the "mob" would unemotionally return their phones and move somewhere else. Other factors such as loads in app investment and/or music/movies, and that makes the "just return it" philosphy even more problematic.

 

[Anuba]

This whole story is just taking on a life of it's own now. Can Apple now do anything aside from a recall to convince people to trust them again? This could be damning evidence. Time to bust out more conspiracy theories, lol.

There are two things they need to do in order to make that happen:

1) Fix (or alleviate to a satisfactory degree) the issue.

2) Come clean.

I can't stress #2 enough. Trying to sneak the antenna design drawbacks under the radar was a bigger mistake than designing it like that in the first place. It's like releasing a new car with an inverse gas pedal and not letting people discover it until they're already driving. There should've been a warning label on (or in) the box. Steve should've said "just so you know, this phone is a bit 'special' in terms of how you should hold it". I'm sure he could've made it sound like a feature rather than a flaw, he's good with that kind of used car salesman talk. That would've stopped the snowball in its tracks at an early stage.

 

[jon macnrow]

Ugh... I really hope Apple has something in store for tomorrow so we can stop hearing about this...Also if I hear the word "bumper" one more time I just might implode...Is there an app for that?

 

[bizzon]

Good news!

So the issue was raised. That is what the antenna engineer is paid for. The new design was tested (thoroughly, since it is a completely new form/design), and Apple decided that it is was a non-issue after testing (advantages > disadvantages). So they went ahead with production. This thing is clearly getting overhyped. Dropped calls happen on all phones, and are primarily related to network. Get over it or pick another phone.

 

[Arisian]

So is Ruben looking for a new job yet?

hah - I bet he wishes Apple would fire him. That would be the easiest way to a multi-million dollar lawsuit.

On a more obvious note, when your lead antennae engineer tells you "Hey this is a bad idea!" - you need to listen.

I think Jobs micromanaging really got in the way on this one.

 

[cpalmer17]

Ruben Caballero: Gizmodo's newest hire!

 

[01grander]

The majority of Macrumors is a bunch of Apple fanboys trying to defend apple.....

 

[Anuba]

Ugh... I really hope Apple has something in store for tomorrow so we can stop hearing about this...Also if I hear the word "bumper" one more time I just might implode...Is there an app for that?

Not yet... in the meantime you can always watch Grace Jones' "Pull up to the Bumper".

 

[derek4484]

...I am a college educated man, who works in the education filed teaching our youth, ...

Hopefully you're not teaching my kids, because you cant even spell field.