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

[MacHiavelli]

Apple have apparently got a fix - an internal bumper:

http://technologme.com/apple-fix-iphone-4-with-internal-bumper/1750/

 

[Anuba]

could also be the options expiration is friday, earnings are announced NEXT WEEK, I think they want to get the street comfortable with whatever costs may be associated with a recall.

Yup, that's why I said "in part due to..."

There's other stuff on the horizon as well, like the white iPhone 4 (July 23 if I'm not mistaken). Combined with the options expiration, earnings report, the big international release etc it could become a perfect storm if they don't get ahead of the story pronto.

 

[Bafflefish]

I don't know the details about Steve leaving Apple in the 90's

He was actually forced out in the mid-80s. He returned in 1996 as part of the NeXT purchase (I think he returned to being CEO in either 1997 or 1998, can't remember).

but I'm pretty sure it revolved around him being an arrogent and controlling ******.

Partly this, but also because he had hired John Sculley to run Apple, but continued to try and leverage control. Eventually the two went at it, and Sculley emerged victorious, forcing Steve out.

 

[ender21]

Yes we is will.

Friggin' funny.

 

[Bafflefish]

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.

I take it this is your first time reading one of his posts?

It doesn't matter how much logic is thrown - if it isn't pro-Apple, it's "not legitimate".

 

[jon macnrow]

Wonder when the Apple VS The P#$%*d off Antenna People: behind The Phone show will air on VH1?

 

[Bafflefish]

What I find kind of strange is that people who have strong preferences for avoiding cases and bumpers have such a hard time accepting that this particular phone has a design flaw (a big flaw for those with anti-case preferences) and that it probably isn't the right phone for them.

Probably because the phone was advertised as being for them as well, given that images *from Apple* exist that show the phone, case-less, being held in the very way that is apparently "wrong" now. Thus, for those who are affected by it, they were unintentionally misled.

If someone likes how the iPhone 4 looks as it is, and dislikes cases, why shouldn't they expect it to function exactly as it's advertised? It is after all still the best smartphone available on the market, Apple's boneheaded design issue not withstanding.

 

[WeegieMac]

The timing is interesting, I'm guessing this may in be due in part to the fact that the iPhone 4 is about to go on sale in many more countries on July 29.

Those countries have been hearing news about this antenna issue for weeks before they even had a chance to buy the phone, so perhaps Apple is concerned that it will affect sales more negatively than it did in the US where 1.7 million phones were sold before word got out.

As a European I'm often miffed that Americans get some (not all) movies and gadgets before we do, but maybe I should see it as a giant guinea pig farm instead. If a movie sucks I'll know from Americans ranting about it on IMDb and if a gadget has issues I'll find out in places like MR. I'm a compulsive early adopter so I save a lot of money by being forced to wait.

1.7m iPhone 4's were sold in the first 3 days in the five launch countries, NOT just America ...

 

[tivoboy]

ah

Yup, that's why I said "in part due to..."

There's other stuff on the horizon as well, like the white iPhone 4 (July 23 if I'm not mistaken). Combined with the options expiration, earnings report, the big international release etc it could become a perfect storm if they don't get ahead of the story pronto.

Ah, but you didn't. How would anyone have known..

move along

 

[wneill]

I work in software support and my customer's would nail me to the wall if I told them their issue won't be fixed, but here are a couple of workarounds. Even if 1 customer has the issue, the problem gets fixed if at all possible, and we certainly don't try and throw the blame on the customer (you're using the software wrong).

Wow, how do I get you as a customer support rep? You are certainly a rare breed. Yesterday, a rep from my ISP gave me an angry lecture 30 seconds into my call after I casually said that I was pretty sure that the problem wasn't with my Airport Base Station (it turned out that I was right). He then had me unplug the Airport from the DSL router and a few minutes later gleefully gloated that the problem WAS with my base station when he forgot that it had been unplugged and saw that it had dropped the internet connection. This is typical of my experience with customer support in the fields of telecommunications and computers. I wish there were more like you.

Warren

 

[gkpm]

So let me get this straight, the same Ruben Caballero that shares a patent describing in almost exact terms the antenna used in the iPhone 4:

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20100007564

Has apparently told Steve Jobs it wouldn't work?

Something's fishy here.

 

[firewood]

So let me get this straight, the same Ruben Caballero that shares a patent describing in almost exact terms the antenna used in the iPhone 4:

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20100007564

Has apparently told Steve Jobs it wouldn't work?

Something's fishy here.

That patent appears to be for a slot antenna, not an exposed side antenna.

 

[Arisian]

So let me get this straight, the same Ruben Caballero that shares a patent describing in almost exact terms the antenna used in the iPhone 4:

http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20100007564

Has apparently told Steve Jobs it wouldn't work?

Something's fishy here.

Often times designs are presented to the engineers in order to create. I guess the question here is who is the inventor, the designer or the engineer who builds it.

I bet there are a lot of names on a lot of things at Apple than aren't entirely precise.

 

[gkpm]

That patent appears to be for a slot antenna, not an exposed side antenna.

Slot antenna is a technical expression, the iPhone 4 antenna is considered a slot antenna

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slot_antenna

or google "iPhone 4" "slot antenna"

 

[mdickerson]

To all the people that complained it was just a software fix and not a real problem (Apple fanboyism at it's finest) and the 15+ "professional" threads that said it's just as software fix, YOU'RE WRONG!

To all the "amateur engineers" who make claims like this, have no experience whatsoever in designing a radio system, have no knowledge of how Apple has actually designed the radio in the iPhone and truly have no idea what's actually happening to cause the observed degradation - get over yourself!

I can tell you precisely how software MIGHT be used to mitigate the perceived problem, but I don't know how exactly Apple has implemented their system so I don't know if Apple would be able to realize these measures. One approach requires some serious real-time processing power, but the other is fairly straight forward. I can also backup my ideas with actual testing (far more than has been published so far, including the CR report) and an engineering explanation. I'd be able to do better if I could get my hands on a disassembled phone, but I'm not taking mine apart.

The problem is that it is unlikely that Apple would ever say something like: "we rotated the DQPSK constellation" or "we implemented an adaptive double-blind deconvolution filter." The hardware problem can't be truly nullified in software, but its effects can be mitigated.

- A professional EE....

 

[Nuvi]

This really isn't looking good from Apple's perspective. I honestly don't see any other option then doing recall on iPhone 4. In the long run it will pay off. If they just continue denying the "non-issue" then the bad press just keeps on rolling. Giving away bumpers won't do. Its just like saying "we know we screwed it up but hey take this rubber band and try to get over it". Apple should be all about excellence in design and if it doesn't meet that requirement then that product should never be released. Hence the recall.

 

[kdarling]

That patent appears to be for a slot antenna, not an exposed side antenna.

I brought up that patent weeks ago, and there was some discussion about it.

There's a lot we don't understand yet. We really need an RF engineer with a device he can tear apart and test.

It's possible the iPhone 4 uses something similar. The primary slot antenna section could still be inside at the bottom of the phone, and the bezel is another piece.

Apple's FCC docs (see below) show the antenna at the bottom inside. Teardowns also show a coax going from the power amps to the bottom internal section.

 

[gkpm]

Often times designs are presented to the engineers in order to create. I guess the question here is who is the inventor, the designer or the engineer who builds it.

I bet there are a lot of names on a lot of things at Apple than aren't entirely precise.

The patent isn't in the name of Apple, it's under Ruben and others personal names. I guess he might have licensed it to Apple?

 

[BC2009]

Sucks to be Apple 😉

I wouldn't mind being Apple right now. Faulty or not, they are still selling thousands of units.

Only thing is.... if I was Apple, I would have said nothing off-the-cuff like "non-issue, you're holding it wrong". I would have waited until my engineering team confirmed the issue and had some proposed solutions, and then would have scheduled a press-conference for a week out from that and said "Yes we see an issue, the temporary work-around is to hold it differently, stay tuned for a more complete fix as our engineers come up with a solution. We are not going to hang our customers out to dry on this -- they are too important to us."

But problems or not... Apple is not hurting too much.

 

[lllll]

The problem is Steve don't like listening to Mexican since Caballero sounds like a Spanish last name. 🙄

According to Bloomberg:

"Last year, Ruben Caballero, a senior engineer and antenna expert, informed Apple’s management the device’s design may cause reception problems, said the person, who is not authorized to speak on Apple’s behalf and asked not to be identified."

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-...jobs-last-year-about-iphone-antenna-flaw.html

Such a bad PR week and now the media smells blood and won't give up.

If true, this is terrible and I really hope Apple does the responsible thing on Friday.

Mosi

Flame on!

 

[merlinw]

Ruben Caballero: Gizmodo's newest hire!

I heard he is working for Google now.

 

[paul4339]

No surprise.

This happens when executives (especially those with no engineering background and who have volatile tempers and are known to fire people on a whim) make critical design decisions.

Sometimes it works out, sometimes not.

The bigger question to me is, why aren't the cell carriers catching this stuff better? For example, Verizon is infamous for holding back devices until their test group is satisfied.

This is at least twice that AT&T's staff have allowed a major mistake that should've been caught. Remember the first 3G version, which had a WCDMA power control problem that would bring down cells?

Edit: In this case, supposedly a carrier DID notice, but still sold the phone.

or the carrier engineers who did notice also got over-ruled by their execs (also with no engineering backgrounds who live for their bonuses).


P.

 

[kdarling]

or the carrier engineers who did notice also got over-ruled by their execs (also with no engineering backgrounds who live for their bonuses).

Yes sir, good point.

Which brings up AT&T: will they be speaking on this topic as well?

After all, Apple just threw them under the bus with the news about ramping the signal bars down to show lower cell levels again.

It's a little surprising that AT&T, who is normally quick to fight back against Apple jabs, hasn't said anything about the antenna issue so far. Or have I missed it?

 

[PhilSandifer]

But the point is that the phone should work out of the box.

It does.

Nothing should need to be "fixed" by the user. If I want to add a case, fine. But the phone should still function if I don't want a case.

Again, it does. But I wouldn't describe the steps needed to avoid the problem as "fixing" either. The phone sometimes drops calls if it is held in one specific manner. Out of the many ways that it is comfortable to hold it, one sometimes doesn't work. This is not a fix - it's a mild adjustment to usage patterns.

Or, if you really, really want to hold the phone that way, you can put a case on it. I mean, I'm all for "they should give the bumpers away for free." If those things cost a buck to make I'd be shocked. But if they gave them away for free... I wouldn't buy one. Because the issue is, well, not an issue.

But, I mean, the logic that a fix like this is unreasonable... by this logic Nintendo shouldn't have pushed wrist straps as a fix for the problem that users sometimes through their Wii controllers through their TV screen.

And isn't Apple implicitly encouraging people to carry their phone without a case? Apple spends a lot of time focusing on the industrial design and clean lines of the iPhone. The company brags about the supposedly durable construction. Apple makes it seem like the device is perfect as it is. A case (or bumper) should be an optional style choice.

It is. You can trade the form factor of the iPhone for increased durability and a slight improvement to signal strength. Or you can not, and have a phone that is still usable.

But that's not the current situation. You wouldn't say to people who bought a Toyota, "Just don't put your foot down on the gas pedal and you won't have a problem." The phone was meant to be held. It should function fine when in contact with a person's hand. It doesn't in many cases. So Apple needs to correct the problem, and I'm sure they will.

It functions fine. I have one. I use it. To make calls. Frequently. They don't drop.

 

[Headrush69]

I don't understand why everyone thinks a "bumper" is an acceptable fix. You can't dictate how to use the iPhone, specially to all the users who don't like bumpers, cases, etc.

Wasn't there just a study released that said 75%-80% of previous version iPhone users bought bumpers anyways?

So maybe their thinking that this is the fastest, most comprehensive fix for most of the population. For others, maybe they can swap in for a updated design.