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

Apple on iPhone 4 Reception: Signal Strength Display Issue Only, Software Update Coming

Apple’s latest explanation seems pretty valid to me

This link Shows a Test phone TEMS sony/Ericsson K800i test phone (cost 2500+ Euro) being given the grip of death. A test done in a few minutes. It shows at a given point up to 16 dB losses by being held tightly as I have seen people doing it on the new iPhone. Not saying the iPhone could not have a problem, I don’t own one. But the iPhone is not alone for sure on this one. And Apple’s latest explanation seems pretty valid to me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWpGOxyEoZc&feature=youtube_gdata
 
isotropic said:
This link Shows a Test phone TEMS sony/Ericsson K800i test phone (cost 2500+ Euro) being given the grip of death. A test done in a few minutes. It shows at a given point up to 16 dB losses by being held tightly as I have seen people doing it on the new iPhone. Not saying the iPhone could not have a problem, I don’t own one. But the iPhone is not alone for sure on this one. And Apple’s latest explanation seems pretty valid to me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWpGOxyEoZc&feature=youtube_gdata
Click to expand...

The iPhone doesn't need to be held tightly. And it loses a lot more than 16db.
 
isotropic said:
This link Shows a Test phone TEMS sony/Ericsson K800i test phone (cost 2500+ Euro) being given the grip of death. A test done in a few minutes. It shows at a given point up to 16 dB losses by being held tightly as I have seen people doing it on the new iPhone. Not saying the iPhone could not have a problem, I don’t own one. But the iPhone is not alone for sure on this one. And Apple’s latest explanation seems pretty valid to me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWpGOxyEoZc&feature=youtube_gdata
Click to expand...

For the love of god! the so called 'grip of death' is how 95% of lefties _normally_ hold their phones. it's a position you can hardly avoid. It's not like they are throwing their hands all over the damn thing. It's something unavoidable for lefties nowhere remotely near this sony/ericsson clip. Get this in your brain man.

You wonder the sanity of those still in denial. I bet they dont believe in evolution either...because someone told them, and because they cannot see it with their own eyes.
 
absynth said:
For the love of god! the so called 'grip of death' is how 95% of lefties _normally_ hold their phones. it's a position you can hardly avoid. It's not like they are throwing their hands all over the damn thing. It's somewhere unavoidable for lefties nowhere remotely near this sony/ericsson clip. Get this in your brain man.

You wonder the sanity of those still in denial. I bet they dont believe in evolution either...because someone told them, and because they cannot see it with their own eyes.
Click to expand...

You could always put a case on it till the issue is fixed....or return it.

Not hard folks.
 
CONFIRMED: Whether issue exists, it may not be a big deal

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/el...hes-os-os4-iphone4-reception-problems-in.html

Ha ha, Consumer Reports, you bogus advertising front for whichever product happens to rate the best in your labs, yet another suspiciously unbiased, coincidentally independent source that just happens to have a long history of straightforward and honest reviews falls flat on their face with a completely reasonable and obvious assessment. Loser wannabe fanbois!
 
Compared phones today

isotropic said:
This link Shows a Test phone TEMS sony/Ericsson K800i test phone (cost 2500+ Euro) being given the grip of death. A test done in a few minutes. It shows at a given point up to 16 dB losses by being held tightly as I have seen people doing it on the new iPhone. Not saying the iPhone could not have a problem, I don’t own one. But the iPhone is not alone for sure on this one. And Apple’s latest explanation seems pretty valid to me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWpGOxyEoZc&feature=youtube_gdata
Click to expand...

Need to upgrade and went to check out the iPhone 4 at the Apple store. Screen is as beautiful as everyone says. But my old eyes must not be good enough to get much benefit from the extra resolution. Comparing my Touch screen and the iP4, I was able to read both down to the same text size. When text got smaller than that, it was too small for me to read irrespective of the resolution.

iP4 showed a solid 5 bars on the display (sales person said that they had a micro-cell). I then picked it up and gently rested it in my left hand the way I do to use the screen functions with my right hand (I'm a rightly). No squeezing. No wrapping my hand around the phone. After about 15 seconds the signal fell to 2 bars! Yow!

Went across the Mall to the Verizon store and checked out the Moto Droid. Also showing full (4) bars. I tried everything I could to make it lose signal. Starting with what I did with the iP4...then gripping tighter...then gripping with two hands covering as much of the case as I could with my hands...then holding it against my chest with my hands wrapped around the sides and front (with my wife peeking thru to see the signal strength reading). I think the sales person was worried I might try to sit on it next:). Full bars the whole time.

Maybe there was a small loss of signal with the Droid, like the Sony/Eric. But not the wholesale loss that the iP4 showed. IP4 seems like a great device. But not a telephone. Sort of the worlds most expensive iPod Touch. I guess I could get one of those rip-off rubberbands, but that defeats the purpose of having a thin, sleek, elegant device.
 
bkspero said:
Screen is as beautiful as everyone says. But my old eyes must not be good enough to get much benefit from the extra resolution. Comparing my Touch screen and the iP4, I was able to read both down to the same text size. When text got smaller than that, it was too small for me to read irrespective of the resolution.
Click to expand...

Thanks for posting this, I thought maybe the reception issue was also causing the display to seem quite ordinary. I also have "old eyes," but it gets worse the longer I am awake.
 
BobVB said:
You are trying to rationalize having multiple ways to hold a phone based on the user's presumptively psychic recognition of 'weak areas' when by any other cell phones standard aren't weak at all!
Click to expand...

You don't need to become a psychic. You just need Apple to fix their signal strength bar display. Then you'll know when you're in a weak signal area where your call is more likely to get dropped, and hopeful your expectations will more realistically calibrated.

As for "any other cell phone", do you have some proof that all other cell phones can stay connected in -85 dBm conditions, no matter how those devices are held or oriented? A few other cell phones can, I'm sure, but saying that this is true of all legally marketable cellular devices is a much stronger statement.
 
cmaier said:
The iPhone doesn't need to be held tightly. And it loses a lot more than 16db.
Click to expand...

I could link you at least 8 YouTube videos about different Nokia smartphones (e71, e66, e51, N97 and so on ...) showing people dropping signal (in a couple of videos from 4-5 bars to searching!) JUST HOLDING their smarphone "normally".

But no, it would be a waste of time: you are not going to admit that this behaviour is quite common and all this mess around the iPhone it's just for the Apple logo on the back ...
btw just search for keywords "Nokia signal issue" on YouTube and look by yourself, if you really are honest.
iPhone 4 is in good company ...
 
Journojulz said:
Are you saying left handed people are stupid? :mad:
Click to expand...

When I take notes during a call or need to use my stronger and more capable right hand, I always hold the phone as I shouldn't, according to Apple Inc.

It's not just left-handed people. In which hand do you hold your iPhones when typing, browsing or texting? This is a problem that can easily affect most customers regularly.
 
Don't worry boys and girls.

I've always loved the iPhone when I had it unlocked on T-Mobile. So the iPhone 4 came out, I decided I wanted 3G internet along with the new iPhone 4. I am absolutely disapointed in AT&T's network. The internet was actually pretty fast in my area, but the voice call quality was horrible.

Today I cancelled my AT&T contract (was within the 30 day trial period) and brought my iPhone 4 back to the store.

I will no longer have to complain about AT&T, because I am no longer being screwed over by them.

:)

Anyone else that complains and complains and complains, well just bring the damn phone back like I did and get rid of AT&T. Simple as that.
 
Unless the nokia has an exposed antenna, it suffers from attenution, not detuning. In any event, your point is what? If the nokia has the identical problem all that means is that apple is not the only company incompetent at making phones. It doesn't make the i4 any less of an engineering failure.

Max(IT) said:
I could link you at least 8 YouTube videos about different Nokia smartphones (e71, e66, e51, N97 and so on ...) showing people dropping signal (in a couple of videos from 4-5 bars to searching!) JUST HOLDING their smarphone "normally".

But no, it would be a waste of time: you are not going to admit that this behaviour is quite common and all this mess around the iPhone it's just for the Apple logo on the back ...
btw just search for keywords "Nokia signal issue" on YouTube and look by yourself, if you really are honest.
iPhone 4 is in good company ...
Click to expand...
 
Max(IT) said:
I could link you at least 8 YouTube videos about different Nokia smartphones (e71, e66, e51, N97 and so on ...) showing people dropping signal (in a couple of videos from 4-5 bars to searching!) JUST HOLDING their smarphone "normally".

But no, it would be a waste of time: you are not going to admit that this behaviour is quite common and all this mess around the iPhone it's just for the Apple logo on the back ...
btw just search for keywords "Nokia signal issue" on YouTube and look by yourself, if you really are honest.
iPhone 4 is in good company ...
Click to expand...

Thanks for the direction. I went thru Youtube and I'm not sure that the Nokia experience is very relevant. The vast majority of them relate to only 4 models. One from early 2009 (nearly 1.5 yrs old), two from 2008, and one from 2007! All small phones where the user was able to completely envelop the phone with their hands. It's like BMW bragging about the top speed of its new sports sedan by comparing it to a bunch of used Yugo's with flat tires. Not like the iP4 where simply nestling the phone in ones hand can kill the signal.

I did some other searching and the results were interesting. I looked for Droid signal issues and found 2. Both relating to the Droid Incredible. One was able to show 16 db of signal drop, but no lost calls. The other must have tried 30 times, starting with only showing 3 db of signal loss and then finally getting to the point where I thought the screen would break as he crushed the phone into his hands. With that he got a whopping 8-10 db of signal loss.

There were also a couple for the Nexus 1. Again, a few db of signal loss (along with some Gumby-like contortions over the phone), but no lost connections.

I looked everywhere I could for signal issues with the Moto Droid. Not one!

Compare that with video after video showing the iPhone 4 losing connectivity with a very normal hand position, and there is no contest. The iPhone 4 takes this issue to a new high (low?). Comparing it to a bunch of obsolete Nokia phones won't change that.
 
KnightWRX said:
No, your iPhone 4 is not fine. Again since this is sooooooo hard to understand, read the Anandtech article on the subject that has been linked to dozen of times :

The iPhone 4 suffers from a -20 dbm attenuation when held in the hand in a way that bridges both antennas together. This is the main issue that everyone is denouncing and that Apple is effectively brushing off.

Your iPhone 4 suffers from this issue, every iPhone 4 suffers from it. It's not a software error, it's not a manufacturing error. It's a design flaw.

The reason you are not seeing the issue is that you are in an area that has a signal higher than -71 dbm to start with. The 20 dbm attenuation is thus not dropping you below the -91 dbm threshold to bring your bars below 5.

In all probability, once Apple issues their software fix to the bar display, we should be seeing more iPhone 4s suffer from the issue, except in a "less dramatic" way. They might start to lose 1 or 2 bars of signal. However, they will still be suffering from a 20 dbm attenuation.

The day you walk into a low signal area, you will have this problem. This affects everyone. Anyone claiming to have an iPhone 4 with low signal when not held and not losing Service when held as yet to provide video evidence of it. It has been asked many times of people like Aggie who claims this is so. She keeps saying "My word is good enough". Funny, not how it works.



Except for the fact that *LTD* has no grasp on the issue at all and doesn't understand it. Again, he claims this is only a few iPhone 4s from a select batch that didn't receive a proper dielectric coating. There has been 0 evidence that any iPhone 4s have such a coating. No one has yet posted evidence of such. People claiming to be in low signal areas with 2 or 3 bars while the phone is sitting on the table and say they can hold and short the antenna and not have it result in a signal loss have yet to post any evidence of their claims.

Meanwhile, the 20 dbm attenuation is very real and documented.
Click to expand...

Can someone please point me to a YouTube video where someone that thinks they have an iPhone 4 that always works tries the test right next to someone with a bad iPhone 4, in a location which is known to cause the bad iPhone to fail?
I need to see with my own eyes if there are any iPhone 4's that do not exhibit the same behavior when placed right next to a known "bad" iPhone 4 in a "bad" location...

Thanks!
:)
 
Filing a Complaint
We've compiled a list of Federal Agencies where you can document a complaint against a company. If you can't find the topic you need, call toll free 1-800-FED-INFO for assistance.

Please note that many of these agencies will not act on the behalf of individual consumers, although they do use complaints to document a pattern of abuse that may allow them to take action against a company. For other sources of assistance, please refer to the Consumer Action Website. Use the sample complaint letter to draft a letter or e-mail.




Telecommunications (Includes wireless and wired phones, Internet, television, cable, e-mail, Spam, telemarketers, VoIP)
Federal Communications Commission
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau
Consumer Complaints
445 12th Street, SW
Washington, DC 20554
Phone: 1-888-CALL-FCC (1-888-225-5322)
TTY: 1-888-TELL-FCC (1-888-835-5322)
Fax: 1-866-418-0232
Email: fccinfo@fcc.gov
Onlihttp://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/complaintresources.htmne complaint form


One way to make Apple do something about a real problem
 
ANTAWNM26 said:
Filing a Complaint
We've compiled a list of Federal Agencies where you can document a complaint against a company. If you can't find the topic you need, call toll free 1-800-FED-INFO for assistance.
Click to expand...

And you know what they'll tell you?

Return your phone to the place of purchase for a refund if it does not perform as you require. Seriously, how hard is this to comprehend. You don't need to sue to get your money back, you don't need to complain to federal agencies, commissions or tribunals. Return to the place of purchase, give them the phone back, and like magic, they'll give you your money back so you can buy an item that does what you want it to.
 
Magnets said:
And you know what they'll tell you?

Return your phone to the place of purchase for a refund if it does not perform as you require. Seriously, how hard is this to comprehend. You don't need to sue to get your money back, you don't need to complain to federal agencies, commissions or tribunals. Return to the place of purchase, give them the phone back, and like magic, they'll give you your money back so you can buy an item that does what you want it to.
Click to expand...

Resellers are not offering the same full refund courtesy. At least not all of them.
 
Magnets said:
And you know what they'll tell you?

Return your phone to the place of purchase for a refund if it does not perform as you require. Seriously, how hard is this to comprehend. You don't need to sue to get your money back, you don't need to complain to federal agencies, commissions or tribunals. Return to the place of purchase, give them the phone back, and like magic, they'll give you your money back so you can buy an item that does what you want it to.
Click to expand...

Yes, true but was replying to the fact that some peoples return window may be closed by time the so called fix comes out
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back