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

[rconsult4602]

Down with Consumer Reports!1

Who cares what Consumer Reports says...so it's not much of a phone..that's not its main purpose,,it's an Entertainment Center--any phone function is a bonus!!....if all that people wanted was a phone that worked well they would have bought a Blackberry..and why should Apple allow dissent on its own forums?....does the Chinese Government?

 

[KnightWRX]

Who cares what Consumer Reports says...so it's not much of a phone..that's not its main purpose,,it's an Entertainment Center--any phone function is a bonus!!...

Why did they call it iPhone then, and not iEntertainmentCenterwithPhoneasaBonus ?

 

[Magnets]

Why did they call it iPhone then, and not iEntertainmentCenterwithPhoneasaBonus ?

That tested badly with focus groups.

 

[gehrbox]

Who cares what Consumer Reports says...so it's not much of a phone..that's not its main purpose,,it's an Entertainment Center--any phone function is a bonus!!....if all that people wanted was a phone that worked well they would have bought a Blackberry..and why should Apple allow dissent on its own forums?....does the Chinese Government?

Actually Consumer Reports scored it as the best smart phone available. It scored well and beat out the previous top rated smart phone, the iPhone 3GS.

Their only issue was the ability to make the signal strength indicator drop on queue.

 

[lilo777]

Actually Consumer Reports scored it as the best smart phone available. It scored well and beat out the previous top rated smart phone, the iPhone 3GS.

Their only issue was the ability to make the signal strength indicator drop on queue.

iPhone 4 scored well only because the reception was not among the criteria. So, it's a great phone which they do not recommend anybody to buy

 

[-aggie-]

iPhone 4 scored well only because the reception was not among the criteria. So, it's a great phone which they do not recommend anybody to buy

Well for those not having the reception issue, they’re golden.

 

[gehrbox]

iPhone 4 scored well only because the reception was not among the criteria. So, it's a great phone which they do not recommend anybody to buy

You don't consider voice quality and phoning ratings related to reception?

In these 2 rating categories they rate it to be at least as good as the 3GS, which concurs with my experience with both phones. The other ratings show it to be superior.

 

[smoking monkey]

Just what does it take to make that list, lord knows I sure have tried

BTW - what confirmed hardware flaw? If anything I'd call it a design compromise.

Flaw def: an imperfection that mars an object.
Anymore silly statements and you might just make the list!


BTW, my phone works fine as I'm in a strong signal area. Even when i death grip it, it's still good, no bars dropped. In a low signal area it's different but not bad enough for me so far that it's caused trouble.

BUT it is a bit of a moot point for me as I use a case. So, no worries! I love the screen, speed and facetime works brilliantly.

 

[gehrbox]

Flaw def: an imperfection that mars an object.
Anymore silly statements and you might just make the list!


BTW, my phone works fine as I'm in a strong signal area. Even when i death grip it, it's still good, no bars dropped. In a low signal area it's different but not bad enough for me so far that it's caused trouble.

BUT it is a bit of a moot point for me as I use a case. So, no worries! I love the screen, speed and facetime works brilliantly.

Using your definition finger print smudges on the front and back also qualify as a flaw.

 

[Lotusman]

This is such BS...

An antenna (the metal bit) is part of a resonant circuit, when you grab hold of it you change a bunch of electrical characteristics affecting inductance, impedance and crap like that. So what was once resonating beautifully isn't any more.

Sometimes this can work in your favor - like holding your car remote to your forehead to increase its range by making your head an antenna... Other times not so much, especially at higher data rates/frequencies.

Creating what is essentially a short between two antennas on the edge of the iPhone is a pretty surefire way to tank performance unless the resulting "double antenna" is suitably tuned (that would be possible and mighty clever). It seems Apple weren't that clever.

You can't fix this ***** by friggin with the display thresholds on a Goddamned bar graph dudes... wake up!!!!

It's an Apple smokescreen to cover up the real work going on in the background - antenna engineers working their asses off to better tune the system and minimize the detuning effects of a human being shorting the case with his sweaty finger. It'll be a hardware and software fix on Gen 4.00001... but Apple don't want to do a product recall on SOOOOO MANY 4.0 phones... hence the smoke!!!!

Sheeeesh.

Given the news/speculation on the front page of Macrumors today (by folks more learned than wot I am), I'm going to call "told you so" on my post!

BWHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAAHAAAAA!

 

[rconsult4602]

Love the iPhone4!!

We don't care about any little problems!! We have the coolest phone!! Anyway, I hardly ever use it as a phone. I f people just want a better phone, there's lots out there,,BUT..they are not cool!!

 

[bfar5]

I don't get at all why some people get extremely defensive about Apple. Some of their products are fabulous but to go cult about it? Why get downright nasty? Right now, like many others, I'm very disappointed in Apple. That letter was ridiculous and "don't hold it that way" was pompous. They deserve the fallout they are getting right now.

Do those that feel the need to defend Apple feel personally connected to the company or something?

I agree...

Perhaps it's just my sense of humor, but I must say it's like a bunch of spoiled little brats, name calling & fighting... So bloody hilarious. I've never witnessed behavior like this in _any_ other forum. Ever. These Apple people are a odd bunch.

It's a phenomena

It's funny... I sold my 32GB iPhone 3GS on eBay for $510 and bought the new iPhone 4 (32GB) for $299 + tax. I thought I got away with murder... looks like I was the idiot who got stuck with a POS!

haha... It wasn't 299.00 plust tax. It was 299.00 plus a two year contract. I parted with my 36s, as well but I think that Apple is being forced to do something to make it right to Iphone 4 buyers. Stay tuned. By the way, I still see they IP4 selling on ebay.

Gosh!. This inane diatribe is still going?...

Yup. And you're reading it. Why?

Busted taking part in an inane diatribe. LOLOL

 

[smoking monkey]

Using your definition finger print smudges on the front and back also qualify as a flaw.

Er? No. Finger print smudges don't impede you from using the phone the way it was intended to be.


But you know what. I guess I don't really know and neither do antenna experts, Consumer Choice, Apple workers etc...

It's like the Black Knight in Holy Grail with you blokes - Tis a mere flesh wound!

 

[gehrbox]

Er? No. Finger print smudges don't impede you from using the phone the way it was intended to be.


But you know what. I guess I don't really know and neither do antenna experts, Consumer Choice, Apple workers etc...

It's like the Black Knight in Holy Grail with you blokes - Tis a mere flesh wound!

Next time you want to define a word read what you type.

 

[rconsult4602]

RIm and Droid reply to Stevie

There's an easy way to tell the difference between the iPhone 4 and the Blackberry Bold or Droid Eris - only one of those phones has a flaw that is so blatant that the company behind it is now offering free bumper cases to make the phone work properly

 

[gehrbox]

There's an easy way to tell the difference between the iPhone 4 and the Blackberry Bold or Droid Eris - only one of those phones has a flaw that is so blatant that the company behind it is now offering free bumper cases to make the phone work properly

They are the first company taken to task for a behavior that is reproducable on most other smart phone. Apple cares enough about it's customers to give away something it was selling to make customers happy.

 

[DavisEngeler]

You know what's ridiculous, your post! So you're saying if Apple "cared" about their customers the iPhone 4 would be perfect and without flaws just like every other "perfect, free from flaws" product made by every other top manufacturer right???? Jump into reality buddy, nothing, and I mean nothing you've ever bought was flawless.

If you or anyone who owns the iPhone 4 is pissed off or not buying a statement put out by Apple and has total disbelief that Apple will fix this issue (since they have future sales to rely on), I say thank you to all of you because you just had to be a "Gotta have it first, Gotta have it first" customer to show it off to your friends that you're the first kid on the block with your new toy. You didn't need it right away and you know it, period. So thank you to all of you BETA TESTERS, when I get my iPhone 4 it will working fine. Now I'm going to sit back and enjoy my coffee while I laugh at all of these ranting disbelieving posts by all the Beta Testers that needed their new toy to show off to their school mates or co-workers. People are now laughing at you.

How's your fixed working iPhone 4 going for you? Hmm?

The fact is: they aren't going to redesign the phone to deal with that issue. It's bull that they would continue with a design that had that big of a "flaw". It's hard to call it that since they knew that touching it in that area would cause signal drop.

You're also trying to tell me that I was expecting a perfect phone: no. Obviously nothing is perfect, but companies should at least strive to get close. If this was a minor imperfection it would be a whole different story. It's by no means minor.

 

[iEdd]

Oh, this thread is still going.

It's by no means minor.

I agree. It's not nearly serious enough to be called "minor". [Edit: I define minor as something inconsequential, but still slightly annoying. So a minor issue might be that the glass phone shows fingerprints. That affects the daily use, whereas the "antenna issue" doesn't.]

Now that I finally got my iPhone 4 (it was released in Australia last Friday), I've been able to test the "death grip" and "death touch" issues, and now know, rather than just speculate, that this was the usual sensationalist media vomit and tall poppy syndrome.

Sure enough, as expected, it's just like any other phone and holding it a certain way can get it to lose some signal. Big deal. If you don't understand why all (yes all) phones do this to some extent, read up on RF theory. Interestingly, in my travelling experiments, there were a couple of times where the death grip made the signal go from 4 bars to 5 bars! (It's a bit of a fluke when it does this though - usually an untouched antenna is in a perfectly tuned state.)

Something could be said about the quality of the network though. On Telstra, I haven't found an area with less than 3 bars to test it on. All I know is I have to squeeze hard and concentrate to make it happen.