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Agreed, but I could've said all 3 worked or 2 out of 3 worked so I'm not disputing the fact that there's a problem of course, however I am disputing the fact that all iPhone 4's have this issue. If I make it back to my local Apple store over the weekend I'll report back with a video. Honestly I have no problem doing the video, what I have a problem with is this forum. Even with proof, this forum will somehow find a way to say that the perfectly working iPhone 4 that I discovered is still defective and I don't appreciate people doing that to me after I spent time proving a claim that I made.

So what was the outcome? How many did you test and what happened? If you can test it would be good. Even better if you can prove me wrong, I would be happy.
 
So what was the outcome? How many did you test and what happened? If you can test it would be good. Even better if you can prove me wrong, I would be happy.

As usual the Apple stores are all crazy busy, so I only had 3 iPhone 4's to test, luckily one of them was the one that the signal remained strong. Okay, I'll do my best to make it back to my Apple store this weekend and I'll create a whole new thread with the video.
 
I think because people have been in the same position as myself. When I go to work I have 4-5 bars 3G and no matter what I do to the phone I get no signal drop. But when I get home I go from 4 bars to no signal by placing one finger over the black strip to bridge the antennas. Because I've seen both sides I can see why some people believe that their iPhone is 'perfect'. They could be lucky that they home and work place have good signals to start with. Until you see it it's hard to understand, but trust me it's an issue. You have to wonder why no one has been able to post a working iPhone next to a non working one?

My guess would be outside of this bubble of a site and the nerds of the world, NO ONE ELSE CARES ENOUGH.

And again, I'm sorry, but arguing that because someone hasn't done something voluntary that still depends on many variables, thats not proof.

Just because no one has ever filmed a bald eagle taking a crap on the presidents left shoulder doesn't mean it can't possibly happen. See how ridiculous this line of thinking gets?

All I'm saying is it'd be nice if the armchair engineers here would sit down, shut up, and wait for actual scientific tests and official word on the problem before declaring that they KNOW what it is. No one here does, and to think they have the answer based on a hodgepodge of experiments that would get you an F in high school scientific method is asinine.
 
As usual the Apple stores are all crazy busy, so I only had 3 iPhone 4's to test, luckily one of them was the one that the signal remained strong. Okay, I'll do my best to make it back to my Apple store this weekend and I'll create a whole new thread with the video.

PM when you do please. I and many other will appreciate you efforts.
 
That is all circumstantial. Who's to say that it isn't a cell tower/ iphone interaction software problem? What I'm getting at is NO ONE knows what the issue is currently. No one knows what is causing these problems and why some people have them and others don't.

Yes, we do. Some of this have been following this for a while. Did you read the anandtech article? It's hardly circumstantial and explains exactly what the issue is and why some people have it and some don't.

Don't jump to your final conclusions based on evidence that can still point to more than one issue. Also, learn the difference between evidence and proof.

I never said proof. You asked for evidence and I took the time to reply to your question. No need for the smart arse attitude.

Well I've provided you with a fair amount of evidence to back up my case that all IP4s have this issue. Time for you to show us your evidence that there are good ones and bad ones now...
 
Yes, we do. Some of this have been following this for a while. Did you read the anandtech article? It's hardly circumstantial and explains exactly what the issue is and why some people have it and some don't.



I never said proof. You asked for evidence and I took the time to reply to your question. No need for the smart arse attitude.

Well I've provided you with a fair amount of evidence to back up my case that all IP4s have this issue. Time for you to show us your evidence that there are good ones and bad ones now...
The evidence vs proof comment wasn't directed at you.

As for me, I stated my anecdote, you guys rejected it.
 
I'll try and explain this to you although I doubt you have the brains to understand it. Yes it will drop calls like before but only compared to the iPhone 4. I had no problems with the 3G or 3GS and nor did other people. But now with the 4 we drop calls from 4 bars just because we're holding the phone. If you don't understand the problem then don't make yourself look stupid.
Poor fellow... your iPhone aint gonna work for you....no matter how much you desperately want it to and it is obviously crushing you and the others and you cant seem to get over it. No amount of bitching about it on this forum is gonna make it work for you. You are bitter. You are heart broken. Your iPhone has crushed your world. Here's a number for you to call: 1-800-ITS-OVER.


Go get that Droid you didnt want to settle for and move on with your life instead of looking like a dumb jilted lover.

-Sent from my iPhone
 
My guess would be outside of this bubble of a site and the nerds of the world, NO ONE ELSE CARES ENOUGH.

And again, I'm sorry, but arguing that because someone hasn't done something voluntary that still depends on many variables, thats not proof.

Just because no one has ever filmed a bald eagle taking a crap on the presidents left shoulder doesn't mean it can't possibly happen. See how ridiculous this line of thinking gets?

All I'm saying is it'd be nice if the armchair engineers here would sit down, shut up, and wait for actual scientific tests and official word on the problem before declaring that they KNOW what it is. No one here does, and to think they have the answer based on a hodgepodge of experiments that would get you an F in high school scientific method is asinine.

Your response stinks of desperation so we'll leave it there.
 
Poor fellow... your iPhone aint gonna work for you....no matter how much you desperately want it to and it is obviously crushing you and the others and you cant seem to get over it. No amount of bitching about it on this forum is gonna make it work for you. You are bitter. You are heart broken. Your iPhone has crushed your world. Here's a number for you to call: 1-800-ITS-OVER.


Go get that Droid you didnt want to settle for and move on with your life instead of looking like a dumb jilted lover.

-Sent from my iPhone

Is that kind of post really necessary? What did you accomplish?
 
Poor fellow... your iPhone aint gonna work for you....no matter how much you desperately want it to and it is obviously crushing you and the others and you cant seem to get over it. No amount of bitching about it on this forum is gonna make it work for you. You are bitter. You are heart broken. Your iPhone has crushed your world. Here's a number for you to call: 1-800-ITS-OVER.


Go get that Droid you didnt want to settle for and move on with your life instead of looking like a dumb jilted lover.

-Sent from my iPhone

And you call me dumb. Ironic.
 
Return it. It is NEVER going to work in the area you use it. The antenna design attenuates more than the prior designs. ALL ANTENNA ATTENUATE.

This is physics. Put you hand on any phone and it will happen. The only thing that differs is the degree. Most phones attenuate less than the iPhone 4. Some attenuate more.

Phones with antenna designs that attenuate a lot require a stronger starting signal to work. iPhone 4 falls into that category. This is a HARDWARE issue. It cannot and will not be solved with software.

So if you are unfortunate enough to live in an area where the signal is not strong enough to overcome the antenna attenuation characteristics inherent in the iPhone 4 then return the darn thing.

That's the only option you have.

Glad to see there is someone with a brain, among this mess of whiners ... :rolleyes:
 
Apple is only fixing the accuracy of the bars to show us what the signal is, this is already a known issue in iOS4 as Anand found...

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/2

However, you can see just how little dynamic range iOS 4 has for reporting signal; over half of the range of possible signal levels in dBm (from -99 dBm to -51 dBm) is reported as 5 bars.

So Apple is fixing that. But the hardware problem ie. the exposed antenna is never going to be fixed by this software fix. Forget the bars for a second - Anand did the tests with signal strength, a much better indicator than the bars, and clearly the iPhone 3GS is a far superior phone when being held in hand.

End result - iPhone 4, with this software fix, will just report bars better, but that won't help you one bit if the phone is held the wrong way. Instead of going from what you think as "5 bars" to 1/no bars, some people might be going from 4/3 bars to 1/no bars.... all Apple is doing is window dressing, or maybe they'll play with the bar ranges in such a way that they can mask the antenna issue.

The real problem is a hardware design - it cannot be fixed. Live with the iPhone 4 as is, or wait for iPhone 5 and hope Apple hires some proper antenna engineers.
 
Your response stinks of desperation so we'll leave it there.
Yes I am desperate. I'm desperate to be part of a forum where people don't just jump the shark based on shaky evidence. I don't care if there is a problem or not, I'd just like for people to be intellectually honest for once when they debate. The fact of the matter is that right now, no one knows for sure (except maybe some engineers at apple) what exactly the problem is and the scope of it is. I'm sure we can all agree on that.

That said, this is the internet, and I shouldn't expect too much.
 
Glad to see there is someone with a brain, among this mess of whiners ... :rolleyes:

Really? He said "It is NEVER going to work in the area you use it" -Now tell me, what is the point of an Iphone? So you can use it in one location? Who has a brain?
 
spiritlevel, you surprise me. You've been around long enough to have seen this the first time with the iPhone 3G / iOS 2.0 combo release.

To all those saying it's hardware - I knew it had to be software (put aside the fact that today's press release isn't telling the full truth). For fun I tossed in my "scientific" test over the weekend on the forums - so far Apple is following suit with what I said over the course of this week. Reference: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/952756/

Long and short is Apple tweaked a known good working 3G baseband in 4.0 - from iOS 2.1 through 3.1.3 devices have shown signal strength fairly accurately and the ability to place/receive calls reflected that. Even in the current round of iPhone 4 + iOS 4.0 release there are many comments here reflecting that where EDGE is still in use there's no problem.

Let's just hope we don't wait 38 days for the fix - that was the stunt Apple pulled 2 years ago...just outside the return period of 30 days for the early adopters. :)

Me? I'm keeping mine - the hardware is just as expected and I'm a happy camper!

To be fair, I was arguing the point that all IP4s have this issue, not whether the issue is caused by hardware or software.

I feel that the external Antenna design certainly plays at least a part. I am not discounting that the issue may be improved by a software update.
 
Really? He said "It is NEVER going to work in the area you use it" -Now tell me, what is the point of an Iphone? So you can use it in one location? Who has a brain?

Did you miss the first two words in that post? "Return it."
 
Yes I am desperate. I'm desperate to be part of a forum where people don't just jump the shark based on shaky evidence. I don't care if there is a problem or not, I'd just like for people to be intellectually honest for once when they debate. The fact of the matter is that right now, no one knows for sure (except maybe some engineers at apple) what exactly the problem is and the scope of it is. I'm sure we can all agree on that.

That said, this is the internet, and I shouldn't expect too much.

You don't care if there is a problem or not so why exactly are you holding this arguement?
 
"Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong."

I love how Apple thinks its customers are idiots. So we are to believe that Apple has not figured this out after 4 years of making a handset?

This is a pretty hillarious statement by apple.

So all along they have been covering up how bad ATT Reception REALLY IS.

Anyone that has been on any other network knows ATT reception is not very good at all.

Heck I was on sprint for over 10 years before switching to ATT and iphone and it is indeed worse than sprint, and I used to travel all over the US. Leave on Monday fly back on Friday kind of thing.

Course years ago when I had a bag/car phone with southwester bell>>>>cingular>>>>ATT it was bad then too.

Iphone on any other network would be better.

Heck a major collage town in Manhattan KS (Kansas State) has NO 3G coverage and look it up ATT said it was putting it there in 2009, STILL NOTHING.

Mass EXODUS it will be (YODA) when some other carrier gets this phone, is my prediction.....
 
I will return my phone, but I can still b*tch about Apple bending me over after all the money I have spent with them, and because they have the audacity to say there is no issue when I know beyond a shadow of a doubt there is an issue (beyond GUI).

If you don't like it, then don't read the forum.
 
You don't care if there is a problem or not so why exactly are you holding this arguement?

Are you reading my posts at all? I just want the bitching to die down or at least be honest instead of a few people whipping everyone into a frenzy based on hypothetical situations. I don't want this forum to be an echo chamber. I think we can all agree on that right?

Just so you know, if this is an issue in all the phones, I'm not going to refrain from criticizing apple, don't take me as some fanboy hack.

I don't want to return it. I want the phone that I was promised when I paid £600 for it.

So what are you going to do? You can either wait for a fix or return it. Those are your only options. If that phone "you were promised" doesn't exist, what are you going to do?

Also, apologizing to that poster would be the right thing to do. You criticized his point when you were in the wrong. He never argued you should use your phone in one location, he said to return it.
 
Are you reading my posts at all? I just want the bitching to die down or at least be honest instead of a few people whipping everyone into a frenzy based on hypothetical situations. I don't want this forum to be an echo chamber. I think we can all agree on that right?

Just so you know, if this is an issue in all the phones, I'm not going to refrain from criticizing apple, don't take me as some fanboy hack.

Ok. So you've told us what you don't want to achieve here, let you know what you do want achieve by your posts. It's already been proven that some iPhone 4's are defected. What hasn't been proven is that some aren't by taking them to the same location.

So what are you going to do? You can either wait for a fix or return it. Those are your only options. If that phone "you were promised" doesn't exist, what are you going to do?

Also, apologizing to that poster would be the right thing to do. You criticized his point when you were in the wrong. He never argued you should use your phone in one location, he said to return it.

Insinuation, look it up.
 
This really just seems like a case of people making such a big deal out of it just because they know it's there. If none of you who are making such a big deal out of this were aware that it was there, and just used the phone normally, I bet 8/10 of you would be praising the phones much improved reception. But since you guys KNOW it's there, you MAKE yourselves get affected by it. It's like a little kid constantly picking at his scabs.

Seriously, its very easy to not put your finger over that black line or move your hand to not cover it. I'm not trying to sound like Apple can do no wrong, but it's really not that big of a deal. It's almost like its just a minor tradeoff for the much improved reception performance. The phone can now make and hang onto calls where older iPhones never would have, the tradeoff being you can't cover the black line. It's three steps forward, one step back, which means its still two steps forward.

Yes, I do think Apple could have done more to prevent this, and perhaps added a second antenna inside, but then the tradeoff there would have been a device that's not as slim. So there's always tradeoffs, and I would gladly take the current tradeoff over a thicker device.

Seriously, how many of you that are bitching would have put your phone in a case anyways?? You guys are just bitching out of principle, and not because its truly a giant nuisance. And if it truly was, you would have returned your phones by now. So get over it.

For the record, I AM one of those who are affected by this, and will drop calls if i cover the line. I'm sure the majority of you who are complaining ARENT and you're just making noise for the sake of it. You people do this every time apple releases something, its always noise for the first month of an Apple release and then it dies down and people go on with their lives enjoying the product like they should have been.
 
If that's the case then ok. How do they work?
The AT&T microcells do not boost the cell signal.
They create a new cell tower, albeit a small one.
The microcell does not communicate with AT&T via cell communication, ie its not boosting a signal. It communicates with AT&T's network via your own internet connection through your ISP at home.

There are other technologies similar to AT&Ts Microcell which are signal boosters, but that is not what the microcell is.

As an example, the microcell can work in an area without any AT&T towers in range, ie somewhere completely lacking in any AT&T coverage.
 
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