Don't go bringing common sense into the argument....you will just confuse some people.
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Apple on iPhone 4 Reception: Signal Strength Display Issue Only, Software Update Coming
- Thread starter fruitbat04
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I haven't had the time to try to model it - need to get another design done first, but I have AWR Microwave Office on my machine. I need to find some better photos of it, though. I'd love to get my hands on an antenna without destroying my phone. I did manage to rig up something with a Vector Network Analyzer I have in my lab and a coplanar launch into the antenna (phone off). It's not a perfect test condition, but the S11 looks good and it definitely gets squirrley when you touch it. Despite the bad launch condition, the S11 is 15 dB out to 3 GHz (untouched). It jumps to 5 dB when you touch it.
Hikkadwa
macrumors member
My new iphone 4 update
Yesterday i posted a note to say that I'd bought an iPhone 4 (upgrading from my 3G) and that it worked fine. However that was before I drove to work (a round trip of 100 miles). This new phone dropped calls in areas where the 3G had never dropped a call. I also noted that the number of bars shown were often less than previous. This is not good. I will test this again tomorrow on my journey to work - if it happens again I'm taking it back to the store for a refund. Note I was not bridging any circuit when this happened and holding the phone very lightly in the palm of my hand.
Yesterday i posted a note to say that I'd bought an iPhone 4 (upgrading from my 3G) and that it worked fine. However that was before I drove to work (a round trip of 100 miles). This new phone dropped calls in areas where the 3G had never dropped a call. I also noted that the number of bars shown were often less than previous. This is not good. I will test this again tomorrow on my journey to work - if it happens again I'm taking it back to the store for a refund. Note I was not bridging any circuit when this happened and holding the phone very lightly in the palm of my hand.
Awesome! Please resist taking the phone apart...
Had to look up coplanar launch🙂. I couldn't tell from the teardowns where the feed point even is. I was wondering if a thin film would improve the situation. I suspect the dielectric is not adequate. Sounds like you could try it. I'm sorry, you did say you were busy.
Would be a great time to have access to the stuff in the labs at Apple. Unfortunately, I didn't focus on radiators (staying away from plurals).
AWR is pretty good; used it at Besser. I only have Ansoft SV because the price is right. But, I just may try to model it.
Well, this was my theory but I got BLASTED for it. What I said was that Apple knew the problem existed and put out the bumper for it. One way to look at it is as ingenious but for me it did knock Apple's reputation down a notch in my book. I am insulted that they wanted to charge me 30.00 for a cheap piece of rubber that was necessary for the iphone not to exhibit a problem. If they had explained the reason for the bumper and included it in the purchase, as they should have, I would have been absolutely fine with it. It makes me think that Apple thinks we would not have figured this out. Do they think we're stupid?
In the iFixit teardown, Step 17, I think the launch point is on the right side of the photo. That would place it at the top of the phone. You can see a couple of striplines leading up to it. I don't see anything feeding the antennas at either of the other two junction points on the bottom of the phone.
kdarling
Contributor
I believe that Step 12 mentions an antenna connector at the bottom.
The Apple FCC submittal marks the 3G antenna as being at the bottom.
The SAR plots show the 3G antenna radiation at the bottom.
As I commented in another thread, I'm wondering (not being an RF engineer) just what purpose the bezel is being used for (i.e. what kind of antenna it is part of), since it goes all up one side and half across the top.
Thoughts?
No...that's what it does NOW.
This is seriously ridiculous. I have noticed it interfering with my internet too. As soon as I'm not gripping it there and just hold it differently my web page loads.....coincidence? I think not.
Yeah but it's not a car with a cracked window, it's a phone that's incapable of making calls if you grip it. Your method of assigning a product "superior" seems to hinge on you finding the apple logo stamped on it.
Anyway, what would you know about it, you live in Canada, a 2nd world country in Apple's eyes. That must sting the throat of a Kool Aid drinker such as yourself.
stylinexpat
macrumors 68020
Makes sense. Would be nice if they had to have certain coverage for their customers. People pay monthly service charges/fees and it would suck to be paying monthly service fees to only get dropped calls and connections whether it be data or voice. If there is no minimum coverage regulations then they pretty much could ge away with offering very minimal coverage. I highly doubt that anyone near a cell tower would have dropped calls or poor reception.
stylinexpat
macrumors 68020
I had the Nexus One and it also suffers from the same reception issues when held from the side. I sold the Nexus One and bought the new HTC Desire and while it is not perfect it is better than the Nexus One with reception and Sound Quality. The Nexus One had the worst speakerphone and earphone ever made. All phones have a good side and bad side to the. The screen on the Nexus One and HTC Desire is great indoors but the minute you go outdoors you can kiss the screen goodbye as it is very hard to see the screen when outdoors under sunlight.
That's the connector. I'm looking for the launch into the antenna. I don't see where that cable is going, but there's clearly something going on at the top where the black seam is.
The SAR pattern I saw isn't showing the 3G radiation at the bottom, but on the sides. Wifi/BT is out the top.
I do think you have that right. There is a bracket up there that appears to contact the frame. So end feed it is... But, if you are going to end feed why not do it at the bottom where all the amps are? Guess it doesn't really matter for your setup.
kdarling
Contributor
Thanks, I'll have to go look.
Another FCC photo makes it seem as if the cellular feed is at the bottom right bezel (looking from the front). Notice the loose connector in the pic below:
Attachments
That looks like a multipin connector of some sort. I seriously doubt they'd lump an RF signal into that multipin connector/ribbon along with digital signals. They're just asking for trouble then. This loose connector looks like it might be bringing signals up from the dock connector.
In the other picture you found, they circle an area on the bottom and top as having the antennas. In this photo, the covers are off and there's clearly no antenna in there. So, there's something inconsistent with the FCC photos.
Might be nothing but anyone else notice the screw in Step 12 that is right there near the band/black seam? It looks as though it's grounding the circuit board to the band/antenna. It's hard to tell. Maybe that screw might have something to do with the issue? Who knows. It looks interesting though.
Actually, it does. It's Step 13
GUARANTEED iphone reception solution!!
hold iphone in plain sight any way you want...but,,turned off...have Bluetooth earpiece connected to a Blackberry in your pocket out of sight...make and receive all calls on BB,,,BUT..pretend to be using iphone!,,,problem solved!!,,say ty!! 🙂
hold iphone in plain sight any way you want...but,,turned off...have Bluetooth earpiece connected to a Blackberry in your pocket out of sight...make and receive all calls on BB,,,BUT..pretend to be using iphone!,,,problem solved!!,,say ty!! 🙂
Perfectly capable, if you put it in a case, or grip it differently, in weaker signal areas. Same as your Ferrari requiring different tires, or very careful driving technique, if the roads are a bit icy or pot holed. Just because your SUV truck handled a bit better under those conditions when driven with less competence way doesn't make the more expensive Ferrari defective.
Funny scene: I drive over a speed bump at a certain store with no problems at my normal parking lot speed. Barely notice it. Recently saw someone in an expensive sports cars drive over to the far edge of that speed bump where it's slightly lower and creep over it diagonally VERY VERY slowly. Took forever.
BobVB
macrumors 6502a
you don't give up do you?
We are talking about a phone that will reduce the effective signal strength by 99+% when held normally when its predecessor would only reduce the signal by 33% in the same situation. We are talking about a phone that can drop 5 bar calls because of this defect. 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! Even the Nexus One is 10x better than the iPhone 4 at avoiding this problem - the Nexus One!
If it needed a case to function properly while being held normally it would come with a case.
Its fun watching you spin your arguments - is it just practice or are you going to try and sell yourself as the shyster that can shield from this debacle?
Since there was a $30 restock fee I held my nose and spent that on Ghost Armor which reduces the signal degradation enough to allow both holding and call completion when at my home. Goll darn, able to do both at the same time - that is 'magical' 😉
We are talking about a phone that will reduce the effective signal strength by 99+% when held normally when its predecessor would only reduce the signal by 33% in the same situation. We are talking about a phone that can drop 5 bar calls because of this defect. 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! Even the Nexus One is 10x better than the iPhone 4 at avoiding this problem - the Nexus One!
If it needed a case to function properly while being held normally it would come with a case.
Its fun watching you spin your arguments - is it just practice or are you going to try and sell yourself as the shyster that can shield from this debacle?
Since there was a $30 restock fee I held my nose and spent that on Ghost Armor which reduces the signal degradation enough to allow both holding and call completion when at my home. Goll darn, able to do both at the same time - that is 'magical' 😉
There's something strange going on here. I'm no longer convinced that the metal bands are the active element of the antennas. The bottom segment of the band seems to be grounded to the board at that screw. There is some kind of signal being launched into the portions of the band at the top seam. However, both the FCC filing photos and some other teardown photos make it look like the small black box at the bottom contains one antenna (there's a micro-coax going into this box). There seems to be an upper antenna (near the earpiece) - there's a conspicuous stripline trace on the board that either serves to feed an antenna or is an antenna itself. This location would also be consistent with the FCC filing photos and the SAR pattern.
So, like you said, what are the bands really for? Ground planes? I get almost complete shorts when I test between all the segments of the band. At higher frequencies, it looks like they're antennas, but that could be coincidence. They could be ground planes. Having better ground planes could help reception overall, but certainly touching them could cause issues. It's hard to tell from pictures and I don't want to dissect my phone.
Max(IT)
Suspended
Indeed, an apologist come along and another Apple basher (like you) comes along too, saying that his working iphone4 is, well, defective just because a YouTube video said so ...
No matter if in HIS experience, the only one really counting here, the phone is working just fine.
Quite funny indeed.