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Apple Settles Class Action Suit Regarding iPhone 4 Antenna
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Multiple videos, articles and even a couple of lawsuits provided that statement to be false ages ago.
How is this a design flaw when the 4S looks exactly like the 4 but doesn't have any problems. The only noticeable difference in the steel band is 4 black slits instead of 3.
First off, yes, this is an imaginary problem. That said, looks the same and same design are two different things. You could make a water gun that looked exactly like a Glock 45. They would not be the same design.
Quadrito?
Totally off subject, what is with the Seagate add that has been on this site for quite some time. It is for an external, WiFi driven storage device designed for iPads. The problem with the add? When you click on it, you are taken to an HTML 5/ JavaScript page that lets you drag and drop the device onto your mobile platform to see how it works. Unfortunately, the code for the page has been broken from day one.
I wonder if I can get Seagate to give me $15 and a free bumper?
well..
I'm not sure about you guys, But I did get a bumper as well, But the difference being that bumper is the biggest piece of garbage I have ever seen. It basically disintegrates and tears apart after a few weeks if not months. I would only be interested in a further replacement of it or $15 in exchange for such a cheap option given, As they are a billion dollar company and I bought a $700 Phone!
I'm not sure about you guys, But I did get a bumper as well, But the difference being that bumper is the biggest piece of garbage I have ever seen. It basically disintegrates and tears apart after a few weeks if not months. I would only be interested in a further replacement of it or $15 in exchange for such a cheap option given, As they are a billion dollar company and I bought a $700 Phone!
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Y'all must have great reception where you live because out here in the boonies when you only have 1 or 2 bars to begin with, holding the iPhone wrong will drop the call every time! I got my iPhone right after the case program ended so I forked out my own money to buy a case. It really helped, but I do think apple should have started providing a solution with the phone. I mean it could have been a cheap version of the bumper and they wouldn't have had any more problems.
Y'all must have great reception where you live because out here in the boonies when you only have 1 or 2 bars to begin with, holding the iPhone wrong will drop the call every time! I got my iPhone right after the case program ended so I forked out my own money to buy a case. It really helped, but I do think apple should have started providing a solution with the phone. I mean it could have been a cheap version of the bumper and they wouldn't have had any more problems.
Lawyers: 1!
The issue is certainly real to a point... for a limited number of people in certain situations (non-case users in weak signal areas). And a smaller issue than the ways in which the antenna is BETTER than the already-good antenna on the 3G/3GS: testing showed what I myself have found: the iPhone 4 gets a better signal in weak rural areas, despite the fact that bars drop when you hold it a certain way.
Of course, bars dropping is not the same as calls dropping. That can happen too—with other phones as well—but more rarely. I never noticed by old phone dropping bars from gripping until the “scandal” made me look for it, but when I tested, sure enough it did, same as my iPhone 4. I myself have never seen a problem with touching the metal gap. Holding the bottom of the phone, yes... but I see that on other phones as well. I have no doubt there ARE situations in which touching the metal gap makes a difference, but I haven’t experienced them. The problem of actual dropped calls from the antenna design is nowhere near universal, as the drummed-up “scandal” would have you believe it to be. Unless you mean “universal” in the sense that any phone will sometimes do that...
In short, the iPhone 4’s reception is much better than plenty of other phones, but those ones are somehow OK... Well, a free bumper is no bad thing
But it’s funny... for all the vast numbers of iPhone 4 buyers on forums (where people love to complain) I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone complain about iPhone 4 dropped calls, or return one for that reason. Ever. Not even a made-up troll! I’m sure real complaints have been made (some of them were even complaints that wouldn’t apply to every other phone)... but wouldn’t you think they’d be common? With the “scandal” making people look for a problem? I mean, complaints about little things like a mute switch on the lower-selling iPad were FAR more common. Yet all I’ve ever seen on this issue is lots of people who do NOT own an iPhone 4, indignant on our behalf. Well, thanks, but we’re fine The problems, while real, are minor and rare.
I would never take back my old phone that couldn’t get a signal in places my iPhone 4 can!
In all likelihood, though, ANY phone would experience issues in your area; some more than others (many complex variables) and many much worse than the iPhone 4, which has been tested in rural areas and able to take calls in places the previous iPhone cannot.
And ALL phones are helped by a case/bumper (which most people have always used anyway, making this an instant non-issue for most users). Because a case gets your body mass away from the antenna. It also solves the (rare) gap-contact call-drops in the process, of course.
Apple’s problem was more a media pile-on (Foxconn-stlye!) than any fair reality. Could they have made the issue go away by handling differently? No—the media would have condemned them (in certain circles) no matter what. (Ditto with Foxconn, while other worse companies get a pass, just like phones with worse reception than the iPhone 4 get a pass.)
FWIW, usage varies and I don’t doubt you at all, but I’ve had mine since they were first offered, and it’s like new. I love it: it’s the case design I wished someone would make, and then Apple did!
However, I ONLY use it when I’m going to be lying it flat on a table to type/game, and only when not at home (because my table here is soft anyway). That means I use it for a few hours maybe twice a month when I’m out with friends passing it around or something. I use it naked and get great call performance the other 99% of the time. It also means I pop it on and off at least 6 times a month and it hasn’t shown wear. (When I go out with it, I must pop it on and off an extra two times to use my car dock on the 2-way drive. So I also like how painlessly it pops on and off without scuffing the phone—yet never pops off accidentally.)
I’ve also never used it for drop protection... since by bad luck, both of my iPhone’s brutal drops were caseless... but it survived both without a scratch
The issue is certainly real to a point... for a limited number of people in certain situations (non-case users in weak signal areas). And a smaller issue than the ways in which the antenna is BETTER than the already-good antenna on the 3G/3GS: testing showed what I myself have found: the iPhone 4 gets a better signal in weak rural areas, despite the fact that bars drop when you hold it a certain way.
Of course, bars dropping is not the same as calls dropping. That can happen too—with other phones as well—but more rarely. I never noticed by old phone dropping bars from gripping until the “scandal” made me look for it, but when I tested, sure enough it did, same as my iPhone 4. I myself have never seen a problem with touching the metal gap. Holding the bottom of the phone, yes... but I see that on other phones as well. I have no doubt there ARE situations in which touching the metal gap makes a difference, but I haven’t experienced them. The problem of actual dropped calls from the antenna design is nowhere near universal, as the drummed-up “scandal” would have you believe it to be. Unless you mean “universal” in the sense that any phone will sometimes do that...
In short, the iPhone 4’s reception is much better than plenty of other phones, but those ones are somehow OK... Well, a free bumper is no bad thing
But it’s funny... for all the vast numbers of iPhone 4 buyers on forums (where people love to complain) I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone complain about iPhone 4 dropped calls, or return one for that reason. Ever. Not even a made-up troll! I’m sure real complaints have been made (some of them were even complaints that wouldn’t apply to every other phone)... but wouldn’t you think they’d be common? With the “scandal” making people look for a problem? I mean, complaints about little things like a mute switch on the lower-selling iPad were FAR more common. Yet all I’ve ever seen on this issue is lots of people who do NOT own an iPhone 4, indignant on our behalf. Well, thanks, but we’re fine
The problems, while real, are minor and rare.I would never take back my old phone that couldn’t get a signal in places my iPhone 4 can!
In all likelihood, though, ANY phone would experience issues in your area; some more than others (many complex variables) and many much worse than the iPhone 4, which has been tested in rural areas and able to take calls in places the previous iPhone cannot.
And ALL phones are helped by a case/bumper (which most people have always used anyway, making this an instant non-issue for most users). Because a case gets your body mass away from the antenna. It also solves the (rare) gap-contact call-drops in the process, of course.
Apple’s problem was more a media pile-on (Foxconn-stlye!) than any fair reality. Could they have made the issue go away by handling differently? No—the media would have condemned them (in certain circles) no matter what. (Ditto with Foxconn, while other worse companies get a pass, just like phones with worse reception than the iPhone 4 get a pass.)
FWIW, usage varies and I don’t doubt you at all, but I’ve had mine since they were first offered, and it’s like new. I love it: it’s the case design I wished someone would make, and then Apple did!
However, I ONLY use it when I’m going to be lying it flat on a table to type/game, and only when not at home (because my table here is soft anyway). That means I use it for a few hours maybe twice a month when I’m out with friends passing it around or something. I use it naked and get great call performance the other 99% of the time. It also means I pop it on and off at least 6 times a month and it hasn’t shown wear. (When I go out with it, I must pop it on and off an extra two times to use my car dock on the 2-way drive. So I also like how painlessly it pops on and off without scuffing the phone—yet never pops off accidentally.)
I’ve also never used it for drop protection... since by bad luck, both of my iPhone’s brutal drops were caseless... but it survived both without a scratch
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Wrong.
1) I wrote to Steve about the issue (and he replied) BEFORE the Gizmodo story because I had it. In all three iPhone 4's I had to cycle through (2 for major camera issues)
2) Your conspiracy theory is just that. And the more complicated you have to make it - the less viable it becomes. The simplest answer usually prevails - and that is - that the iPhone 4 does have an antennae issue. The amount it affects the end user is variable - but to suggest there is NO issue is just fiction.
3) The press conference and Apple's response has ZERO to do with Gizmodo and EVERYTHING to do with Consumer Reports.
Have a nice day.
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That's only half true.
Where I live, I had a 3G that worked just fine, picked up between 3-4 "bars". Never lost service, even when held and attenuated.
With a 4, I could lose service by lightly bridging the antennas. This didn't really affect me, because I didn't hold my phone normally that way.
Luckily for me, a tower just went in a few blocks away. Now I get 5 bars almost all the time. When I bridge the antennas, it goes down to 1, but finally doesn't lose service.
So it's a combination of the phone plus your area of service.
charlituna said:
That's only half true.
Where I live, I had a 3G that worked just fine, picked up between 3-4 "bars". Never lost service, even when held and attenuated.
With a 4, I could lose service by lightly bridging the antennas. This didn't really affect me, because I didn't hold my phone normally that way.
Luckily for me, a tower just went in a few blocks away. Now I get 5 bars almost all the time. When I bridge the antennas, it goes down to 1, but finally doesn't lose service.
So it's a combination of the phone plus your area of service.
No, it's because they fixed it in the iPhone 4S. From the press release :
http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2011/10/04Apple-Launches-iPhone-4S-iOS-5-iCloud.html
I live nearby the AT&T headquarters and yes, I do still get dropped calls. This is even my second iPhone 4 after having to replace the first one with a broken headphone jack. Everytime I pick it up, the bars move down, and when I put it back down, they go back up.
And that's with the bumper on.
It surprises me that they hadn't drop the case though. It's almost the end of everyone's contracts.
And that's with the bumper on.
It surprises me that they hadn't drop the case though. It's almost the end of everyone's contracts.
Imaginary means it never happened outside of people's mind. The problem with the 4 required a few parameters to pull off, but it was quite real if you could get all of those together (touch the proper spot, make sure you're in an area where the signal is low and boom).
In fact, long before the iPhone 4, some Nokia phones had EXTERNAL METAL antennas, along with a diagram in the instruction manual telling you not to touch it! (A pic was posted, but ages ago. Not sure of the model.) I guess it didn’t work out for them as well as iPhone 4’s version, which actually behaves very nearly the same as non-external antennas.
And boom you lose bars... but even then, only in a subset of cases would you lose an actual call.
And then you must factor in the ways in which the iPhone 4’s antenna is better than many other phones, which testing indeed shows it to be. So you could get that same or worse boom in that same situation with a totally different phone (for different but very common grip-related reasons).
Every phone’s different. Everyone will hold a call in some situation where another won’t and vice versa. So you could say the problems are real... in certain situations... with EVERY phone. But where are the mass complaints from iPhone 4 users online? The media stirs people up to notice problems they might overlook, so I really can’t explain why mass hysteria alone never caused an avalanche of owner complaints. But there never was one... mainly just non-iPhone-4-owners saying it’s a big problem
And, naturally, lawyers...
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Yep, using external trim for antennas had been a technique for many years before Apple came along. Some early phones used the trim around the screen for an antenna, for example.
Apple's antenna is not quite that simple, as far as I can tell from reading the various patents, FCC tests, and antenna designer blogs.
I believe the main iPhone 4 antenna section was still hidden inside the lower base of the phone. The infamous external trim ring acted more as a ground plane to create a virtual slot antenna from the whole.
I'm with ATT and never had any problems. Also I don't know anyone using the iPhone 4 (ATT) that has had antenna problems. All the complaints I know are from the internet.
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Try not to sound so stupid next time. There are thousands of people like myself that can eliminate our 3G signal by bridging the gap on the lower left side. It isn't BS and you clearly live somewhere where signal is strong enough not to matter. I used a case up until a month ago since I gave my dad my case for his 4gs; and since have remembered how frustrating it is not being to grip the phone with my left hand like I did with a case on.
Please remove your head from your ass before posting again.
pmz said:
Try not to sound so stupid next time. There are thousands of people like myself that can eliminate our 3G signal by bridging the gap on the lower left side. It isn't BS and you clearly live somewhere where signal is strong enough not to matter. I used a case up until a month ago since I gave my dad my case for his 4gs; and since have remembered how frustrating it is not being to grip the phone with my left hand like I did with a case on.
Please remove your head from your ass before posting again.
Hey look at this sleek looking brick made of thin metal and easily breakable glass. Doesn't it look nice? Oh by the way as nice as we think it looks, you'll need to put this thick ugly bumper on it for it to work. BTW, we'll pay for the bumper if you take us to court and win.
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