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Apple Support - antenna issues because of missing protective coating
- Thread starter RoboCop001
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It's very strange, I haven't had this problem and neither has someone at my work. I use a bumper and he doesn't.
Coating my ass. It's relative to signal strength and antennae position.
At home I made a video of my phone dropping to 0 bars every time I held the phone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMgSGp-ns3c
At work I CAN NOT replicate this problem.
Seriously, I am covering my phone with my entire hand and can't even get this phone to drop 1 bar, at work. At home where I usually have so so signal, I can do it every time.
At home I made a video of my phone dropping to 0 bars every time I held the phone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMgSGp-ns3c
At work I CAN NOT replicate this problem.
Seriously, I am covering my phone with my entire hand and can't even get this phone to drop 1 bar, at work. At home where I usually have so so signal, I can do it every time.
Yeah I dont think it's a coating issue either... At my house I have FULL edge signal and I can not replicate...At my parents house I have 2-3 bars edge and can replicate it easily...
Exactly. As you can see in my video (or just by me telling you), 10/10 times I can replicate the signal drop at my house. At work, I can't.
I have an appt. at the Genius Bar today to have my phone replaced and have a feeling I'm going to look like a jack ass.
if u can only replicate it at home and not work. wouldnt that mean its the service not the cell phone. or else it would happen all the time.
Just because you can replicate it in lower signal areas vs higher signal areas doesn't mean it's not related to a missing coating. It could mean that when the signal is stronger...whatever the cause (missing coating, bad software..yeah right) it is not an issue because the strong signal keeps it from failing.
It's helped others except that one video. I suspect something under the bumper could be conductive.
I know with a 100% confidence that this is not just a software issue showing us lower back when we really have normal bars. I held my phone in my hand this morning in attempt to make a telephone call (gasp from the audience!) to my boss. The call went through, but the it dropped about 15 seconds into the conversation. I was embarassed enough, so I told him I was driving into the parking garage when it occurred.
Or, what about the metal volume buttons? They're in direct contact with the metal encasing.
The metal frame is conductive, at least on my iPhone 4 which does NOT display the symptoms. Just in case Apple got sneaky on us, I tested each of the 3 segments. I got a 0 ohm reading on each segment.
I did not test for conductivity BETWEEN the segments, as that would seem irrelevant, and would risk damaging the circuitry by applying an external voltage across the segments.
This blows the "coating" theory, I think. But more data points are needed. Others who don't have the symptoms and an ohmmeter should try this test. Actually, it would be useful to see if ANYBODY has a non-conductive edge.
CAUTION: I would NOT advise testing across segments, for the reason I gave above. It's not my fault if you blow-out your new iPhone 4! Place both probe tips on the SAME segment.
I did not test for conductivity BETWEEN the segments, as that would seem irrelevant, and would risk damaging the circuitry by applying an external voltage across the segments.
This blows the "coating" theory, I think. But more data points are needed. Others who don't have the symptoms and an ohmmeter should try this test. Actually, it would be useful to see if ANYBODY has a non-conductive edge.
CAUTION: I would NOT advise testing across segments, for the reason I gave above. It's not my fault if you blow-out your new iPhone 4! Place both probe tips on the SAME segment.
I'm in the same boat. Week signal I can reproduce the problem and watch the bars drop, mind you never to "no service", I've always at least had one bar. Strong signal, full bars, I cannot get a single bar to drop.
There might be three groups:
1. people with protective coating that have no issues
2. people without the coating that do not see any issues because they are in an area with an extremely high signal, and would see an issue if they moved into a lower signal area
3. people without the coating who do have the issue as the signal is weaker in their area
2 and 3 must exist because we have seen posts from people that say they do not have the issue in some areas, but do in others.
I've a hunch this is related to a hardware difference between different phones. I saw a post by a guy who does have the issue, who got together with his friend and found his friend did not have the issue at all. They were both in the same place and they tried it on each others phone, discounting the possibility that one of them had more conductive skin.
This would mean that even if you found your phone had an unprotected, conductive antenna as an above poster did, if you have no issues you may just slot into type 2. This does not discount the possible of type 1 existing.
1. people with protective coating that have no issues
2. people without the coating that do not see any issues because they are in an area with an extremely high signal, and would see an issue if they moved into a lower signal area
3. people without the coating who do have the issue as the signal is weaker in their area
2 and 3 must exist because we have seen posts from people that say they do not have the issue in some areas, but do in others.
I've a hunch this is related to a hardware difference between different phones. I saw a post by a guy who does have the issue, who got together with his friend and found his friend did not have the issue at all. They were both in the same place and they tried it on each others phone, discounting the possibility that one of them had more conductive skin.
This would mean that even if you found your phone had an unprotected, conductive antenna as an above poster did, if you have no issues you may just slot into type 2. This does not discount the possible of type 1 existing.
Here's a thought that just came to me: perhaps it is not a a coating on the outside of the frame, but perhaps the frame is a "sandwich".
I've read some criticism that Apple did not simply cover the frame with a layer of plastic. (That implies to me something thicker than a "coating".) But what if it were a metal-insulator-metal sandwich? And perhaps in some cases, the insulator in the center were either missing or flawed?
Now, this is a pretty wild theory. For one thing, the outer metallic layer would attenuate the signal significantly. But there still would be leakage paths, particularly at angles.
Somebody needs to cut-apart the frame with an EDM machine. Hey, there have already been several tear-downs. Somebody who has done a teardown should examine the frame more closely.
I've read some criticism that Apple did not simply cover the frame with a layer of plastic. (That implies to me something thicker than a "coating".) But what if it were a metal-insulator-metal sandwich? And perhaps in some cases, the insulator in the center were either missing or flawed?
Now, this is a pretty wild theory. For one thing, the outer metallic layer would attenuate the signal significantly. But there still would be leakage paths, particularly at angles.
Somebody needs to cut-apart the frame with an EDM machine. Hey, there have already been several tear-downs. Somebody who has done a teardown should examine the frame more closely.
I doubt it. The antenna frame is stainless steel (i think?). If that is the case, it doesn't need a coating to prevent corrosion, by itself it is very corrosion resistant. Even if it is aluminum, that too is very corrosion resistant. If some type of coating is supposed to be there, its only purpose was to keep the to antennas from shorting.
Can you do me a favor? Try this exact same test WITHOUT touching the metal with your thumb, where it's resting on the mute switch. I have the same issue with the bumper, but if I don't touch the metal, it doesn't go down (as quickly) as if I touch the metal mute switch.
Coating issue confirmed...
The missing coating issue has been confirmed. Apple is working on a fix, and it will likely involve a replacement or repair.
Source: http://thewhiteiphone4blog.blogspot.com/2010/06/whats-causing-antenna-issue-apple-rep.html
The missing coating issue has been confirmed. Apple is working on a fix, and it will likely involve a replacement or repair.
Source: http://thewhiteiphone4blog.blogspot.com/2010/06/whats-causing-antenna-issue-apple-rep.html