AppleCare Training Document on iPhone 4 Signal Issues Revealed

[rcandre2]

And all this could have been avoided by communicating with their customers in a professional manner.

Where is Apples statement on the issue, even Microsoft managed than with their issue on xbox 360

Exactly!

 

[salesguy]

Why even brag about how beautiful the phone looks and all the glass used when Apple tells you just to put a case on it, it is beyond comical at this point.

I am very happy with my decision to keep my 3GS and hope the Verizon news today is something to look forward to.

 

[daneoni]

You are going to return your phone based on some text typed into a Web page at BGR? Because they claim they heard it from an "Apple Connect"? Probably the same "Apple Connect" that told them it would be fixed by software and released on Monday.. (Both recent BGR stories..)

Either you are going to return it because it does not work and they will not/ can not help you or you are not. Returning it because of a post on a tech blog would just be silly.

No i'm returning because i've had this same tone from Apple CS, "non-issue" "hold the phone differently" "buy a case" so they ARE following these rules that Apple has given them

The only reason i was holding onto mine was because of the rumor of software fix but that is now looking unlikely herego...sayonara iPhone 4

 

[BobVB]

So you'd rather lose all those feature than buy a bumper for your i4? Strange...

Why waste your upgrade credit on a POS when you know they will be fixing this and in a few months you can get another phone? This is particularly true for those of us upgrading from a 3GS which handles iOS 4.0 extremely well. Why keep a lemon when you can get something that works without a case a bit down the road?

Its only by returning them in large quantities that  will learn anything.

 

[LOLaMac]

when will this retarded "FAIL" meme go away?

It gets a little long in the tooth sometimes, but what are you going to do? When a company releases a hand held telephone that fails to work when you........hold it in your hand it's, well, fail. The only thing that is more fail is the lord Steve Jobs telling everyone there is no problem and to go pound sand. And the only thing even more fail than that are the people who have this information and willingly plunk down hundreds for a hand held phone that you can't hold in your hand because of a design flaw, and a CEO who reassures you by smugly telling you to go fly a kite.

 

[captain kaos]

I agree. I got off this iphone bandwagon a while ago as i didn't like the way Apple does business. It makes out its a cuddly company handing out the best thing since slice bread but in reality i would say they are one of the most cut throat companies out there and this story is just another example.

Oh, yes and this is a hardware issue. The only software "fix" would be to make the systems switch to the other antennae faster when it senses a drop in attenuation (as mentioned in another story.)

 

[turbineseaplane]

already got my free one. frankly i prefer things naked but keeping it on anyway.

May I ask when you called in, when it was shipped and then when it ultimately arrived?

Trying to gauge when to expect mine.

 

[bushido]

i HATE cases and i am sure as hell not gonna get one just to fix the **** apple made and throw another 29$ down their ass

to those who say everyone uses a case well ironically none of my friends do, it rly gives me the *****. why would i get an iphone to put it in some plastic crap its rly irritating but thats just my opinion

 

[Journojulz]

Where is Apples statement on the issue, even Microsoft managed than with their issue on xbox 36o

Where is the statement about Vista?

Apple work differently - they fix problems instead of apologising

Be patient, see that happens.

 

[marksman]

I can't believe people are really saying "If you would just hold the phone properly" or "Just move your hand a few centimeters and you'll have no problems". If I'm going to buy a $200 phone with at least a $30 a month data plan for two years, it damn well better work no matter how I hold it.

That does not make any sense.

If you held it with the screen facing the other direction and the microphone away from your face it would not work properly either.

Lots, if not most things, have to be handled/used/held in a particular manner.

Nobody is asking you to do anything extra ordinary. Just hold the phone like a normal person.

 

[Fernandez21]

You probably had a defective phone, sorry....return it, and get another one. There may just be a bad lot out there.....maybe the conformal coating inside didn't cure right....or isn't thick enough....or perhaps there's a bad solder joint.....who knows. I can hold my phone in the death grip and it works. Sorry you can't accept that.

But this is the problem, apple isn't letting us exchange our phones for another one if all we have is the reception issue, if apple would allow us to and get working phones, then you would see the amount of complaints drop significantly.

 

[guerro]

Except the branded case they released for the iPad (which has no reported issues) and the iPod socks. Apple has done this before.

Those weren't the same thing.

 

[chrmjenkins]

Never thought of it like that! Just so happens that the bumper also covers the one area where all the issues are - ie. the attenna!

Now i'm sounding real cynical! I'll give Apple the benefit of the doubt though - i still don't think they had any clue about the "issue" before launch!

Just a week ago the bumper was supposedly apple trying to cover up the screen breaking issues. I suppose next week it will be there to prevent the pixie dust from escaping.

Why waste your upgrade credit on a POS when you know they will be fixing this and in a few months you can get another phone? This is particularly true for those of us upgrading from a 3GS which handles iOS 4.0 extremely well. Why keep a lemon when you can get something that works without a case a bit down the road?

Its only by returning them in large quantities that  will learn anything.

There's no guarantee that there will be any corrective action on the hardware level, because in many people's eyes, it's not a design problem as it has acceptable parameters for consumer use.

Those weren't the same thing.

They're not cases that serve a protective measure? What are they then, pray tell?

 

[marksman]

It's comforting to know that there are a lot of RF engineers on this forum.

Not if you are an unemployed RF Engineer.

 

[Diode]

I think I'm more pissed about requiring a case to be used with the phone and not including said case.

 

[BobVB]

Nobody is asking you to do anything extra ordinary. Just hold the phone like a normal person.

Which for a right handed person puts the spot you aren't supposed to touch firmly into the meaty base of your left thumb.

Again, its like one guy said and they designed a milk carton with the opening on its side and told everyone to just learn to open it properly

 

[bluush]

it's not a design problem as it has acceptable parameters for consumer use.

Acceptable to you, maybe.

 

[lilo777]

You know that Apple blew it when ...

every second clip on YouTube shows someone demonstrating how his/her iPhone does or does not drop the call when holding the phone in the hand

 

[Ironduke]

I hope apple get owned by the impending lawsuit.

 

[scwinsett]

That does not make any sense.

If you held it with the screen facing the other direction and the microphone away from your face it would not work properly either.

Lots, if not most things, have to be handled/used/held in a particular manner.

Nobody is asking you to do anything extra ordinary. Just hold the phone like a normal person.

Your analogy was not accurate. Holding the screen upside down is not the same as holding it in your left hand. I have always help my iPhones in my left hand. I'm not gripping it obnoxiously, I'm just holding it normally like most people hold phones. Apple f**ked up... end of story. They are a company, not a religion, sometimes, they fail.

Not only does it "misrepresent" the signal strength, it literally drops 90% of the calls I make on it. My friends with iPhone 4 have had none of these issues, which leads me to believe it was just a bad batch.

 

[Anuba]

See i'm not sure Apple "willfully" released it knowing there was an issue. All the "prototype"/test devices (like the one in the bar) had a case which made it look like a 3GS.

Pardon my harshness but that's a really stupid theory. Just because they used 3GS cases when the phone was used in public doesn't mean they've never used it 'naked' elsewhere (on the Apple campus etc). Furthermore, the competent engineers who put the phone together only needed to take one look at the blueprints to conclude that this would be a potential issue. It's been known since day 1, but they went ahead with it anyway. They were stuck between a rock and a hard place:

1) The phone would have more internal components than previous models, but Ive's and Jobs' obsession with thinness demanded that it still had to be thinner than the previous model

2) The FCC (and its equivalents worldwide) basically force the manufacturers to place the antenna at the bottom, otherwise the SAR rating would be unacceptable.

In order to meet requirement #1, the antennas had to be external, as they wouldn't fit inside the thinner case

In order to meet requirement #2, they had to put the antenna at the bottom

This left them with a phone that met all the requirements, there was just one small problem... there's a spot that you can't touch. This is where most companies would go back to the drawing board, but then again those companies don't have Apple's boldness and arrogance. Apple didn't go back to the drawing board, instead they said "**** it. We're Apple, we can make people hold their phones differently".

 

[darngooddesign]

If anything, the current phone favors lefties while browsing the internet..

 

[cobby10]

Same as it ever was, same as it ever was

I understand how this upsets people, but everyone needs to calm down.

1. The FCC requires the antenna to be located at the bottom of the devise (for ALL devices, not just the iPhone). This is done to reduce the amount of RF the will be transmitted through the person.

2. This is a problem for EVERY phone (again, not just the iPhone). I find it funny that only now this becomes an issue, when it was there all along. and its really NOT any more prevalent on the iPhone4, it just appears that way because of the hype of the new iDevise launch.

This CAN be reduced by a software. The antenna PA (I believe Skyworks) can be programmed not to jump off a cliff with a sudden decrease in signal. The iPhone has always been finicky with sudden signal changes. Its never been a problem with the silicon, but with software interpretation. AT&T doesn't help either, signal strength changes by the second. Direct contact with the antenna doesn't seem to be the issue. The problem is with RF signal detection, Not with with voltage fluctuations in antenna PA. Which would happen if the issue was with skin being conductive.

While im not letting Apple off the hook on this. Some of this can be fixed with a software patch and the other half will never be changed because of FCC regulations. But time will tell, I hope im right and this can be reduced. If not, ohhhh crap....

 

[spiritlevel]

You don't pick up a kitchen knife by the blade end often, do you?

No, but if you pick a knife up by the handle, but by doing that you still got cut, you'd think it wasn't very well designed wouldn't you...

 

[Journojulz]

The only reason i was holding onto mine was because of the rumor of software fix but that is now looking unlikely herego...sayonara iPhone 4

Looking unlikely?

It was launched 5 days ago.

It took a month for the 3.1 coma to be cured.