Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
The antenna at the bottom of the phone is NOT the issue. Most phones today have the antenna at the bottom. The issue is that Apple decided to put the antenna on the outside of the phone.

Ummm...I was responding to the person who suggested moving the 3G antenna to a different part of the rim (putting the 3G antenna break on the top of the phone). Apple can't do that because of the FCC regulations.
 
Cell phone service varies by location?

The outrage. This should be on the front page of Drudge!

Is that what people have discovered?

What should be on drudge is how a phone with a simple touch of one finger tip can drop calls, lower voice quality, and/or drastically lower data speeds. All because only a simple touch of a finger in the wrong place shorts out the two antennas. Unique to the iPhone 4 because of it's antenna design.
 
It must really be pissing you off to know that some of us (probably the majority) are not experiencing any of these problems, or certainly to the degree the hysterical ones are.

Most people, when they have no problem, don't spend time on forums such as these.

I am only here for the laughs.

p.s. All you have to do is not cover one tiny area. How complicated is that?

I'm glad you haven't experienced the problem yet. But it's there.

Here's a challenge for you - provide evidence of 2 IP4s behaving differently in the same location - ie one with the problem and one without.

There is a thread on this forum currently running to 14 pages specifically dedicated to this challenge and no one has been able to do it - because it can't be done. In any given location, all IP4s will either exhibit the issue, or they will all be fine. There are no "good" and "bad" batches. They are all bad. Whether your phone exhibits the issue or not is down to your location and the signal strength/RF environment in that particular place.

So if you haven't experienced these problems yet, then you should be absolutely fine as long as you have no plans to move about at all over the next year or two.

But if this is where you have to come to get your laughs, I do feel a little sorry for you.
 
What if apple just sent everyone a small clear plastic tape strip to put over the shorted area? Would that solve the problem? That's what I'd do right now if I had an iphone4.
 
Ummm...I was responding to the person who suggested moving the 3G antenna to a different part of the rim (putting the 3G antenna break on the top of the phone). Apple can't do that because of the FCC regulations.

Ahhh, I see, sorry. Yes, Apple should have built in some type of covering for these antennas, or place the seam in a spot that is not normally touched. Or, design it like most other phones, and have it inside.
 
Interesting. I think that this "issue" will be cleared up once the dust from the launch settles. IMO I believe people are slightly over-reacting, especially here on macrumors. The few friends and co-workers who happened to get their new iPhones already haven't made a peep about reception. Makes me think it isn't as big of a deal as a lot of people are making it. Just my 2c :apple:

Just because you aren't experiencing the issue doesn't mean that there isn't one. I've been dealing with the issue since I walked out of the Apple Store last Thursday. It's really quite annoying. It's more annoying when people say "I'm not experiencing it so the people who say they are must either a) be liars or b) be overreacting to a non-issue.

There were people who said the same exact thing about the cracking issues on the 3G and 3GS. I dealt with that, and I got the runaround from a jackass genius and a store manager, until my father who is a lawyer went in with me and shoved papers in the managers face (the papers named his as a co-defendant. A bunch of BS but the idiot bought it) and threatened that he would go file them at the courthouse unless they replaced the phone. Low and behold, I got a replacement for my 3G.

Even if the majority of iP4 owners aren't dealing with this issue, that doesn't mean that a large minority of people aren't. Clearly this is a fairly widespread problem (the 5 other people I know with an iP4 are having the same issue) and Apple needs to do the right thing and either a) address the issue with a software update b) issue a recall or c) give out free bumpers to those who don't want to get their phone replaced.

Apple needs to stop with the runaround policy.

They should offer free puppies. Maybe that would make you feel better.

Someone should offer you a free attitude adjustment, or better yet force you to take it. You act as if those who are having this issue are just looking for something free.

-Don
 
I need to get a new bumper, but not because of this issue. I am one of the few who doesn't actually own a mobile phone.

The reason I need a new bumper is that I was rear-ended on my way to work today.
 
Cell phone service varies by location?

The outrage. This should be on the front page of Drudge!

Is that what people have discovered?

When cell phone service varies by our location - we get it. When the service varies by location of the phone in the hand - this is a totally different story :D
 
+1 in class action lawsuit



It has to do with a company willfully and knowingly selling a product that has a design flaw causing it to malfunction to the point of failure.

Similar scenario to Toyota and their faulty accelerators.

Similar? I would say death is not at all similar to the minor inconvenience of dropped signal strength of a cell phone. Get over it folks. Go return your iPhones and find another phone. Class action lawsuit? Honestly, you should all be ashamed. Apple is not liable for a lawsuit for a product you still can return and get you money back. They have no legal responsibility to make a phone you like. If you don't like it return it. Willfully and knowingly? Wrong! You don't know apple. Their success is based on product quality and reliability. Their CEO has a reputation of being insane about product quality and control. They would not have released this phone if they felt there was a design flaw. This thead is full of fools and trolls. If there is a problem in some of the manufactured batches, then it becomes a matter of getting a new one or returning it for your money. Since plenty of people are experiencing no problems, I imagine this will prove to be limited to a batch problem. Whatever the actual problem is for the iPhone, the comments on this thread remain ridiculous.
 
This is a hardware issue, not software. They should have just put the seam at the top of the unit.

But an antenna has to be a certain length to be able to properly pick up the frequencies it's supposed to pick up. So those two antennas are basically the lengths they have to be. If you moved the seam (which is already near the top) to the top, the seam which is causing issues would end up closer to the middle of the left hand side. If you moved that problematic seam to the bottom, you'd end up with the top seam at the side near the top right hand corner.

it would be wonderful if the two antennas could be the same length, you could have one seam right at the top, one at the bottom, or if the 'fake' seam on the right hand side was real, and the piece at the bottom wasn't an antenna at all, but physics probably doesn't let you do that.
 
This is one thing I don't understand.

In all the previous iPhones I think 1 out of 500 people did not have cases on their phone. Now with the iPhone 4 99% of the people are not using a case.

Are people just trying to make their own lives difficult for no reason?

I have the Apple Bumper on my phone and I'm going from 5 bars to 0 and dropped calls in my house. I have went through the ringer with Apple phone support and now have a genius bar appointment for Friday to hopefully swap out for an at least marginally better device.
 
You don't have to buy a case. That's only 1 out of 4 or more flexible options. You could also either (1) use the phone only in strong signal areas, (2) hold the phone properly in weak signal areas, or (4) use an uglier cell phone.

I do all 4. (Have bumper. One side of the house has a strong signal. I know how not to block the antenna at work where the cell signal is really weak, even when I'm showing off the i4 bare metal. I have an Android phone in my gym bag that I prefer not to use too often.)

This is precisely the problem. People shouldn't have to change their habits and cater to the phone (as described in options 1, 2 and 3).

SJ advertised the iPhone as the device that can do it all - a phone, iPod, Internet Communicator. Having to carry another phone defeats the purpose (as described in option 4).

None of your options addresses this problem; and I am sad to see Apple's response is to hold the phone differently. Is this 1984?
 
Similar? I would say death is not at all similar to the minor inconvenience of dropped signal strength of a cell phone. Get over it folks. Go return your iPhones and find another phone. Class action lawsuit? Honestly, you should all be ashamed. Apple is not liable for a lawsuit for a product you still can return and get you money back. They have no legal responsibility to make a phone you like. If you don't like it return it. Willfully and knowingly? Wrong! You don't know apple. Their success is based on product quality and reliability. Their CEO has a reputation of being insane about product quality and control. They would not have released this phone if they felt there was a design flaw. This thead is full of fools and trolls. If there is a problem in some of the manufactured batches, then it becomes a matter of getting a new one or returning it for your money. Since plenty of people are experiencing no problems, I imagine this will prove to be limited to a batch problem. Whatever the actual problem is for the iPhone, the comments on this thread remain ridiculous.

Faulty gas pedal does not necessarily lead to death. Conversely, dropped phone call may lead to death. The death is not the issue here. The issue is the company knowingly selling defective products and then refusing to fix them.
 
Linked?

While I agree that the iPhone 4 reception problem is very real and very serious, I am wondering if some of the "dropped calls" are actually caused by accidentally pressing "end call" with your cheek. I have noticed a problem with the sensitivity of the proximity sensor and have ended up hanging on people several times. When I read articles of people claiming they dropped 14 calls in two hours, I'm apt to think this may be part of the problem.

Just a thought. You'll know if this is the case if you hear no "beep beep beep" when the call ends -- indicating that you ended the call and did NOT drop it.

Anyone?
 
But an antenna has to be a certain length to be able to properly pick up the frequencies it's supposed to pick up. So those two antennas are basically the lengths they have to be. If you moved the seam (which is already near the top) to the top, the seam which is causing issues would end up closer to the middle of the left hand side. If you moved that problematic seam to the bottom, you'd end up with the top seam at the side near the top right hand corner.

it would be wonderful if the two antennas could be the same length, you could have one seam right at the top, one at the bottom, or if the 'fake' seam on the right hand side was real, and the piece at the bottom wasn't an antenna at all, but physics probably doesn't let you do that.

Really? Then how did all other phone manufacturers managed to design phones that do not have this problem? Hell, even Apple's own previous models while not exactly the best in class in terms of reception nonetheless were not as susceptive to this problem.
 
Facts

I am a criminal investigator. I could prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Apple has sold a product that DOES NOT coincide with the statements made in the keynote address, or their advertisements. I immediately observed several issues within the first 24 hours of upgrading from the 3Gs to the iPhone 4. I can repeatedly reproduce the "Signal Loss" when touching the black band on the lower left hand corner. On my way to work I dropped three calls, same road I've taken to work everyday for the past year and never dropped a call on my 3Gs. Received numerous "Celluar Data Cannot Connect" error messages. I never had this problem with my 3Gs, and now that my daughter has my old phone, she has been right next to me and not recieved ANY of the error messages I recieve on the iPhone 4. I think any jury would would agree there IS and ISSUE with the iPhone 4 compared to the 3Gs. The dissappointing fact, is that Apple deceived millions of people and continues to do so. If they made a mistake in the design of the phone, they are screwed and they know that. They will deny, deny, deny. What other choice do they have? My advice is for everyone to return the item in mass numbers, that will send a message to Apple to have their ducks in a row before they release a new product.
 
Not so fast

While I agree that the iPhone 4 reception problem is very real and very serious, I am wondering if some of the "dropped calls" are actually caused by accidentally pressing "end call" with your cheek. I have noticed a problem with the sensitivity of the proximity sensor and have ended up hanging on people several times. When I read articles of people claiming they dropped 14 calls in two hours, I'm apt to think this may be part of the problem.

Just a thought. You'll know if this is the case if you hear no "beep beep beep" when the call ends -- indicating that you ended the call and did NOT drop it.

Anyone?

People indeed reported this problem but let us deal with the reception problem first. There will be time for the second class action lawsuit :D
 
ruhhh-roh

Clearly Apple thinks its time to play CYA.

Instead of minimizing & marginalizing their unprecedentedly loyal customer base they should be consoling them and offering them olive branch fixes - even if those fixes are little (or nothing) more than complete BS...

It would certainly go over better than a blanket denial which I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt PISSES ME THE EFF OFF.

Class action lawsuits are already under way... CYA is inadequate. We DEMAND a response that at least feigns action and concern...

These concepts are not difficult to grasp... What is happening with Apple now is what happens when the lawyers take over...
 
Two things,
1. Many phones due this very same thing when held by the user, I have a droid and when I heard about this signal loss I tried it on my phone and it does the exact same thing. So let's not single out apple on this one.

2. All you I phone 4 Owners talk a big game, If your all so bothered by it then get rid of it..........Oh wait, that's right, because it's the greatest phone EVER made, and with people waiting in line for days, and apple selling a half million of these a day they must be pretty good phones. :apple:
 
Steve Jobs: "It just works"

Bobby Hanley: No, no it doesn't work - in fact, I've never had so many dropped calls in my life, and I haven't seen slow web browsing like this since I was using a 28.8k modem back in 1995.

Apple Users pay top dollar for devices because they 'just work'. If I pay top dollar for an electronic device, then I should be able to hold my phone how I have been holding it for years, and with all previous Iphones which I never had these issues with. This is no exaggeration - this is the truth, so why do so many people out there think we are making this up?

All of you out there that don't have an issue with dropped calls, or only see dropped bars when you hold the phone like a gorilla, don't assume that everyone else is exaggerating or in the wrong. I hold my phone with 3 fingers and a thumb and I contantly get choppy reception and dropped calls. And I'm using it in the exact same way (and in the same environment) as I did my 3G which NEVER had these issues.

If you bought a car and the paint started peeling immediately, and the car company told you to park in the shade, or use a car cover, would you accept that? Some of you out there are so ridiculous trying to blame an obvious issue on the customers.

I love Apple products, but they are in the wrong here -- no doubt about it. I can't wait for the ones criticizing the people having real issues to go on vacation or out of town and run into the same issues so you can share our pain... You'll change your tune quickly.

And before you tell me to put a case on my phone, several people have already confirmed this did not resolve their issue -- should I have to pay $29 in hopes of fixing an issue? Should I have to buy a case for a hardware flaw?

Get real!
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.