Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
While I can't say that I agree with Apple, I can't really say I'm surprised. I used to own a 1983 Oldmobile Delta 88 when I was 17, it wouldn't start in -40C weather. In Canada -40C weather is common in the winter. When I complained to General Motors, they told me to plug the block heater in. Same thing here... essentially anyway... Hold it different or put a bumper on... Either way, my iPhone 3G was upgraded to iOS4 last week and it runs like crap now... will I buy an iPhone 4? YEP! I'd rather have issues with the way I hold it (I'm left handed, so I can't see myself having an issue anyway).
 
Make a choice and act

I think that it's pretty clear from the script that Apple has no intention of fixing this phone in a meaningful way. Best hope is a software fix to raise the number of bars, and then blame AT&T or users for anything after.

Not much value in complaining. Either the phone works for you and you keep it, or it doesn't work for you and you can return it within the 14 day return period. Or, I guess you can buy a case and convert your thin, good looking phone into a fat, honkin ugly duckling and keep it as well.

Accept it. For the roughly half of iPhone 4 buyers that are experiencing this problem (based on the Macrumors poll results), it won't really be fixed until next year's redesign. Act and move on.
 
Called support. After a couple tries due to my phone dropping the call, got to talk to a nice person. Solution was reset and make sure my hand did not cover those little black lines. Bumper will help or he agreed putting tape on the phone over those line should help. Kinda hate to walk around with tape all over a new phone and apple store doesn't have those expensive bumpers. Only other fix was turn it in for another phone.

Kinda sad apple would sell a product with this type of problem. Maybe they got rid of the QA folks. Is this why that engineer left the proto in the bar......it did 't work? Btw, I use Skype on it at work over the wireless. Works and doesn't drop calls.

It is only a problem if you insist on putting your finger there when using it.
;)

It is confusing me that you know that touching that part of the phone causes the signal to degrade/drop but you purposefully STILL keep touching it when you are trying to call Apple for support. Something is not right with that. Either you are lying, or you don't catch on very quickly. In any case it seems off.
 
JUST USE YOUR PHONES! Probably 1 in 20 people hold their phones in such a way that would cause signal loss.

Unfortunately, the Internet has now taught everyone how not to hold your iPhone 4, so of course everyone is now holding their iPhones in that way. :eek:

I never hold my iPhone to my ear with the corner buried in my palm. I've never even tried it until all the ZOMG IPHONE FAIL news hit this week. It feels weird. It puts the phone at a weird angle to my face. I hold my phone in my left hand (though I'm right-handed) with my thumb in the middle of the left edge and the rest of my fingers along the right edge. I suspect most people probably hold their phones up to their ear in much the same way. That is, until all the tech news sites taught them how to do otherwise this week.

I want a bumper for my iPhone not because of reception issues, but because I'm terrified of dropping the thing. It's as slick as a bar of soap! Maybe my hands are just too dry. ZOMG, APPLE DIDN'T DESIGN A PROPER PHONE FOR DRY HANDS!!! :eek:
 
I think it's kind of pointless when people say this affects lefties more that righties...as if you are a rightie, when surfing the web you cradle it with your left hand anyway...either way you're screwed.
 
I think it's more likely media outlets will report it less, or rather more cautiously, because they are beginning to realize many reported without research, jumped to press with the original accusations, when very very quickly the outrage itself was overtaking the accusations as far as factual reliability and newsworthiness is concerned, and they are in jeopardy of becoming the story themselves because journalists are supposed to be good at journalism, where accuracy is far more important than expediency. I think they'll all just ignore their mistakes and hope everyone else does too, just like we hope about our own mistakes. We intentionally forget so we can move on.

But it is rather clear that no matter what Apple does, it will be wrong. They should do nothing, but what is their natural progression to do, and say nothing when they do it, just like they've always done.

Not sure I can agree with you.

Most of the news I read, WSG, NYT, CNN, did their own testing on the devices they had in hand, so their not doing the research I don't think is the issue here. The "factual reliability" os no matter what Apple tries to make any one believe is this issue can be replicated on many of their new devices.

Clearly all one has to do is look to the hundreds of pages of threads dedicated to the issue, people complaining, these are not nuts, they have an issue that interferes with their using the device as it was advertised.

I don't know about you but I did not see a statement anywhere on the box or in the technical notes, or user guide that stated I had to hold my phone in a certain position in order to make a phone call. In fact I dont remember ever being told by any cellular phone manufacturer in the 25 years I have been buying these products.

Anyway, only two things we consumers can do at this point, keep it, or return it.

If you return it, you just wait till the next product cycle and see if they figure this problem out,
OR
you keep it and shut the frak up and learn to hold your phone the way Apple tells you to hold it.
Cause obviously bitching and complaining is not going to stop people from buying this as it continues to fly off the shelves, they cant make it fast enough!

Pity.
They were such a good company once upon a time.
 
I think that it's pretty clear from the script that Apple has no intention of fixing this phone in a meaningful way. Best hope is a software fix to raise the number of bars, and then blame AT&T or users for anything after.

Not much value in complaining. Either the phone works for you and you keep it, or it doesn't work for you and you can return it within the 14 day return period. Or, I guess you can buy a case and convert your thin, good looking phone into a fat, honkin ugly duckling and keep it as well.

Accept it. For the roughly half of iPhone 4 buyers that are experiencing this problem (based on the Macrumors poll results), it won't really be fixed until next year's redesign. Act and move on.

Or the Verizon (may Sprint) CDMA iPhone.
 
Those that say this antenna grip issue is a problem have only their lack of experience and knowledge speaking. For example:

1) If you drive a car on the wrong side of the road and you hit a car head on, it is the drivers fault. It is not the car makers fault for not making a car that automatically moves to the proper lane.

2) If you use the CD-ROM drive bay for a cup holder, you are misusing the product. As pathetic as that sounds, it has happened.

3) If you grip a cell phone around the antenna and loose a call, it is the users fault. The cell phone maker is not at fault.

It is easy for naive, spoiled and socially irresponsible people to blame equipment when they are not using the device properly. They just need training and this is what Apple is trying to do. So all you wieners, get some education and give it up!

IMO, this alleged antenna issue is so overblown, this smells of a well funded, black PR campaign to trash one of the most successful consumer product launches in decades. Personally, I want to know how many of these "independent bloggers" are paid and on the clock to post this crap to make the iPhone 4 look bad.

I hope Apple has a good private investigator team on this to find out where the money is coming from on this one. The publicity of this issue is way too focused and coordinated to have "just happened."
 
My experience and opinion (along with all of the others!)

I've had my phone activated since June 24th. My experience has been, when the phone is working, it provides much clearer conversation on both ends than did my 3G. However, I do feel as if I've had a few more dropped calls with it, which does disturb me. I'm sure that it has nothing to do with this reported problem of how you hold the phone, as I actually don't hold my phone in such a way as to bridge the two antennas. Plus, I got a bumper yesterday and I can't see any improvement with it installed (not that it was terrible to begin with).

What bothers me is how ridiculously childish all these people are about this issue, along with how effective the media is at whipping the lemmings into a frenzy. Just read through the comments and it is clear how immature the posters can be, four letter words and all. Come on, folks.

Being a business who's only purpose is to make money, Apple will resolve this technical issue (as they always do), people. This is why we like Apple in the first place; they are one of the few companies that actually get the point that us consumers simply want our devices to WORK.
 
But come on guys… Why are some people still defending Apple over this? Why are there over 50 people voting 'positive' on this article?

Hint: they're the same 50 people who vote 'negative' whenever it's a story with positive news about Apple.
 
Cause obviously bitching and complaining is not going to stop people from buying this as it continues to fly off the shelves, they cant make it fast enough!

Pity.
They were such a good company once upon a time.
People don't know about it, or if they do they don't believe it.

Apple has NEVER produced a product with such a big problem that couldn't be fixed. Apple has produced products with minor problems which were fixed in software.

People have a hard time believing that Apple won't fix it.
They have a hard time believing there could really be something seriously wrong with the phone.

Once they figure it out, Apple brand and reputation will be tarnished, and folks will have a heck of a time selling their iPhone 4s when iPhone 5 comes out.
 
I know, totally! I've never seen an iPhone case before that actually wraps around the sides of the phone. I mean, it's like, unprecedented! THERE'S OBVIOUSLY A CONSPIRACY AT WORK HERE!

tin-foil-hat.jpg

I'll give you $29.00 for that hat.
 
I contacted my lawyer, Jackie Chiles, and he feels certain that Apple has violated one/several of my civil/human rights and that it is one of my inalienable rights to be able to hold my cell phone any damn way I want to.

He said my lack of reception was due to Apple's deception.


Apple is gonna PAY DEARLY for this.


Hey Jackie: go away. This is no place to advertise your business.
:p
 
Who is defending Apple? Not me. I'm simply pointing out the interesting phenomenon where Apple is raked over the coals in the press for the exact same issue other devices have had in the past with no such public outcry (and almost no media scrutiny whatsoever).

I've been a cellphone user for 15 years, on multiple carriers with multiple different models of phones. Never, not one single goddamn time, have I owned one that completely dropped all signal strength...FROM HOLDING IT WRONG!

And IF...IF I did own a product like that, I would expect a recall on the product to fix the ****** performance, not some smug statement from the CEO telling the people that they are using it wrong. When a product cannot perform it's primary function, said product is defective. All the trite comments and stupid little forum pictures won't change that fact, kiddo.
 
Being a business who's only purpose is to make money, Apple will resolve this technical issue (as they always do), people. This is why we like Apple in the first place; they are one of the few companies that actually get the point that us consumers simply want our devices to WORK.
Unless they can't fix it.

This time is looks like an unfixable hardware design issue. Not a software issue. Not a production issue. This has NEVER happened before to Apple. But just because its never happened doesn't mean it can't.
 
I've been a Mac user and big Apple fan for a long time — almost 20 years. I've lost count of the number of Macs I've purchased in that time, but we currently own 8 Macs, a bunch of cinema displays, 2 iPhones and 2 iPods. (Waiting for second generation iPads before going there.) I've long sung the praises of Apple and in the last few years seen more friends persuaded to switch to Mac.

I just wanted to get that out of the way, lest anyone label me a troll or worse — a ‘Fandroid’. I'm not. I love the iPhone and iOS. I've seen nothing better on the market.

But come on guys… Why are some people still defending Apple over this? Why are there over 50 people voting 'positive' on this article? When is enough enough?? There is no shortage of evidence about this problem. Apple have had ample time to make an announcement about this. They have NOT promised a fix, despite some of the desperately hopeful interpretations of Steve's cryptic comments.

Apple fanboys and iPhone 4 early adopters everywhere: If you still believe in Apple, then you need to send them a clear reminder that we hold Apple to a higher standard than this. They are disrespecting you, the customer, by telling you to hold it differently. If you don't hold them to a higher standard, you are disrespecting them too. By doing nothing, you are essentially saying, ‘Apple is a mediocre electronics company that can put out products with serious design flaws and that is okay by me’.

We need to remind Apple that we expect more from them, and the only way we can do that is if enough people return their phones as defective. If Apple doesn't operate by moral principles — if it's all about the profit and loss sheet — then that's where they need to feel it. Simple as that.

Very well said.
 
IMO, this alleged antenna issue is so overblown, this smells of a well funded, black PR campaign to trash one of the most successful consumer product launches in decades. Personally, I want to know how many of these "independent bloggers" are paid and on the clock to post this crap to make the iPhone 4 look bad.

I hope Apple has a good private investigator team on this to find out where the money is coming from on this one. The publicity of this issue is way too focused and coordinated to have "just happened."

+1
 
While I can't say that I agree with Apple, I can't really say I'm surprised. I used to own a 1983 Oldmobile Delta 88 when I was 17, it wouldn't start in -40C weather. In Canada -40C weather is common in the winter. When I complained to General Motors, they told me to plug the block heater in. Same thing here... essentially anyway... Hold it different or put a bumper on... Either way, my iPhone 3G was upgraded to iOS4 last week and it runs like crap now... will I buy an iPhone 4? YEP! I'd rather have issues with the way I hold it (I'm left handed, so I can't see myself having an issue anyway).

Yes, I upgraded my 3G as well, and I can see why Apple was resistant to put many of the iOS4 features on that hardware. It simply became unusable, with the backgrounded iPod crashing when I started another application, some apps wouldn't start at all, and some took so long to start that I gave up. I finally downgraded it back to 3.1.3 after I got my new iP4, and it runs like a champ. Now it's relegated to being my at-home iPod Touch (web surfing, Sonos controller, etc). The iP4 rocks!
 
I got it, I got it. It didn't hit me until just now on what this really is.

Its a feature not a flaw

You know those calls you get that you wish it would drop, its a well hidden drop call button for just those cases.

LMAO
 
People don't know about it, or if they do they don't believe it.

Apple has NEVER produced a product with such a big problem that couldn't be fixed. Apple has produced products with minor problems which were fixed in software.

People have a hard time believing that Apple won't fix it.
They have a hard time believing there could really be something seriously wrong with the phone.

Once they figure it out, Apple brand and reputation will be tarnished, and folks will have a heck of a time selling their iPhone 4s when iPhone 5 comes out.

Yes I do believe you are right.

People do not believe it. And even though they know about the reception deception they continue to follow the piper!
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.