Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
AppleCare Training Document on iPhone 4 Signal Issues Revealed
- Thread starter MassiveAttack
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
You do not know that. There might be a software fix that alleviates this hardware caused problem.
Analogy: an F/A 117 fighter bomber does not posess the proper aerodynamics for flight (hardware issue), but the fly by wire system compensates for this with micro adjustments several times per second on all the steering systems and thrust to make flight possible (software fix).
Um...not to be a dick here, but if I owned a phone that dropped all signal strength from picking it up, not only would I remember it, but I'd return it and demand a refund. Certainly not blather on about it being normal behavior with my head in the sand.
From a YouTube video I was just watching on the reception issue, the video poster claimed he had tried to replicate the issue by holding the phone multiple ways but could not until someone showed him exactly how to hold it to get the reception problem. 
A commenter on that video stated:
So here you have people from sea to shining sea, clutching the phone using every possible contortion in an intentional attempt to replicate the issue, some finding success and others not.
The question is: is this really as serious a problem as the public hysteria would indicate if most people have to try to make it happen?
(The video, if you're interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GqUG-_Daek)
"Whoa, look everyone, I can totally make my iPhone lose signal too if I hold it like this! ZOMG IPHONE FAIL!"
A commenter on that video stated:
So here you have people from sea to shining sea, clutching the phone using every possible contortion in an intentional attempt to replicate the issue, some finding success and others not.
The question is: is this really as serious a problem as the public hysteria would indicate if most people have to try to make it happen?
(The video, if you're interested: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GqUG-_Daek)
"Whoa, look everyone, I can totally make my iPhone lose signal too if I hold it like this! ZOMG IPHONE FAIL!"
Iv had my iphone 4 since the 23rd and never had a dropped call or ever had no service and cannot replicate this "death grip"
Several possibilities. You might not be pressing exactly the right spot. You could be in an area with a very strong cellular signal (1000's of times stronger than needed for 5 bars). You could have very dry hands. There are also 2 different 3G cellular bands the iPhone 4 could use.
I myself only see the issue in certain locations with have a weak 5 bars, and moisten my palm, or use a coin, if I want to make sure I can show off the effect in those locations.
1. Not every person using the phone is going to hold the phone such that the sections of the antenna are bridged.
2. Upon seeing the image on this forum of Steve Jobs in front of what appears to be an antenna, I watched (for the first time) the keynote address. I wanted to see what he was describing / introducing in the image. Sure enough, it is the stainless steel case which acts as the antenna in sections. Of course bridging will occur if you place a finger across two of the segments. Of course this can cause a change in the effective length of the antenna. If you are wearing gloves, this probably won't happen. If your hands are dry, this probably won't happen.
What is all the fuss? Get yourself a skin and cover the stainless steel so that you cannot bridge the antenna. Or put a piece of tape across each of the gaps.
And you doofs that go on about the phone losing its signal when it is picked up, what are you smoking? The signal loss occurs when it is held in a particular manner, not simply when it is picked up.
Decreasing signal strength when the phone is in various positions and places is an entirely different matter. That would happen on most phones.
My 3G, and 3GS, and Android MyTouch, all did exactly that in one conference room in my previous office building. They could all only make calls flat on the table on the side of the room nearest the door.
And just exactly how would a refund allow me to make any phone calls?
We have all come to expect that new products will have their kinks, but a phone that cannot hold its reception when held the normal way is ridiculous. Telling users to hold it someway else or buy a case for it to work is unheard of. We know it's a case of engineers vs designers, but consumers don't care. The end product is a flawed phone.
"When you cannot logically defeat you opponent in political debate, label them as 'mentally ill' for them to loose all public credibility." -- Heinrich Himmler
Heh. Verizon did provide better coverage throughout that particular office building where I used to work. But now I work where I have better AT&T coverage, so I'm glad I stuck with GSM phones.
Heh #2. Just a few months back, people in San Francisco and NYC got dropped calls so often with AT&T that is was almost surprising when a call wasn't dropped. Yet those cities still had huge long lines of people for yet another phone on the same network.
Again, the shill hypothesis increases all the time - you know the complaint isn't about decreased signal, its dropped calls.
I've used iPhones 1 thru 4 in this house, only 4 drops calls at a remarkable rate.
Holy crap, he is gripping that thing to death!
I understand those who complain about holding it naturally but there is so much of his palm covering the front of the phone that he'd never get it close to his face.
Holy crap, he is gripping that thing to death!
I understand those who complain about holding it naturally but there is so much of his palm covering the front of the phone that he'd never get it close to his face.
Who doesn't use BlueTooth? Phone to ears is so last millennium...
Can I just point something out to all the nutjobs saying that they don't have an issue, so it's not an issue with their "holier than thou" attitude...
At work I don't have an issue, I have 5 bars and can't get them to alter no matter what - yippee, aren't I a special snowflake, everyone else must be idiots - there's no issue you fools!
Buuuut, when I get home, in a different area, on a different antenna - holy jesus, there's now an issue! How do I know? Am I studying my bars? No. I know because when I'm talking on the phone (right handed grip) people on the other end of the line tell me I'm breaking up, which is odd because this never happened on my 3G with patented "less good signal than the flashy super fab new iP4". So I change the way I'm holding the phone to Mr Job's suggested "Retard grip™" and it clears up - great, except my friends with their HTC phones are pointing and laughing at me.
If I test the problem at home properly my phone changes from download speed capable at 1.9mbps over 3G to an amazing 30kbps just by touching the "special area".
So, to sum up, I'm pretty sure all the phones have this same hardware fault - it's just that some of the smug bastards waffling on about how they have no problem may find they actually do when they leave the Apple fanboi HQ command centre they are living in. Face up to it guys - Apple dropped the ball here big-time. I love their products as much as the next guy but the iP4 is flawed as a phone and Steve Job's alarmingly arrogant response has dropped them right down in my estimations.
I would imagine we will be stuck with this problem until we cough up another $500 or so for the next iteration of iPhone in six months time and Mr Jobs will again be rubbing his hands with glee at our idiocy for mindlessly following his cult despite the problems of this current product - all it will do is teach him he can get away with it.
*Edit - to those saying "put tape on it - problem solved", why the ******* should I put tape on the most expensive phone Ive ever bought to make it work? I get the problem holding it normally, left or right-handed (I'm ambidextrous) as I touch the bottom corner with either grip - I can hold it in two fingers or put it in a case or put tape over it but I shouldn't HAVE TO. Solving the bad design with home-made botching is a very poor way of forgiving Apple for making flawed product.
At work I don't have an issue, I have 5 bars and can't get them to alter no matter what - yippee, aren't I a special snowflake, everyone else must be idiots - there's no issue you fools!
Buuuut, when I get home, in a different area, on a different antenna - holy jesus, there's now an issue! How do I know? Am I studying my bars? No. I know because when I'm talking on the phone (right handed grip) people on the other end of the line tell me I'm breaking up, which is odd because this never happened on my 3G with patented "less good signal than the flashy super fab new iP4". So I change the way I'm holding the phone to Mr Job's suggested "Retard grip™" and it clears up - great, except my friends with their HTC phones are pointing and laughing at me.
If I test the problem at home properly my phone changes from download speed capable at 1.9mbps over 3G to an amazing 30kbps just by touching the "special area".
So, to sum up, I'm pretty sure all the phones have this same hardware fault - it's just that some of the smug bastards waffling on about how they have no problem may find they actually do when they leave the Apple fanboi HQ command centre they are living in. Face up to it guys - Apple dropped the ball here big-time. I love their products as much as the next guy but the iP4 is flawed as a phone and Steve Job's alarmingly arrogant response has dropped them right down in my estimations.
I would imagine we will be stuck with this problem until we cough up another $500 or so for the next iteration of iPhone in six months time and Mr Jobs will again be rubbing his hands with glee at our idiocy for mindlessly following his cult despite the problems of this current product - all it will do is teach him he can get away with it.
*Edit - to those saying "put tape on it - problem solved", why the ******* should I put tape on the most expensive phone Ive ever bought to make it work? I get the problem holding it normally, left or right-handed (I'm ambidextrous) as I touch the bottom corner with either grip - I can hold it in two fingers or put it in a case or put tape over it but I shouldn't HAVE TO. Solving the bad design with home-made botching is a very poor way of forgiving Apple for making flawed product.
Dropped calls depend on both original signal strength and the amount of signal degradation. In weaker signal locations your 3's might well drop calls. Like my old office building. A coworker tells me that there are dead spots on her commute route where her Verizon phone doesn't get a signal. And there are most likely locations where your i4 won't drop calls.
Every phone and carrier has strengths AND weaknesses.
That just happened. Apple avoiding the "non-issue". You deserve to get what you pay for and in 2010 my phone shouldn't drop a call because my hand is designed poorly. Come on
Perhaps they could issue a software update that would warn the user when the phone is held in the wrong way. (They already do something similar for compass interference, when the user is told they must wave the phone in a figure-8 motion.) There could simply be a non-modal message that says something like: "Move your hand from the bottom left side of iPhone."
So that's the real issue. It's a social problem. Holding a device with antenna at the bottom properly doesn't look "manly" enough to guys who need to look manly. Maybe Apple will sell more i4's to women? And guys who have higher self confidence...
Or just go buy one of those ruggedized military camouflage looking cell phone cases if you have to, and stick it in your maxpedition.
Yes that's the problem, looking macho while holding the phone due to low self esteem - not that I am forced to hold it that way due to poor design... I'm sorry I insulted your flawless Apple masters, you win!