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AppleCare Training Document on iPhone 4 Signal Issues Revealed

iOS4 also to blame I suspect!

I find it frustrating (being polite!!) that the problems with the iOS4 aren't being acknowledged or addressed. I upgraded (!?!) my 3GS (32 gig) with the new iOS and have had nothing but problems with it crashing and rebooting. Even if my Genius bar appointment comes up with a solution I will be going back to iOS3.. until iOS4 has been fully resolved. I have, until this point, always had confidence in 'upgrades' from Apple, but this one has been an unmitigated disaster for me.:(
 
CFreymarc said:
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."
Click to expand...

Agreed. The whole momentum is being forced onto this issue. People are now purchasing the phone and the first thing that they do is try to see if it happens or not, and it seems that there are enough cases where it doesn't for it to be a little too well orchestrated. Now you have to ask is there a company out there that would benefit from the negative publicity, have the resources to make it happen, AND be that dodgy???? ... hmmmmm??
 
cycomiko said:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/2
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Wow, what a great review — thanks for that. This guy manages to trick his iPhone 4 into showing numerical signal strength instead of bars, which is really key to understanding what is going on. Everyone should read this.

For me, the main points can be summarised as:

  • Loss in signal strength is far worse in the iPhone 4 when used without a case and holding naturally — almost twice as bad as the Nexus One, and ten times worse than the 3GS.
  • Using the iPhone 4 within a case DOES improve things dramatically, actually performing better than the Nexus One. (Anyone still not convinced why Apple designed the 'bumper'?)
  • So long as you don't short the antenna, the iPhone 4 actually performs better than previous iPhones at the same signal strength, since 'the new baseband hardware is much more sensitive'.
No surprises for me with those first two points. At least the third is a sign that Apple didn't get it completely wrong.

Finally, the author sums up Apple's dilemma nicely in this paragraph:

'Add in an external antenna you're essentially forced to touch and bridge to another adjacent antenna while holding, and the signal attenuation is even worse. The fact of the matter is that either the most sensitive region of the antenna should have an insulative coating, or everyone should use a case. For a company that uses style heavily as a selling point, the latter isn't an option. And the former would require an unprecedented admission of fault on Apple's part.'
​
 
Did you guys forget the iPhone 4 keynote?

The Keynote already hinted reception problems!!!

I find it funny that NO ONE mentions the embarrassing keynote where iPhone 4 could not receive the WiFi signal used to showcase the speed of Safari loading pages. Supposedly because people in the room had created their own wifi spots interfering with Steves iPhone 4 reception. Funny, because all these people seemingly had no problems using Wifi and the 3Gs didn't have either.

Maybe Steve held the phone in the lower left corner? :D
 
jacobj said:
So the question is, is it really that much of an issue? I don't have an iPhone 4, but by default I hold the phone in exactly the way that I am not supposed to
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I found the same when experimenting with my iPhone 3G... I'm a leftie yet I won't affect me when I'm talking on the phone, it won't affect me when I'm doing one-hand surfing/texting, the only potential issue is when I'm typing with my left and holding the phone with my right, then the pinky and ring finger appear to be where the dreaded black band would be on the 4.

As to whether it's a big issue for the vast majority, though, I'd say there's a high possibility of that. We're talking about habits that are burned into people's muscle memory. They've held phones since they learned to walk. Changing some second-nature habit like that is like asking people to change the way they hold a fork, a pen, a mouse, a remote control, their d*** when the pee. Even those who do a serious attempt to change will forget a thousand times. To separate humans from their habits is often difficult to the point where lobotomy or execution might be the only option. Stop picking your nose... stop eating with your mouth open... stop driving like a maniac... learn the metric system... hold your phone differently... ain't gonna happen. People are people.

Nobody suggests that MS recalls it's OS when a critical security flaw is found
Click to expand...
Yeah but that's software which automatically updates itself. I've never heard of such a thing as a software recall where the company asks everyone to send their optical discs back.

When Microsoft releases faulty hardware, everyone expects them to do a recall, and they do. For example with the original XBox there were one or two reports of the power cable overheating. There weren't any actual fires as far as I know, but as a precaution they did a massive worldwide recall and sent out new power cables to a majority of XBox owners. I never owned an XBox 360 but I have a vague recollection of reading about some recall on that front as well.
 
jacobj said:
For early adopters that feel cheated, well that's the pain of being an early adopted: you run the risk of finding out things about the product that you don't like because they have not become public: tough
Click to expand...

I'm sorry man - but I need to call BS on this.

I can see if some "new" feature had a bug or two...but they managed to break things that were ALREADY WORKING FINE in 3 previous iPhone models. What did they break? The most BASIC of features - phone calls and browsing internet. I'd hardly say that people bought the iP4 as early adopters of those features, lol. I just want the features that were already working to....work!

3 things:
Phone calls
Internet access
Proximity sensor
 
HiRez said:
What I don't understand is, why not put the break on the top of the phone instead of the bottom? Who holds their phone from the top? Even on the right side would be better as most people are right handed and hold the phone in their left hand so they can tap with their right hand fingers.

But anyway yeah, this is starting to look really bad for Apple. It definitely seems to be a design flaw that is widespread in who it effects and that amazingly no one caught before it was released.
Click to expand...

We have the FCC to thank for that as they state that all antenae have to be located as far away from the users ear as possible to stop it frying your brains apparently. Thus the dog **** location for it.

They could have located it at the left hand corner on the bend though. Problem sorted!! Woohoo!!!! I should work @ Apple design team! Watch out Jonny Ive!

On a serious note though I am seriously considering returning the phone next week of there isnt a fix or solution. Apple have seriously underestimated the customer and to insult them with this on top of the hold it a different way statement is a disgrace and I cant wait to see them in court as they have quite simply sold a device not fit for purpose. And that is breaking the law Im afraid.
 
CFreymarc said:
"When you cannot logically defeat you opponent in political debate, label them as 'mentally ill' for them to loose all public credibility." -- Heinrich Himmler
Click to expand...

Was Himmler really saying that we should let something loose ... somewhere? What?

These clashes are the only evolu-tionary possibility which will enable us one day, now that Fate has given us the Fuehrer Adolf Hitler, to create the Germanic Reich.
Heinrich Himmler

So why would anyone quote Himmler? Are you in Germany?
 
Ubuntu said:
Wow, how much is Apple paying you?
Spiritlevel has answered this post perfectly but really if you're going to question coordination and focus, why not look at the facts? I'm not one for conspiracy theories but isn't this the first time Apple has released iPhone cases at the same time - ones that just happen to cover the area of issue? As the glass back is apparently so resilient (given the photos I've seen I'd question that too). Its almost as if they're selling the makeshift coating to us for £25! Now I'd be the first in line to question that theory but to be honest considering their stance with this entire issue I'm starting to believe it.
Click to expand...

So either • you hold your phone the suggested way or • you question aesthetics over function and put on protection – on the phone. The choice is yours. Apple could have made the choice for you and encased the antenna, but wouldn't that have left as many naysayers criticizing its appearance?
 
CplBadboy said:
Check this out from Sony.

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/

500 000 recalls of failed hardware. See Apple this is called customer service and admitting your hardware failure. Give Sony a ring on how to do it, failing that, ring Toyota. 5 million cars recalled to have a hardware defect fixed because they listen to their customers.
Click to expand...
Yeah, but that's different... Apple has recalled defective hardware in the past. Laptop batteries, for example. But in this case the defect isn't an "oops" issue, it's by design. They intended for it to be exactly like this. The message a massive recall would send here isn't "we're taking responsibility for this slip-up in quality control", but rather "we apologize for being complete idiots who designed a product that doesn't work when people hold it naturally. We hoped they would learn to hold it unnaturally, but no luck there." The recall would be an admission of poor industrial design, and Apple would rather go up in vapors than admit to something like that.
 
CplBadboy said:
Check this out from Sony.

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/

500 000 recalls of failed hardware. See Apple this is called customer service and admitting your hardware failure. Give Sony a ring on how to do it, failing that, ring Toyota. 5 million cars recalled to have a hardware defect fixed because they listen to their customers.
Click to expand...
Nice. And I gotta say, Sony makes some beautiful-looking machines. If only they shipped with Ubuntu rather than just Windows I'd buy one in a heartbeat.
 
doctor-don said:
So either • you hold your phone the suggested way or • you question aesthetics over function and put on protection – on the phone. The choice is yours. Apple could have made the choice for you and encased the antenna, but wouldn't that have left as many naysayers criticizing its appearance?
Click to expand...

What was wrong with simply keeping it as it is in the 3GS? They thought they'd be improving the quality, right? They were wrong - an error on their part. And then they let us find out for ourselves? If a product has such an odd requirement it should actually be declared rather than hidden away and dealt with like this.
 
CplBadboy said:
Check this out from Sony.

http://www.boygeniusreport.com/

500 000 recalls of failed hardware. See Apple this is called customer service and admitting your hardware failure. Give Sony a ring on how to do it, failing that, ring Toyota. 5 million cars recalled to have a hardware defect fixed because they listen to their customers.
Click to expand...
Apple can't do a recall. Its not a production problem, its a fundamental design problem.
They'd have to redesign the phone, rerun through FCC certification. Would take months best case. Will be interesting to see if they even fix it for the Verizon (CDMA) iPhone.
Unless they coat the bottom antenna. Not sure how sensitive that would be to chipping.

Very embarrassing.
I'm amazed that Apple didn't notice this, or decided to proceed despite this.
The damage to the brand could be much worse than any recall cost.
 
What I don't understand is this.
People who have the iphone4 and are having these issues are obviously going to be returning them within the return window.
So Jobs stating to hold it differently is only going to cause more and more people to return it early.
So My guess is there is no Software fix at all. or else Steve would have admitted to the flaw and assured users that an update is coming out.

Now that they are fighting the battle and stating that there is no issue, they are only going to get a whole slew, .5 million or so iphone4's returned within 30 days.

So either Apple is trying to get returned phones at a slower rate so they don't get walloped in 25 days or they may have a software fix and just lack a proper PR guy to weather the storm until it's release.

In either case, Apple is playing this whole scenario completely wrong. If I had a product that caused people to camp out in order to acquire, I would be bending over backward to make those people happy that they did. I wouldn't tell them they are wrong and it's not an issue.

I will most definitely be returning mine as I hold the device in that dreaded position when browsing the web and point with my right finger.

Maybe this was all a way to get people off the ATT network when browsing. Heh signal is only dropping for lefties or righties who browse a lot.
 
The people in the commercials are holding the IPhone the "wrong way". If Jobs is going to dodge bullets, then his ad's need to reflect the right way to hold the phone. I like my Garminphone. I can hold it any way I want it, and it works. When I saw the IPhone release and saw this "revolutionary" antenna Jobs was boasting, my first thought was that somebody's hand would block the antenna when using the phone. Somewhat funny that this sort of bad engineering made it into the final release of the product. Doesn't really bode well for my confidence in what Apple makes. I have watched their products become cheaper and cheaper, but the prices go up and up.

I would LOVE to be a fly on the wall in the meetings that are going on at Apple right now about this very issue of designing an antenna and placing it where ones hands will block the signal. Brain Farts all around.
 
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