Are any iPhone 5 antennas external?

[ThomasJL]

Are any of the iPhone 5 antennas external?

On the iPhone 4 and 4S, if someone held it, his skin would be touching the bare metal of an antenna. If someone is holding an iPhone 5, will his skin be touching the bare metal of an antenna?

 

[haruhiko]

The problem related to your topic only affected the iPhone 4. Since the 4S the antenna system has been significantly improved: The 4S and 5 now has two distinct (U-shaped) antennas, one at the top, one at the bottom. So that if one of them is blocked by your hand, another still works. This explains why the 4S has much better reception than the 4. iPhone 5 further improves on the reception (my personal experience) but I'm not sure if there's any further improvement.

And yes all the antennas on the 3 phones are external.

 

[ThomasJL]

The problem related to your topic only affected the iPhone 4.

I should have mentioned that the reason I created this thread had absolutely nothing to do with reception issues. I created this thread because I am uncomfortable with the idea of my skin touching a bare metal antenna for several hours a day. (My work requires the use of an app that requires me to hold the phone in my hand for several hours a day.)

But I thank you for your reply.

 

[PNutts]

I'm just curious if you want to share: Why? But be aware any answer you give is going to generate responses both good and bad.

 

[haruhiko]

I should have mentioned that the reason I created this thread had absolutely nothing to do with reception issues. I created this thread because I am uncomfortable with the idea of my skin touching a bare metal antenna for several hours a day. (My work requires the use of an app that requires me to hold the phone in my hand for several hours a day.)

But I thank you for your reply.

I think holding in your hands won't have any impact to your health as (if my memory is right) the only "problem" with mobile signal is that it may heat up your cells for a little bit so it's advised not to hold the phone near your head for a long period of time and esp. during data transfer.

 

[ThomasJL]

Nobody knows for sure whether or not prolonged skin contact with the iPhone's bare metal antenna will cause health problems. It is better to stay on the safe side.

We do know this: Cell phone antennas emit microwave radiation. Skin contact with bare metal cell phone antennas have a 'cooking' effect on cells.

With my iPhone 4S, I use an Apple-made "Bumper" case so my skin is not making contact with the bare metal antenna. Some may argue that radiation will still enter my hands, but if the bumper wasn't there and my hand was touching the bare metal antenna, the radiation entering my hands would be several times more.

I don't like cases, but if the iPhone 5 has an external bare metal antenna, I will get a third-party Bumper-style case that covers the entire antennas.