Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

chrisp92

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 29, 2008
44
0
hi guys, i was just wondering if i should get an iphone 4 and therefore wondered if the reported problems are as bad as everyone is saying? is the majority getting the signal, camera, proximity censer, etc problems or is it just a loud few. thanks.
 
You're asking on an iPhone forum. Do you really think you're going to get a fair reflection of the truth here?

The only honest answer is to be patient and wait a few months. See if Apple actually addresses the problems. That's what I'm doing.
 
Of course we should all bow down and just suck up the fact we paid money, made an investment in something and it sucked.

A portion of the launch phones were crap. I've emailed and talked to 30 some people who had similar problems.

Our replacement phones, and I assume the ones for sale now are pretty near perfect IMO.
 
I haven't had the proximity sensor issue, and I already don't hold the phone in a way that would cover the gap and I am a lefty. Besides that intentionally covering the gap at my house has no effect on the signal/data. Few miles away it does but since it dont hold it so it covers the gap it doesn't matter to me.

So, IMO, not there not as bad as people say but it could go either way.
 
Honestly the only gripe I have is with reception. At work i used to get 5 bars anywhere I went and now when i am in our break room (metal building) I get about half the bars i used to get. At home in a poor signal area its about the same as my 3g, so while its not improved like advertised, its the same, which I can live with since im getting a microcell. Other than that i havent experienced any issues, overall Im happy with my purchase.
 
I had a phone from the first batch...

I got my phone on release day and it was great except it had the urine stain. I kept it for about a week and a half before I finally made an appointment. I was actually hoping they would tell mento give it a couple more weeks but he told me if I still had the yellow smokers teeth colored stain then I likely had an issue in the phone. I went ahead and exchanged. This replacement (a NEW phone from the recent batch) is awesome! No yellow stains or other issues at all! I think they just rushed the first build a little too much. My opinion (and that's all it is) is that the iPhone 4 is pretty much flawless at this point.
 
No, they aren't. People love to complain. It's a fact of life.


/thread

Exactly. If you look back at the 3GS launch, you’d think all 3GS’s had battery problems and yellow screens (among other things I forget…didn’t care to remember :) ).

This is just my opinion, but I don’t think the problems are as rampant as the press and some of the more vocal members on this forum make them. One day, I plan on going through all the threads to see how many people actually said they had a problem (there are lots of posts by certain people in those threads). They’re big threads, but maybe not so big. Even so, it doesn’t matter. You’re going to get more complainers on a forum. That’s just how it is.
 
Honestly the only gripe I have is with reception. At work i used to get 5 bars anywhere I went and now when i am in our break room (metal building) I get about half the bars i used to get. At home in a poor signal area its about the same as my 3g, so while its not improved like advertised, its the same, which I can live with since im getting a microcell. Other than that i havent experienced any issues, overall Im happy with my purchase.

Really, my signal is excellent virtually everywhere I go.
 
hi guys, i was just wondering if i should get an iphone 4 and therefore wondered if the reported problems are as bad as everyone is saying?

I'd go ahead and buy one. If you have problems, return it. It's definitely worth checking out. If it works for you, it's the best available.

My wife and I haven't had a single problem with our phones since they arrived on launch.

I would have returned it in a second if I had any issues at all.
 
Of course we should all bow down and just suck up the fact we paid money, made an investment in something and it sucked.

A portion of the launch phones were crap. I've emailed and talked to 30 some people who had similar problems.

Our replacement phones, and I assume the ones for sale now are pretty near perfect IMO.

Got my replacement today and it's perfect.
 
You have to keep in mind that people only speak up when they have problems, especially on forums. Nobody is going to start a thread about any product just to say "I've had no problems with my purchase - everything going as expected."
 
You have to keep in mind that people only speak up when they have problems, especially on forums. Nobody is going to start a thread about any product just to say "I've had no problems with my purchase - everything going as expected."

on the flip side of that argument you have the army of loyal Apple followers who swarm these threads to proclaim every problem isn't as bad as it seems. So it goes both ways.
 
General problems with camera, screen dust/spots are always existent at a product launch no matter what product it is (maybe in different categories). The iPhone 4 is pretty amazing. It's the best phone i've ever used. The ONLY problem is the reception-corner-of-satan but other than that, it's an amazing piece of technology.
 
It's all over hyped, my phone has no issues like reported. My phone does drop a few bars when I grip it like shown on the web but so do other phones I've owned. I have not dropped one SINGLE call.
 
I've been using my iPhone 4 for little over a week now and I haven't had any problem using it. No dropped calls or sensor issues. But I have to mention that I'm using a case and as strange it sounds, where I live att signal is much better than verizon.
 
Yup. Like an expensive phone that has design flaws and quality controls issues.

The antenna issue is not QC related, and everything else is really rare. No electronic product on earth has a perfect 100% yield. Of course there are going to be imperfect devices that slip through when you ship 1.7 million phones in 3 days...

My phone works great, as do the iP4's my friends purchased. You have to realize that people with issues are substantially more vocal than those without. Especially on forums.
 
hi guys, i was just wondering if i should get an iphone 4 and therefore wondered if the reported problems are as bad as everyone is saying? is the majority getting the signal, camera, proximity censer, etc problems or is it just a loud few. thanks.

People who have no problems rarely pour over iPhone forums posting comments. A lot of people might have little problems and not even realize it because they are just not that big of deal. Most people only ever post because they have problems - or because they want to start a fuss. That is why it will look like there are so many problems even when there are not.

There have been 2 million iPhone 4 sold, and maybe 4 or 5 sites have discussions about problems, and on those sites its mostly the same people posting the same junk over and over instead of actually having helpful troubleshooting and analysis.

Here is my experience with two pre-launch-day iPhones.

1. I was not able to duplicate the death grip problem, but I believe it does exist. I believe that firmware updates will improve this, but not cure it completely (I am not talking about changing the signal bars display - that is simply to help people understand better when they are in poor coverage, I am talking about improving how the radio in the phone handles the signal issues when the antenna are bridged) I also believe that in real world use it will end up impacting almost no one. Our signal reception has been great, and the only time we have been traveling outside of good signal areas with our 4 - we didn't have any problems with signal. I think it is simply way way way overblown.

2. I have had a bug when you do a "reset all settings" on the phone, it screws up the available options for "passcode lock" times. This is not an iPhone 4 problem, it is iOS 4, and happens on the 3GS as well when using iOS 4. The bug has been accepted and verified by Apple which means it will be fixed.

3. If you port a number from another carrier, FaceTime may not work. Apple released a knowlege base article with a solution, which resets FaceTime with your correct number and solves the problem. Probably will be completely fixed with the first software update.

4. AT&T has had problems with the new radio in the iPhone 4 which is HSUPA enabled. In some AT&T markets that use a particular network hardware - any device (not just the iPhone 4) was causing problems with the HSUPA. AT&T has disabled HSUPA in those markets and is working with the hardware vendor on a fix which will be deployed soon. This did not affect all AT&T markets.

5. Bluetooth connectivity in iOS 4 has been fairly unstable. Apple is looking into the bugs. I believe this is a problem with iOS 4 as it also seems to affect 3GS models when using iOS 4. This will be fixed with a software update.

6. We have had some problems with the Auto White Balance in pictures on the iPhone 4. The problem, as far as I can tell and have read is fairly limited to very specific lighting conditions - usually involving compact flourescent lights. This can cause pictures to look yellow. I have experienced this problem but only in 1 situation of my probably 30 or 40 places I have taken pictures. AWB is a software function, and I believe this will be improved if not fixed. AWB is tricky for every camera made - not just the iPhone 4. Photographers know this is not an unusual problem with point and shoot type cameras with AWB.

7. The iOS iMovie app has a bug that would crash when exporting movies. It has been fixed with an update yesterday.

There, that is my complete list of everything that I have either experienced or that I know is happening.

I am happy with our two iPhone 4s and AT&T. And I have lots of experience with Apple fixing or improving things with subsequent releases. Every single hardware problem Apple has ever had they have either fixed or mitigated with software patches, or they have had replacement or refund programs (some times even long after warranty coverage has expired). All of the people I have dealt with at AT&T have been very nice, professional, and helpful. And my network coverage has been good and I have had no problems with network aside from the previously mentioned 3G HSUPA problems (we are in one of the affected markets).

I recommend the phone, and believe that even the minor bumps will be worked out. As with any brand new product with brand new software there will be issues. If you are worried, wait a few months for the kinks to be ironed out, then pick one up. They will still be available then.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.