Aside from Signal Issue, Consumer Reports Rates iPhone 4 Highest Amongst All Smartphones

[Jimrod]

Seriously, there are so many blind idiots on this forum (no worse than any other in that respect) - "100% of phones aren't affected because mine isn't". Really, have you tried it in an AREA where someone IS having a problem? After all the crap being talked I have still yet to see ANYONE display no signal problem on their phone in the same location as another phone with the problem. It must be easy to prove right? Just a quick little video? Oh wait, you can't - it's a design fault. It may be rectifiable with some clever software tweaking (no-one knows for sure yet until the next update) but it's a fault nonetheless.

For those that say "have you tested all 3 million phones? Because if not then it's not scientific..." Well I'm afraid you're wrong - all of the serious, proper testing has been able to replicate this on all the phones tested - science also works in that a theory such as this "design fault" may become fact unless DISPROVED with real evidence. No-one has been able to disprove these facts under proper testing.

I think the site should build in an IQ test for all responders, it should have its results displayed as a signature so you can gauge the value of their posts.

Some people jump in and say "Is it that hard not to hold it that way?" - well yes, it is if you're left handed, try it - it's hardly comfortable or practical to hold the phone "the correct way®" in your left hand. I hold the phone in either hand when I use it and I often find call quality dropping in my right hand too, usually because a finger has strayed over the black line - I do apologise Mr Jobs, perhaps I should remove my lower fingers as I'm obviously not designed properly for your phone?

Subsequent responses after this post will still say "I don't get the problem so not all phones are affected", blatantly ignoring all the previous posts stating exactly why that is - I'd hate to be an innocent person on trial with those guys as the jurors as evidence probably wouldn't be recognised at all...

Oh, and for an earlier poster from the UK who said it must be AT&T as O2 in the UK don't have this problem - below are the results of a speedtest in my house (Swindon if that helps), 1st with the phone sat on a table and then with me touching the black band, gently, with one finger in the same position (no "deathgrip", phone-squeezing as all the apologists insist on overstating).

 

[Thex1138]

All being said....

We still haven't heard complaints from Euro or Japan on the Vulcan Nerve Pinch to their iPhone 4...?
UK perhaps?

 

[bowler357]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A293 Safari/6531.22.7)

Thanks Einstein. Don't think I ever heard that one mentioned before.

What are your thoughts on the probability of Lindey Lohan getting drunk this weekend?

Lindsey has a drinking problem. You should show respect for mental health issues as you would to physical health ones. Your comment is culture less and in very poor taste. I sincerely hope your family is never affected by alcohol related disorders, although that eventuality might show you how to respect the disaffected and the diseased.

Wee-ooo wee-ooo! Here come the PC police!

 

[Jimrod]

We still haven't heard complaints from Euro or Japan on the Vulcan Nerve Pinch to their iPhone 4...?
UK perhaps?

Posted UK problem above your post, Japan is unlikely as they have very strong blanket 3G coverage. Not that many Euro countries have the phone yet... Give it time, it will come. Not some crazy grip "nerve-pinch" either - you only have to touch the phone covering the black band, which should have been placed elsewhere if it really is meant to be left untouched.

 

[Hardinesque]

Take it easy....

Sorry what andoid market? You mean that unregulated pigs sty? And comparable performance? You mean shoddy battery draining mukti tasking? No retina displays? No robust ecosystem? And what about service Nd support? how is google supporting their phones? Sweet fa that's how.

-----------------

Slow down there fella, I said comparable performance, not superior performance. This is the first time that can be said of the iPhone: it has competitors.

You may argue your case that the iPhone is better, but in this stage of the game, its competitors have the potential to leapfrog it, if reception issues or other maladies continue to come to light.

For me, a phone needs to be good at being a phone first, and the carrier plays a big part in that equation. Having 10 billion apps means little if I only use 20 most of the time. And the lifespan of any phone is limited, I'm keeping my eyes open to see what's ahead, Apple or Android.

Saying something is the "best" is rather simplistic and immature. A more informed person will know that engineering trade offs and preferences will guarantee there rarely being a singular "best" anything for everyone.

 

[doctor-don]

Posted UK problem above your post, Japan is unlikely as they have very strong blanket 3G coverage. Not that many Euro countries have the phone yet... Give it time, it will come. Not some crazy grip "nerve-pinch" either - you only have to touch the phone covering the black band, which should have been placed elsewhere if it really is meant to be left untouched.

No. Just coated so that touching is not a problem.

 

[Thex1138]

Posted UK problem above your post, Japan is unlikely as they have very strong blanket 3G coverage. Not that many Euro countries have the phone yet... Give it time, it will come. Not some crazy grip "nerve-pinch" either - you only have to touch the phone covering the black band, which should have been placed elsewhere if it really is meant to be left untouched.

No worries dude... yeah I just spotted after submitting...

 

[Jimrod]

No. Just coated so that touching is not a problem.

True. Seems such a simple solution... Apple are still doing themselves no favours (English spelling ) by burying their heads in the sand over this. They have said the "signal bar fix" is just that and won't solve this problem - what, if anything, will then? Are they even working on it? Do they even care - people are still lining up to buy the phones... If they do take the "customer is wrong" attitude long-term over this my next phone will be an Android one - the gap between them is already very small, both do things better/worse than the other, they have caught up to the point of overtaking and the iPhone is only evolving very slowly in comparison.

 

[MacTheSpoon]

I wonder if Apple will issue a recall. That would be pretty major.

 

[MrSmith]

...Wee-ooo wee-ooo! Here come the PC police!

He needs a drink.

Posted UK problem above your post, Japan is unlikely as they have very strong blanket 3G coverage...

It also has many mountains.

 

[Thex1138]

I wonder if Apple will issue a recall. That would be pretty major.

Perhaps hardware revision before years end... and recall/replace...

 

[Cambot]

Why are those same people refusing to post video evidence if it's true ?

Seriously, what do you not understand about evidence ?

From the Boondocks: The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

In this case, just because there is no evidence to prove you wrong, doesn't mean you're right.

Just playing Devil's advocate, because I sort of agree and I can reproduce the problem in low signal areas like in my house or my dad's basement and it's annoying. I can't produce the problem in the AT&T store a few miles away at all; 5 bars with the grip of death. Bumper does seem to be my solution though.

 

[Jimrod]

He needs a drink.


It also has many mountains.

Not many mountain men have iPhones - yet.

 

[A.W.E.S.O.M.-0]

dude this is a non issue. who the **** when using their iphone specifically use their finger to cover the lower left corner. its all those stupid nerds online that does that, general public dont.

Perhaps you should take your head out of mr Jobs rear and look outside of your narrow world..... There's more out there in the world than just your local Apple store. If you're 6"2 - 6"7 it's awefully difficult NOT to touch the lower left corner of such a small phone since our hands tend to be a bit bigger as well.... The Dutch/Frisian male is 6"3 on average so there are an aweful lot of people potentially affected by this problem....

 

[bruinsrme]

So many people here and other forums continue to say peole hate apple or the iphone itself, its a non-issue, its not happening to them so others are haters and so on.
Yet these people god has come out and said don't hold it this way or give me $30 and I'll fix this problem maybe.
Nice....Imagine the mudslinging and gloating if this was an MS product or Android platform it was happening to.
Oh wait according to SJ every cell phone does this, my apologies.
I had the signal loss happen to me, sitting on my console 5 bars, picked it up to type a text searching, set it down 5 bars, texted again searching.

 

[MrSmith]

Not many mountain men have iPhones - yet.

It's the people between the mountains who have the signal problem.

 

[tennisbum]

OK, I just spent the last half an hour to write up something to post. Then I was signed off without an ability to go back to what I have written. THIS IS SUCH A FLAW in the design of the forum!!!!! It is so unusable!!!! MacRumors should close the forum and fix the problem.

Seriously, are we all just living in such a me only world? So I did not realized that MacRumors would sign idled users out without notifying me. And I did not copy the EPIC that I just wrote. My mistake. Hope that I don't make the mistake again. ;-)

So what EPIC was I writing? Basically, what I wanted to say is that cellular phone technology sucks. It's wireless and we lose connections at times. But it's the convenience of being able to be in touch at almost any given place that had sold me to adopt to use mobile phones.

I think Apple had a pretty wonderful idea and was bold enough to think differently to come up with the new antenna design. But it failed to test it out in the day to day situation where there are lefties who do hold the phone with the "death" grip. Our hands are conductors. Have you ever noticed that if you plug your hands in the electrical outlet, you'll get a shock? Now that it is proven that the "death" grip do exist, Apple should officially acknowledge it. It would be a nice courtesy for Apple to offer free bumpers to its customers to show that Apple do value its customers. And for those who want to bitch and complain about the signal fluctuation and can't live without perfect five bars. Please return the iPhone 4 and buy another smart phone to use. There are many wonderful alternatives out there made by many different vendors for you to choose from. I have 3 alternatives for myself. An iPhone 3GS, a HTC Hero, & a HTC EVO 4G. All with active lines. the Android phones satisfy the geek side of me who wants to tweak everything in the phone. The iPhones satisfy the side of me who just want an elegant phone that just works. Am I spoiled? Yes. Are they all good phones? Yes. And thanks to Google Voice, I can receive calls from almost everywhere. If one phone does not receive the call, it'll ring through the other 3. If I can't receive any calls on any of the phones, I sure hope that I am in the middle of a national park, enjoying a much needed vacation from the busy daily life.

All smart phones are tools. Like everything else, in the hands of a right person, it can do wonderful things. In the hands of another, it can do terrible things, or do nothing at all. Everything in life has certain flaws. We all want a perfect life. A perfect car. A perfect smart phone. A perfect significant other. But the fact remains that everything and everyone has certain imperfections. When I learned to accept these imperfections, I learned to appreciate the world and everyone living in it much more. Know the limitations of your smart phone. When you do, you can maximize your enjoyment from it and not worrying about what it can't do. And yes, you do have other choices of smart phones to choose from. You don't have to buy an iPhone 4 if the signal fluctuation is an issue to you.

One last thing, don't forget to turn off your mobile phone once in awhile to enjoy some quality "down time". There are much to the world to appreciate other than complaining about what a phone can do and what it can't do. Have a fabulous evening, everyone.



PS: I did select and copy my new condensed epic just in case if I did get signed off without that warning again.

 

[sjo]

We still haven't heard complaints from Euro or Japan on the Vulcan Nerve Pinch to their iPhone 4...?
UK perhaps?

That's the same vulcan nerve pinch actors use in Apple's own ads?

Now they only need to update the ads with text "Avoid holding it this way!"

I think Apple had a pretty wonderful idea and was bold enough to think differently to come up with the new antenna design.

They had to because the antenna construction that are effective have largely been patented. And the patent holders have sued Apple for infringement. Apple looses in court and that's the end of the Iphone business.

But it failed to test it out in the day to day situation where there are lefties who do hold the phone with the "death" grip. Our hands are conductors. Have you ever noticed that if you plug your hands in the electrical outlet, you'll get a shock?

It's not just lefties, Apple uses the same death grip in their own ads. It's natural grip for most users in some use cases of a smartphone. Apple most likely knew about this consequence of the design, perhaps that's why they introduce the bumpers on the specification page of I4?

Now that it is proven that the "death" grip do exist, Apple should officially acknowledge it. It would be a nice courtesy for Apple to offer free bumpers to its customers to show that Apple do value its customers.

Maybe offering a bumper would make it effectively an antenna design that has been patented even though the customer made the final assembly?

 

[kernkraft]

So what they are saying is that...

as an iPod Touch, it's fine (apart from the wifi issues), but as a phone, it is a failure...

 

[gorgeousninja]

Sent from my iPhone which I have hanging in the air by strings so I don't lose reception when I hold it. Steve told me I was holding it wrong./QUOTE]

Oh come on, you've never actually even used an iPhone4, so stop being facetious its annoying.

 

[anomie]

Most people complaining do not even own an iphone4.

They read something and conclude that you cannot use the iphone for phone calls. That´s annoying!

Let me tell you: I never had any dropped call or any issue with the reception, nor did any of my friend and colleagues.

And signal strength drops on any phone when you squeeze it in you hand.
But only nerds squeeze their phone in their hands.
Cool guys just use it.

 

[Jimrod]

Most people complaining do not even own an iphone4.

They read something and conclude that you cannot use the iphone for phone calls. That´s annoying!

Let me tell you: I never had any dropped call or any issue with the reception, nor did any of my friend and colleagues.

And signal strength drops on any phone when you squeeze it in you hand.
But only nerds squeeze their phone in their hands.
Cool guys just use it.

Please see below. You and your colleagues, in the same location as each other don't get a problem, shocker. YOU DON'T HAVE TO SQUEEZE THE PHONE and not every phone has this problem, it's pretty much just the iP4 that has this specific problem, it's not just a minor signal drop.

Seriously, there are so many blind idiots on this forum (no worse than any other in that respect) - "100% of phones aren't affected because mine isn't". Really, have you tried it in an AREA where someone IS having a problem? After all the crap being talked I have still yet to see ANYONE display no signal problem on their phone in the same location as another phone with the problem. It must be easy to prove right? Just a quick little video? Oh wait, you can't - it's a design fault. It may be rectifiable with some clever software tweaking (no-one knows for sure yet until the next update) but it's a fault nonetheless.

For those that say "have you tested all 3 million phones? Because if not then it's not scientific..." Well I'm afraid you're wrong - all of the serious, proper testing has been able to replicate this on all the phones tested - science also works in that a theory such as this "design fault" may become fact unless DISPROVED with real evidence. No-one has been able to disprove these facts under proper testing.

I think the site should build in an IQ test for all responders, it should have its results displayed as a signature so you can gauge the value of their posts.

Some people jump in and say "Is it that hard not to hold it that way?" - well yes, it is if you're left handed, try it - it's hardly comfortable or practical to hold the phone "the correct way®" in your left hand. I hold the phone in either hand when I use it and I often find call quality dropping in my right hand too, usually because a finger has strayed over the black line - I do apologise Mr Jobs, perhaps I should remove my lower fingers as I'm obviously not designed properly for your phone?

Subsequent responses after this post will still say "I don't get the problem so not all phones are affected", blatantly ignoring all the previous posts stating exactly why that is - I'd hate to be an innocent person on trial with those guys as the jurors as evidence probably wouldn't be recognised at all...

Oh, and for an earlier poster from the UK who said it must be AT&T as O2 in the UK don't have this problem - below are the results of a speedtest in my house (Swindon if that helps), 1st with the phone sat on a table and then with me touching the black band, gently, with one finger in the same position (no "deathgrip", phone-squeezing as all the apologists insist on overstating).

 

[azazel-]

Kudos to Apple for creating a phone that excels in every possible way...except at being a phone...

 

[mixel]

Mine just works, even if I hold it wrong. Maybe I don't conduct electricity enough.

You're conducting electricity wrong!

Saying that, recently I've been using a case anyway.. I'm glad its scoring so well on feature set and satisfaction.. I know a lot of people who wouldve used the ip4 without any issue and been totally happy if they hadn't been blasted by the media so much.

Before I bought mine I wad asked by a few people "why do you want a phone which can't keep a signal?" .. I replied it can't possibly be that bad. It isn't as far as I'm concerned. I've use it in a few low signal areas. I hope apple can sort out the PR for this problem if nothing else.. I wonder what other ip4 owners experience is.

 

[Jimrod]

Mine just works, even if I hold it wrong. Maybe I don't conduct electricity enough.

You're conducting electricity wrong!

Saying that, recently I've been using a case anyway.. I'm glad its scoring so well on feature set and satisfaction.. I know a lot of people who wouldve used the ip4 without any issue and been totally happy if they hadn't been blasted by the media so much.

Before I bought mine I wad asked by a few people "why do you want a phone which can't keep a signal?" .. I replied it can't possibly be that bad. It isn't as far as I'm concerned. I've use it in a few low signal areas. I hope apple can sort out the PR for this problem if nothing else.. I wonder what other ip4 owners experience is.

I thought pretty much exactly the same as you did - then on the first call I got the person on the other end of the line said "you sound really crackly - I can barely hear you" (as they started to break up) and I realised to my disappointment that the problem was real - swapped to my right hand and held my "pinky" out and away from the black strip and the line immediately cleared. This was at home where my 3G has always been 100% fine. I kept the phone because Apple haven't let me down yet and I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt that they will resolve it.

A couple of friends with Android phones (bought subsequent to the Apple bad press and swayed away from the iPhone by that) take the piss - we compare phones and in some respects (screen in particular) the Apple shines above. In many ways the Androids (HTC Desires) are better - faster with internet and Youtube, no need for Apps to display currency/weather etc as it's all there on the front screen - even integrated Facebook etc, which is better than it sounds, they get photo's/email addresses automatically from their friends lists. So technically speaking the iPhone gets by on better screen and nice usability/battery life - but it's not far ahead and in many ways behind the competition - if Apple stays arrogant about this issue - people, including myself, will rapidly move away.