CONFIRMED: Apple Care "Fix WONT fix antenna Issues"

[Beast10101]

http://gizmodo.com/5580587/applecare-the-iphone-4-update-wont-solve-the-antenna-problem

July 6, 2010

AppleCare's response
We called AppleCare three times today to confirm it. We told them that we were experiencing voice quality problems and call drops, as well as problems with internet access. Their response was immediate and unequivocal, the same in the three cases:

• There is an antenna interference problem when you hold the iPhone 4 in a certain way (the tests by Anandtech and many demonstration videos in the internet show that the signal drop will happen every time when you touch the phone's dead spot, on the left bottom corner).

• One solution is to hold the phone differently, avoiding to touch the left bottom corner of the phone (coincidentally, this is how models hold the iPhone 4 in most of Apple's promotional material).

• The other other solution is to buy a case or one of Apple's $30 bumpers (we are hosting a petition to ask Apple for free cases. You can sign it here).

• The incoming software update will not fix this antenna problem, only change the way the phone displays the available signal, make it more accurate.

While we already knew about it, the official AppleCare response is sad news. Like Gizmodo reader and former RF engineer for HP Medical products Gordon Cook said in a recent email: "Wrapping a metal antenna around a phone is simply asking for trouble, and Apple may in fact have realized too late that they had a real can of worms, so chose to release what they had instead of enduring a lengthy shipping delay. Now, after millions of phones shipped, and given the alternatives, screwing with the software is the only realistic way of fixing this, even if it's mostly cosmetic."

But cosmetic fixes will not stop the problem from happening. Apple should provide with a real fix to a design problem that ruins what could have been the best smartphone experience out there, bar none. And if they can't fix the units currently in the market, they should fix their manufacturing so this doesn't happen and at least provide with a free solution, like free bumpers or cases.

 

[diabolic]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/961485/

 

[Beast10101]

..

Sorry overlooked it. Mods delete

 

[WeegieMac]

Obviously it won't ... no-one at Apple ever said it would.

As usual people jump to conclusions and take part in chinese whispers.

All Apple said is that there's an issue with how the iPhone identifies the strength of the signal and displays it on screen. They also said the first three bars would be lengthened to make them easier to see on screen.

They never once mentioned or addressed the physical touching of the antenna point on the lower left corner of the iPhone 4, yet some people took "signal strength representation" and managed to come up with "antenna issue fix".

Nothing surprises me on here anymore though.

 

[bowlerman625]

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)

No issue here! Sorry

 

[WeegieMac]

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)

No issue here! Sorry

I have to say, I'm exactly the same.

Well, that's a bit of a lie ... but it's within reason. The signal issue, in my experience, is circumstantial.

In my home I've always had a crap signal with O2. On my iPhone 3G I would be happy to see two bars on GPRS ... it's that bad.

Right now, my iPhone 4 is sitting in front of me with three bars and GPRS.

If I hold the phone in the manner which some people claim they hold their iPhones (aka: The Death Grip), I can make the signal drop.

When I'm at work in Glasgow City Centre, and indeed when I'm out of our little estate and out onto the "main road", I get five bars on 3G and cannot get a single bar to drop no matter how much I cover that bottom left corner.

It does seem to be about the quality of the signal in the area you are using your iPhone 4 in at that time. If the phone is receiving a weaker signal, covering the antenna will hinder the device. If your iPhone 4 is receiving a strong signal, then it'll remain connected regardless.

That's my experience.

Also, I don't hold the phone (and have never held any mobile phone) in the manner that cuts off the antenna, so even when using the phone at home with my three bars on GPRS, I don't worry. I never find myself thinking, "Oh better watch where my pinkie finger goes".

When in a full five bar 3G reception area though, the thing flies ... browsing on Safari is extremely fast and streaming Sky Sports News over 3G using the Sky Mobile TV app isn't an issue ... regardless of how and where I hold my iPhone 4!

 

[ReflexReact]

confirmed: This Confirms Nothing.