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Consumer Reports 'Can't Recommend' iPhone 4 Due to Signal Issues

MacFly123 said:
Wow! Not good! I STILL don't have mine (Best Buy SUCKS)! I really hope I don't have these problems and I hope this "fix" Apple releases in the next couple weeks actually has a positive affect!

It will be very interesting to see what Apple does next year. Will they redesign it? That would be a HUGE admission that there is a flaw. Or will they make a smaller revision without a redesign, like putting some sort of clear coating around the band? :confused:
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Well, this an OPPORTUNITY for apple to let go of their pride and admit that they messed up. I think to ignore the problem or even deny that there is a major problem will hurt Apple's image, not preserve it.

They need to do a Recall, refund money and redesign the so called game changer.
 
Signal fine but proximity sensor a bust

My signal looses a bar when I hold it covering the black bar on the lower corner. That is fine. I have the bumpers or any coverings, for that matter.
I am having problems with the proximity sensor, however. Going to the apple store today to have the phone replaced. I doubt, but somehow I hope that the replacement will be fine. :(
 
BruceEBonus said:
I have had none of these signal issues whatsoever since the iPhone was released on the 24th June .. not a whiff ... then .. I was really happy ... THEN .. imagine my crushing disappointment and instant removal of the smug grin from my face ... when I found out the reason for this is because I couldnt GET an iPhone due to the fact they never did enough overtime in Taiwan to make enough .. .curses!! ;)
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If you are waiting for your iPhone made in Taiwan, you will never get one. Because they are made in China.
 
Jurwin said:
Serves apple right. How could they release such a crappy product to us? Don't they do their own testing? :mad:
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Yes...and as Gizmodo showed us...their test units were disguised in a 3GS look a like CASE!!! I doubt they figured this out until very near launch. This was probably the biggest Oh Crap?! in Apple's history. Their effort to keep it a secret hindered their real life testing. Factor that in with the fact that in CA you must use a hands free option when driving...and it is very likely that very few of the iPhone4's touched skin prior to being unveiled.
 
aristotle said:
Did you miss this from the front page?
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Nope I read this

The magazine confirmed the signal loss issue in its testing laboratories while also finding no comparable loss in other smartphones, including the iPhone 3GS, suggesting that Apple's claim that the problem is simply a software display issue may not be true.
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tripjammer said:
If your phone drops signal...then take it back. You have a defective model and you need to get it back to the apple store for a replacement. Most people do not have this problem. But some do so they need to take theirs back.
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This is definitely a problem that's happening to pretty much everyone.
 
djxtofu said:
Its time for Apple to give us that bumper for free.
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NOT A SOLUTION!!! I don't want a FREE bumper! I WANT Apple to recall their products. If they plan to fix it in production, I also want to benefit from that fix and not get an ugly bumper!
 
2005CTS said:
Yes...and as Gizmodo showed us...their test units were disguised in a 3GS look a like CASE!!! I doubt they figured this out until very near launch. This was probably the biggest Oh Crap?! in Apple's history. Their effort to keep it a secret hindered their real life testing. Factor that in with the fact that in CA you must use a hands free option when driving...and it is very likely that very few of the iPhone4's touched skin prior to being unveiled.
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That is what I was thinking - considering they disguised the iPhone 4 in a bumper case to keep it hidden while testing it out in public they clearly didn't touch the antenna.
 
The worst thing for Apple in this case is probably the fact that even the fanbois now see what a blatant compulsive liar nutJobs is. When he was lying about Flash and other stuff fanbois were defending him like lunatic desciples.

Now it hurt them as well with his rubbish "it's just representation of the bars" story.
 
valkraider said:
1. A car crash often will kill you or others (40,000 a year in the USA alone). A cell phone losing a few bars of signal rarely will kill someone.

2. Toyota took almost 5 months to acknowledge a problem and issue a recall. Then the recall was for the floor mats and not the actual problem. The iPhone 4 has been out less than 3 weeks.

3. Toyota has been investigated by the government and found to have been dragging their feet and trying to cover up evidence, and has been fined the maximum amount possible.

4. Toyota's "recalls" ended up performing a software fix, something that you HAVE to take your Toyota to a dealer to have performed. Apple will release a software fix which you can perform at home - without needing a "recall".
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I agree 100% with all these points. I was not really trying to compare a phone to a car. The fact is, after all the feet dragging and evidence hiding that Toyota did, they still make reliable cars. Also, all car companies do this. They only issue recalls if they calculate that death & injury lawsuits over several years will cost more than what the recall will cost.

We don't know yet how effective Apple's software fix will be. I'm hoping it alleviates a lot of the issues. Since a faulty iPhone design is unlikely to kill anyone, I doubt that they will offer any recalls. More likely a class action suit will give people like me who already bought a bumper for the phone a payment of $30 about 5 years from now.
 
Apple needs to wake up. This is not a software issue (at least the root cause is not sw). They need to fix the hardware. I don't care how many bars I have as long as I can connect to the network and make/receive calls and stay connected. Don't show the bars for all I care. I want a reliable connection out of the box and not have to purchase accessories as I have done with a case. Shame on Apple for letting a great product out of the oven before it was fully baked/tested.
 
Sadly I think most of the blowback from this issue has been caused by the particularly d!ck-ish comment from Jobs.

Maybe it's time for him to retire. I think he's hurting the brand.
 
1080p said:
Ok. Keep drinking the Kool Aid. Some how you magically got the only iPhone 4 in the world without this design flaw.
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I also do not have the issue...and I am not drinking Kool Aid. I beleive the issue maybe true...for all iPhone I don't know and if it is the case, it then depends where you leave. If you leave in a strong signal area and do not have to move or go to a low signal area you may never experience that issue.
 
Tonewheel said:
You don't value your hardware very much, do you?
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Your kidding me right???? Not everyone is perfect, I'm sure someone at one point has inadvertently left pocket change in the same pocket where there phone is. It's called reality or do you live in a perfect Apple world????!!!!
 
Polarian Method said:
I like Consumer Reports for most things, but their technology coverage is seriously lame. In their attempts to make it accessible to the average person they tend to oversimplify, and focus on bizarre aspects (e.g., look at how much weight they give the included headphones in MP3 player reviews instead of the user interface and sync'ing capabilities).

Anyway, I think most people who wanted an iPhone want it regardless of what CR says. If you're trying to weigh the pros and cons of different brands of similar things, CR is not a bad resource. Most people aren't reading it to help them choose between an iPhone and an EVO.
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For the last 50 years CS tests have been so poorly designed that the results are nearly as random as if they rolled dice. If you read the report carefully you will see they consider the iPhone to be the best thing out there as long as you don't want to use it as a phone in the fringe reception area.
 
the simple fact is apple put out a horrible phone. yet fanboys are blind idiots and are gonna defend this to death. if the evo, or any windows or google phone had this problem, they would be all over it claiming apple makes stuff that just works and is the best quality. Until people wake up and wont blindly buy ****** products that dont work or underperform massively, then maybe apple will start actually innovating and creating awesome products again. They have become a me too company, and anyone saying they are just perfecting and making the features the best available and just idiots or fanboys.
 
dimpleness said:
I would like to say thank you to the innovators and early adopters for buying this product and dealing with the issues so I don't have to.
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+1

Oh dear. The only people we should be angry at are the hundreds of thousands of people who have continued and are continuing to purchase the iP4. If you don't want to be "treated like idiots", don't behave like idiots.

The people who bought on launch day in the US have every right to be annoyed, but the rest of us were (or should have been) well aware of the reception issue.
 
It makes calls?

The primary uses of my iPhone 4 are e-mail, navigation and games. It does all of those things extremely well.

On the rare occasion that I have to make a call, yes, I experience dropped calls. (I just had one a few minutes ago.)

When this happens USE THE "MARK THE SPOT" APPLICATION to let AT&T know about it. Flood them with these reports and maybe that will motivate someone to do something -- whether it be Apple or AT&T.

-Aaron-
 
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