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Oh, give me a break! He is suggesting a FREE solution and you are suggesting the consumer spend 30 dollars and up on a case just to solve a design/manufacturing issue by Apple. Apple/Jobs has been pretty smug, condescending and generally not honest by this issue. After the engineers confirm Apple is full of it, I think he is being very restrained in his disdain for this situation. Jobs and Ives have begun to believe their own press and handed out a real boner that they need to own up to.


I watched CR video. Its seems to be a legitimate test.

However, after that it gets a bit silly and unprofessional. It seems that the reviewer is biased against Apple. My reason is because he suggests using a big piece of duct tape and then ads a snide remark that it ruins the looks.

If I were the reviewer I would have shown how any case will eliminate the issue. I would also suggest that a consumer could cut a small piece of household scotch tape if they want the phone anyways but do not want a case.

In the end a professional reviewer would state that "I do not recommend buying the iphone4 unless you plan to buy a case."
 
But he couldn't do that! He DESERVES a phone that works, any phone, because he's special and feels entitled to it. If you don't like your product, try to get your money back, if that doesn't work, then just suck it up and buy another product, that's how consumers works...

Why should we as consumers not expect to use our phone, that works for that matter. HELL it even has the word phone in the name. Why should we have to buy an accessory just to use it as it was advertised. And i believe in the WWDC presenatation Mr. Jobs himself said that it would make reception better!:confused:
 
especially for lefties

What about all the right handed people when they're using the smartphone functions. I have yet to see any right handed person I know hold a touch phone in their right hand when manipulating the screen. They all hold it in their left and manipulate the screen with their right since they are right-handed. Hell, damn near every piece of Apple promo has the device being held in the left hand, covering the antenna gap, when manipulating the screen.

But yea, for lefties the problem is even more difficult to avoid when making calls since your left hand's palm side rests on that gap. At least righties can shift their fingers a little when holding to make a call.

Say it with me Mr. Jobs: "Non-conductive coating"

That or free bumpers. $30 for a rubber band is one of the worst Apple ripoffs in recent memory.
 
What I'm wondering is why in the world would they give a buy recommendation without first testing the device.

It kind of makes me question the integrity of Consumer reports. How many other devices/appliances have they recommended without really testing them.

They did basic tests (just holding the phone in normal situations) like they would do with any device and put out their initial report.

But given the widespread reports of issues they did more complex testing in a laboratory environment. That sort of testing would be overkill normally.
 
[Apple is a big company, they don't need all the MacRumors apologists out in full-force, trying to tell the guy who can't talk on his iPhone 4 that there is something wrong with *him* and not his phone. I've seen the "vanishing bars" act with iPhones in hand, with and without an Apple Bumper.[/QUOTE]

I am so tired of this issue and disappointed with MacRumors for continuing to fan the flames. It's been documented already. Both the real extent of the issue. The cause. And the remedy. I am tired of being labeled an 'apologist' simply because the phone works for me. Glad you have 'seen' bars dropping. I voted with my wallet, not just keeping the one I bought and tested for me but even bought a second one just this weekend for my wife. In every way it is a better phone for me than the 3GS. 'design flaw' and all.
 
So I'm supposed to take a critique seriously that doesn't understand that most 'lefties' hold a phone in their right hand (to facilitate writing with the left) just as most righties hold it in their left?

I am SO tired of this silliness.
- move your finger a centimeter, or
- get a case (which you should have anyway), or
- take it back.

such sound and fury.

Talk about silliness:

You are telling people that they should have a case anyway? Come on. Why design a world class form...if it requires covering it up in a rubber suit? Many people use holsters to keep their phones in good shape rather than sticking them in their pocket. I have never put a case on a phone and never intend to. The phone should work properly without a case?!
 
Based on some of these posts on here, if Apple dropped an A-Bomb on a major city, the Apple fanboys on here would blame the city for being there.

STOP DRINKING THE KOOL AID.

This is utterly AMAZING. Truly amazing on the depths some of you fanboys will go. TRULY amazing.

w00master
 
Apple could just give everyone a shiny piece of tape thats been cut and measured to be placed perfectly and near invisibly?

Im sure apple could afford it.

Dude they are a multi billion dollar company, they could afford to send everyone a replacement iphone if they wanted to. Microsoft has spent hundereds of millions, if a billion (or 2) replacing defective xboxs, why shouldn't apple?

I don't want to put a piece of tape or a damn rubber bumper on my $600 phone that costs me nearly $100 a month to service.
 
Could anyone enlighten us non-Americans as to the magnitude of this? I don't know anything about this so-called "Consumer Reports" or their reputation/influence. Is it a household name that the general public cares about or is it an obscure fanzine that has a devoted following of 3 housewives and a small dog?

They are an independent watch dog group that doesn't lean to one side or the other. All they do is test and report, pretty much can be taken at their word without a second thought.
 
and iPhone 4 has a grip issue that drops 20 decibels (signal strength not volume) rather than the more usual 10.

And remember decibels are logarithmic so that means that IP4s are 10x worse than 'usual' when held normally and that means they are squandering 99% of the available signal strength just by being held normally.

Sorry that's a design flaw. I think some experts that have chimed in are probably correct - what's happening is the amp is actually disconnecting itself from the antenna as a protective measure when it sees the massive change in antenna impedance - that 20 dBm drop is really the radio working without antenna. They might be able to modify that through software.

Again the biggest problem is  pretending there isn't a problem, or pretending its just 'the bars'. People who have spent good money do not like being lied to, it tends to set them off (funny that).
 
Regardless of how many people use the Consumer Report as a buying guide, it doesn't deter Apple's sales. This is STILL the biggest launch in Apple's history, even with the signal problem ongoing. People don't care. I don't care. Then again, I live in their 2nd biggest city so I always have great signal...
 
1. Most (all) people DO have this problem
2. Apple aren't replacing IP4s with the reception issue (because they all have it)

I don't know about that....My week 22 had it for sure, week 26 does not. Something is definetely different between the 2 phones.
 
:D: That is lame and unintelligent. It works (does HD video + editing) , may just drop calls if you hold it wrong, tho.

I just can not believe so many people are asking so much about iphone. This phone is great. It can take great picture and video, it can surf web, it can send and receive emails, it can show maps.......etc. It just can not make a phone call if you touch the antenna. Stop complaining, think about all the good things SJ provided.
 
Apple will release a statement to blame Foxconn that they forgot to add a coat on the antenna.

even if they do, what happens in a year or two ? how durable is this coating ?

This ultimately still seems to me to be a bad design decision. Coatings don't last forever and often not for very long. What were they thinking ? Certainly would be one way to force people to buy a new iPhone in a couple of years as their aging iPhone 4 starts dropping calls.
 
What are the chances this causes Apple to do something? If so what would they do, recall the phone?
 
I just can not believe so many people are asking so much about iphone. This phone is great. It can take great picture and video, it can surf web, it can send and receive emails, it can show maps.......etc. It just can not make a phone call if you touch the antenna. Stop complaining, think about all the good things SJ provided.

Yes, sure, let's all just drink the kool-aid. :rolleyes:
 
Does #2 outweigh #1? The only answer is “sometimes.”

No, the answer is "always". You obviously don't understand the issue at all.

While it is true that the phone works also at -113dB (while the 3GS didn't) and therefore has a better reception in theory it doesn't work in real life:

Some examples:

The phone is on the table, you have a signal of -113 dB and because of the "better" reception you now receive a call (with the 3GS you wouldn't receive the call as it only works at -112dB). However the moment you touch the iPhone 4 to answer the call the signal reception goes down from -113dB to almost -133dB and the call is gone.

So the better reception at -113dB doesn't help you at all when you want to use the phone (well receiving SMS would work...).

And the issue is even worse:

If the signal is around -95dB while the phone is on your table you will lose the call the moment you touch the phone (because it drops from -95dB to -115dB). With the 3GS calling in a -95dB area isn't a problem because the 3GS only drops around 2dB (to -97dB) when you touch it.

So with the iPhone 4 you can't answer a call when you are in a -110dB area while it would work fine with the 3GS (which would drop to -112dB but still works fine!). So in theory you have a better reception at -113dB with the iPhone 4 compared to the 3GS. However in a real life scenario the reception is actually much worse with the iPhone 4.
 
People shouldn't be apologizing for Apple. I upgraded from my 3GS, and I'm getting way more dropped calls in my own apartment, even if it's on my desk or in my pocket.
 
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