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

iSax1234 said:
google conspiracy?
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Honestly, I wouldn't put it past 'em! This issue and not being on Verizon are the biggest things hurting Apple and the iPhone. The longer they take to break exclusivity in the US, the more ground Android will gain! 🙁 COME ON APPLE! GET THIS MESS CLEANED UP! 🙁 🙄
 
Consumer Reports is funny sometimes. I always take their recommendations with a grain of salt, ie with all the recalls and dangers of the Toyota / Lexus brand, they (CR) still recommends the cars as a recommended buy.
 
I think the main takeaway here is that Consumer Reports just proved they do not test products before recommending them. They are trying to back-peddle in order not to look like fools but it's too late.
 
Makes sense. I don't recommend the iPhone 4 to others who live in a weak signal area and don't like or are not planning to use a case/bumper either.
 
I honestly haven't had one issue with reception... And I live in a terrible part of England, signal wise.
Oh, and I'm left-handed...

Maybe I hold my phone differently.....correctly? ;-)
 
callmemike20 said:
Nope. If you look at the chart for the day, the stock was actually up a little more than $1 until the news broke. Then it went negative.
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there are so many other factors that cause a stock to go down...it could be the report...or it could be something else..but for you to say for certain that it went down because of the report is just insane.
 
Wow, this is big news. Big bad news for Apple.

Lets wait at least a month since the release of iPhone4 y wait for a new answer from Apple.

Meanwhile, let the flame wars begin! How about passing the last record of 106 pages?
 
A software update could, in theory, work around even a hardware problem like this. The signals from the two pieces of metal that are interfering with each other, could be made to be "aware" of each others signal so as to better deal with it. Although, I'd imagine that such a workaround would reduce 3g data speed... Could be wrong though.
 
Hmmmm.

My iPhone 4 isn't as bad as some others have reported, but I still think Consumer Reports really called Apple to the mat on this one. I really think they need to move AND QUICKLY to remedy this.
 
aidym said:
B****x to that. It's time for apple to fix the phone!!!
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+1.

I'm tired of the idea that somehow getting a bumper for free fixes anything. If I wanted a damned bumper I'd buy one. If I buy a Porsche I don't expect that operating it at full speed will require a car bra, even if Porsche gives me the car bra for free.
 
suggesting that Apple's claim that the problem is simply a software display issue may not be true.
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Apple did not claim it is only a software issue. I hate it when people keep saying that and that Apple claims a software fix is on the way.

What Apple has said is that if your call drops when you hold the phone in a certain way, in a certain area of AT&T coverage (or lack thereof), it will continue to do so after the update. The update will now adjust the formula for the signal strength display to accurately show that the signal already sucked in the area you're in when the call dropped. If you're in a bad signal area, the attenuation from holding the phone in a certain way is enough for some people call's to drop.

I for the record do not have this problem. I am able to grip my iphone 4 in a death grip and don't have any signal problems, but I'm in downtown San Antonio, and have great signal strength.

My iphone 3gs, when i used to live in a suburb of Seattle, used to drop bars dramatically when held......but I was in a poor signal area. When the phone was set down, it would have 5 bars, when held, it would drop to one bar. The same formula problem applies there....it should never have displayed 5 bars to begin with....
 
Actually I just read the article and I'm not sure how the headline can say confirmed when the article says 'our findings are not definitive.'

Given my experience with my phone and those of friends (some have the problem and some don't) I still think it was a manufacturing issue that likely effected a lot of phones on launch and less over time. Of course it's just a hunch, but is about as valid as the consumer report test that was linked to above.
 
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.
 
Yep am sorry but a Bumper is not a good enough fix. I dont want to permanently have a bumper on it
 
Huh,
I had been dismissing this before but I can't imagine a publication as big as Consumer Reports would be faking it or something...

I'm glad that this is the generation I'm skipping 🙂 (my iPhone 3GS isn't eligible for an upgrade until March so I figured I'd just wait until the iPhone 5 next June.)
 
res1233 said:
A software update could, in theory, work around even a hardware problem like this. The signals from the two pieces of metal that are interfering with each other, could be made to be "aware" of each others signal so as to better deal with it. Although, I'd imagine that such a workaround would reduce 3g data speed... Could be wrong though.
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Workarounds like this will increase strain on cell-phone towers.

They'll probably do it. It will probably hurt the busy carriers (like AT&T) more than the ones in other countries. It's probably part of the reason we have these problems (I'm guessing). I think Apple turned some stuff down in this phone to make the iPhone less of a burden for the carriers. (Another guess.)

If so, it looks like it's not working too well.
 
Mine still works as well as it day one!

Consumer Reports is sometimes useful, but often not. They are a tiny bit full of *****.
 
res1233 said:
A software update could, in theory, work around even a hardware problem like this. The signals from the two pieces of metal that are interfering with each other, could be made to be "aware" of each others signal so as to better deal with it. Although, I'd imagine that such a workaround would reduce 3g data speed... Could be wrong though.
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Um yeah. The signal isn't making it to anyplace where software can fix it. touching the antenna detunes it and prevents useable signal from making it to the signal processor in the first place.
 
satirev said:
there are so many other factors that cause a stock to go down...it could be the report...or it could be something else..but for you to say for certain that it went down because of the report is just insane.
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True. The Dow is down slightly too (at the time I posted this). It's difficult to say what the cause of a stock drop or increase is over the course of an hour (This is barring obvious stuff like if Steve Jobs left the company or something big like that).
 
satirev said:
there are so many other factors that cause a stock to go down...it could be the report...or it could be something else..but for you to say for certain that it went down because of the report is just insane.
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How is that insane? Do you ever watch stocks tick by tick as news is announced? When the CR news came out, the stock had a small sell off. What's the big deal? It may still go up by the end of the day. Sure, it could be something else, but I'm 99% sure it was this report.

Just like when big numbers come out such as the housing numbers. If home sales are low, you may see a instant sell off in the market.
 
Also for the UK at least - the 30 day return policy doesn't count for contract phones. You get just 7 days to decide. I'm up to day 4 and dropped call today has got me worried, as has loads of signal fluctuation which doesn't happen on other phones on the same network.
 
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