Detailed Analysis of iPhone 4 Signal Strength Dropoff

[BC2009]

Given Jony Ive's comments about "no right or wrong way to hold it" and "don't have to change myself to fit the product" at 1:05 to 1:16 during the iPad video that Apple produced, I would have to say that his team clearly thinks that having the product fit the user is an important aspect.

Nobody would have been upset if at WWDC Steve said something like:

"Look at our cool new antenna that greatly improves signal strength, but there is a trade-off here. By putting the antenna on the exterior edge we get better overall signal, but it means that some users will need to avoid bridging the antennas. But we know everybody is different, so if you are not comfortable with that, Apple is throwing in something we call a 'bumper' with every iPhone-4. And again, because everybody is different.... BOOM.... it comes in 6 colors -- your choice: you can hold it with this beautiful stainless steel edge, but if that does not work for you, you have your choice of bumper to use with your iPhone. Either way you get to experience the overall greatly-improved antenna performance"

But that is 20/20 hindsight -- Apple needs to turn around the perception on this right away and sticking your head in the sand while sticking up your middle finger at users who are calling in with problems is not the way to maintain your reputation of "it just works" and "world class customer service".

I'm still "staying tuned" to hear what they will do. I do not own an iPhone-4, but I feel for the folks posting to this forum who do and are having this issue. I'm also jealous of you guys because I want one badly and I think I would just get a bumper for the thing and live with it because it is such an awesome device. But telling folks to "buy a bumper" does not seem right to me. People expect the best from Apple, and Apple promises the best, so they need to deliver something that is better at handling signal attenuation than other devices.

 

[SockRolid]

+1

Great to have some real analysis. So tired of all the BS.

Agree. I have seen the bar count drop from 5 to 2 when I give the phone the full "death grip." But I have noticed that calls are far more reliable, even with fewer indicated bars.

Having said all that, I'm going to get a Bumper anyway. There are some situations in which I need to take photos as stealthily as possible, so hiding the stainless steel band and putting black tape over the Apple logo will help. (TV show taping - no "cameras" allowed, but phones with built-in cameras are sort of OK.)

 

[tritonj]

ironic it is a PC site that comes up with a real analysis of the issue, while all the apple sites just throw around speculation

 

[bobr1952]

WOW--that is really a cool article--certainly points out some things I would have never guessed. A nice analytical job by those folks.

 

[kevwright]

I just want people to know this:
-Crippled dude who can't use his iPhone 4

It ties in with what I was told this afternoon. Do you have much longer left in your return period? I would give it a few days if you do, and see what happens.

I see this changing in a few days.

Unlike you, I can hold it different with minimal difficulty, and your situation makes me feel a little ashamed of moaning ;-)

Best of luck

Kev

 

[Bluehinder]

I have stood inline for every iphone and have a number of other Apple products. That being said, I am not sure how people continue to defend apple. Great the antenna gets a better signal but not if your holding it the way many people hold the phone. So as a lefty who hates cases I have to deal with a far less superior antenna since I hold it "wrong."

What is disturbing has been Apples response or lack thereof. I have always loved Apple products and loved cheering for the little guy as we slowly ate into Microsoft's piece of the pie. Those days are gone and now Apple is the big guy. I think Jobs was so focussed on making the phone small because he saw that as a huge selling point. Well, he missed the mark as everyone else is going for bigger phones and they are selling. I think apple is feeling the pressure of being number one and pushed out a product that was not ready for primetime yet. And their response, sad.

Apple has a cult like following and I believe this incident, if not remedied, will lead many of those longtime followers to go somewhere else. Sure Apple will continue to grow but it will loose the base that made it so popular. Does Apple care????? I think so but since they cannot admit they messed up (due to the possibility of litigation) they are screwed and we have to listen to BS excuses and wonder if the problem will be fixed. I will return my phone in a few weeks if apple does not make good on the issue. For me its the principle. Ill go back to my 3gs and wait for a good chance to jump ship for a good phone....or Ill wait until next year and see what apple has. But I will not use a bumper and ignore that Apple sold me a defective product.....especially after all these years of buying apple products.

Tru dat.

 

[diogenis]

OK - I've read the article and the cold facts are that signal attentuation, while holding the phone naturally, is 19.8dB. On the 3GS it is 1.9. Fine. That explains a lot.

Where the author loses me is his claim that the iPhone 4 has much better reception than the Nexius One or 3GS. He offers no facts or metrics to back this up, other than his own opinion based on individual experience.

His reception claims are subjective, his attenuation measurements are not.

ok one thing is easy to grasp and this is the attenuation in the signal you get when you hold the phone and short the two antenna patches. 20-24 db loss is your worst case scenario. If you decide to hold it in a little different way, or even buy that bumper, then you dont have this issue.

What the attenuation doesn't tell you is how good the phone's reception radio is combined with a "big" area antenna, because the antenna IS big. This as he explains is the SNR or signal/noise ratio, and both the antenna area as well as the better designed receivers work together to make the phone hold on its calls, even in weak signal areas.

When all the dust finally settles, it will be made evident that it is not a big issue to simply change the way one holds the device to get a lot better reception. Eventually, most will accept a small compromise here, or buy a bumper, or simply return the phone back and get on with life.

Personally, I won't even buy a case. I know where the problem is and what to do to avoid it.

 

[SirHaakon]

Finally some analytical proof for all the bozos who claim there isn't a problem at all.

 

[ScooterLibby]

ironic it is a PC site that comes up with a real analysis of the issue, while all the apple sites just throw around speculation

Anand is not really a PC site but a tech/gadget site in general, as they've reviewed other Apple products. Their reputation is stellar as well.

 

[Ori]

It ties in with what I was told this afternoon. Do you have much longer left in your return period? I would give it a few days if you do, and see what happens.

I see this changing in a few days.

Unlike you, I can hold it different with minimal difficulty, and your situation makes me feel a little ashamed of moaning ;-)

Best of luck

Kev

I feel slightly ashamed too for moaning now. +1

 

[BobVB]

Anand is not really a PC site but a tech/gadget site in general, as they've reviewed other Apple products. Their reputation is stellar as well.

Too bad Apple removed the digital 'diagnostic' display most of us probably used in all the OS versions before 4 - the information in this article would have been apparent from the first day.

Wait a minute....

 

[Mark Booth]

I cannot even get a signal in my house anymore, and I used to get 5 bars with my 3GS.

I am consistently getting 5 bars on my iPhone 4 at home, where I consistently got only 2-3 bars with my iPhone, iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS. In MY location, it is ABSOLUTELY evident that the iPhone 4 is getting better reception.

BTW, there is also a certain spot on a local highway that is a cell phone dead zone. It's at the crest of a long hill and, with all three of my previous iPhones, it didn't matter which direction I was approaching from, if I was on a call as I crested the top of that hill, I'd lose the call. It happened every time! Not true with the iPhone 4! I've tested it twice already and both times I didn't lose the call.

(And, for the record, I'm using the Bluetooth hands-free in my Infiniti and the iPhones are always in my pocket or on a belt holster case.)

Mark

 

[tritonj]

Anand is not really a PC site but a tech/gadget site in general, as they've reviewed other Apple products. Their reputation is stellar as well.

they have expanded to include more things but the start of that site is PC hardware for hobbyists, i've been a regular on that site since the beginning even before the hot deals forum that got that increased traffic

 

[NAG]

they have expanded to include more things but the start of that site is PC hardware for hobbyists, i've been a regular on that site since the beginning even before the hot deals forum that got that increased traffic

Either way, I appreciate them actually trying to find out what is going on in a quantitative manner instead of running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.

 

[weknowmacs]

So far so good...

We were able to use the electrical tape and it seemed to have fixed the problem. Will report back.

 

[tritonj]

Either way, I appreciate them actually trying to find out what is going on in a quantitative manner instead of running around like a chicken with it's head cut off.

as do i, i just found it a bit ironic that it wasn't an apple site that did this, all those seem to only want to perpetuate panic or alledged e-mails and leaks, rather than getting to the heart of the matter

 

[2005CTS]

We were able to use the electrical tape and it seemed to have fixed the problem. Will report back.

A product from a company like Apple that costs $300.00 shouldn't require any type of tape to make it work. Folks...this is a joke.

Some people will defend Apple no matter what?! Like the people defending Toyota and their accelerator issue. The Toyota fan boys that defended their brand would have crucified GM or Hyundai if they had done the same thing...same goes for so many Apple Fan Boys...if this were an HTC or RIM device...it would be crucified as junk.

But here we have people willing to put electrical and duct tape on their $300 phone to get it to work properly?! Give me a break. Wake up folks. Apple needs to make this right. At the very least they should be offering free bumpers. But ultimately the phone needs to be fixed such that folks (like me) that don't want a case, bumper or other type of protector can use it with out the signal being harmed due to using my hand to hold it.

 

[Russell L]

FWIW, yesterday while in my office using my iPhone 4 (with bumper), I was able to carry on a conversation for a couple of minutes without dropping or other reception issues. I was never able to do this before with my older (first-generation) iPhone--I always had poor quality and/or dropped calls. Even though my new phone's signal strength indicator showed only one bar, the call quality was fine. This would seem to bear out the findings of this study--that in spite of poorer signal strength indication, the overall sensitivity is higher with the iPhone 4 compared with previous models......

 

[2005CTS]

FWIW, yesterday while in my office using my iPhone 4 (with bumper), I was able to carry on a conversation for a couple of minutes without dropping or other reception issues. I was never able to do this before with my older (first-generation) iPhone--I always had poor quality and/or dropped calls. Even though my new phone's signal strength indicator showed only one bar, the call quality was fine. This would seem to bear out the findings of this study--that in spite of poorer signal strength indication, the overall sensitivity is higher with the iPhone 4 compared with previous models......

With Bumper being the key issue here. You were using the complete device...with necessary Bumper.

 

[BobVB]

But here we have people willing to put electrical and duct tape on their $300 phone to get it to work properly?!

No we have a corporation that is letting its previously best salespeople run around with phones that need electrical and duct tape on them to make them work.

Pride goeth before the fall - all Steve had to do was say 'free bumpers for those that want them' and that plus the information this thread was about would have made this problem more historical than crisis. But he doesn't.

Again, I would not be surprised at all if AT&T picks up the ball if Steve hasn't by next week when I go in to return it and offers a free bumper.

 

[kevwright]

With Bumper being the key issue here. You were using the complete device...with necessary Bumper.

Hrrmm, yeah....but he may have been able to make that call without a bumper, but avoiding that one spot......I know what you are gonna say, but really, people need to start deciding, return the phone for a refund and buy something else, say a Nexus One (which might not have made a call in that place), or swallow hard, and work around it.

Kev

 

[2005CTS]

No we have a corporation that is letting its previously best salespeople run around with phones that need electrical and duct tape on them to make them work.

Pride goeth before the fall - all Steve had to do was say 'free bumpers for those that want them' and that plus the information this thread was about would have made this problem more historical than crisis. But he doesn't.

Again, I would not be surprised at all if AT&T picks up the ball if Steve hasn't by next week when I go in to return it and offers a free bumper.

I agree that Apple let us down...but the previous post I was responding to started off with: So far so good... That is not the attitude of someone being objective. Again if the competition had this issue - the fan boys would be mocking their poorly engineered junk! Not saying "So far so good..."

 

[ziggie216]

No we have a corporation that is letting its previously best salespeople run around with phones that need electrical and duct tape on them to make them work.

Pride goeth before the fall - all Steve had to do was say 'free bumpers for those that want them' and that plus the information this thread was about would have made this problem more historical than crisis. But he doesn't.

Again, I would not be surprised at all if AT&T picks up the ball if Steve hasn't by next week when I go in to return it and offers a free bumper.

a non conductive coat over the antenna would be nice, as long as the paint doenst chip off over time.

 

[BobVB]

a non conductive coat over the antenna would be nice, as long as the paint doenst chip off over time.

Well distance is a factor too - a thin insulator will still have greater attenuation than this study shows with a 'case'.

It is a problem - to actually put a coating on will be difficult - think about how you would handle the sim slot durably and esthetically. But admitting that a bumper you are going to have to take off and on is necessary for reliable function isn't very Apple either but that is the real situation as this data shows.

They should have shipped them in black and white bumpers and offered the color ones as fun 'upgrades' if they wanted. Their trying to sell them all though at $29 a pop when they are necessary to have a reliable phone is both ballsy and is going to leave them open to that class actions suit and just about every state attorney general's office.

Dumb dumb dumb, but the Steve's is a prideful thing isn't he?

 

[Glumpfner]

Chuck Norris can hold the iPhone 4 in his left hand and still get a 5 bar signal!