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iPhone 4 Drops Calls when Left Corner is Touched

personally, and i'm no apple fanboy, i find it hard to believe this issue would have escaped them had it been purely hardware-related.

i think it's more to do with how iOS4 interacts with the iPhone 4 (and it seems 3gs) antenna components and vice-versa. hence why we are seeing reports re: 3gs haveing same issues. if that's the case, good news - software fix will be in the works.

apple are staying very quiet - because they know that chances are if they respond today with a press release it wll become an even bigger story so my guess is that within several days we will hear from them, after the initial units are sold-out fully....and it will be a software fix that resolves this issue via iTunes.

if i'm wrong and it truly is purely hardware-related then that would be amazingly incompetent of them and just plain embarrasing. and then i will be saying 'leica...my ar$e!'.
 
I cannot reproduce on my iphone 4 32 GB.

I have tried holding in the left hand with my palm (not normally how i hold the phone) and bridging the gap with wifi on.
holding with the left hand with my palm with wifi off
bridging the gap with a nickel

I stayed between 4 and 5 bars throughout my testing - typical for my area.

whether it is a design issue or a production issue, the fact that some phones don't have the problem means that it can probably be fixed (event if it means sending your phone back to apple).

I will be interested in apples response to the problem...although it probably wont come for a few days.
 
No so much an issue at work

I had this problem at home last night and this morning. At work, on the other side of town, I get a much better signal. I don't notice an issue when I'm looking at bars, but when I look at db, I do see about a 10db drop in signal strenght when I pick up the phone. It could be that this issue is worse or at least more noticeable in an area with a weaker signal.

Has anyone else tried this in a different location this morning?
 
RjaylinS06 said:
WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is unexceptable!!!!! This aint a software issue. This looks like a hardware issue that cant be fixed until we get new phones and I'm certaintly sure they aint replacing everyones phones. Can't wait to hear what excuses they will dish out.
Click to expand...

Its not a software issue, its not a hardware issue.

People whos town hasnt got that much coverage will notice a large drop compared to those who have good coverage.

Its caused by bridging each antenna together with your flesh.

I have been saying this ever since I heard about the outer rim being antennas, I know this would happen, so did Apple.

Why do you think the Bumpers were marketed?

THATS RIGHT, APPLE KNEW IT, THEY FIXED IT.

It isnt exactly them trying to gain money, because they know once this problem is widely known, people will start holding their phones in such a way that they dont bridge the two antennas to drop signals.

If you dont want the two antennas to bridge, simply find a way to not connect the two, simple as that.

Again, it isnt a hardware issue, it isnt a software issue,

Jesus save me.
 
Interesting... wonder if the seams will be moved to the top.. 80% gsm, 20% bt/wifi antenna... then people would complain they drop calls while reaching their hand around the edges of the top half of the phone.
 
Blues003 said:
This. Someone with the iPhone please post feedback on this?
Click to expand...

I tried turning WiFi and Bluetooth on and off a few times and waiting about a minute for each condition. I couldn't do it many times due to time of each test but it doesn't really seem to make that much of a difference (it might have moved it between three and five bars...might). Moving the phone around made more of a difference. Then again I don't seem to have the worst experiences with this (I've never dropped to searching).
 
bumper would make problem worse???

markthrash said:
The antennae is on the outside now. So covering it up will mess up the signal. Don't know if that's too smart. I'm assuming that's what the bumpers are being used for.
Click to expand...


wouldnt the bumper make the problem consistant no matter how you hold it? seeing as how the bumper would be covering the entire phone.
 
gwfattwkr said:
wouldnt the bumper make the problem consistant no matter how you hold it? seeing as how the bumper would be covering the entire phone.
Click to expand...

It wouldn't be as bad with the bumper. It will be like the older phones - the antenna would be under the plastic cover, not exposed.
 
I'm at work where the reception is pretty shotty to begin with, I have 4 bars with the phone just laying on my desk. If I bridge the gap on the bottom left hand corner it does drop but it never goes into searching. The lowest it drops is down to 2 bars...

So I would say it could be both a software problem coupled with a bad batch?
 
short circuit of the two anteneas

when holding the lefte bottom corner, you are also touching the upper part... and with sweaty hands, you are short circuiting the two anteneas !

I hope that is not what is happening, if it is... apple is looking for a major recal !
 
Has anyone tried restoring through iTunes? What if this is all because the earlier phones had a revision of 4.0 before some tweak was made?

How about restoring from iTunes and NOT restoring your backup? What if it's some fluke with some code that is brought over from the 3GS?

It's an extremely unlikely fix action but really, it's worth trying for sure.

When I had the 4.0GM on my 3GS and had restored from backup, I had weird signal issues, when I updated to the released 4.0 (with the same exact build number) and did not restore from backup, my signal is rock solid from the testing I just did.

If I had gotten my iPhone 4 today I'd test this out myself...but I'm number 22 in line. lol
 
NetScheduler said:
What's wrong with you MS trolls. The iPhone 4 is just gorgeous, elegant, and the THINNEST smart phone made. I say this is a conspiracy between Gizmodo, AT&T, and George W. Bush. Apple never does anything wrong. Who cares about reception? It's all about the iPhone experience!! 220,000 Apps (you can't run those on some crappy and clunky Android phone!!!!!). And those gorgeous yellow stains on the front make it look even more elegant!

Go watch porn on your crappy Android phones (you're all probably too poor to buy an iPhone anyway). I'm going to stick with Steve and skate to where the puck is going to be. No one cares if you can get reception! Steve will get it fixed. And if he doesn't, I know that I won't be damaging the planet's ecosystem when I toss it in a landfill (one of the iPhones greatest selling points is that it's safe to throw away!!) !!

Wooo Hooo, Go Apple - Go Steve!!!!
Click to expand...

Was this posting really necessary? Bashing people who are too poor to buy an iPhone... Seriously? You do realize that the cost of ownership between an iPhone and an Android phone is pretty much the same right? People who are poor are worried about bigger things in their life like keep their families clothed and fed. They could care less about who has the best and coolest looking smartphone.

I am not sure what the point of your post was other then to get people upset.
 
It would appear to me that a circuit is being completed that wasn't meant to be. Either that, or the act of holding the phone is grounding the antenna. Either way, it's not good. Fixable in software? Maybe.

However, I'm cautiously pessimistic.
 
Couple of things I've noticed. In a good signal area this is not as easy to recreate, with the bumper I got it's a total non issue. Still a little funky. I was also having a problem of my phone losing the SIM and giving me a NO SIM error, I had the SIM swapped and now my signal seems to be significantly better and the phone is less reactive to my touch.


Here is my initial video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMgSGp-ns3c
 
iammike1 said:
Has anyone tried restoring through iTunes? What if this is all because the earlier phones had a revision of 4.0 before some tweak was made?

How about restoring from iTunes and NOT restoring your backup? What if it's some fluke with some code that is brought over from the 3GS?
Click to expand...
It doesn't bring the system over so that is unlikely. It makes about as much sense as repairing permissions on OS X except this time it nukes the system/is destructive.
 
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