iPhone 4 Drops Calls when Left Corner is Touched

[N1CKOLAS]

Can people please start doing this experiment in different locations? Even those who are not experiencing the problem, try to find a location that typically has weak service. I have a strong hunch that results will strongly vary.

If results do not vary, we can at least eliminate the variable of location. We need to get a bit more proactive, organized and scientific to find the root of the problem not just scream "MY IPHONE DOESN'T WORK! RECALL!!!" Yes, this should have been completed by Apple test engineers but at least when you call tech support you can now give them a serious amount of data thus ruling out the "reset your network settings, and restart your iPhone" instructions.

 

[CptBucky]

I posted earlier how I've had the same problem; putting fingers or hands on the bottom left side of phone brings down the signal.

I tried calling someone with the phone though and the signal would only stay at maximum and I tried everything to bring the signal down during the call but it stayed up. Maybe it is a software fault in ios4 afterall? 3GS owners have also had the same problem since upgrading their OS.

 

[wtfApple]

You really thought paying $30 for a small little piece of Apple plastic was worth it? i can't believe you would settle for this. A phone shouldn't need a $30 piece of plastic to operate. Bring it back and return it.

Exactly... come on and charging $30 for this? The phone looks hot without the rubber.

 

[jclardy]

From what I have tried mine does it while on 3G only. If I am connected to wifi it doesn't, but I don't have good signal where I am right now anyways (3GS used to get no signal, 4 gets 1-2 bars). At my apartment I typically have 5 bars and wifi so I'll test it there.

If that is the case then maybe they will just have to apply a little voltage to the wifi antenna at all times to keep the 3G antenna from grounding? Just a guess, i'm only a software guy.

 

[BWV1080]

again - mine doesn't have this issue at all...i've desperately tried to recreate it but can't.

Are there others that can't recreate this? Speak up...

I'm pretty sure it depends on the initial signal strength. At home, where it fluctuates between four and five bars, I can replicate the problem (down to one bar, but never losing service entirely). Now at work, on an upper floor where the signal is consistently five bars, the issue seems to have gone away.

 

[solideliquid]

Can people please start doing this experiment in different locations? I have a strong hunch that results will strongly vary.

Yeah, it may be that in an area with ample signal strength it won't matter how you handle the antenna. However in a low to moderate signal location, the iphone may be attempting to "find" the better signal and that in combination with touching the antenna weakens the signal on the iphone.

 

[redkamel]

they should have laminated the bumper with clear plastic, to make it flush with the glass. This would have kept the design, protected the antennae, and decreased those "sharp edges" from the raised glass.

I say sharp edges from raised glass because my friend held one last night, and his comment was that "it is sharp and felt like a weapon". He was really stuck on "sharp".

 

[tyrenlds]

It's ok, my cock drops when i hold it with my left hand too.

awesome.

 

[JonB3Z]

Something weird is going on... I just hope there's only a small-ish batch of bad phones out there and not something bigger.

If your hand is in the near field of a VHF/UHF/microwave antenna, it will impact how the antenna works, as can be demonstrated on a 3G/3GS under many circumstances. Touching an antenna will affect it even more so, and it will depend on where and how you touch it.

I suspect the differences people are seeing have to do with differing signal levels and possibly operating on different bands. That is, if talking to an 850-MHz cell site, the touching may be more of a problem than a 1900-MHz connection (or vice versa -- it's hard to say without a detailed analysis). And if the signal is strong enough, the antenna degradation may not be sufficient to cause a noticeable problem.

I don't think this problem is going to go away, and I don't think there is a software fix to it. (Hope I'm wrong!)

Gotta run, FedEx is here!

 

[Star-fire]

Just tried at home, I don't have a tower next door but I sometimes drop one bar some tomes full signal so *shrug*

 

[BiomaxDDS]

just made several calls with the 3Gs silicone case on the new iphone 4 ....sure enough ....no dropped calls. Had 5 out of 5 drop calls this morning w/out the silicone case

 

[ginsengbomb]

I can't replicate this issue.

I'm very curious to see where this whole thing goes -- it seems like such a fundamental type of problem that it's almost hard to believe. I don't think it's "fanboy"-ish of me to think that it seems unlikely Apple -- or any company, for that matter -- would ship a phone that drops calls when you hold it in your hand.

But, again, I can't replicate this on mine.

 

[mtrctyjoe]

Hmmmm

Mine doesn't have this problem.

Yes it does.

 

[solideliquid]

How much do you guys want to bet that the white iPhone didn't have "production issues"? It was held back to be refitted with some sort of coating because of the signal problems.

 

[grmatt]

You really thought paying $30 for a small little piece of Apple plastic was worth it? i can't believe you would settle for this. A phone shouldn't need a $30 piece of plastic to operate. Bring it back and return it.

Yes, to me, it's worth it. I didn't say $30 was a fair price, I too, think it's priced to high, but was it "worth it"? Yes.

But, since you said so, I'll go bring it back.

... and to be accurate, it's plastic, rubber, and metal.

 

[Marcone]

Here's a vid of mine

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hPz3Tn67UEM

 

[DMann]

But it's so elegant!!! And SOOO Thin! It's looks absolutely delicious! Oh God, it's MAGICAL and Revolutionary - much better than that "Clunky, Crappy, and Junky" Android stuff!!

Who cares about features?? Not us Apple fans!!! It Just Works!!! Wooo Hoooo Steve!!!! We Love you!! Keep skating to where the puck is going to be!!! It's AT&T's fault. It's Gizmodos Fault! It's Google's Fault, Microsoft. It's George W. Bush's fault....

No Folks, this thing is bad design - PERIOD! The Super Fanboys are typing stuff like I just did above on every fanboy site and on youtube. A bunch of drolling excuses. It's always someone else's fault.... Apple is perfect, everyone else is crap. Be a Man Mr. Jobs, - step up and admit this thing is a Lemon and then do something to fix it...

If this were true of all new iPhones, or even a marginal percentage of them, you might have a point.

I, as well as several other users, have yet to reproduce the problem.

Lemons from the production line are bound to surface - if so, bring the unit to the store, and get a new one on the spot.

Otherwise, why admit to problems which do not apply?

 

[jmar910]

How much do you guys want to bet that the white iPhone didn't have "production issues"? It was held back to be refitted with some sort of coating because of the signal problems.

LOL yeah right, and **** over a bunch of customers who bought the black ones on launch day by knowingly distributing defective devices? That would be a huge business mistake. They obviously know their customers would figure that out and demand some sort of compensation (kind of like whats going on right now)

 

[hofnar]

Mine does it too, I guess I just cant talk on the phone with my left hand. Guess Im glad to be right handed...

 

[electric]

King Jobs will announce that it will only allow users to hold the phone in an Apple approved way. Saying that phone users are lazy and should hold the phone by not touching it.

 

[gazmac]

the only way to not have a dropped call is to use speaker and leave it on the desk .....its getting very very very frustrating

Go to Settings-general-network and turn off 3G and the signal strength doesn't drop. This presumably means this issue is software fixable.

Apple - do some proper real-world testing next time because I don't want one of your ugly bumpers on my phone.

And to the Android 'we-hate-good-industrial-design' plastic heads - please go to another website.

Still in love with my iPhone 4

 

[hackum]

agreed with you on that one. Obviously none of us want to hear it's a hrdware issue but there's no need for all these people to definitively say on this board that it is 100% hardware. Are any of you apple engineers? No. If an apple engineer who worked on the antenna comes out and says it's hardware related, then I will accept it, and really not have a problem with it, because I'll hear it straight from the horse's mouth and realize that **** happens, even to companies who make successful products.

no one here is an apple software engineer either. these are all speculations.

 

[mattkowalski]

Wow....

Mine's pre-ordered. I'm in the July 2nd club.

If I can re-produce the problem myself, it'll be heading straight back to Apple. I have a 3GS at the moment, and was sitting on the fence on whether or not to upgrade anyway!!!

This may have settled it for me!

 

[CdnBook]

Any kid with an old remote control car knows that it behaves oddly sometimes when you hold the antenna in your hand, or touch the car's antenna to the remote's antenna.

I guess no one at Apple played with remote control cars

 

[NetScheduler]

Either you do not own a iPhone 4 or you are talking out your ass. This reception issue is very real So real in fact that the Supervisor I was speaking to had to break for a meeting regarding the issues. I gave him the key test method to replicate it and he was more than grateful to hear how to easily reproduce it.

You Apple apologists are ridiculous. I own several Apple products and I call it like it is.

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