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iPhone 4 Drops Calls when Left Corner is Touched
- Thread starter dagomike
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apple was stupid to design something that allows your hand to come in direct contact with the inner circuitry. Even indirect contact can have an effect, such as in the case of theramins, and yes, regular products sometimes exhibit the same behavior as a theramin.
This seems to be the most likely explanation.
I've been unable to reproduce the problem in both NYC and NJ - hopefully a firmware update will fix this.
I just ordered a zagg maximum protection shield. It isn't nearly as hideous as the bumpers. Hopefully it will do the trick of blocking skin interference (while also preventing scratches) I was going to buy a zagg screen protector anyway.
Maybe I'm not paying attention, but we don't seem to be getting too many complaints from people not in the US. Am I just not paying attention?
My iPhone 4 on my N network drops to 2 from 3 when hold the phone on the left. It drops every call though.
So yes this probably explains what we see. Even taking a phone (any) from outside to inside a car will reduce the signal by 10 db ( 10 times less).
So for the calibration of the iphone bars (3G scale):
5 bars means -91 to -51 dbm ( a factor of 40 dB or 10,000)
5 bars to 0 bars means -91 to -113dBm ( a factor of 22, or about 100).
This probably explains why some see the effect and not others (nothing to to with software or hardware in the phone, or differences in batchs).
And 10 to 20 dB ( 10 to 100x) influence of a hand is not unreasonable to me. Maybe it could be less. But this means that those on the fringe and with 5 bars do not realize it.
is it even safe?
What I have been wondering is if coming into direct contact with the antennae is even safe? For quite sometime I have been reading about how it is best to limit close proximity to the antennae of any mobile phone. This new design would seem to MAXimize exposure.
Thoughts?
X-
What I have been wondering is if coming into direct contact with the antennae is even safe? For quite sometime I have been reading about how it is best to limit close proximity to the antennae of any mobile phone. This new design would seem to MAXimize exposure.
Thoughts?
X-
They were letting people in to our store to play with the iPhones, it was sort of a waiting area to break the queue up. I was able to replicate this with BOTH demo phones I tested in the Apple store.
I think the set up they have is all new as your able to call and FaceTime the phones on the table.
I think the set up they have is all new as your able to call and FaceTime the phones on the table.
He folks at TWiT mentioned that. John G. I believe said something like "how many people do you know with Blackberry devices on AT&T that complain about droped calls? It is almost always just iphone owners complaining about calls dropping... see a connection? Maybe its the phone."
It's not funny, it's probably true. Apple has never gotten the software right to maintain the call where lesser AT&T phones keep right on going. Now that the antenna is externalized it only exacerbated the issue.
An infinite number of variables there certainly are not. There's really only a small handful of potential causes. This may just be a batch from a bad production run. Another possibility is software related. The 'new' method for making a connection (less congestion vs higher signal strength) may not be playing nice with the antenna is detuned while holding it. Software tweaks may be sufficient enough to fix the problem. The last option is that it's a massive screwup in the design and engineering. If it's the last one, that's really gonna suck.
EDIT: "but by taking a pro-active approach" .... uhhhm.. what?! What sort of pro-active approach do you expect people to take in order to fix Apple shipping defective phones?
I just got off the phone with an Apple support rep. He pretty much said that it was discovered recently and people have begun reporting it since yesterday. He also said "frankly that's why the bumpers were released." I said "...so this is an issue you guys knew would happen?" and he replied "No, we didn't expect it to happen to all our customers..." It didn't make much sense to me and it sounds to me like they had an idea this "might" happen, which is just very disappointing.
He transfered me up to a supervisor who asked me some questions and tried to call me on it - and about 25 seconds after he called and I picked up the call dropped. On my iPhone 3G, I wouldn't have these kind of problems at work. At my office (where I'm at right now), I'd get 4-5 bars of 3G and things would be fine (though there are parts of this office that it drops, I'm in a good spot). On the iPhone 4, where I'm sitting right now, I'm getting between 3-4 bars of 3G service when I'm not holding the phone, and the minute I pick it up and hold it (I'm one that uses his left hand to hold the phone and right hand to swipe, and hold the phone to my ear with my left hand) the signal drops almost immedately and I lose my call (or data speeds drop major, depending on what I'm trying to do). He's going to forward all of this to the engineering department and between all the reports he said they will work on a permanent fix but as a temporary solution I should look into some kind of case. I did plan to eventually get a case, though not a bumper (I had a CapsuleRebel by SwitchEasy on my 3G and loved it. Wanted to wait for them to release an iPhone 4 case).
Overall while the first guy was...interesting, the supervisor was courtious and friendly, and gave me his contact information and said he would keep in touch with me as reports come in and he talks to Engineering. I told him that I hope we can come up with a permanent solution within my 30 day return policy, because I have no problems going back to my 3G for now or looking into an Android device. And if a 'bumper' or case is the temporary solution (at least he acknowledged it was a temporary solution), then Apple should send me one.
Ugh, frustrating. Various sources around the web are saying that not "every" phone is affected, so perhaps this is just a manufacturing flaw with this first patch of phones and not a major design flaw. Though anyone with limited knowledge of how antennas and reception work could've easily spotted this...
I'll keep you guys updated, and hope that you all will call Apple and let them know if you are experiencing this issue.
EDIT: The supervisor called me back. He suggested that I go get a new phone from my local Apple Store. He setup the appointment for me and everything and said "check the new phone out for the weekend and I'll call you back on Monday to see whats happening." He also said that if the new phone gives me any problems, he'll send me the bumper case free as a temporary fix until a better solution comes along. All in all I can't say i'm unhappy with Apple support so far, though it's a shame this is even an issue in the first place and I personally am not convinced yet that it's isolated to just a few phones.
He transfered me up to a supervisor who asked me some questions and tried to call me on it - and about 25 seconds after he called and I picked up the call dropped. On my iPhone 3G, I wouldn't have these kind of problems at work. At my office (where I'm at right now), I'd get 4-5 bars of 3G and things would be fine (though there are parts of this office that it drops, I'm in a good spot). On the iPhone 4, where I'm sitting right now, I'm getting between 3-4 bars of 3G service when I'm not holding the phone, and the minute I pick it up and hold it (I'm one that uses his left hand to hold the phone and right hand to swipe, and hold the phone to my ear with my left hand) the signal drops almost immedately and I lose my call (or data speeds drop major, depending on what I'm trying to do). He's going to forward all of this to the engineering department and between all the reports he said they will work on a permanent fix but as a temporary solution I should look into some kind of case. I did plan to eventually get a case, though not a bumper (I had a CapsuleRebel by SwitchEasy on my 3G and loved it. Wanted to wait for them to release an iPhone 4 case).
Overall while the first guy was...interesting, the supervisor was courtious and friendly, and gave me his contact information and said he would keep in touch with me as reports come in and he talks to Engineering. I told him that I hope we can come up with a permanent solution within my 30 day return policy, because I have no problems going back to my 3G for now or looking into an Android device. And if a 'bumper' or case is the temporary solution (at least he acknowledged it was a temporary solution), then Apple should send me one.
Ugh, frustrating. Various sources around the web are saying that not "every" phone is affected, so perhaps this is just a manufacturing flaw with this first patch of phones and not a major design flaw. Though anyone with limited knowledge of how antennas and reception work could've easily spotted this...
I'll keep you guys updated, and hope that you all will call Apple and let them know if you are experiencing this issue.
EDIT: The supervisor called me back. He suggested that I go get a new phone from my local Apple Store. He setup the appointment for me and everything and said "check the new phone out for the weekend and I'll call you back on Monday to see whats happening." He also said that if the new phone gives me any problems, he'll send me the bumper case free as a temporary fix until a better solution comes along. All in all I can't say i'm unhappy with Apple support so far, though it's a shame this is even an issue in the first place and I personally am not convinced yet that it's isolated to just a few phones.
I can confirm that my iPhone 4 does NOT have these issues. Picked it up at AT&T and so far I've tested the problem at the store while picking it up, at my work (in the basement of a University building) in a restaurant and so far have seen no more than a bar or 2 of loss at any time. So before everyone gets their panties in a wad, at least check to see if YOUR actual unit is even displaying issues before canceling orders or whatever.. Or go ahead and let someone else who isn't as afraid to be an early adopter get one. Either way, everyone knows that a REV A product is gonna have bugs (and yes I realize for the ones who do have the dropped calls, this is a BIG issue, but..) so just wait and see how your mileage varies.
I had exactly the same but I will receive my new iPhone 4 by saturday and have to ship the old one back. They were very polite and told me Apple is aware of the issues. They didn't suggest me the Bumper or anything.
It should be resolved with the new one so we will see soon
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