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iPhone 4 Drops Calls when Left Corner is Touched

I just got my new phone yesterday afternoon and have been doing signal tests in various locations. I have tried the grip at home, my local coffee shop, and at work. At home, I sometimes experience a slow drop of signal strength, but the phone never goes into "searching". At the coffee shop and at work, I experience no signal drop. My girlfriend's phone has no issue at home either, but I have showed here the test so she can try at her work too.

I will continue to test my phone in other areas. Either my phone isn't experiencing the problem, or all of my test locations are near a cell tower.
 
3GS Antenna

I'd just like to point out that when the guy in the video 'cups' the 3GS claiming that the antenna is in the back is totally bogus. In the 3GS there are two antennae, one on the back of the dock connector assembly (think black part of original iPhone and you've got the idea) and one near the sim card tray (I think this one is for bluetooth). If you want to test signal interference on the 3GS (or 3G for that matter) you should cover the bottom half of your phone with both hands and see if the signal drops. My 3GS does this when I hold the bottom half as if I were praying, you can watch the signal go down two bars.

If you're whining about this, you should learn a thing or two about antennae. My bigger fear is that now the iphone is emitting radiation from all around, where as before it was closer to your jaw than your brain. I have a friend with a tumor in his auditory nerve from cell phones and I always thought iphone was just a bit better for having the antenna at the bottom.

Oh well, none of this will stop me from getting one, I always use a case anyway. Hopefully OtterBox will come out with a good one.
 
NikeTalk said:
How can it possibly be a software issue?!? You can't touch the damn software and it sure as hell isn't on the side of the phone! It's the damn hardware because it's a physical problem!!
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Of course you're right but what could help is an adjustment in the way the software handles the interference - It looks as if the iOS4 APIs have a different algorithm for selecting which tower to listen to that considers both signal strength and quality (vs. just strength previously). If true, and your hand causes a type of interference that matches the software's definition of a poor tower signal, it may be switching inappropriately.
 
N1CKOLAS said:
I just got my new phone yesterday afternoon and have been doing signal tests in various locations. I have tried the grip at home, my local coffee shop, and at work. At home, I sometimes experience a slow drop of signal strength, but the phone never goes into "searching". At the coffee shop and at work, I experience no signal drop. My girlfriend's phone has no issue at home either, but I have showed here the test so she can try at her work too.

I will continue to test my phone in other areas. Either my phone isn't experiencing the problem, or all of my test locations are near a cell tower.
Click to expand...

When you do this 'testing', do you get paid for it from Apple Inc? :rolleyes:
 
mcdj said:
Networking APIs don't know where you're touching the phone. Many people's guess is that the issue is across all iP4s, but that those with great signals don't see the hit. Those with weaker signals to begin with see the worst degradation.
Click to expand...

THIS:

bmwhd said:
Of course you're right but what could help is an adjustment in the way the software handles the interference - It looks as if the iOS4 APIs have a different algorithm for selecting which tower to listen to that considers both signal strength and quality (vs. just strength previously). If true, and your hand causes a type of interference that matches the software's definition of a poor tower signal, it may be switching inappropriately.
Click to expand...

This is what i'm holding out on. I knows its more likely to be a hardware issue, but TECHNICALLY these issues CAN be explained by software.
 
I have this issue too!!! I got the phone with att does that mean they have to fix or is apple job? I also got the apple care if it helps...
 
yup..i have it also...and I get a tingle sensation in my finger when I do the finger test on the corner....its some wierd short...apple wont do anything till someone gets hurt..
 
kernkraft said:
When you do this 'testing', do you get paid for it from Apple Inc? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Haha, actually no. I'm just doing it for fun. I'm really curious about this whole fiasco and want to see if location (and therefore signal strength) is a key factor.
 
We have four iPhone 4's in our office only one dropped a bar we are all getting cases anyway we always buy vaja just waiting for them to come out. in the mean time it's quite easy for us not to cover the part of the phone that's causing so many people to over react. i had a samsung phone that did this years ago didn't see any posts about it on samsungrumors.com
 
there has to be something else causing it only to happen in this spot on the phone because you can bridge the gap on the top seam by the headphone jack and nothing happens there.
 
ha...just saw this

27437_540.jpg
 
l called apple tech support earlier and as soon as I mentioned signal issue they responded with - we know about the issue and are working on it. They assured me the engineers will have a fix very soon and sent me a free bumper even though my phone does not have the issue
 
I have been suffering from this issue at work on 3g. At home on edge it doesn't seem quite as bad, and does not effect the wi-fi.

What is interesting though is today I went out for lunch with a couple co-workers and was explaining the situation to them and I was like oh I'll just show you. Couldn't get it to drop a single bar. Then the one person goes oh it might be because there are cell towers right there and pointed out the window. Behold about 500 feet away on the other side of the parking lot was a cell tower.

Anyways this proves to me at least that people that are seeing the issue are probably on the edge of 5-bar service (like I am at work and home) and people who aren't seeing it are probably getting a booming signal to begin with or possibly don't conduct electricity as well.
 
jcbauerca said:
Can someone try to put some clear tape around the metal band to prevent shorting the antennas? How about some clear nail polish in the metal rim? Maybe that's all that is needed.
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thats exactly what i did(clear tape) when i got home last night with phone. works great.

i am on fence to return, but figured i can use it in the meantime with the use of the tape.

cheers
 
TroyBoy30 said:
l called apple tech support earlier and as soon as I mentioned signal issue they responded with - we know about the issue and are working on it. They assured me the engineers will have a fix very soon and sent me a free bumper even though my phone does not have the issue
Click to expand...

so if you have no issues why call about signal issue? LOL

mine phone does it in some location while it will not in other areas. uhm....
 
well..just tried the tape trick...no luck..ill try buying a skin next once someone has it in stock...i'll keep my fingers crossed...or its going back :(
 
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