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iPhone 4 Drops Calls when Left Corner is Touched

RoarinRow said:
That's the fix described here - http://www.fastcompany.com/1663768/iphone-4-antenna-fix

Got the link from my co-worker.
Click to expand...

super simple and worked for me. i demonstrated to several people today.

thats very odd it didn't work for others. does it work for you with a case or a glove? tape is no different?

too funny i show up with iphone 4 and everyone wants to see glitch. thats all they wanted to see. of course they all ask if i knew ahead of time about problem and then giggle at my expense when i say yes. i wanted my new toy damit!
 
uh oh

I thought this oddly appropriate in a nonsequitor sort of way.

Someone with talent may want to redo before it meme's it's way around.
 

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Lefty concerned!

Coolero said:
Yup. I grip it with my left hand and do the scrolling/clicking with my thumb. The page loading just hangs everytime until I lift my hand off the lower left edge.
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I'm currently waiting for my iPhone 4 to come in, and I'm concerned about the latest antenna fiasco. I'm left handed, I should be able to hold the phone any which way I want! I think apple knew about the issue hence the push for the bumpers!
 
dtheory said:
Absolutely would not work...
My phone exhibits the issue even with the area covered with a piece of high quality electrical tape.
Click to expand...

I've tried scotch tape (it took 8 layers, and then worked), tried some thick plastic and that did not work. and some other tapes that didn't work.

What did work was duct tape. I had some Ace Hardware Professional Grade "Duck" tape and it definitely works. But why do I have to use duct tape on a brand new $300 phone?

UPDATE: when I originally tested this I used a somewhat larger piece of duct tape. When I trimmed it down to a small piece, it no longer worked. But it does take considerably longer to lose the signal (maybe 60 -90 seconds).
 
A case at least makes my phone usable at home. Hopefully a real solution will emerge, but it's at least a little less frustrating.
 
Ugh... it's got me too. Love the device and at work where I have 3-4 bars it's been a non-issue for the most part but at my home, where I get 4-5 bars, my signal drops to one bar and the other party cannot hear me. Please note, I am talking about NORMAL USE not a death grip in my left hand. This is literally holding in my right hand talking normally.

If I so much as touch the lower left with any skin, poof. I do hold out hope that this can be addressed in firmware. Remember AT&T has some bands that penetrate better so perhaps there is a faulty algorithm somewhere.

This isn't about squeezing the phone and losing a bar, it's about normal use and dropping calls, the defenders need to realize this.




ash =o)
 
switzerland

nooaah said:
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?
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Well i am from switzerland, i don't have iPhone 4 now, cause there isn't here at the momment. But i am reading all the way here in macrumours almost every news and also on: http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2477919&tstart=15 the apple website forum.

Well i am planing to get an iPhone 4, for the full price, but after reading this issues its holding me away of this, till am sure, the problem will be fixed. If its not fixed till the end of the next month, then i will have to look sadly 4 an android phone, witch i hope tobe evo 4g or droid x, even if i don't believe those phones will be avaiable for our country.

But as an apple fan, am really sad not getting an iPhone 4...
 
Yeah, I'm somewhat affected by this. If I touch the left corner, the signal goes down (very slowly) however it never goes to "searching..." or "no service" no matter how long I hold it. I've held it for as long as 5 minutes. So, I'm not really sweating this since I don't lose service at all except for the known deadspots in the areas I go to.
 
Better Reception?

I don't own a iPhone 4 yet, but was wondering from all you owners...

the "death-grip" aside (i.e. in a case or the like), does the iPhone 4 have better reception than the 3Gs?

(there was some speculation out there before the release the with the outside antenna, there would be better reception.)

Thanks,
- Michael
 
mikeschluss said:
I don't own a iPhone 4 yet, but was wondering from all you owners...

the "death-grip" aside (i.e. in a case or the like), does the iPhone 4 have better reception than the 3Gs?

(there was some speculation out there before the release the with the outside antenna, there would be better reception.)

Thanks,
- Michael
Click to expand...

I would say yes. Yesterday I went to an area with very poor reception, I put my iPhone 4 on the table along side my wifes 3GS, mine had 1 bar and gprs and my wifes just said no service, both are on the same network and no matter where I moved the 3GS it wouldn't get a signal.
 
I had an otherwise fine call drop today precisely at the instant when my left palm contacted the identified lower-left area of the iPhone 4. There is clearly a problem here. It seems highly unlikely that software is the answer, so if the bumpers indeed do solve the problem, I think they need to start sending them out to everyone.
 
FWIW I have fixed my droped calls for now by holding the phone with a thick cloth. I was able to feel the tingle others have talked about. Now instead of the frequent dropping of the call it drops the audio for a second but the call stays connected.
 
One item that rarely comes out. Some people are electrically more active. Sounds very metaphysical, but it isn't. My mother, for example, can't wear watches, doesn't matter what brand or style. They all go wonkey in a couple of days with her and she has had to forgo wearing watches for life. When we still used film, there was a technique called Kirlian photography, which could allow you to photograph the electrical fields.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kirlian_photography

I tried all morning to duplicate the dropped calls and dropped bars on my iPhone 4, but no joy. I am an engineer, so the technical aspects do not escape me. I do accept the variance in manufacturing and the chips themselves being more or less efficient due to an acceptable range in quality control. I do wonder if some of this may be due to, as in my mother's case being a higher electrical activity person. This could generate noise, which would make the signal to noise ratio change and make it harder for the receiver to discriminate the necessary data from the background noise. So if you had a phone on the lower acceptable range and you are a higher activity, electrically, it would be the perfect storm for the processor trying to do its job.
 
It's odd, this reception problem. In some places I can definitely reproduce it. In others, it's impossible to drop below 5 bars.

In places where I can do it, the coverage is strong, in places where I can't the coverage is strong. Makes me think it must be something related to the different cell signals.
 
Apple is about to replace both mine and my wife's. We are returning URL at their request so they can "study" them.
 
yup....

kuaiyouming said:
I had an otherwise fine call drop today precisely at the instant when my left palm contacted the identified lower-left area of the iPhone 4. There is clearly a problem here. It seems highly unlikely that software is the answer, so if the bumpers indeed do solve the problem, I think they need to start sending them out to everyone.
Click to expand...

Was walking on the street and on the phone as soon as I exchanged the phone into my left hand unconsciously touching the left corner, kaboom. That was that. And I have a urethane type case on it too.

But I do have a hope for the software fix. There's clearly a mixed engineering outcome with having the body act as antenna. Hope Apple gets it squared away.

The phone is just so great other than these dropped calls and for others the antenna issue. (Or are they related?)
 
Just went to an ATT store and proved the bumpers and cases do NOT FIX anything. Tried all the cases and bumpers they have and went from full signal on both 3G and wifi to no signal on 3G and dropped me two bars on the wifi.

The person helping me didn't know what to tell me she was shocked...

I think a good test will be when the next wave of preorders get theirs and see if they have the same problem. Apple has to respond to this issue and I don't think a software fix will work.

I can't hold my phone like normal when surfing the web, calling or doing anything that needs the 3G connection. :(
 
My phone is terrible in my city- cannot make calls or text in left hand at all. Just want to another city and I couldn't drop bars / loose 3G for the life of me. This, to me, suggests it's definitely an area thing, and I suspect all phones are effected - even if lots of people live in strong signal areas and haven't noticed the issue yet.
 
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