iPhone 4 Drops Calls when Left Corner is Touched

[Pechente]

A stab in the dark, but it would appear that you are shorting out the iphone cell antenna to the wifi antenna.
Surely a fix could be made to automatically turn off or disable the other antenna's when you make a call on the iphone?

Mr Jobs, contact me directly for a bonus.

You forgot they introduced Multitasking But indeed, this idea is a good one and the only way to fix this issue software-side. This will mean that you will only have cellular data while in a call and you can do all the GPS and Bluetooth stuff as well as use the Wi-Fi network while you are not in a call.

 

[airbai]

To be positive, it's still a possibility that it is a software issue: the electrical interference made by shorting the two metal parts might make the phone register as "losing signal" and when the phone "thinks" the signal is too low or none existent it may "force fail" the call.

 

[thatisme]

I can also replicate this, however, it is only reproducible if you are actually touching the black seam isolator with either your palm or the left hand or with your pinkie on the right, depending on if you are right or left handed. I tried to touch all 3 metal pieces by themselves, and was only able to squeak out a loss of 1 bar, which is normal fluctuation in my location. But by touching that seam direcly, I went from 5 bars to 1 bar with the pinkie only, but went to no service with the palm of my left hand on the seam.

I tried this with 3G on and off, with wifi and gps on and off, and I got the the same results.

It may be a software AND hardware prob. Obviously, there is a reception issue that is brought to light with physical contact to certain areas. HOWEVER, it may be more of a software issue. IOS has to read the signal information to generate and display the bars... If iOS is reading a signal drop, it will change the signal indicator appropriately. When it reads a weak signal, does it make a determination to cut the connection to give you no service? Does iOS decide the call quality is poor, so terminate, or is there really insufficient bandwidth to maintain a voice or data connection?

Maybe Apple can remove the lower threshold or lower the signal "floor" in iOS to eliminate this problem. Maybe they can boost the power output to the GSM module to increase the reception? I would assume that Apple can do something like this, from the comment Mossberg made about the way the bars are displayed.

 

[hapjap]

So, can anyone else get your iPhone 4 to say "Searching" and have no bars with your left hand? I certainly can.

 

[airbai]

I can also replicate this, however, it is only reproducible if you are actually touching the black seam isolator with either your palm or the left hand or with your pinkie on the right, depending on if you are right or left handed. I tried to touch all 3 metal pieces by themselves, and was only able to squeak out a loss of 1 bar, which is normal fluctuation in my location. But by touching that seam direcly, I went from 5 bars to 1 bar with the pinkie only, but went to no service with the palm of my left hand on the seam.

I tried this with 3G on and off, with wifi and gps on and off, and I got the the same results.

It may be a software AND hardware prob. Obviously, there is a reception issue that is brought to light with physical contact to certain areas. HOWEVER, it may be more of a software issue. IOS has to read the signal information to generate and display the bars... If iOS is reading a signal drop, it will change the signal indicator appropriately. When it reads a weak signal, does it make a determination to cut the connection to give you no service? Does iOS decide the call quality is poor, so terminate, or is there really insufficient bandwidth to maintain a voice or data connection?

Maybe Apple can remove the lower threshold or lower the signal "floor" in iOS to eliminate this problem. Maybe they can boost the power output to the GSM module to increase the reception? I would assume that Apple can do something like this, from the comment Mossberg made about the way the bars are displayed.

I agree. It could be the phone's software reading this interference as a low signal and decide to drop the call. I hope it's that. It seems plausible.

 

[jeff33702]

A stab in the dark, but it would appear that you are shorting out the iphone cell antenna to the wifi antenna.
Surely a fix could be made to automatically turn off or disable the other antenna's when you make a call on the iphone?

Mr Jobs, contact me directly for a bonus.

...rendering the facetime feature useless.

 

[Blues003]

Exactly, just that he didn't figure out the "left-corner reason". It's interestig though, that Apple responded to Walt talking of a software issue.

Here's my take on it:

Some iPhones seem to be able to make calls DESPITE what the bars show. This makes it seem as if the iPhone is still capable of calling. It is a relatively good sign that it can be a software issue: after all, the problem isn't with the capability of making phone calls, but with how that availability is shown, and interpreted by the device.

On the other hand, that is not what happens widespread. Some people seem to have no problems at all, while others cannot indeed make calls. This, IMO, makes it harder to fit into the "software" theory. Software has no "bad batches", it's uniform thorughout every device. As such, I do not take the software issue as valid from here on. While it COULD be a software issue in the sense that once the iPhone would recognize the inssuficient number of bars, it'd shut off the call, that doesn't apply to all the cases. If it was merely a software issue, every iPhone would perceive the signal as "too weak" and end the call.

There is the possibility that there are bad batches, with a varying degree of handicap. "Good" phones would not drop calls nor bars, "Bad" phones would drop calls and bars, and "Not-so-bad-but-still-not-good" phones would drop bars, but not calls. It's hard to confirm this because different areas have different receptions. My take on this is that we'd need to test multiple iPhone 4s in the same area and evaluate the results in order to take any conclusions.

Another possibility has to do with skin types. As you know, every one of us has different skin, different blood composition, different ammounts of ions in our finger tips. These changes may account for the differences in responses to holding the left bottom corner, since the problem appears to be the fact that the fingers act as connects between the 2 parts of the antenna.

All-in-all, I do not believe it's a software issue. Software is uniform between iPhones, whiel the issues are not. However, I do believe it's an issue that is repairable via software. By decreasing (or shutting down completely) the antenna that is not being used while doing the phone call, I think that problem could theoretically be fixed. Notwithstanding such fact, not only that does not make up for a (apparently) tremendous engineering flaw, but it can also cause conflicts when people are surfing the web, for example, and every uploading and downloading activity ends up having to be suspended because of a call.

 

[jgbr]

I can only replicate this when i touched the left and right antenna breaks at the same time.

 

[maverick808]

...rendering the facetime feature useless.

Additionally, it wouldn't solve the problem of when you are at home browsing the web. At that point you need both wifi for the browsing and obviously still want your phone connected in case someone calls/texts you.

 

[Robin Chung]

The "openings" in the metal aren't pretty, they better act like great antennas. The signal shouldn't deplete based on your hand position, that's very un-apple.

 

[mtrctyjoe]

Don't Bridge the Gap!

What the.....!
Just tried the same on my iPhone 3GS and holding the phone in my left palm will reduce signal strength from 4 bars in my home to 1 bar or no connection. Holding it with 2 fingers at the upper portion of the phone restores it to full signal strength. Tried it multiple times and also ran speedtest app to confirm massive reduction in download speed. Mostly downgraded to Edge when covering the left lower part. That explains maybe my many dropped calls as I am used to hold the phone in my left hand. Thanks for the post. Will have to learn to hold the phone gingerly with 2 fingers. Picking up my iPhone 4 later today and will test. Wonder what they will say at the Apple store.

Same Exact Problem Here - I wont be holding the phone gingerly - I will be returning it.

 

[saxman]

I still can't replicate this on my iPhone 4. Maybe I'm only in signal range of one tower since I'm in a more rural area

 

[NAG]

The "openings" in the metal aren't pretty, they better act like great antennas. The signal shouldn't deplete based on your hand position, that's very un-apple.

I wouldn't call it un-apple. I'd just call it a design flaw or a software bug or a combination of both. lol

Hopefully, the issue can be mitigated with a software update (I doubt they can get rid of it 100% due to the fact you're screwing with the antenna).

I still can't replicate this on my iPhone 4. Maybe I'm only in signal range of one tower since I'm in a more rural area

Have you tried putting the phone on its side then putting a nickel on the lower left corner and waiting a minute?

 

[patseguin]

I hold my phone with my right hand and get dropped calls. I don't really think it has much to do with any specific area of the phone being touched.

 

[mtrctyjoe]

Bridge the Gap - Nickel Test

I just did the test with a nickel - my signal dropped like a ROCK - five bars $ 3G to no bars and loss of 3G ... in seconds ...

How did they not catch this is testing? How?

 

[mtrctyjoe]

Hah!

So it isn't AT&T anymore that drops your call!

Wow .... I thought the same thing... ! Wonder what today will be like when this issue blows up .....

 

[vbrent]

"Antenna Problems, Why fix it? Lets just make our own Bumper Case

When I was watching the iOS 4 Demo with the live feeds and the "Bumpers" case was unveiled, I started to think why would Apple come out with its own case? Well it's obvious now what they were trying to cover up, trying to hide the antenna from the users hand! Apple knew this was an issue from the start and new a case for the metal banding around the phone is all they needed.

If this is an issue which Apple decided to act as if it were not lets see if the case fixes it!

Brent V

 

[Pechente]

How did they not catch this is testing? How?

This CAN happen. Sometimes the most apparent situations aren't tested.

It's very embarrassing for a company as huge as Apple to have such a major design flaw which maybe can't even be fixed on the software-side but this sadly happens from time to time.

 

[dayloon]

Not sure if this has been said or not yet but I have just received my iphone 4 and a bumper. I'm having the problem even with the bumper on. The bumper makes very little difference to the problem.

 

[iigsie]

Not sure if this has been said or not yet but I have just received my iphone 4 and a bumper. I'm having the problem even with the bumper on. The bumper makes very little difference to the problem.

I've got the same issue on o2 UK. A friend of mine also had the issue, and managed to get a bumper case which certainly does cure it for both of us. Must be more to it.

 

[Soaring Spoon]

Cant do it

I just got my iPhone 4 32GB and i can not replicate this at all nor are there any yellow dots i got myself a perfect phone ^^

 

[NAG]

I don't buy the bumper as a cover up theory. It makes about as much sense that they just wanted to get in on the case business/show a new type of case and didn't want to cover the back.

And as far as the nickel test, I still had a bar of signal doing it where I am so I think this a combination of a lot of issues. Since Apple said they're going to release a software update to fix it I'm going to assume they will partially fix this issue (again, holding any phone can result in some signal loss so they can't completely get rid of this).

 

[wongster41]

This is definitely a hardware issue, the person is simply physically touching the phone causing it to drop signal.

 

[Eddyisgreat]

K so everybody gets a free bumper case or a refund if they already bought it.

Too ez

 

[macintoshi]

I work as an Electrical Engineer so I am well aware of the RF antenna limitations and interference but the placement of the antenna looks to be a design flaw is what I am saying. If you can not hold the phone in a normal position with either hand then it is an issue. If the antenna was located such that the phone could not be held at the top above the earpiece that would be a different story but it as it stands, it seems to be located in a very problematic area.

Me am also an EE and yes i would say the same on that...