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iPhone 4 Reception Issue? [Video]

This is bad enough when you drop a call or can't make a phone call. But it is also affecting data service and this is the more likely time that you'll be holding the phone in such a way as to cause the problem to occur.

There's a video under Update 11 at Gizmodo that clearly shows it drastically affects data too:

http://gizmodo.com/5571171/iphone-4-loses-reception-when-you-hold-it-by-the-antenna-band

If you're not willing to put a case or bumper on this phone, then I think it's clear that you do NOT want to buy this phone right now.
 
The number of antenna strength bars displayed on my iPhone 4 goes up and down even when it's just sitting on the the desk. And, what a coincidence, the number of bars goes up and down when I'm holding it my hand. :rolleyes:

I've used my iPhone 4 for calls several times today, both holding it in my hand and while not holding it in my hand (connected via Bluetooth to my Infiniti while driving around in the Infiniti). Call quality was perfect and I didn't lose the connection or have any issue whatsoever.

I don't see any yellow blobs on my screen either. But that's another topic.

Mark
 
BobHail said:
Guys! I tested this with my 3GS and the results were exactly the same!

I have an Incipio Feather case on. It went from 5 bars to one or two bars the minute I picked up the phone in my hand. Couple times it even lost the connection for a few seconds. Weird!
Click to expand...
Nope, nothing like that with my 3GS at all. I use a Candyshell, no probs there. When I took it off, still no probs (though I do have a Wrapsol on the back of the phone).

I'm SO SO glad that I didn't wait for this new phone! I got my white 3GS 32 GB back when you could still get one (vs. the 8GB black which is all that is available now) - with the unlimited plan which is not available to new iPhone buyers. Yes! :D

Glad I didn't jump up and buy Apple stock. It's going to tank when all this gets out. QC, my wide @$$!
 
just tested on my old flip phone the same thing happens but i never noticed it Maybe this is not a new issue just amplified because its an iphone.
 
Heres something i want to test, but cant...since i have no iPhone4. If this issue is hardware like many of you are thinking, and you can get the signal to go down by connecting the two bands together via bridging over the black band on the left side of the phone.....can you replicate the problem by bridging over the other band at the top of the phone - if so, then there is an issue.
 
donbenjy said:
Yeah, I agree, but what if you had bigger fingers or sweaty hands? If they were conductive enough you could connect the top left corner (on your index finger) to the lower right corner with the base of your thumb. That would probably be much less of an issue, but I would want to feel that it was impossible to short out by accident.


I don't understand why people aren't electrically connecting the sides with wire to test it. I still maintain that we can't know if its hardware or software until somebody proves, using a reliable, predictable method, that it can be caused by electrical shorting using a reliable electrical conductor. i.e. not our hands!
Click to expand...

well then you can put the blame on your parents
 
auero said:
If you watch the whole video his bars increase to 3-4 and slowly start dropping when he's holding the phone.
Click to expand...

Yes I noticed that also. But even when hes holding it the same way i noticed at one point his bars were going up. Weird. Agh this issue is really frustrating me..
 
zepharus said:
Tested during this again. Full bars on my patio. I then gripped it AS I WOULD FOR A CALL and watched the bars slowing tick off. i tried placing a call during this process. The call would NOT go through.

This is a Major ass issue as this is also my business phone. My guess is this must be an iOS 4 or AT&T issue. There is no possible way this escaped testing. No F@#king way possible.

If this is truly hardware, then Apple is akin to a frigging clown car.
Click to expand...

Well it doesn't happen on my 3GS. I'm on AT&T. And considering Apple put the iPhone 4 in a 3GS looking case to disguise it when shown in public, I could see this problem getting through testing, as they never held the iPhone by its sides directly.
 
Guess I'll be holding my iPhone 4 funny tomorrow until I can get a hold of a rubber bumper or case. Now if I have a yellow smudge issue and this reception issue to deal with at the same time. I am likely to throw. Royal fit and do something stupid like buy and android or something.

No yellow smudges and all I have to deal with is the reception issue. I'll be happy. Because even if a software update doesn't resolve it I know a case or bumper will co pletely.
 
okay so I did some testing, I wrapped myself in aluminum foil, my whole body. I was able to wrap both my hands around the iphone completely covering every inch of the iphone and was able to keep my signal at full strength.

the prob is ATT
 
Im getting more pissed by the second.. here is the Excerpt from Walt Mossburg's Review



"Both Apple (AAPL) and AT&T (T) told me they worked to make the iPhone 4 do a better job with AT&T’s network. For example, the phone itself is surrounded by a prominent stainless-steel trim piece that acts as a large antenna. And Apple said it also tuned the phone to try to grab whatever band on the network was less congested or less affected by interference—to stress the quality of a signal over its raw strength. AT&T said it, too, made some changes to its network with the new iPhone in mind.

But, in my tests, network reception was a mixed bag. Compared with the previous model, the new iPhone dropped marginally fewer calls made in my car, both in Washington and in Boston, and was much louder and clearer over my car’s built-in Bluetooth speaker-phone system.

Yet, in some places where the signal was relatively weak, the iPhone 4 showed no bars, or fewer bars than its predecessor. Apple says that this is a bug it plans to fix, and that it has to do with the way the bars are presented, not the actual ability to make a call. And, in fact, in nearly all of these cases, the iPhone 4 was able to place calls despite the lack of bars.

However, on at least six occasions during my tests, the new iPhone was either reporting “no service” or searching for a network while the old one, held in my other hand, was showing at least a couple of bars. Neither Apple nor AT&T could explain this. The iPhone 4 quickly recovered in these situations, showing service after a few seconds, but it was still troubling."
 
This thread has been 14 pages of the same thing over and over again.
Could someone who has the iPhone 4 running on ANYTHING OTHER THAN AT&T comment on this problem?
 
What if there is no simple software fix for this, I'm pretty sure some people are gonna be very pissed off that their phone isn't actually a phone as Apple advertised.
Could we all take them back to the Apple store and demand a model with this hardware problem fixed or our money back? They'd better not try and fob us off with a bumper.
 
phas3 said:
okay so I did some testing, I wrapped myself in aluminum foil, my whole body. I was able to wrap both my hands around the iphone completely covering every inch of the iphone and was able to keep my signal at full strength.

the prob is ATT
Click to expand...

Really.:rolleyes: The prob is iPhone 4. I don't have this issue, and why aren't 3G owners saying they have this problem. Its just a BIG COINCIDENCE that when you fingers/hand touch the phone in a certain way, you lose reception COMPLETELY, but on a 3GS, holding it in different places, you still have service.
 
BobHail said:
Guys! I tested this with my 3GS and the results were exactly the same!

I have an Incipio Feather case on. It went from 5 bars to one or two bars the minute I picked up the phone in my hand. Couple times it even lost the connection for a few seconds. Weird!
Click to expand...

I just tested my 3GS on the AT&T 3G network. IT WENT FROM 5 BARS TO 1 BAR WITHIN 12 SECONDS! This is just something that ALL cellphones will do, and we just have to live with! (tested without any case)
 
I was able to reproduce the exact same thing from five bars to "Searching...".

I then tested it during a call in the exact same positing and the signal stayed at 5 bars. Could the signal strength meter be influenced more when the radio is not actively being used?
 
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