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This is definitely a major problem with the iPhone 4. I can't even get a call out when I hold the phone in my hand comfortably. Loses all bars and won't connect a call. WTH! If I hold it just by touching the sides, I get the bars back. Ugh.
 
Not true

I know, but then why are some people (70% I guess) reporting this issue and the rest (including me) cannot for the life of us get the phone to exhibit this behavior. If it was software then 100% would be having this issue as it's easy to replicate with your hands.


not everyone has the same signal quality to start if you have a mac watch your network monitor app switch it to the AirPort (en1) and watch the connection speed change as you move about your house the bars show full for each connection speed it happens to be in then is quality drops the antenna bars do to then it will change to slower connection speed then the bars will be full agian. then that brings us back to post #708
 
In the WSJ article here's what concerns me the most:

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.

How could either AT&T or Apple not have seen this behavior during the testing?

Cause they used those disguised cases and weren't make an antenna-link between both parts of the stainless band. This could prove this be an oversight of biblical proportions.
 
Everyone email Steve Jobs so he can send a smart ass reply like so thin, so beautiful, why cover it up with a huge hand?
 
Cause they used those disguised cases and weren't make an antenna-link between both parts of the stainless band. This could prove this be an oversight of biblical proportions.

Simply can't believe that that could EVER happen to a whole bunch of mobile phone hardware engineers :S
 
Guys... I have the answer.
apple-wwdc-2010-168-rm-eng.jpg


It's meant for your right hand. Your'e right hand fingers won't bond the two pieces of metal together. But your left hand palm will... creating the issue!
 
I'm having the issue too. I've been running 4.0 on my iPhone 3G since it came out and never had a dropped call. With my iPhone 4, every call I've made has dropped.
 
Make sure it's naked, then do it with your index finger resting near the sleep button, you don't even need to hold it that tightly.

I can reproduce this by placing my finger in exactly this area on my 3GS. Index finger resting near the sleep button.
 
Had the issue. Could cause a call to drop by cradling the iPhone 4 in my hand. Put it in my silicon switcheasy colors case and the issue completely resolved. In fact, my friend said the call quality improved when I cradled it in the case such that my palm was over that bottom left hand corner!
E
 
To the people not having the problem, who own the iPhone 4:

Are you staying in one spot or are you moving around?

If you live very near a tower, you could remove the antenna from your phone and still get a signal. However if you move around and end up at a place where the signal would normally be about 2 bars and ground out the antenna it might then cause signal problems and dropping calls.

The best way to test is to take the phone out for a drive, and us it in different places. Make a call at the mall, school, or work. Take the phone around town for a walk and see if you drop calls where you used to not drop calls.

I did some tests today with my coworker. In his office he normally gets a signal of one to two bars. He couldn't keep a call on the line longer than 3 minutes with his brand new 16GB iPhone 4. He picks up the phone, and the signal is gone. On his 3GS he had no problems with dropped calls in his office. He also updated to 4.0 when it was released and had no issues on his 3GS.

When we were at dinner he got a full signal at the restaurant. He was able to keep a call with his wife the entire time without dropping, however his signal did drop it just never went out.

He picked up the phone with a (clean) cloth napkin and no signal dropping at all. None. Nadda.

My conclusion with his case is as follows:

-This isn't software since he updated to 4.0 on his 3GS and was not having dropped issues in his office until he got the new hardware.

-Grabbing the iPhone 4 the way a normal person would grab a phone does hinder reception. This is more than just a bum signal indicator as per the Wall Street Journal's review.

-If your iPhone 4 is used at a place where the signal isn't the best under normal conditions, the hindered reception will cause calls to drop. We have seen a Youtube video of this happening on this thread in this forum and I was able to reproduce the same results. The call will be maintained when not touching it such as when using Bluetooth or speakerphone.

-If your iPhone 4 is used at a place with a very strong signal, reception is hindered but there is enough signal to maintain the call.

-The fact when he used a cloth napkin to grab the phone and the signal didn't drop tells me there's a huge design flaw / hardware issue with the iPhone 4.
 
This is a ploy to sell more bumpers! Apple marketing at it's best. LOL another innovation even.
 
This is definitely a major problem with the iPhone 4. I can't even get a call out when I hold the phone in my hand comfortably. Loses all bars and won't connect a call. WTH! If I hold it just by touching the sides, I get the bars back. Ugh.

Apple reinvented the phone.
Now they're reinventing the way we hold them too!


Supposedly this problem doesn't happen if you hold it in your right hand... they hate us lefties! :O
I'm not gonna reeducate at this age my right hand that it was made for iphone 4 and not for j#$ing off... :D
 
Actually since my speed tests basically show no difference between hands free and the bar-dropping gorilla grip my brain wants me to think it's a software issue and not hardware as the wifi antenna is not affected.

Apple did include software that modulates what band the phone is on based on congestion, I think this could be related but I know nothing about this type of engineering.

Edit: Maybe band is the wrong word but they have something that changes frequency or whatever for less congestion and better reception, I just don't know the term used at the moment.
 
I was fully prepared to come in here and say that it's a hardware issue, however I just tried this with my year-old launch day iPhone 3GS 16GB with iOS 4.0 installed. On the table, five bars. In the palm of my hand, dropped to two bars within seconds.
Looks like we might have a baseband bug.

It's a hardware issue. Try doing that without while keep your index finger away from the phone and it won't drop as quickly, or possibly not at all. It's a hardware issue.
 
It's a hardware issue. Try doing that without while keep your index finger away from the phone and it won't drop as quickly, or possibly not at all. It's a hardware issue.

I've had my iPhone 3GS for a year now without this issue. It's not a hardware bug, it's a software. I've only started noticing reception issues since updating to iOS 4. If it were hardware, I'd have always had this issue.
 
Wow. This is shaping up to be the worst design failure in Apple's history, in fact one of the worst product failures in corporate history, period. What will they do? They only sell one model of phone. I guess they will have to keep producing the 3GS until they can eventually redesign the iP4.

I actually think it's that serious too. They already lost my sale. And I'm not buying Android, I'm buying nothing.
 
I'm just now starting to read over this thread, and I've noticed the same issue with my 4. I realized however, that it only drops reception if i hold it in my left hand. In my right hand, it's fine.
But this is really unacceptable for a $600 gadget. Hope they find a fix.. It's so bad, that even when i'm talking ON THE PHONE while holding it in my left hand, I lose reception... what a mess.
 
Any engineers worth their salt who worked on this project would be aware that touching an antenna with a conductive material (i.e. skin) would affect signal strength. They must have tested the antennas to be sure that the effect would be within acceptable limits.

I think it is much more likely that AT&T is performing rolling blackouts of its towers to upgrade them and that this is amplifying the effect explaining why users who report it on one model report it on all of them.

Does anyone honestly believe that apple knew about this and their solution was a bumper, which by the way was announced at the same time as the phone. Clearly they would have chosen not to announce the phone until this was fixed. There is no way that they were this shortsighted especially wit their position in the market depending so heavily on a seamless launch. I imagine that this will be resolved quickly.

I will be interesting to see if anyone overseas reports this tomorrow.
 
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