Took my iPhone 4 to the pool this afternoon and could not get it to drip bars Bo matter how I held it. Major reproducible issues in my basement where I have 4 bars when on table and none when held. Silicon case fixes it.
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I tried to recreate the problem but I haven't been able to. Not sure if this is based on location or something. Which I'm glad it's not losing reception.
While this definitely would have played a huge role in this getting by Apple, I'm starting to wonder if it's a major defect with the mass production of the phone.WHY is it SO HARD for you thick-skulled people to get it? Stop trying to "cup" it and do the exact test that causes the problem: BRIDGE THE ANTENNAS WITH YOUR FINGER/HAND ON THE LEFT SIDE! See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gb3aQ5XoQw
That video shows PLAIN AND SIMPLE that this is a design flaw which is unfixable by software update. Apple screwed up huge, and they probably didn't notice it because they were too busy wrapping them in 3GS garb (thereby covering the problem) so they wouldn't be noticed in public during testing.
LOGIC, people, LOGIC!
You're just mad because he hasn't fixed your door yet, Jason.More fuel for the fire...
Thanks Steve!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqg2pBDxR7A
NEXT TIME: please spend less time and money trying to make an example out of Gizmodo and more time in R&D (hint: making it pretty < making it a phone)
All right. One thing is clear from all this -- there is a design problem with the iP4 antenna. When people hold the iP4 with a cloth, they can prevent signal strength from degrading.
......And oddly enough on my 3.1.3 3G, I go from 5 bars to 3 when I pick up my phone and grasp it fully in my palm.
This is just perplexing.
my 3gs seems to do the same on ios4 but only a couple bars bc my signal is really strong here.
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.
Very very interesting. Color me convinced. We need someone that has NOT upgraded to iOS4 to test just as a clean test case with an older phone.
That's EXACTLY what my iPhone 3GS is doing. Again, this is not isolated to iPhone 4's. This is also affecting older iPhones with iOS 4.
just reproduced this with my 3g on ios4. Why is everyone complaining now.
has anybody tried hold the phone just by the metal/antenna??
I was having the same problem with my iPhone 4 dropping bars, but then I just the the phone the metal/antenna with my fingers and nothing changed, no dropped bars. It wasn't until I palmed the back of it that the bars started to drop.
All right. One thing is clear from all this -- there is a design problem with the iP4 antenna. When people hold the iP4 with a cloth, they can prevent signal strength from degrading. Nobody has reported that result on a 2G, 3G, or 3GS phone that experiences signal loss when held. So whatever is to blame for those models' problems (signal being blocked by a hand, change in reception quality when shifted, etc.), only the iP4 is experiencing surface conductivity problems from grounding out the external antenna (although perhaps in addition to the other models' problems).
And apparently the result is signal attenuation, not necessarily total loss, since people near a cell tower lose signal strength, but not completely. But of course others with less reception to start with are not so lucky.
A software update could only partially solve this. There's no way around it -- there is a real loss of signal strength happening. You can fudge with software to make the iPhone stay on even when signal strength is extremely low, but that doesn't mean your call quality will be good, or that the won't still fail.
And as for the whole cell tower switching theory in iOS4 -- a software update could partially help with that, too, by giving more weight to cell tower proximity than cell tower load. So that will ensure you are connected to the closest tower, not the tower with the lightest load. But the fundamental problem will still remain-- there is less signal strength when the external antenna is being grounded out. So if the closest tower is still too far for your weakened signal, you will still be screwed.
That video shows PLAIN AND SIMPLE that this is a design flaw which is unfixable by software update. Apple screwed up huge, and they probably didn't notice it because they were too busy wrapping them in 3GS garb (thereby covering the problem) so they wouldn't be noticed in public during testing.
LOGIC, people, LOGIC!
Not true.
I have no doubt that when you connect the two metal bands that the phone bars go down, but that still can be SOFTWARE.
the SIGNAL strength can still be the same as before you touched it, but the SOFTWARE can be mislead into thinking the SIGNAL strength is bad if it is getting harmless interference.
Software can still EXPLAIN AND FIX EVERYTHING!!!
Not sure why people cann't get that through their thick heads.
No more phone sex for you.This is ridiculous. I just called my girlfriend using my left hand and it dropped 3 times and went to no signal each time, called with my right and it was fine.
It doesn't take being "palmed", it only takes one teeny finger... like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gb3aQ5XoQw
Not true.
I have no doubt that when you connect the two metal bands that the phone bars go down, but that still can be SOFTWARE.
the SIGNAL strength can still be the same as before you touched it, but the SOFTWARE can be mislead into thinking the SIGNAL strength is bad if it is getting harmless interference.
Software can still EXPLAIN AND FIX EVERYTHING!!!
Not sure why people cann't get that through their thick heads.
Either way, I'll buy a few hundred shares of AAPL after it bottoms out in a couple weeks.![]()
I know you're emotional, but a business goes with the most money or the best deal and then work with what they have. Deal with reality. You can call it greed, but taking substantially less from another company who either wasn't proven (T-Mobile, Sprint) or a company that wanted to get its junkware and logo all over your OS and hardware would be BAD business.This is making me want to throw up. After getting so excited for this launch, this has to happen? I feel bad for people in the rest of the world who had no network issues. It was due to AT&T's half-assed network that Apple decided to change the antenna. Now, it looks like everyone is going to get screwed. Well, I really can't feel too bad for Apple. There the ones who readily hopped into bed with AT&T just for a few extra million to pad their already 50 Billion in cash. I guess this is where greed will get you.
No more phone sex for you.