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iPhone 4 Reception Issue? [Video]

blen said:
A circuit in what? It's waves, not electrical current.
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Radio waves = electrical energy. This is basic Physics 101, actually Science 101 stuff man. And yes, the capacitance in human skin is more than enough to bridge the gap/seam between the two parts.

The video presented earlier of the one tester just lightly using a single finger on that seam to bridge the two parts of the chassis/antennas and then experiencing the signal drop without even holding it or moving it from it's position on the tabletop is more than enough proof to me there's something going on that needs to be addressed, and fast.

He didn't pick it up, didn't move it, just touched that one spot with one fingertip and wham, signal drop. Remove the finger, it returned to "normal" so yes, that's indicative that something is going on.
 
This is why I'm waiting a month or two before picking my iPhone 4 up. Early adapters should expect problems.
 
They just need to plastic coat the 3 metal antennae. Thought they would have done it already...FAIL

For now this means getting in touch with water can cause serious problems as well.
 
0dev said:
This is why I'm waiting a month or two before picking my iPhone 4 up. Early adapters should expect problems.
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I never had any other problems with any of my other iPhones... not even the original version. This is Apples 4th iPhone, not exactly a totally new product.
 
I am getting my phone tomorrow. Will I be able to test for this issue before I activate it, and if not, how easy will it be to go back to my old 3G model if it is an issue on my new phone?

For what it is worth, if it is an issue, I simply won't be able to use the phone at all until they fix the hardware since I travel a ton and will be on the road full time doing a documentary for the rest of the year until 2011.
 
Munitalp said:
I never had any other problems with any of my other iPhones... not even the original version. This is Apples 4th iPhone, not exactly a totally new product.
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There are generally problems with new products, even if they're updates of existing ones. For example, the iPod touch screen issue, more recently the iPad WiFi problem, etc.

Of course, it's luck of the draw when you buy any mass production product, so you're lucky all your stuff has been fine :D
 
I just tested with my 3G and I get the same thing, although not quite as dramatic — from 4 bars to 2, pretty consistently with no case on the phone. I have never noticed that before.

So perhaps this is a good thing in a way… Once the majority of consumers are aware of this as an issue, and start testing for it when considering a phone purchase, it becomes something that Apple (and other manufacturers) can't simply ignore.

As much as I love Apple, I really hope you early adopters don't put up with this. Take your phone back and make it very clear that you expect a phone to work when you hold it in your hand. Anything less is really not acceptable — not from any phone manufacturer, but certainly not from Apple.
 
Wear a rubber?

Oh, and to those people who suggest Apple's rubber 'bumper' is the solution to this problem… Well, they say it's safer to wear a rubber, but you know… if you marry the right girl you can enjoy the full experience as God intended. Know what I'm saying? ;)

iPhone 4 is not 'the right one' for me if I have to wear a rubber the whole time.
 
0dev said:
There are generally problems with new products, even if they're updates of existing ones. For example, the iPod touch screen issue, more recently the iPad WiFi problem, etc.
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The problem with this argument is that there's a clear line drawn between a sporadic problem, and one that is inherent to the physical design of the product.
 
I gotta say I find it funny that in today's world of such technological advancements it's truly ironic that cell phones are still absolutely horrible at doing what should be their primary function: making phone calls.

They can do most anything these days, a high definition "movie studio in your hand," a portable concert hall because of audio playback, computing power, photography studio in your pocket...

and they still can't make a damned phone call worth much of anything. Sure, the slight majority of folks (I'd say just over half) of cell phone owners probably never have issues but, considering how advanced these devices are, shouldn't we have better?

I've got a 5 year old piece of crap Nokia prepaid cell phone and nothing I do to it seems to affect the calls or the signal strength. In all the years I've owned it, I've only had one call that disconnected and it wasn't even on my end; the call dropped from the person calling me, and that was the only time it's ever been an issue.

I just gotta wonder sometimes: when will this stuff actually work as marketing claims always profess?
 
Thank goodness it wasn't released in Canada yet, now apple has time to fix this problem for us Canucks :D
 
Result of patent wars?

What if Apple had to abandon the use in hardware and/or software of ways to prevent these issues to which Nokia or others actually own the patents? Maybe this forced them into the alternative antenna design.

Btw. Am in the UK on 3GS on iOS4. No issues whatsoever when cupping the phone. I bet it's the combination of the iPhone 4 and the US network, read AT&T. Am on O2 and even in train with weaker signal cupping the phone did not reduce my reception.

Maybe apple built in this joke to expose the weakness of AT&T. If the problem is only related to them it would be a great reason to open up to other networks.

Just my 2 cents. Was going to order mine as an upgrade today. But not entirely sure now.
 
killertofu808 said:
Received my iPhone 4 from FedEx today, opened it up and tested out the reception problem I heard about...

I am happy to report there are phones that do not have the problem! I was so relieved find that mine did not lose reception.

Here's the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzrIPHGce-0
Click to expand...

There's a lot more to this than just the phone, of course, but we'll get more info as time goes by.

Could it be related to a specific run of iPhones during assembly? Potentially, yes.

Does location with respect to a cell site matter in this? Definitely.

Is it looking good at this point or will more and more people realize this is appearing to be a pretty widespread problem? Most definitely, indeed.

I have my doubts (based on my years of antenna work as a Ham operator and wave propagation) but, we'll see what happens.
 
Wow.. never thought I'd have to put a rubber band around my $200+ phone in order to get enough service to make phone calls. Good job Apple.
 
kalsta said:
Oh, and to those people who suggest Apple's rubber 'bumper' is the solution to this problem… Well, they say it's safer to wear a rubber, but you know… if you marry the right girl you can enjoy the full experience as God intended. Know what I'm saying? ;).
Click to expand...

shut up
 
Was thinking I better run out and trademark iBand or something but someone beat me to it, it's a line of - go figure - iPhone/iPod touch cases. :D
 
msduncan said:
The last piece of the testing puzzle we need is someone to test on an older phone WITHOUT iOS4 just to confirm it is the OS and not a fundamental design flaw in hardware dating back to early iphones.
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I kept my 3G at 3.1.3 since people were reporting slow downs in performance. Bare case, holding with all fingers on case results in no loss of bars.
 
I too was experiencing the signal drop when holding the phone, so much so that I couldn't load a webpage. As a last resort, I carefully slipped the iphone into one of my old cases, which completely solved the problem and loaded webpages no problem. I then took it out of the case and could not load a webpage again. In my case, it is obvious that a bumper will solve all problems.

Slightly OT, but will Apple stores have the bumpers in stock even though they are on backorder online?
 
lurking.gif
 
Phone Call to Almost Fake Steve:

"Yeh Jon?": "Steve, we have a problem. Anyone that weighs over 106 lbs blocks the incoming signal".

"Steve": " Can we put the blame on ATT? "

"Jon" : " Not really, but we can try"

"Steve": " Tell everyone to go on a diet"
 
noobinator said:
I just did a long and painful test. I let my phone sit on the table for 5 minutes without any dimming going on. It stays 4-5 bars the ENTIRE time. I then grabbed the phone with 1 hand and held it in the exact same position for 5 minutes and it stays at 1 the entire time. After the 5 minutes were up I set it down and within 10 seconds it was back to 5 bars.
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Wow!!! :eek:
 
After reading a lot of posts, it sounds like a pretty big problem to me and it sounds like either faulty assembly or a bad design. I rarely use my right ear on the phone because of diminished hearing in that ear from an accident while working on a jet turbine engine in the Navy.

My 3G has been faultless. It has been tossed around on a wood floor by my nephew, dropped twice on asphalt, lost in a ski lift line getting skied over for half a day and most recently it literally saved my but from an errant bottle rocket in a coal mining bar...that sucker blew a hole in my pocket, left a pretty good scar on the phone.

I have zero problems sending the iPhone4 back and forgetting about this new model if this is a hardware issue, I have much better things to do than become some tech head charlie tester.
 
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