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iPhone 4 Signal Declines While Being Held? A Longstanding Issue?

Flipstar said:
As does Gizmodo. :)
Click to expand...

You may be right there. IMO, what you may be seeing is an example of the hidden DBD (douche bag detection) sensor in the iPhone 4.

If someone complains a lot, lacks personal responsibility, possesses a hyper-sense of self importance and is just a general jerk, this sensor engages. The iOS then may intentionally alter the reception of the iPhone from regular to very poor. This can make the user upset and not willing to use the product. They then may go away from the iPhone community and the AT&T network in general.

However if you are a cheerful and social person, the iPhone 4 will work fine with this new DBD not engaging at all and will not even be noticed! Consider this a "social filter sensor" much like who to invite or not invite to a house party or road trip.

And yes, this is mirth if anyone bought it.
 
theshirko said:
well in the stereotypical way..
the solution should have been to either embed the stainless steal bands inside the phone...or coat them with some sort of insulation..no??
why they didn't do it ??
the only answer i came up with is ...style before function..
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Exactly. Jonny Ive. Super glossy screen, super sharp edges to the palm rests on notebooks, yellow imacs, heat issues... Steve Jobs needs to do a background check on him stat. He could be a corporate sabateour for all we know. How else can you explain it! It's not Steve Jobs fault, but he needs to be more careful with who he trusts.
 
Mine's been random all night. Every so often, it'll drop down to 3 bars, then go back up to 5, then I'll have 2.5. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to it, except for when I'm using the camera. If I go into the camera, play around with it, then close it out, I'll be down to three bars, and then it pops right back up to 4 or 5.

Note: all these tests have been done inside my home - a condo on the 3rd floor of my complex. I just got the phone tonight, and haven't had a chance to do any kind of "real world" testing.

I have a conference call I have to be on tomorrow morning, so I'll let you know after that ;)
 
Your a Troll, no, YOU are a Troll, No! You are. No YOU are!

Troll
Troll times 10

Troll times infinity!

What you say +1

Troll.

Super Troll.
 
Question: Among those of you that are getting all worked up over this non-issue, how many are too young to remember tuning a TV for better reception by adjusting the rabbit ears? Same basic principle. You didn't even have to touch the rabbit ears for the presence of your body to impact the picture quality. Just moving around the room could impact the image and sound.

If TVs and rabbit ears were introduced today, in the day of the internet forum and trash rag web sites, broadcast TV would have never gotten of the ground. The networks and TV manufacturers would have thrown up their hands and said the American public is too damn stupid to have TV!

Mark
 
that crap happens to me once in a while.
I was at work and all of a sudden bam, not a bar to be seen.
Why is it that att refuses to get their sh** right?
why why why!!!!!!
 
Ok, so I did some testing right when I got my phone after work. Sure enough, right next to my wife's 3G, it drops bars all the way down to none. I take my hands off, it goes back up to the same signal strength that my wife's 3G has.

I held both phones in both hands, the iPhone 4 dropped bars almost immediately, down to about 1, sometimes none, and at one point said "No Service". My wife's dropped a bar or two at worst, but never hit no bars, and never said "No Service".

The iPhone 4 is very, very nice, it looks great, has awesome features, etc. But if I'm going to have trouble simply making a phone call or having a phone call because of how I hold my phone, there is going to be a big ass problem. Cause I know I'm not the only one experiencing this, and I know there will be many more people with this issue come tomorrow.
 
I still want to see a field test, with calling (all recorded on video). Overall, however, I think Apple is going to have to exchange QUITE a few phones for free. It won't be cheap for them either.

The people with yellow/brown spots on the screen clearly have a manufacturing defect (exchange required). When the flood of over 600,000 pre-ordered phones arrives tomorrow (along with the thousands more they will sell in stores), I'm curious to see how many are defective (and how many people complain about antenna problems. If the antenna problems are really significant, and Apple has hundreds of thousands of people unhappy, they will have a big problem to deal with.
 
Tadros86 said:
I love how so many people are being such jerks about this.
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People are being jerks because it is pretty hard to believe Apple would release a faulty product. Especially a key product like the iPhone. If this is actually true (I have my doubts) then this could have an extreme effect on the popularity of the iPhone. I just can't believe that Apple would be so sloppy with the launch when so much is at stake.

The iPhone has never been the greatest at reception. If you want great reception then find a simple Motorola flip phone with a pull out antenna that runs on the Verizon network. Smart phones are mini computers first and phones second.
 
Mark Booth said:
Question: Among those of you that are getting all worked up over this non-issue, how many are too young to remember tuning a TV for better reception by adjusting the rabbit ears? Same basic principle. You didn't even have to touch the rabbit ears for the presence of your body to impact the picture quality. Just moving around the room could impact the image and sound.

If TVs and rabbit ears were introduced today, in the day of the internet forum and trash rag web sites, broadcast TV would have never gotten of the ground. The networks and TV manufacturers would have thrown up their hands and said the American public is too damn stupid to have TV!

Mark
Click to expand...



So the iPhone4 is an old TV with rabbit ears? And other phones that don't have this problem are modern TVs.

I agree. Point well made my friend! I like your signature line too. That's cute!
 
And remember... Apple was TESTING the phone in the field when a jerkwad thief decided to keep the test phone to sell for a profit to some trash rag web site so they could get more page views and make more money.

So, don't go blaming Apple.... that friggin' thief and trash rag web site are at fault! :D

Mark
 
sasebastian said:
this bad reception thing is stupid. I've been pretty much holding my iphone 4 since I got it at 11:00 this morning and have had full bars all day. I actually have full bars where I live compared to 3 bars with my 3gs. the I'm pretty sure apple didn't put the antenna around the edges without thinking about loss of reception. TROLLS!
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iphonei.gif

Engadget is running a poll and they have a pretty large sampling so far

Out of the people who have the iphone from this poll:
31.7% - have loss of bars but not dropped calls
38.8% - have loss of bars and dropped calls
29.5% - have no issues

Over 70% of people in a sampling of over 5400 iphone 4 owners are having an issue so maybe you need to get out from under the bridge.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/poll-is-your-iphone-4-retina-display-seeing-yellow-spots/
 
Makes sense

Makes sense that you can attenuate the antennas when your gripping both with the bare metal. Seems to occur most for me when you grip in a way that your are shorting the 2 sides to the bottom band.
 
thedarkhorse said:
iphonei.gif

Engadget is running a poll and they have a pretty large sampling so far

Out of the people who have the iphone from this poll:
31.7% - have loss of bars but not dropped calls
38.8% - have loss of bars and dropped calls
29.5% - have no issues

Over 70% of people in a sampling of over 5400 iphone 4 owners are having an issue so maybe you need to get out from under the bridge.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/poll-is-your-iphone-4-retina-display-seeing-yellow-spots/
Click to expand...

Because of course that's a perfect, non-biased sampling and the test was given in a controlled situation.

You know I remember a few months ago, /b/ skewed a poll on CNN about violent video games so far, that 80% of the votes were for the "video games today are not violent enough" option.
 
Apple Gloves... oh geeez!

I was at my Apple store tonight and a dude in the Genius Bar said it's a known issue and you'll be able to get a pair of thin silicate gloves free of charge that correct the problem. (He showed me an Apple internal memo.)

He said there's a new case design that will be out next January that should resolve the problem. Until then, iphone 4 users will have to wear gloves when making calls. He said the gloves are almost invisible when they're on and will be available at the launch tomorrow.

I'm not liking this...
 
Interesting

I am a Certified Apple Pro / Tech... The 2 iPhone 4's i received today lose the AT&T signal when phone(s) are held in my hand. As soon as i lay them down on the table the signal returns.
Phone itself is awesome without a doubt, but we use the phones for work and disappearing phone signal strength when held in the hand not good...:apple:
 
Thought I'd chime in here tho doubt it's of much use. I can reproduce the issue if and only if I purposely connect the left side antennae to the bottom with my finger or palm.

The rest of the time I seem to get better signal than I ever have with my 3GS. My apartment seems to be where signals come to die and I've been seeing 5 bars in a spot that is notorious for dropping calls.

I did actually try many variations of connecting the left side antennae to the bottom and the only way *I* could get bars to drop (even to the point of 'No Service') was to do what I describe above. Thankfully I am not left handed so this should be a non-issue for me though I will have to alter how I hold the phone during data use. I'll also note I get 3G signal throughout my apartment when in the past I'd only get Edge.

On another note I have to wonder if this could actually just be a software issue. Software can be made to connect or isolate two pieces of electronics (or in this case antennae). Could just be Apple needs a fix that controls the left side antennae better. I'm no engineer but seem to recall this capability from past readings.

On a side, side note...WTH would the Wifi/Bluetooth/GPS antennae be affecting the UMTS/GSM capability of the phone? That doesn't seem hardware related to me.
 
juicedropsdeuce said:
Jonny Ive and his 'magical' disappearing bars. As if AT&T coverage wasn't bad enough. I did this side by side, iPhone4 vs 3GS (a friend's). 3GS was fine with hands covering everything but part of the screen. iPhone4, it took 2 fingers to interfere with it. Tried making a call on both... 3GS ok, iPhone4 no. Repeated this 10 times, 3GS completed all 10, iPhone4 completed 6.

I can't believe it. Apple is finally a cheap commodity supplier, from China at the lowest cost possible. You can see it in all their latest hardware flaws. How did it come to this so fast, with Jobs still in charge.

I still believe. Barely....
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Unbelievable. I might keep my iPhone 4 (gift) packed
and exchange it to a new one in a couple of months.
I'm sure a miracle will happen and this will improve (it must).
I think they have to really revise their priorities.
It's important to them to keep everything under control
and not to release any secrets, but they MUST test those things, geez...
 
I have a 3G iPhone I have just tested and I can duplicate over and over again a signal loss when grabbing the phone around the back and holding it tightly.

I also have a stand that holds the phone in place, so when I am holding it or it is not being touched, the phone never moves. Unlike some of the videos I have seen of people picking up phones and moving them, which invalidates the test.

When I do this, I can see the phone start at 5 bars, drop to 4 bars and then drop to 3 bars. I can do this over and over and over and over again. It is done with a 3G phone, and I am able to hold the phone in place so the actual location never changes unlike some of the videos I have seen.

This indicates me that this has been an issue with iPhones since at least the second generation, and seemingly did not bother anyone.
 
All Cell Phones Always Do This, Always Have, Always Will

It has nothing to do with the carrier.
It has nothing to do with the wind.
It doesn't matter if you are touching the antenna or not.

If you move your cell phone (any cell phone, any carrier, any generation) you will not get as good reception as if the cell phone was perfectly still.

Macrumors, please correct your headline to read thusly:

Gizmodo Yet Again Astounds the Tech Journalism World With Their Blinding Stupidity

And someone please send Gizmodo an email explaining what research is and how it is of vital importance to journalism.
 
I think some of us know that if Apple went to Verizon they would have to compromise their ecosystem. Itunes, app store. hello.
Verizon has that trash called V cast that makes me sick to the stomach.
 
juicedropsdeuce said:
So the iPhone4 is an old TV with rabbit ears? And other phones that don't have this problem are modern TVs.

I agree. Point well made my friend! I like your signature line too. That's cute!
Click to expand...

No, but they're still based on the same principals. So modern televisions and phones may be more robust than the technology of yore, but it still has the same principle issues.
 
DakotaGuy said:
People are being jerks because it is pretty hard to believe Apple would release a faulty product. Especially a key product like the iPhone. If this is actually true (I have my doubts) then this could have an extreme effect on the popularity of the iPhone. I just can't believe that Apple would be so sloppy with the launch when so much is at stake.

The iPhone has never been the greatest at reception. If you want great reception then find a simple Motorola flip phone with a pull out antenna that runs on the Verizon network. Smart phones are mini computers first and phones second.
Click to expand...

Sigh, I was one of the people who waited outside an AT&T store for the iPhone 3G at launch, as I've said the iPhone 4 has DRASTICALLY terrible signal strength when coming in contact with the phone. I LOVE iPhones, BUT if touching the phone makes me have absolutely no signal. Did you read that?? Not, less signal, or worse signal, but NO SIGNAL, then the phone is not a PHONE. It's just an iPod touch.... and I'm not paying a monthly AT&T bill for an iPod touch... Want to use the internet over 3G? Can't cause if you touch the phone, no service. Want to download an App? Can't cause if you touch the phone, no service. It's not a matter of the past iPhones having "bad reception" its a matter of iPhone 4 not having ANY reception when coming in contact with human flesh.

When all you posters keep saying "Oh all phones do this" you're just apple fanboys. You act like a company CAN'T screw up. Well guess what? They DID! I said it before and I'll say it again, my iPhone 3G, the one I had since launch day, NEVER gave me "No Service" by just HOLDING it. Maybe in a bad service area sure, but NEVER by just HOLDING it. Ok a bar or two may be lost, but I was still able to use the phone. So far iPhone 4 is a paper weight. Don't believe all the people having problems... go for it, spend your hard earned cash and enjoy your $199 or $299 iPod touch with the nicer screen.
 
Bigskygangsta said:
I was at my Apple store tonight and a dude in the Genius Bar said it's a known issue and you'll be able to get a pair of thin silicate gloves free of charge that correct the problem. (He showed me an Apple internal memo.)

He said there's a new case design that will be out next January that should resolve the problem. Until then, iphone 4 users will have to wear gloves when making calls. He said the gloves are almost invisible when they're on and will be available at the launch tomorrow.

I'm not liking this...
Click to expand...

Pics or it didn't happen.
 
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