I don't wrap my hand around the phone like that while talking on the phone. It's kinda awkward, isn't it? Come on people!!
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iPhone 4 Signal Declines While Being Held? A Longstanding Issue?
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Guys, check out this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv3KzgMGhfM
this is simply unbelievable. It's a major design issue,
not sure if it can be fixed.
This might cost Apple some major money...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv3KzgMGhfM
this is simply unbelievable. It's a major design issue,
not sure if it can be fixed.
This might cost Apple some major money...
Yore?
Some phones do not lose coverage when you touch them, some do. The one's that do are due to a design flaw. The principal issue is the fact that this problem is NOT universal to all phones. Whereas, the rabbit ear problems was universal to all TVs of 'yore'.
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!
Mark
Run along, apologist. Let the adults speak.
One last clickbait attempt
Gizmodo no doubt feels more than just a little teensy weensy bit left out of all the iPhone 4 hype (and web traffic from legitimate reviews.)
Maybe Jason Chen could spike Gizmodo's traffic with live blogs from jail.
Gizmodo no doubt feels more than just a little teensy weensy bit left out of all the iPhone 4 hype (and web traffic from legitimate reviews.)
Maybe Jason Chen could spike Gizmodo's traffic with live blogs from jail.
haha troll
so are there any distinctions between the people who are encountering this? I can reproduce this issue myself and I have the 32 GB black model. I did load a web page in safari when I had no bars as a result of holding it in such a way, and the page still loaded very quickly as if I had full bars. so I am pretty confused. I expect Apple to make an announcement soon, considering even more people might be confused tomorrow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LamtBiGLzI8
Thats how they demonstrate holding the phones in their own commercials. What are they going to do for the iPhone 4 commercial? Have the thing floating and the hand ONLY touching the glass?
It's possible that the service bars could be slightly modified with a software update to reflect the fact that there is still service with no bars, but I have yet to figure out if it's ACTUALLY no bars, or if the phone THINKS there are no bars. No one has posted a video of a field test of this issue, including attempted calls to the phone. I'll try to do one tomorrow if I get my phone in the morning.
Interestingly enough I have a similar problem on my 3g except it is wifi that losses connection not the cellular data network.
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A293 Safari/6531.22.7)
This is a major problem. I'm thoroughly disappointed by this as my iPhone 4 has this same exact issue.
This is a major problem. I'm thoroughly disappointed by this as my iPhone 4 has this same exact issue.
My calls drop. I call with the phone on the table, when I touch the phone, call drops. If I am texting I have to write the text, hit send, then quickly put the phone down or the text won't send. And webpages don't load at all, I get the error message stating I am not connected to a cellular network.
I found a specific single spot to recreate this
I ran some tests on this and it looks like you can place a finger in a specific spot that causes this. I have to note that even though my bars went down my call was not interrupted in anyway.
If you place your iPhone 4 flat on a table (preferably a table where you have 4-5 bars of stable(not changing) reception). Let the bottom part of the iPhone hang off the table (just about an inch of it, careful not to drop it)
stabilize the iphone by placing your thumb and index finger on the face of the iphone to the right of the home button and speaker. (this is to hold the iphone down so it does not move. its also important to note that your not touching any metal just glass at this point)
With your free hand press your index finger on the left(your left) side of the iphone, on the antenna band slit and hold it there. This will make the signal go down about 2 bars
Its not instantaneous so you have to hold it there for 30 seconds to 60 seconds.
If you hold your phone in your left hand, the fat part of your palm (below your thumb) presses right on this area
If you hold your phone in your right hand this is not an issue as you can position fingers away from this area (only your pinky poses a threat)
I noticed this when testing what I saw in the video. I then switched hands and had no issue with my bars which then lead me to my discovery.
I have to mention again that even when doing this none of my tested calls had an issue so it might be software thing.
I ran some tests on this and it looks like you can place a finger in a specific spot that causes this. I have to note that even though my bars went down my call was not interrupted in anyway.
If you place your iPhone 4 flat on a table (preferably a table where you have 4-5 bars of stable(not changing) reception). Let the bottom part of the iPhone hang off the table (just about an inch of it, careful not to drop it)
stabilize the iphone by placing your thumb and index finger on the face of the iphone to the right of the home button and speaker. (this is to hold the iphone down so it does not move. its also important to note that your not touching any metal just glass at this point)
With your free hand press your index finger on the left(your left) side of the iphone, on the antenna band slit and hold it there. This will make the signal go down about 2 bars
Its not instantaneous so you have to hold it there for 30 seconds to 60 seconds.
If you hold your phone in your left hand, the fat part of your palm (below your thumb) presses right on this area
If you hold your phone in your right hand this is not an issue as you can position fingers away from this area (only your pinky poses a threat)
I noticed this when testing what I saw in the video. I then switched hands and had no issue with my bars which then lead me to my discovery.
I have to mention again that even when doing this none of my tested calls had an issue so it might be software thing.
What I don't understand about this whole thing is HOW are all the review sites iPhones working fine? You watch reviews from CNET and a bunch of reviews from WWDC and they are all working fine. So, is this truly a software issue? Is this a bad batch of phones? I really don't understand whats going on, I can just say that I am royally aggravated with the whole situation.
That's what the people get for wanting their iPhone before everyone else. 
On a serious note though, this issue does exist, and the fan boys need to realize it isn't the end of the world. I actually HOPE this is a widespread issue that Apple has to fix. This has been the worst iPhone launch so far.
And what sucks is, people will still buy the phone knowing this. Apple is truly one of a kind.
Cya in line tomorrow
On a serious note though, this issue does exist, and the fan boys need to realize it isn't the end of the world. I actually HOPE this is a widespread issue that Apple has to fix. This has been the worst iPhone launch so far.
And what sucks is, people will still buy the phone knowing this. Apple is truly one of a kind.
Cya in line tomorrow
Just maybe some of these review sites, etc. have sponsors, not a wise thing to do, dis a sponsor. Don't know for sure, just commenting. But reviews ARE money.
It's probably depending partly on how you hold your phone, and whether your phone has manufacturing defects. Either way, I'm sure Apple will have one hell of a problem tomorrow when the rest of the 600,000 pre-orders + the regular walk-in buyers are complaining.
Two theories...
1) We know the number of bars is not a precise measure of signal strength. Let's say, for sake of this discussion, that each bar represents 100mV of RF energy received, so 5 bars = 500mV. Person #1 has great reception and is actually getting 700 mV and shows 5 bars. He touches the antennas and drops by 200mV to 500mV, still 5 bars. Person #2 is barely getting 500mV and sees 5 bars. He touches the phone, drops the same 200mV as person #1, but now sees 3 bars (300mV). This could explain why some see the issue and some don't.
2) We know that Apple is trying to do some more sophisticated GSM signal management in iOS4. I believe I also read there may be a software bug in the display of signal strength. So, let's say the bar display is messed up and the perceived loss of signal is not real. BUT, when the false signal display drops to "no service", iOS thinks the signal is gone and disconnects your call. This could explain why dropped calls are being seen, even if it is just a firmware bug.
1) We know the number of bars is not a precise measure of signal strength. Let's say, for sake of this discussion, that each bar represents 100mV of RF energy received, so 5 bars = 500mV. Person #1 has great reception and is actually getting 700 mV and shows 5 bars. He touches the antennas and drops by 200mV to 500mV, still 5 bars. Person #2 is barely getting 500mV and sees 5 bars. He touches the phone, drops the same 200mV as person #1, but now sees 3 bars (300mV). This could explain why some see the issue and some don't.
2) We know that Apple is trying to do some more sophisticated GSM signal management in iOS4. I believe I also read there may be a software bug in the display of signal strength. So, let's say the bar display is messed up and the perceived loss of signal is not real. BUT, when the false signal display drops to "no service", iOS thinks the signal is gone and disconnects your call. This could explain why dropped calls are being seen, even if it is just a firmware bug.
Mine seems to be performing better right now than a couple hours ago. I did a speed test.net bw test and i got 380Kb/sec down and 160Kb/sec up on 3G. Better than i ever got with my old 3G. I topped out once at 351 down and consistently topped out at 30 up. Huge upgrade being able to use the 7.2mbps hspa with the new hardware!
I do like Apple products, but I also like Android and own a Windows laptop along with my iMac so I would not call myself a blind fanboy. I don't own an iPhone, but I do own other Apple products and for the most part they have been trouble free. I just can't believe that this phone would be released without proper field testing. Even if it is just a software issue I can't see how it would have passed testing.
I own a Droid and it has excellent reception. Part of that is because I am on the Verizon network and the other is Motorola phones are known for strong radios and good antennas. They just have more experience when it comes reception in general. I think you have to cut Apple some slack. They are still pretty new to the phone business when you really step back and look at it. If AT&T was a stronger network this probably would not be an issue. You rarely see reception problems on Verizon phones no matter the brand.
It sounds like you may in fact have a faulty phone and a few others here might as well. If it is not working right then take it back and get a new one. I think a lot of people on here fall into the "me too" catagory. They see someone having an issue and then imagine they have one too. If there is an issue then it would have to be software related. There is just NO way Apple would have let hardware with a fault this large make it to production.
Just relax and enjoy your amazing new iPhone.
All Cell Phones Have Always Done This
A cell phone receives its best possible reception when perfectly still.
This has always been true of all cell phones.
I'm going to keep posting this because there's a number of stubborn, um... "scientists" out there that are missing their fallacy. Where is your control? That's not science. Get a clue and ****. (message repeats)
A cell phone receives its best possible reception when perfectly still.
This has always been true of all cell phones.
I'm going to keep posting this because there's a number of stubborn, um... "scientists" out there that are missing their fallacy. Where is your control? That's not science. Get a clue and ****. (message repeats)
I don't know about other phones experiencing this, like some "engineers" are claiming. I have Verizon and my girlfriend has AT&T, and we live in an area with mediocre to great voice quality reception. When the phones were on the table, my Verizon LG env2 had 2 of 4 bars and kept those 2 bars no matter how I held or squeezed the phone. My girlfriend has some Samsung phone that resembles a Blackberry, and her phone kept 3-4 bars of 5 consistently while sitting on a table and while being held in my hand. So it isn't a matter of reception if that has any basis, cause you would think every cellular service would experience this.