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iPhone 4 Signal Strength Indicator Issue Alleviated by Use of Bumper or Case

SooneratND said:
Just for you, I rewatched it...

A) The bars did drop the longer he held his hand there.

B) Those bars have very little to do with the signal the iPhone registers that it is receiving. They still don't prove it is hardware or software based.
Click to expand...

*sigh*

People have speculated that instead of the phone actually losing signal, the phone just shows dropping bars, while the actual flow of data is fine. This video shows otherwise. That is what I'm saying. That is what I have been saying. That is what I've been posting to you about. If you'd like to continue talking about it, FaceTime me.
 
Construction blemish

As an electronic engineer I'm surprised and shocked to learn that the metal surface is without coating, while it is a well known fact that any high frequency antenna will change characteristics when touched with bare hands. It is simply unforgivable to do such blemishes. It is unprofessional with big margin. This is not a software issue. The only way to avoid the problem now is to cover the metal with a bumper. That is really too bad. I was so ready to purchase the iPone 4 since I skipped the 3GS, but now I must probably wait another year. I am dissapointed beyond imagination.
 
keyofnight said:
Alright. After sleeping on it, I have a theory. Bear with me, as I don't have an iPhone 4 yet (it's on its way here from SoCal—long story). Tell me what you guys think.

On the iPad, there was a problem with the oleophobic coating on the front glass: it was too thin, and it scratched too easily. It's supposes to prevent human contact from mucking up the screen, but it isn't enough—IMHO.

On the iPhone, I presume there is some sort of light, stylistic anodization or coating on the steel parts. I could (definitely) be wrong, but usually a brushed or muted texture on steel indicates some sort of coating. I don't have an iPhone 4 yet, so I can't test it.

Either way, such a coating could keep you from "completing the circuit" and causing interference. If there is a manufacturing defect in the coating, you would surely complete the circuit. If this is the case, then it is a manufacturing defect, not a design flaw—though I will admit that the design enables this defect.

(I'm hoping it is a defect; the design is beautiful, and changing it would prove to be a debacle for both the consumers and Apple.)
Click to expand...

i totally agree with you.

it would be foolish to believe, noone at Apple asked the "what if people connect both antennae" and "can't we just coat it with something that insulates the antennae" questions.
 
rogeraak said:
As an electronic engineer I'm surprised and shocked to learn that the metal surface is without coating, while it is a well known fact that any high frequency antenna will change characteristics when touched with bare hands. It is simply unforgivable to do such blemishes. It is unprofessional with big margin. This is not a software issue. The only way to avoid the problem now is to cover the metal with a bumper. That is really too bad. I was so ready to purchase the iPone 4 since I skipped the 3GS, but now I must probably wait another year. I am dissapointed beyond imagination.
Click to expand...

do you have proof it's without coating?
or let's rephrase that: do you have proof it was designed to be without coating?

they have some electronic engineers at Apple too, i figure they'd be surprised if it was such a basic, yet dramatic design flaw ;)
 
rogeraak said:
As an electronic engineer I'm surprised and shocked to learn that the metal surface is without coating, while it is a well known fact that any high frequency antenna will change characteristics when touched with bare hands. It is simply unforgivable to do such blemishes. It is unprofessional with big margin. This is not a software issue. The only way to avoid the problem now is to cover the metal with a bumper. That is really too bad. I was so ready to purchase the iPone 4 since I skipped the 3GS, but now I must probably wait another year. I am dissapointed beyond imagination.
Click to expand...

Do we know it is without coating? Nope.
 
News flash! If you have a bumper on your car and you run it into a wall it keeps the body and frame protected!

News flash! If you hit you iPhone with a sledgehammer, it stops working.

Duh!

I'm really surprised how many are upset that the signal quality goes down when you hold an uncased iPhone 4. At the launch, they said the case is an antenna. When you touch or hold an antenna, your body changes the inductance and capacitance of those antennas throwing it out of tune. So yes, the reception will go down.

Something like 95% of all iPhone's are used with a case. Apple took advantage of that where the user will not be regularly contacting the case and made it the antenna. Also, Apple is confident enough not to change the connector ever major hardware revision and opens up the plans for third party case manufacturers. This lets you customize the look of your iPhone a lot.

My personal style of iPhone case and look is "Johnny Cash." That is black on black with more black. But if you want to bling the hell out of your iPhone with hundreds of Rhinestones, you can do it.
 
Got my phone at the apple store today and I've been trying to replicate the reception problem and I haven't been able to.
 
CFreymarc said:
News flash! If you have a bumper on your car and you run it into a wall it keeps the body and frame protected!

News flash! If you hit you iPhone with a sledgehammer, it stops working.

Duh!

I'm really surprised how many are upset that the signal quality goes down when you hold an uncased iPhone 4. At the launch, they said the case is an antenna. When you touch or hold an antenna, your body changes the inductance and capacitance of those antennas throwing it out of tune. So yes, the reception will go down.

Something like 95% of all iPhone's are used with a case. Apple took advantage of that where the user will not be regularly contacting the case and made it the antenna. Also, Apple is confident enough not to change the connector ever major hardware revision and opens up the plans for third party case manufacturers. This lets you customize the look of your iPhone a lot.

My personal style of iPhone case and look is "Johnny Cash." That is black on black with more black. But if you want to bling the hell out of your iPhone with hundreds of Rhinestones, you can do it.
Click to expand...

This may be the case but it's unforgivable if it is true that Apple counted on people using cases and didn't disclose this antenna issue ahead of time.
 
SooneratND said:
Just for you, I rewatched it...

A) The bars did drop the longer he held his hand there.

B) Those bars have very little to do with the signal the iPhone registers that it is receiving. They still don't prove it is hardware or software based.
Click to expand...

Guys welcome to wireless technology.

I tried it with both my blackberry Curve (GPRS) and iPhone 3GS (3G) as shown in YouTube . I put my hands around it and in both cases the signal drops significantly from 5 bars to 1 bar. When i put it back on the table and got 5 bars again. Both phones have no drop call problems.
 
i called my apple store, the guy i talked to said we haven't heard anything about this, are u serious buddy its all over the internet, i said see u later i'll be down there inperson, moron
 
Froint Page of Google, Here We GO!

Users report 'fault' on iPhone 4
BBC News - ‎2 hours ago‎
Apple's latest device went on sale today, with hundreds of people queuing outside Apple's flagship store in central London for the launch.
IPhone problems? It's an annual tradition CNNMoney
Lefties: beware iPhone 4 reception problem Ars Technica
CNET - San Francisco Chronicle - msnbc.com - Apple Insider
all 251 news articles »
 
ValSalva said:
This may be the case but it's unforgivable if it is true that Apple counted on people using cases and didn't disclose this antenna issue ahead of time.
Click to expand...

seriously, they wouldn't ship a phone that has its internals uncovered, yet untouchable

that's like serving a cheese stuffed crust pizza, with the cheese surrounding the pizza, rather than being inside the crust, saying "well, you should use cutlery anyways"

the "they intended it to be used with a bumper" argument is so damn ... void ... they wouldn't spend so much effort into product DESIGN if you'd have to hide all that design.
They should have put a hardened plastic shell around the band then, if that had been the case.
 
kntgsp said:
I've had a lot of macs over the years, and both the 2G and 3G iPhone. Went into the store today to play around with the iPhone4 and this is easy....and i mean pathetically easy, to replicate. This is in the German T-Mobile store by the way, two different ones.

I thought maybe people were gripping the thing too hard, but I looked at the display phone in the cradle and it had a full 3G signal. All I did was pick up the phone in my left hand (as the majority of people do I would assume, since most are right handed), and it dropped to Edge and then Searching after about 6 seconds. I proceeded to set it back down in the dock and lo and behold, it comes back to life after 5 seconds. I had my 3G with me at the store and held it right next to the iPhone4 using the same hand in the same position and had a perfect 3G signal.

I was on the fence about continuing to stay with Apple for my mobile and computing with the continual draconian App store approval (political cartoons and hypocritical rejections), and the complete lockdown of the platform. Seeing this kind of shoddy workmanship and the meta-parody advertisements just tipped me over and I went with an Android device instead. I hate to say it but I'm really not missing the iPhone4.

Picked up an HTC Desire unlocked, with which I'm finishing out my contract until October, at which point the girlfriend gets it and I'll be picking up whatever new Android phone is available near Christmas time. The rate at which Android is developing, the constant state of the art hardware, and fantastic open platform really just leave me with no alternative.

This wasn't a case of "Oh boy can't wait for the iPhone4" and this suddenly flipped me 180 degrees. I was already teetering on the fence and this just kind of nudged me over.

Best of luck to those of you who feel buying a $30 1cm wide piece of rubber is considered "a fix".

This isn't a "QQ" post or a "can I have your stuff" post even though the majority of what makes up the current MacRumors community might refer to this as. It's simply my exhaustion with the restrictive nature of the platform, the apologetic nature of the fan base, and the "it's a feature" and "we invented this" attitude of the company.

I realize I'm not the oldest fart here, but man how I yearn for the old Mac community.
Click to expand...

If you just want to make phone calls, any phone will work for that matter then. But a real Mac geek loves the iphone. Also the Apps are what makes this phone cool. You just gave all that up. Not to mention how compatible and seamless it is with itunes and syncing with Apple computers. But as we get older, the cool factor and entertainment wears off.

You have to keep in mind that Apple is always in a hurry trying to accommodate for their demand and something might of slipped out before the template was made. And just so everyone else here knows, (creating products myself too), many times this has NOTHING to do with the designer or "engineer dude" This can be a major oversight at the development plant. Remember they are only "designed" in the USA, not made. You might have some Taiwan dude that didn't get laid the night before running the assembly line and he was distracted. ANYTHING could happen so lets not start pointing fingers until we know the real deal.
 
SooneratND said:
Woah, there... press hard? If it is a simple conductivity issue, you shouldn't have to press hard to make it happen. Electricity doesn't care how hard you press. Just touching should would be enough. I'm wondering if you are pressing hard enough to deform the shape and cause something inside to short?

Just tossing out some theories, like everyone else in here today...
Click to expand...

Impedance does care. By pressing hard, you're changing the impedance of your skin at that contact point--more flesh getting compressed lowers the skin's impedance.

Impedance, as I'm describing it, is the relative resistance of human skin. It is a variable, but measurable value.
 
Is any body having problems sending mms with o2 i can receive but not send have just spoken with o2 they blamed apple said have to call them tomorrow :mad:
 
ChazUK said:
Chuck in a free frozen sausage stylus and I'm in! :p

EDIT: Or charge $29.99 for it if you want to be mean! ;)
Click to expand...

I got frustrated with very simple basic design flaw..called Apple Support and after 30 mins or so, I was told to go Genuis Bar and get a replacement. I am still not convinced how the new replacement phone will correct the problem when they know it is a hardware issue and not specific to my phone.

Apple guys, can you hear me?
 
Was reading this on my iPhone 4 while holding it with my left hand near the bottom and hand one bar. Took it off and it went to four, put it back and it's down to one again.
 
Tried this myself. Is there any way to look at what frequencies the phone is using when the drop happens?

When I tried it at work (about an hour away from home and in EDGE only land) I could not reproduce the issue.

At home on a 3G network I can make the bars drop.
 
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