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iPhone 4 Signal Strength Indicator Issue Alleviated by Use of Bumper or Case
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Ha, what if this is some suuuper advanced marketing technique, Oh the beautiful phone doesn't work when grounded SO buy a bumper while you're at it, doesn't cover up the phone and no dropped calls :d 
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I totally agree. Part of owning the iPhone is appreciating the gorgeous industrial design. I would never want to muck that up with a cheap bumper or case that ruins the whole look. I won't be able to enjoy the phone with a case of any kind.
mobilehavoc said:
I totally agree. Part of owning the iPhone is appreciating the gorgeous industrial design. I would never want to muck that up with a cheap bumper or case that ruins the whole look. I won't be able to enjoy the phone with a case of any kind.
I doubt they missed it in testing... The problem is probably in the manufacturing, rather than design (since it doesn't affect every phone).
Their test units were all meticulously built to the specs for testing. Real world units, rushed to meet a huge demand by a deadline probably aren't being built with the same quality be a few factories in China right now. Unfortunately, in a device crammed this full of stuff, even a little error can screw it up.
I'm interested if units shipped a month or two from now show this same issue.
Wow, if this problem were on any other phone, the apologists here would be out for blood.
Hey, Apple makes a good product most of the time, but it appears someone screwed the pooch on this one.
So, Apple has releases the first mobile phone that REQUIRES a case to work? LOL. Gimme a break.
Anyone willing to live with this with the cost involved is just whacked.
Hey, Apple makes a good product most of the time, but it appears someone screwed the pooch on this one.
So, Apple has releases the first mobile phone that REQUIRES a case to work? LOL. Gimme a break.
Anyone willing to live with this with the cost involved is just whacked.
Flawed conclusion. AT&T uses two different bands, 800 and 1900. This issue might only affect one of these bands. Hence why some users are not experiencing the issue.
Question
I just got my iphone 4 and I notice if I lightly tap on the back near the camera lens I hear a clicking sound, sounds as if something is loose, anyone else have the same thing?
I just got my iphone 4 and I notice if I lightly tap on the back near the camera lens I hear a clicking sound, sounds as if something is loose, anyone else have the same thing?
I wish Apple would put out a statement in laymans terms for the benefits of this design so people wouldn't be so worked up.
I'm an RF engineer with an EE degree and 10 years of experience. By touching the antenna your body becomes part of the circuit essentially making one large antenna. This improves reception considerably. Remeber old rabbit ears on your tv? You use to move them with your hands, when you touched them the picture was clear, as soon as you let go it got worse? It made it hard to tune them in. Same thing applies here. The bars decreasing when touched is a software glitch because the impedance has changed on the circuit, the software is simply calibrated to not being held.
As far as shorting it out, some simple isolation barriers take care of that, so no worries.
I'm an RF engineer with an EE degree and 10 years of experience. By touching the antenna your body becomes part of the circuit essentially making one large antenna. This improves reception considerably. Remeber old rabbit ears on your tv? You use to move them with your hands, when you touched them the picture was clear, as soon as you let go it got worse? It made it hard to tune them in. Same thing applies here. The bars decreasing when touched is a software glitch because the impedance has changed on the circuit, the software is simply calibrated to not being held.
As far as shorting it out, some simple isolation barriers take care of that, so no worries.
Nintendo ended up giving free bumpers for their Wii remotes and started including them with new ones. Come on Apple, you can do it.
Interesting. I did not know that. You are correct. This would introduce another variable. I wonder if the phone was taken out of California to an area that used a different band during testing. I have to hope that it was... seems pretty sloppy of Apple otherwise.
My money is still on a Chinese factory problem....
So what if the case solves the issue? If you design something as good as the iPhone, why should I need to cover it all up and make it bulkier? The best part about the slimmer iPhone is that it's now even less uncomfortable in your pocket.
It looks like it does affect every phone - just not everywhere. In places where signal is very strong even your hand can not prevent the phone from getting the signal. However when you move to more distant areas, it's another picture.
Then how do you explain the videos showing calls dropping with this issue ? By touching the antenna, you change the dynamics of it. Especially when you cross touch it with another antenna.
This is essentially what I was logging in to post but you beat me to it.
Jobs made a HUGE deal about the design of this phone - how it looks, how thin it is etc....and then people here are simply saying - put it in a case - no big deal. It is too a big deal. It's a design flaw plain and simple.
I admit I don't own an iPhone, I have a Blackberry 9700 I very much like. But one of the things I like about it is how it looks and how it feels in my hand (when talking, typing etc....). I do not and refuse to get a bumper type case for it - I just have a hip holster. If I owned an iPhone I'd do the exact same thing.
As others have said, if the Droid or Nexus required a case to work everyone here would be laughing their asses off, but because its Apple the answer is - get a case or tape the side - no big deal. Give me a break, they screwed up on this one.
I've just notices it is possible to make FaceTime calls even when there is no cell signal - anyone else able to get it working?!
Definitely seems like Apple are setting it up for compatibility with iChat!
I thought you needed cell signal to start a regular phone call and then wifi for facetime... can you actually start facetime from 0 without any cell signal?
Could be... but what about the posts stating they have no problems at all? You can't just assume that the large number here complaining means that everyone is affected. People who have a problem are far more likely to post about it. If there even just a few with no issues posting here, then there are likely many more.
At the Apple Store right now. Used 3 of the demo phones and replicated the signal strength issue on all three.
Good news is that none of the screens have any yellowing or spots
Retina display is stunning. Call quality IMHO is great. Video quality is excellent for a phone, but can be tricky since no image stabilization. Great package!!!
Good news is that none of the screens have any yellowing or spots
Retina display is stunning. Call quality IMHO is great. Video quality is excellent for a phone, but can be tricky since no image stabilization. Great package!!!