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

djellison said:
It's a design flaw. Did they seriously not think about the conductivity of the human hand when designing their external antenna.

Someone - infact a whole design and test team - missed that?

That's ludicrous indeed.
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You are correct... it is ludicrous. In fact, its SO ludicrous that I am betting its not a design flaw.

There are a number of other things it could be. We'll find out more as Apple gathers data from the phones in the wild with the issue. Until we have data, its all just wild speculation as to the source of the problem.

My wild ass guess is manufacturing problem, not design problem.
 
tekniq840 said:
Everyone that says that this problem is not affecting them is wrong. It is affecting every single iphone4. As the best test i have found, try loading any website while placing a finger over the line in the lower left corner of the phone. The page will not load, the second you let it go it starts to load, and the instant you touch it again it fails once again. What I have noticed is that Cellular may still work if touching that area (If there is good signal where you are) but data will not work at all no matter how good the signal. There is no software fix for this I dont think. Its either A) use a case/bumper or B) try to not touch that area (much harder when using left hand).

Would this be grounds for a class action lawsuit if Apple does not try to remedy this problem somehow? I do think at least they should give out free bumpers.
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I'm sure the white iPhone will be up to par.:p
 
djellison said:
It's a design flaw. Did they seriously not think about the conductivity of the human hand when designing their external antenna.

Someone - infact a whole design and test team - missed that?

That's ludicrous indeed.
Click to expand...

That's why find it hard to believe that this is a design issue. Apple, hell any electronics manufacturer would have known that this would be a problem.
 
NAG said:
Still, Apple acknowledge a bug to Walt so hopefully this can be mostly fixed with a simple software update.
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This seems to be the reason a lot of people are hoping it's a software fix, but it seems to me that he was talking about a different issue. About the actual indication of the signal strength (I don't see it as a bug that it doesn't lie as much as Nokias do!), whereas we're experiencing actual genuine loss of signal here to the point of dropped calls or inability to initiate a call.

Of course, I do hope it's a software fix. Driving 100 miles to the nearest Apple store and back for hardware swaps gets old, and there won't be any available stock for a while. And Apple have pulled magic tricks with firmware updates before (remember the negative contrast on the early iPod Touch which we were sure must be the panel hardware)
 
NAG said:
And the return of the bumper conspiracy people.

If they knew this was a problem and they knew the bumper was a solution then they would have just encased the antenna.

Stop spreading FUD. Sometimes a phone case is just a case.
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If they found the problem too late, they will not change the product and delay production. They will just make and "acceptable" alternative solution and fix it later.
 
teemast said:
That You Tube vid is interesting...but it cuts off awfully fast at the end. In all the other YT vids you have to give it a few seconds to see if the bars go down. Still, even if a case -- or bumper -- is a "fix" Apple would have to give a lifetime supply on demand...or a $20 credit toward any other brand of case that comes out down the road. I can't believe though that they weren't more thorough in their pre-release testing. But the non-evaporated glue (staining issue) isn't too encouraging either, is it? Glad to hear the staining may not be an issue...but the fact that they didn't let the phones "cure" before packing them off is a bit -- make that MORE than a bit -- disconcerting. What next?
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I'm willing to bet they tested the heck out of it...

With a case designed to mask it as a iPhone 3GS on...

Apple's secrecy has undone them!
 
That is unfortuante. I still think the antanna was a brillant idea. But yeah if you have trouble, just get a case.
 
bigjara said:
That is unfortuante. I still think the antanna was a brillant idea. But yeah if you have trouble, just get a case.
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I'll take one free from Apple, since my phone is obviously defective. But.. I'm certainly not buying one. If they don't issue recalls and replacements, the least they could do is give early adopters (with this issue) free bumpers. If they can't do that, at the very least, then I'm going to consider taking my phone back and use my old 3G until I can get one that doesn't have this issue.
 
Sadly my signal drops to no service from a strong signal when I hold the phone naturally. When I take the lower left corner away from my palm service returns to normal. I absolutely love this new phone and have no yellowing, indeed physically it's immaculate. I can't say I'm looking forward to an Apple bumper...even if it solves the issue, which I'm sure it would , but holding the phone away from my palm is just going to get too uncomfortable.
 
tevans333 said:
I wish Apple would put out a statement in layman’s 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.
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Not to be argumentative, but it is not 100% true that direct contact will necessarily IMPROVE the reception. It certainly CHANGES the dynamics, but whether the RECEPTION improves depends on whether the circuit is actually capable of adapting to the new characteristics of the antenna.

Who can say, besides Apple, whether the dynamics of the antenna can actually be attenuated in SOFTWARE? I sure hope so! But in prior iPhone's there would have been no reason to account for the phenomenon because there was no possibility of actual skin contact directly with the antenna's. We may learn that in fact the HARDWARE would need adjustments to allow for the SOFTWARE to adapt to the impedance change caused by skin contact in the iPhone 4. I hope NOT!

So indeed I do COMPLETELY agree that Apple should issue a statement on the matter to dispel the conjecture and speculation and FUD on either side.
 
Grey Powell

was testing this very issue when he was in the beer garden. Left too early, I guess.
 
Fix it through software or get ready to start handing out free bumpers all over the world!!! WOW
 
Ah ..... 7

ReallyOldGuy said:
i only counted 6 people on this forum that stated they have an iP4 with an issue...it seems that many don’t even have the phone but feel it necessary to comment negatively...pretty interesting. I got mine yesterday, i live 35 miles east of Nashville (in the sticks as they say) and i cant reproduce this problem. I am NOT SAYING it isnt real,l im just saying it doesn’t appear every phone has the issue. Following logic (oh my)it should be correctable on the phones with an issue. That its a design problem is remote, that it is a quality control issue is more likely just my opinion
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I make 7 ..
 
NC MacGuy said:
Wouldn't two people, one phone accomplish that?
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You are correct. I read too fast. I thought they each had a phone. :)

However, this does give rise to a new theory... Now, I know this sounds crazy, but hear me out... the phone works fine when the average person holds it, but a sweaty slob? NO SIGNAL

Could it be that Apple programmed the phone to only work for beautiful people? :eek: Sorry, posters with this issue. Try not to be so gross then next time you buy an Apple product.


Don't dismiss this. My wild conspiracy rantings are just as valid as any of yours until you get data to back it up...
 
ReallyOldGuy said:
i only counted 6 people on this forum that stated they have an iP4 with an issue...it seems that many don’t even have the phone but feel it necessary to comment negatively...pretty interesting. I got mine yesterday, i live 35 miles east of Nashville (in the sticks as they say) and i cant reproduce this problem. I am NOT SAYING it isnt real,l im just saying it doesn’t appear every phone has the issue. Following logic (oh my)it should be correctable on the phones with an issue. That its a design problem is remote, that it is a quality control issue is more likely just my opinion
Click to expand...

Actually, and I'm not trying to be a smart aleck here, the other possibility is that not everyone is reproducing the issue in the same way. Those that are not reading these forums in detail are thinking it has to do with the whole rim of the phone. In actuality, the problem comes when touching the seam between the top metal portion and bottom metal portion on the left side of the phone. This completes a circuit that causes interference signal drop. This was done on all five of the phones presently in my office.

If you don't believe me, go find a place where you have a strong signal and press hard on that seam. You'll see your signal drop.
 
Signal drop

Buffalo, NY - Touch any metal in lower left quad of phone and hold -- signal drops from full bars to CANT EVEN SEND A TEXT within 10 seconds. What gives Steve?:mad:
 
Hands Sandon said:
Sadly my signal drops to no service from a strong signal when I hold the phone naturally. When I take the lower left corner away from my palm service returns to normal. I absolutely love this new phone and have no yellowing, indeed physically it's immaculate. I can't say I'm looking forward to an Apple bumper...even if it solves the issue, which I'm sure it would , but holding the phone away from my palm is just going to get too uncomfortable.
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The problem is you are not holding it right. Apple needs to do an induction course on how to hold the phone correctly.

But to be serious, its obvious that this is a rushed out product! Like so many other ones lately.
 
I just left an Apple store and tried this with several iPhones, some of them several times. They all started at 5 bars and most of the time they stayed at 5 bars. A couple of times a couple of them dropped to 3 bars and then went back to 5 when I took it out of my left hand. Having said that I read last night some older iPhones also dropped signal strength when held so I tried my 3gs which is updated to iOS4. At home, on the desk I had 4 bars and when I picked it up and had it in the palm of my hand it fairly quickly dropped to 1 bar or no service. At work today it is a solid 5 bars no matter what. It seems to be either signal strength or the frequency of the signal. I can't say I noticed this before I upgraded but I never really looked. Either way, could it be the new software is somehow over sensitive to changes in the signal.
 
jadam said:
I'm willing to bet they tested the heck out of it...

With a case designed to mask it as a iPhone 3GS on...

Apple's secrecy has undone them!
Click to expand...

You are assuming every test unit had a case on it, becasue one in the wild that got lost had one.

I'm betting the ones that were kept on the Apple campus for testing didn't have covers.
 
Cloudane said:
This seems to be the reason a lot of people are hoping it's a software fix, but it seems to me that he was talking about a different issue. About the actual indication of the signal strength (I don't see it as a bug that it doesn't lie as much as Nokias do!), whereas we're experiencing actual genuine loss of signal here to the point of dropped calls or inability to initiate a call.

Of course, I do hope it's a software fix. Driving 100 miles to the nearest Apple store and back for hardware swaps gets old, and there won't be any available stock for a while. And Apple have pulled magic tricks with firmware updates before (remember the negative contrast on the early iPod Touch which we were sure must be the panel hardware)
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure it is anything more than how the phone is interpreting how strong the signal is. When I hold it with my left hand to get one bar the sound quality is still great, no popping or dropping.
 
Testing

So, in order to hide the fact that the prototype was indeed not a 3g/s, they covered it with this gigantic plastic housing... way to be smart about it...

Testing in real world situations with real world conditions... did nobody at Apple think this one through?

Sad... but not all too suprising... the fact that they separated the bands at all practically admits that if they connect somehow there will be a problem...

Lol, good luck with this one...
 
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