So my dad received his iPhone 4 today. It is a week 28 from what I can tell (88028). I've had my iPhone 4 since day 0 (June 23rd) and it is a week 25 (85025). I had a few minutes earlier tonight to put them side by side and compare them, and what I noticed was that the steel band on the week 28 iPhone 4 was MUCH smoother than that of the week 25 iPhone 4, ALMOST the same feeling as touching the glass. Almost like the glass, not exactly the same though. At first I thought it was just my mind playing tricks on me because that is an observation I would have liked to see (it could mean that Apple is doing a better job coating the band), but I felt them both over and over, in different hands, different fingers, and I'm positive that they both feel different. I even washed my hands with soap and applied some Purell and re-felt them both, noticing the same result. So I don't know what to really make of this, except to think that Apple may have started taking some extra measures to coat the band. But I just thought I'd share. Besides this everything else is the same, except for the volume buttons, which are rock solid on the week 28 phone but kinda loose on the week 25 one. What do you guys think we can make of this? Anyone else have to different iPhone 4s from different weeks to compare? I get pretty good signal in my house, so I didn't bother doing the death grip test since the bars won't drop in my house. I'll post back if I get to take both phones with me to a different location to test them out. This is it for now.
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iPhone 4 Week 25 vs. iPhone 4 Week 28 Comparison- VERY INTERESTING OBSERVATION
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Thanks for the info but, please, for the love of Pete or whoever, try to press Enter a few more times, like every 2-3 sentences or something. 
And it wouldn't surprise me if the bands were now being coated, it could have been part of the issue the entire time and something that just got "missed" on those week 25 iPhone 4 models - that seems to be the most prevalent week's production based on reports of serial numbers.
Time will tell, I suppose...
And it wouldn't surprise me if the bands were now being coated, it could have been part of the issue the entire time and something that just got "missed" on those week 25 iPhone 4 models - that seems to be the most prevalent week's production based on reports of serial numbers.
Time will tell, I suppose...
Thanks for the info but, please, for the love of Pete or whoever, try to press Enter a few more times, like every 2-3 sentences or something.
And it wouldn't surprise me if the bands were now being coated, it could have been part of the issue the entire time and something that just got "missed" on those week 25 iPhone 4 models - that seems to be the most prevalent week's production based on reports of serial numbers.
Time will tell, I suppose...
lol sorry about that, was in a rush to post this.
it surely may be production tolerances. i just wanted to point out my findings. now it's time to speculate.
There is a user in another thread with a week 28 phone still having reception issues.
But that is not suprising from my understanding. The coating would have to be very thick. Insulating coatings reduce in effectiveness as frequency increases. As we are dealing with very high frequencies here, at a guess I would say the coating would need to be a thick lacquer. On the other hand, any coating would still help, if not cure the issue.
But that is not suprising from my understanding. The coating would have to be very thick. Insulating coatings reduce in effectiveness as frequency increases. As we are dealing with very high frequencies here, at a guess I would say the coating would need to be a thick lacquer. On the other hand, any coating would still help, if not cure the issue.
pretty much pointless unless it means something with regard to the antenna issue. How does the week 28 fare under left-corner-antenna bridging?
There could be variances in the metal finish. We have seen Apple change bits and bobs on their products before. The most obvious changes are normally the screen itself, where if you recall, there was different colour temperatures on various factory runs of the 3G and 3GS.
So it is probably just a slight refinement or different factory run of the metal bands.
The fact that Apple keep producing phones as late as week 28 well after the problem was known also suggest it is not merely faulty batches and that a factory correction will sort it. The fact that Apple haven't stopped making the phones while they sort this out, also suggest Apple have no intentions on admitting there is a problem beyond the number of bars being displayed either!!
So it is probably just a slight refinement or different factory run of the metal bands.
The fact that Apple keep producing phones as late as week 28 well after the problem was known also suggest it is not merely faulty batches and that a factory correction will sort it. The fact that Apple haven't stopped making the phones while they sort this out, also suggest Apple have no intentions on admitting there is a problem beyond the number of bars being displayed either!!
Yea if you're in a strong signal area and start with 5 bars then you most likely wouldn't notice the attenuation.