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Is anyone else as torn as me (about keeping or returning)

C

Coukos34

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 20, 2009
339
0
I'm at a crossroads here, and wondering where others stand that are in the same boat. I love this phone but am so pissed at Apple's stance on this "non-issue", and will feel like a pawn if I give in and keep this phone. I had setup genius appointments for my girlfriend and I for thurday, and was really hoping to hear what Apples' plan was going to be before I decided to show up. It now seems that they are just going to deflect and ignore (read: iPad wifi issue) and will just carry on and brag about sales numbers. It's really sad, but also a testament of how powerful of a product they really have, when there is a known issue like this and people are just willing to let it go. It's the only phone I want and that bugs me because i don't feel like I or any one else should have to deal with apples design mistakes.

If they are going to fix it in software, tell us. Problem is, I can't wait around and now feel like the only right thing for me to do is to return the phone. It's pretty hard to return something though that you know you want anyways. It's also hard to keep it knowing that it's a flawed product. I feel like I just can't let Jobs get away with this one. Plus I would be incredibly pissed if there is a manufacturing revision, that late adopters get to enjoy while everyone else gets screwed. It just isn't right.

Anyone else struggling with the return decision?

Please no flames, I don't care if you don't notice the issue, I just want to hear from people that are thinking of returning
 
Does the issue prevent you from using the phone? If so, return it!

If not, and if it is just the 'idea' that you can't live with this flaw then ehhh. I think the pro's of the phone faaaar outweigh this issue and I am loving mine.
 
Coukos34 said:
I'm at a crossroads here, and wondering where others stand that are in the same boat. I love this phone but am so pissed at Apple's stance on this "non-issue", and will feel like a pawn if I give in and keep this phone. I had setup genius appointments for my girlfriend and I for thurday, and was really hoping to hear what Apples' plan was going to be before I decided to show up. It now seems that they are just going to deflect and ignore (read: iPad wifi issue) and will just carry on and brag about sales numbers. It's really sad, but also a testament of how powerful of a product they really have, when there is a known issue like this and people are just willing to let it go. It's the only phone I want and that bugs me because i don't feel like I or any one else should have to deal with apples design mistakes.

If they are going to fix it in software, tell us. Problem is, I can't wait around and now feel like the only right thing for me to do is to return the phone. It's pretty hard to return something though that you know you want anyways. It's also hard to keep it knowing that it's a flawed product. I feel like I just can't let Jobs get away with this one. Plus I would be incredibly pissed if there is a manufacturing revision, that late adopters get to enjoy while everyone else gets screwed. It just isn't right.

Anyone else struggling with the return decision?

Please no flames, I don't care if you don't notice the issue (I say notice because it is present in every phone, just not all bands/frequencies)
Click to expand...


I'm on the same boat. I just don't know what to do. Should I return it, and get a Palm Pre? Get it exchanged and hope the new one doesn't have the reception issues? I know if I exchange it, I can no longer return it after that. That just makes my decision much worse. This sucks.
 
Goldinboy17 said:
I'm on the same boat. I just don't know what to do. Should I return it, and get a Palm Pre? Get it exchanged and hope the new one doesn't have the reception issues? I know if I exchange it, I can no longer return it after that. That just makes my decision much worse. This sucks.
Click to expand...

I could understand returning it and getting one of the Android models (the Droid X looks pretty sweet), but WTF would you even consider a Pre? That OS is as dead as can be. The hardware sucked when it came out, and is now over 1 year old. HP just bought palm for the patents.
 
No problems here. The phone works great in Florida.

Are you experiencing a lot of dropped calls? More then your previous phone?
 
Telling you there will be a software fix means admitting a problem, which they clearly aren't going to do. So there's your answer about that.
 
Not at all actually (struggling, that is.) While it's kinda sad/interesting to observe the disappearing bar behavior, it has no practical impact on my use of the phone (my first IP4 holds calls better than my 3GS, second line's IP4 comes tomorrow so we'll see about that one then).

I'll wait to see what happens with Apple. BTW, a bit of perspective might be useful (but I know I'm dreaming) - it's really been a VERY short time since this 'issue' was discovered, and it's not unreasonable for it to take a few weeks to get sorted.
 
Let me hop on board! I too am undecided about keeping or returning the phone. It's going to be a week on Friday since I made the 12 HR line to get iP4 but man, this antenna issue is frustrating. Bought a case for it yesterday but still see drops in signal; with that said, I do receive calls but I'm sure this is killing my battery, the constant dropping of bars.

Oh well, gonna hang on to it till Friday which is my appointment w genius bar just to see what story they'll give me. If I'm not convince, going to plead my case, receive full refund and go back on my contract AND hope they will let me buy a 3gs without contract and stick it out till next release of the phone.
 
alywa said:
I could understand returning it and getting one of the Android models (the Droid X looks pretty sweet), but WTF would you even consider a Pre? That OS is as dead as can be. The hardware sucked when it came out, and is now over 1 year old. HP just bought palm for the patents.
Click to expand...

Naa, I think WEBOS still has some potential. It just needs a good money injection, one HP could provide. I've had Android phones. Three to be exact. I hated them sooo very much.
 
I'm 100% with the OP, I live in southern Maine. I have had every iPhone and I have no issues until the 4. The phone Constantly drops calls and unless I handle the phone with my right hand twisted upside down the reception drops until disconnected.

I have purchased a cover for the phone but now it wont fit in my holder, I hate carrying it in my pocket.

Just my 2 cents but i'm almost to the point of going back to my 3gs and waithing for the iPhone 4.1
 
I have the same reception problem. It only happens when I hold the phone in my left hand the way described. I hold my phone primarily in my right hand and my normal grip is with my fingers and not my whole palm. In the week I have owned it, I can only think 2 calls that have dropped on me. This is much fewer than I had experienced with my 3Gs. At home, I consistently get 4-5 bars of service. The 3Gs was maybe 2-3. I can force the phone to loose all signal and drop data or a call, but using the phone the way I normally would I don't have the issues. This is all without a case. With a case, I cannot get it to go below 2 bars.

Today, I took the case off while in an area across town and held it pretty tightly with my left hand making sure to cover the band and could not get it to go below 2 bars. I really think the bulk of the problems are also dependent on how strong your coverage is.

I am happy with the phone and will be keeping it, even if Apple does nothing to correct the problems as using it the way I normally would does not cause problems for me.
 
Coukos34 said:
I'm at a crossroads here, and wondering where others stand that are in the same boat. I love this phone but am so pissed at Apple's stance on this "non-issue", and will feel like a pawn if I give in and keep this phone. I had setup genius appointments for my girlfriend and I for thurday, and was really hoping to hear what Apples' plan was going to be before I decided to show up. It now seems that they are just going to deflect and ignore (read: iPad wifi issue) and will just carry on and brag about sales numbers. It's really sad, but also a testament of how powerful of a product they really have, when there is a known issue like this and people are just willing to let it go. It's the only phone I want and that bugs me because i don't feel like I or any one else should have to deal with apples design mistakes.

If they are going to fix it in software, tell us. Problem is, I can't wait around and now feel like the only right thing for me to do is to return the phone. It's pretty hard to return something though that you know you want anyways. It's also hard to keep it knowing that it's a flawed product. I feel like I just can't let Jobs get away with this one. Plus I would be incredibly pissed if there is a manufacturing revision, that late adopters get to enjoy while everyone else gets screwed. It just isn't right.

Anyone else struggling with the return decision?

Please no flames, I don't care if you don't notice the issue, I just want to hear from people that are thinking of returning
Click to expand...

does you phone work?

If yes, keep it

If no, return it
 
I am on phone #2 that has a yellow spot. I have an appointment on Friday to get it replaced. I'm not switching phones. I love the iphone 4. The small yellow spot that is only visible in settings isn't a huge deal, I just want it to work as it's supposed to.

For what I want out of a phone, the iPhone is everything I could want. Whether or not that influences you is neither here nor there.
 
I am torn. I am giving it another few days and if I don't hear anything positive by early next week, I plan to return mine. The phone does me no good when touching the side causes the signal to fade down to nothing -- literally. I will go back to my 3GS and wait it out.
 
kuaiyouming said:
I have the reception defect and have been very vocal about the disgusting behavior that Apple has displayed regarding the (non)issue. However, I do not plan to return my phone at this point. I like it for the most part, although it is a pretty terrible phone. The key for me is that I rarely use it as a phone. Instead, I use it for all of the things that it can do well. For people who are frequent phone users and need to have several conversations a day, I suspect that the iPhone is utterly useless. Therefore, it is probably a good idea to return it and move on.
Click to expand...

The only phone Ive ever owned that has worked perfectly as a "phone" is my landline....
 
Obviously a personal decision

But also keep in mind that if the issue persists (and all indications are that it will) and iPhone 4 becomes the butt of the jokes it might affect its resale value. Seeing how many people take resale value of iPhones into consideration, this factor might be important.
 
The only way to get Apple to address the issue is by hurting it in the pocket. They are no different than any other corporation in this regard. Apple will not admit there is a problem because that would mean they would need to replace all iPhones currently shipping, in addition to exposure to lawsuits and major liability.

If you truly believe this to be a problem and are frustrated with Apple's response, return your phone and get an HTC/Android phone and call it a day. Nobody is forcing you to keep the iPhone 4.
 
Working flawlessly here in North Carolina for me. :D Sorry to hear your having issues. I'm very sure that apple will diligently resolve the issue.
 
I feel the same way. I travel and can't have a phone that I can't rely on. I keep hoping to open up MacRumors and see a front page headline about an iPhone software update.

But I'm losing faith.

Decision will be made in the next 3 weeks (before my 30 days is up).
 
AZREOSpecialist said:
The only way to get Apple to address the issue is by hurting it in the pocket. They are no different than any other corporation in this regard. Apple will not admit there is a problem because that would mean they would need to replace all iPhones currently shipping, in addition to exposure to lawsuits and major liability.

If you truly believe this to be a problem and are frustrated with Apple's response, return your phone and get an HTC/Android phone and call it a day. Nobody is forcing you to keep the iPhone 4.
Click to expand...

If the lawsuit goes through, I think Apple will have no other choice but to recall or do something about it. If not, won't they continue to get sued?
 
lilo777 said:
But also keep in mind that if the issue persists (and all indications are that it will) and iPhone 4 becomes the butt of the jokes it might affect its resale value. Seeing how many people take resale value of iPhones into consideration, this factor might be important.
Click to expand...

defiantly, a good example of that is last winters iMac refresh, the models were littered with manufacturing defects and there resale value is nowhere near what it should be (mac2sell, ebay etc)
 
I feel your pain. I cancelled my order with Apple last night. But then today we get information that changes things a bit. I've actually reordered from AT&T. If you haven't read it yet, check out Anandtech's review with the signal strength analysis.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/2

Given the context of what is actually happening, Apple stance shifts a bit in perspective. It doesn't change the fact that Jobs is an arrogant douche and needs to keep his mouth shut. But if the display bug and the one I mention below were not present when it shipped, and he hadn't opened his yap, this wouldn't have blown up in his face like it did.

Here is a post I wrote on Ars..

The bar display "bug" was really screwing people up and distorting their perception on what was happening. It has appeared that some people weren't affected by the issue and some where, and it appeared to depend on location. The entire reason for that confusion was the logarithmic scale for the bars. Yes, in fact, every single iPhone 4 is affected, but the effect is far less dramatic than previously thought. Roughly 20db attenuation. 5 bars went from -91db to -51db. So you could be at the high end of that, touch the spot, and still be in the five bar range. But if you were at the low end of 5 bars at -91db and touched the spot, it would still attenuate the same 20db but the bars would drop to 1 or 2 because of the ****ed up scale.

And while I can not verify the veracity of this, I have read in a few different places (if I can remember where I'll post links) that there is a bug in the frequency switching code. It get's hit with the attenuation by touching the spot, the signal drops 20db, drops to a point where the phone goes on a fruitless quest to change frequency/towers but doesn't. It kinda gets stuck in limbo. And when it does that, it will eventually drop the call because it thinks it's lost the signal entirely even when there is a usable (albeit low strength) signal that's still there. This same behavior that's dropping calls is whats causing data transmission to completely halt when it drops suddenly, and then pick back up if the attenuation is removed.

If you combine that bug with the totally ****ed up bar scale, you get the exact situation we are seeing. Some people don't seem to have it (high signal, they have it, it just doesn't show in the bars because of the scale), those who DO seem to have the problem and jump from 5 bars to 1 bar (again, screwed up scale, it's the same 20db loss as those who are staying at 5 bars), and finally, dropped calls for some because it's fruitlessly hunting for a frequency change and gives up.

This turns out to be nowhere near as bad as it looked. Don't get me wrong, the antenna design is a gigantic bag of FAIL. You still get the 20db attenuation from touching the spot. But the effects of the attenuation were greatly exaggerated in the display and a second bug made it look like your signal was dying completely when you touched that spot.
 
HiDEF said:
If the lawsuit goes through, I think Apple will have no other choice but to recall or do something about it. If not, won't they continue to get sued?
Click to expand...

No. If the lawsuit ever actually happens, Apple will win, either outright or by admitting no fault, but giving members of the class a free bumper. IF the suit ever happens. Which it won't. Wake up, folks. We've been apple'd. Keep it and adjust, or bite the bullet and return it and it will be fixed in iPhone 5, which will have a 6' external mast.
 
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