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Just got my iPhone replacement - week 22 -> week 24...

R

ReflexReact

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 10, 2010
364
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And it's no better where I am.

I had small hopes that the issue may have been resolved later in the manufacturing cycle, but I can confirm my week 22 and week 24 iPhones are exactly the same - aka broken!

However, with the new iPhone I recieved a free bumper... and low and behold, it resolves the issue. One specific thing i've noticed is that even if my bars are lower, with the bumper 3G remains. I think data connection (3g, edge, etc) is most effected by the breaching of antenna.

It's not a good full term fix, however I will accept it as a fix for another few days and see if Apple release a software update or something..
 
Has anybody narrowed it down to the week(s) that are effected by this antenna issue? Mine is a week 22 and I have the issue.
 
Yeah, I'm having reception issues and I have a week 26 phone. Which is cool because it was made next week.

Now if I can find that case of Libyan plutonium.
 
Mine says it's a week 25 phone. To find out what week it is, look at the 4th and 5th digits of your serial #. The 3rd digit indiciates year (9 was 2009, 0 is 2010, and I guess 2011 will be 1)
 
It's a flawed design ... skin on metal sucks for reception. They probably realized this very late in the design cycle. Now, since we know that they used casings to camouflage the iP4's design, reception would have never been an issue during field testing.

And by the time they realized their folly, they decided fix it using those bumper cases which fortunately make them even more money.

Screw you Apple, but I will not be buying your phone.
 
Week 26 and I seem to have no issue with reception loss. I'll try again after it's done restoring from back up.
 
It's not a design issue, it's a manufacturing issue. We have two iphone4s, hold them both by the seams on the bottom. One phone stays at full bars and the other is at 1 bar and breaking up after 30 or so seconds. If you get a broken phone get a new one, it's not rocket science. Unfortunately it's seems like there are a lot of broken phones out there.

sammy2066 said:
It's a flawed design ... skin on metal sucks for reception. They probably realized this very late in the design cycle. Now, since we know that they used casings to camouflage the iP4's design, reception would have never been an issue during field testing.

And by the time they realized their folly, they decided fix it using those bumper cases which fortunately make them even more money.

Screw you Apple, but I will not be buying your phone.
Click to expand...
 
jalpert said:
It's not a design issue, it's a manufacturing issue. We have two iphone4s, hold them both by the seams on the bottom. One phone stays at full bars and the other is at 1 bar and breaking up after 30 or so seconds. If you get a broken phone get a new one, it's not rocket science. Unfortunately it's seems like there are a lot of broken phones out there.
Click to expand...

Were they both on the same network? I suspect not. There has been no evidence to support some work, some don't. Take a video of the issue, on two seperate phones, at the same location on the same network.
 
After playing around a bit more, i've discovered that even with the bumper on, the bars drop. Not as far, but they still drop. However, 3G doesn't seem to be affected with the bumper on ... the data stays fine.
 
jalpert said:
It's not a design issue, it's a manufacturing issue. We have two iphone4s, hold them both by the seams on the bottom. One phone stays at full bars and the other is at 1 bar and breaking up after 30 or so seconds. If you get a broken phone get a new one, it's not rocket science. Unfortunately it's seems like there are a lot of broken phones out there.
Click to expand...

Sorry, but that is not true.
 
Not good Samurai.

Peking Duck now!

ReflexReact: a knee jerk response. What would you expect?
 
jalpert said:
It's not a design issue, it's a manufacturing issue. We have two iphone4s, hold them both by the seams on the bottom. One phone stays at full bars and the other is at 1 bar and breaking up after 30 or so seconds. If you get a broken phone get a new one, it's not rocket science. Unfortunately it's seems like there are a lot of broken phones out there.
Click to expand...

I tried that, but they guy at genius bar told me to hold it differently and buy a case. He would not exchange it and said all phones do that. I may make another appointment next week at another location and hope I get a better rep, if not the phone is going back.
 
ReflexReact said:
And it's no better where I am.

I had small hopes that the issue may have been resolved later in the manufacturing cycle, but I can confirm my week 22 and week 24 iPhones are exactly the same - aka broken!

However, with the new iPhone I recieved a free bumper... and low and behold, it resolves the issue. One specific thing i've noticed is that even if my bars are lower, with the bumper 3G remains. I think data connection (3g, edge, etc) is most effected by the breaching of antenna.

It's not a good full term fix, however I will accept it as a fix for another few days and see if Apple release a software update or something..
Click to expand...

Curious... how were you able to get them to replace it for you?
 
Fernandez21 said:
I tried that, but they guy at genius bar told me to hold it differently and buy a case. He would not exchange it and said all phones do that. I may make another appointment next week at another location and hope I get a better rep, if not the phone is going back.
Click to expand...

Is there a thread that exists where people share their attempts at getting a replacement? I may be interested in trying, but just want to follow what's going on for a bit to see how it goes, and if newer manufactured phones suffer less from the issue.
 
Mine is week 22 and perfect! No yellows, no rattles, no reception issues with or without bumper; left hand, right hand; standing on head, standing up.
 
Yes maybe it is true some people are unable to replicate this on some phones but I just don't see how it can be a manufacturing issue? It is a design issue. Unless they are using different materials or coating the antennas, I have no idea how. It is pretty simple physics actually.

Im holding off until something more official is announced or discovered. I don't want to deal with the hassle of swaping the phone most likely to get another with the same problem.
 
ReflexReact said:
After playing around a bit more, i've discovered that even with the bumper on, the bars drop. Not as far, but they still drop. However, 3G doesn't seem to be affected with the bumper on ... the data stays fine.
Click to expand...

Yep mine drops to 1 bar with the bumper on when palming the bottom left corner.
Even if I'm holding it with my right hand with my fingers wrapped around the bottom left, it drops... Ridiculous
 
Fernandez21 said:
I tried that, but they guy at genius bar told me to hold it differently and buy a case. He would not exchange it and said all phones do that. I may make another appointment next week at another location and hope I get a better rep, if not the phone is going back.
Click to expand...

Why can't people wait until they release some information? I can't imagine trying to play the swap game at this point.
 
richard371 said:
Yes maybe it is true some people are unable to replicate this on some phones but I just don't see how it can be a manufacturing issue? It is a design issue. Unless they are using different materials or coating the antennas, I have no idea how. It is pretty simple physics actually.

Im holding off until something more official is announced or discovered. I don't want to deal with the hassle of swaping the phone most likely to get another with the same problem.
Click to expand...

I think I may try, but I'd like to hear others experience with trying first. I can always swap again if they come out with a hardware fix.
 
Guys, it's been well established by experts in the cellular antenna field that this is a design issue NOT a manufacturing defect. EVERY phone is affected, but it is dependent on signal strength. If you are close to a tower you will not get a drop if you breach the two antennas with a touch. If you are further from a strong tower signal you will get the drop. It is not possible given the design of the antennas to NOT be affected by this issue.

Anyone who thinks they have a perfect unaffected phone is kidding themselves.

I'm not worrying about it for now, I can wait for a fix to come out. I will not use a bumper or any kind of case, for the same reason I don't put a plastic cover over my sofa. Because it's ugly and it cheapens the phone.
 
brentsg said:
Why can't people wait until they release some information? I can't imagine trying to play the swap game at this point.
Click to expand...

Because I only have 14 days to return it, and I really love the phone but if the reception issue isn't fixed I will have to return it. So yes I am a little anxious to get a fix because I would prefer to not have to do that.
 
sammy2066 said:
It's a flawed design ... skin on metal sucks for reception. They probably realized this very late in the design cycle.
Click to expand...

Are you serious? You think teams of Apple engineers realised late in the design cycle that a main feature of the phone could be so seriously flawed? I can assure you it's a LOT more complicated than "skin on metal sucks for reception".
 
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