Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
MacRumors Poll: iPhone 4 Signal Loss by Region
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I'm sorry but you are incorrect. Mine seems to work fine one city over but when I get into "my" area, the problem is 100% reproducible. Clearly, the problem is somewhat regional but I'm sure other factors come into play.
It's not necessarily just how you hold it
After I saw the video I purposefully started holding the phone differently to avoid the issue, but was dismayed to find it still happening. I held the phone in the middle of the handset, with my thumb on one side, middle finger on the other, and my pointer finger pressing the phone to my ear from the back. This grip should have avoided the issue, but it did not.
I was later able to determine that my ear was completing the circuit. I do have 6 gauge earrings, so my they are thicker than many, but I wasn't able to determine if it was my earrings helping complete the circuit, or if it was just my ear.
In any case, since I couldn't make a call that wouldn't drop, I decided it was more than a "Non-issue" to me, and returned the phone before my three day free pass was up (ie before AT&T would charge me fees if I returned it). I might re-try it in a few months in case I got a particularly bad phone, but the way that Apple is handling the situation, I doubt it.
After I saw the video I purposefully started holding the phone differently to avoid the issue, but was dismayed to find it still happening. I held the phone in the middle of the handset, with my thumb on one side, middle finger on the other, and my pointer finger pressing the phone to my ear from the back. This grip should have avoided the issue, but it did not.
I was later able to determine that my ear was completing the circuit. I do have 6 gauge earrings, so my they are thicker than many, but I wasn't able to determine if it was my earrings helping complete the circuit, or if it was just my ear.
In any case, since I couldn't make a call that wouldn't drop, I decided it was more than a "Non-issue" to me, and returned the phone before my three day free pass was up (ie before AT&T would charge me fees if I returned it). I might re-try it in a few months in case I got a particularly bad phone, but the way that Apple is handling the situation, I doubt it.
If it's a hardware issue, why is it that only a small fraction of users have the problem with the antenna?
No Problems Here. I Love it.
I have tried to reproduce all of the situations to make my calls fail. i can squeeze it on any corner or both corners and no dropped calls. Looks like someone is trying to make a issue out of nothing. This phone is fast and solid.
I have tried to reproduce all of the situations to make my calls fail. i can squeeze it on any corner or both corners and no dropped calls. Looks like someone is trying to make a issue out of nothing. This phone is fast and solid.
Although the specific conditions responsible for the problems are not yet clear, a small percentage of the ~1.6Million sold would amount to more than several thousand.
On a positive note, many who have swapped out their phones for more recent ones seem to have mitigated the problems.
Hopefully, we'll have more answers on Monday.
Do you really think Apple moved the antenna from the inside of the phone to the outside to make the reception worse??
Think about it: Apple has tested this phone in many, many ways. So it would be really strange if they 'introduce' a new way of placing the antenna, while it is in fact a detoriation of the reception.
Think about it: Apple has tested this phone in many, many ways. So it would be really strange if they 'introduce' a new way of placing the antenna, while it is in fact a detoriation of the reception.
The insides of the phone (any circuits or metal parts) also interfere with the antenna if they are too close (less than 1/4 wavelength).
Plus using the frame for both the case and the antenna means they didn't have to make the phone bigger to have room for more separate parts (shell + frame + antenna).
5 bars isn't linear it's some set value. I have 100% Drop problem at home but sitting here in a pub near the tower I can hold the phone and still have 5 bars.
Use it in an area with good signal you aren't going to even see the problem, you get a good signal antenna shorted or not. But if you need it to get one grounding it out kills the signal and the iOS can't handle it in time and the call drops.
I haven't had any major problems with this. I do have a bumper on mine but even without it, steve is right...just hold it diferently! Honestly this is a phone guys. I am generally WAY overly picky with my stuff (I went through 10 MacBooks when they first came out to get one with a working trackpad) I feel your pain...but most phones are going to drop calls, it's just the way it is. I have had all the carriers except t-mobile here in California and they all suck. You will never have perfect reception. This phone does some really amazing things and those things are getting over shadowed by this goofy signal problem. I hate to be an ass but just enjoy your phones! Finally I feel like apple has done an iPhone that no one can compete with, and I've had them all. Let's enjoy it and relish in the fact that we aren't still in a line like those who don't have one, haha!
What's worse? Believing a lie? or trusting Gizmodo?
Gizmodo won't let you post any thing but agreeable comments to their stories. Just to help you guys understand what insane yellow journalism this is, I'm posting the comment that provoked Gizmodo editors to ban me from Gizmodo.
Ever since Gizmodo committed a felony buying stolen property, they've been attempting to smear Apple. I don't really care, they will fail, and will likely fold as a result of their idiotic war. What troubles me is they shirking their responsibilities as journalists (and I use the loosest possible sense of that word so as not to insult actual journalists) and actually reporting FALSE INFORMATION.
"We only approve comments we love." http://gawker.com/commentfaq/
Gizmodo, you are excrement.
Gizmodo won't let you post any thing but agreeable comments to their stories. Just to help you guys understand what insane yellow journalism this is, I'm posting the comment that provoked Gizmodo editors to ban me from Gizmodo.
Ever since Gizmodo committed a felony buying stolen property, they've been attempting to smear Apple. I don't really care, they will fail, and will likely fold as a result of their idiotic war. What troubles me is they shirking their responsibilities as journalists (and I use the loosest possible sense of that word so as not to insult actual journalists) and actually reporting FALSE INFORMATION.
"We only approve comments we love." http://gawker.com/commentfaq/
Gizmodo, you are excrement.
How do you know it's only a small percentage ? My theory is that this *hardware* antenna issue only affects one of the two frequency bands AT&T uses (850 & 1900). So, users that are using the unaffected frequency band do not see this issue.
Excel to the rescue!
What does the poll tell us so far?
Assuming everyone is telling the truth, we see that the united states represents 80% of MacRumor's readership who chose to vote. The United Kingdom is right behind with 14.5% readership.
With that aside, its roughly a 50-50 breakdown of people who get signal loss and those who do not (roughly). This is expected. Why? You can either have signal loss, or not have signal loss. In other words, you can either hold the phone in such a way that the antennas are bridged or you don't. This includes having sweaty palms which cause the bridge to short, or having the bridge shorted by an external conductor.
With such results it's possible to conclude (assuming all votes were honest and that they were cast from a diverse sample of the region) that this is a non-issue, as Steve Jobs put it. Once more data is collected if these results continue it would also be possible to conclude that this is not an AT&T issue and in fact related to the hardware. Simply put, all phones lose signal strength when being touched by a human. However, in order to confirm that this same exact poll must be conducted with several different models of popular phones, with votes from the same parts of each region. Statistically, it would also be wise to throw in a control of having a phone call without human interaction (i.e as if the device was floating in mid air, just like the FCC test it), as well as the phone being held with a rubber case around it.
What does the poll tell us so far?
Assuming everyone is telling the truth, we see that the united states represents 80% of MacRumor's readership who chose to vote. The United Kingdom is right behind with 14.5% readership.
With that aside, its roughly a 50-50 breakdown of people who get signal loss and those who do not (roughly). This is expected. Why? You can either have signal loss, or not have signal loss. In other words, you can either hold the phone in such a way that the antennas are bridged or you don't. This includes having sweaty palms which cause the bridge to short, or having the bridge shorted by an external conductor.
With such results it's possible to conclude (assuming all votes were honest and that they were cast from a diverse sample of the region) that this is a non-issue, as Steve Jobs put it. Once more data is collected if these results continue it would also be possible to conclude that this is not an AT&T issue and in fact related to the hardware. Simply put, all phones lose signal strength when being touched by a human. However, in order to confirm that this same exact poll must be conducted with several different models of popular phones, with votes from the same parts of each region. Statistically, it would also be wise to throw in a control of having a phone call without human interaction (i.e as if the device was floating in mid air, just like the FCC test it), as well as the phone being held with a rubber case around it.
Agreed, however, if Apple can successfully address this phantom issue, all the more power to them.
You need to be somewhere that you barely get more than 4 bars. See my list of reasons why you might not be seeing the problem here .
The ONLY way to conduct a poll is to have one of the reputable polling organizations call up iPhone users randomly, ask the questions, and then report the results when they get a statistically relevant sample.
Almost 8000 people and well over 50% of people answering the poll doesn't sound like a small fraction to me.
Do you people really hold your phone like that when you make a call? Did you really hold smaller sliders in the palm of your hand prior to getting an iPhone?
Here is how I hold my 3GS and previous phones from other providers.
Index finger across the back to the top, thumb to one side, other fingers on the other side. It works whether you have your phone in the right or left hand.
@firewood: 8000 people is a small sample. There were an estimated 1.5 million sales on launch day. Holding the phone a certain way will affect the antennae but if you have a strong network, you will not have dropped calls. You can simply either get a case or not hold the phone like a caveman.
Here is how I hold my 3GS and previous phones from other providers.
Index finger across the back to the top, thumb to one side, other fingers on the other side. It works whether you have your phone in the right or left hand.
@firewood: 8000 people is a small sample. There were an estimated 1.5 million sales on launch day. Holding the phone a certain way will affect the antennae but if you have a strong network, you will not have dropped calls. You can simply either get a case or not hold the phone like a caveman.
Not only is it non-linear, but there are locations where you can easily get a cell signal well over 1000 times more powerful than the minimum needed for an indicated 5 bars. Kill off 99% of your signal by shorting out the antenna and you still have 10X more signal than needed for a perfect connection.
Correct. I never said the poll tells us anything statistically valid. For all we know, the 17888 votes could have been one person with a bot. Notice how I first go into the readership of MacRumors? That's sort of the only thing the poll tells us, assuming the voters were telling the truth.
With that aside, if they were telling the truth then the poll really does tell us this isn't an issue. It's 50/50, which makes sense. You can either have a dropped call or not have a dropped call.
While for some regions like Japan, Germany, etc. have few votes the united states has more than enough votes to conclude something (assuming all were telling the truth, and that they came from a diverse sample, i.e from different parts of the US.).
-robodude666
Do you people really hold your phone like that when you make a call? Did you really hold smaller sliders in the palm of your hand prior to getting an iPhone?
Here is how I hold my 3GS and previous phones from other providers.
Index finger across the back to the top, thumb to one side, other fingers on the other side. It works whether you have your phone in the right or left hand.
@firewood: 8000 people is a small sample. There were an estimated 1.5 million sales on launch day.
You hold it like that when you're not making a call too? Really? I bet you look funny!
Please read the posts and stop being an Apple kiss ass.