Nope. That's not what surprises people. People are surprised that whilst other phone companies understand how antennas work and hide phone antennas inside the phones Apple was stupid enough to come up with a flashy but flawed design which places antennas in the most vulnerable position.
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Other Mobile Phones with Similar Signal Loss Issues
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Nope. That's not what surprises people. People are surprised that whilst other phone companies understand how antennas work and hide phone antennas inside the phones Apple was stupid enough to come up with a flashy but flawed design which places antennas in the most vulnerable position.
All of my iphones have gotten better reception in my right hand than in my left. I attribute it to 6 titanium screws that hold said hand together from an old car accident in 2003. . .
Actually I take that back, I'm done with this ridiculous nonsense. Its a great phone and I love it. Even going out of my way to do so, I can't get the phone to misbehave during any real world use. Its probably why Engadget concluded, after a weeks use, that reception was fantastic and even better than the previous models in their experience. 
So what your saying is your incapable of holding your phone and avoiding a spot that's less then a 1/8 of an inch. Just wanted to make sure we were on the same page.
This issue is apparently affecting me only in areas of very sketchy reception. In my den I get next to no reception on my 3Gs but occasionally it yields a 2 or 3. But that could be misleading. Even a 4 in the living room. This complex is lots of steel and concrete.
But when I went outside and got full signal, no amount of gripping the lower left would reduce the signal indicator. Not even one bar.
So, it could actually be a software problem causing low signals to be misreported as higher than they really are. Or it's a hardware issue but not as drastic as thought and directly impacted by poor signal strength.
I could be mistaken as all I have to offer is my anecdote. But I encourage other users to test a variety of conditions and scenarios before providing apple with lopsided data so they can eventually determine the correct solution.
But when I went outside and got full signal, no amount of gripping the lower left would reduce the signal indicator. Not even one bar.
So, it could actually be a software problem causing low signals to be misreported as higher than they really are. Or it's a hardware issue but not as drastic as thought and directly impacted by poor signal strength.
I could be mistaken as all I have to offer is my anecdote. But I encourage other users to test a variety of conditions and scenarios before providing apple with lopsided data so they can eventually determine the correct solution.
Yes, unlike the case with Germany it takes more than one cell tower to cover USA. On the other hand, it's still a phone problem because all other phones handle weak signals much more gracefully than iPhone 4.
I don't really understand the comparison being made between the iPhone 4's behavior and the behavior of any of the other phones used as examples of similar signal loss.
On the iPhone 4, lightly placing one finger in a commonly touched area of the phone and then lightly placing another finger (or palm) on the bottom of the phone causes signal loss. When people talk about this happening on other phones they mention covering the antenna or tightly holding their phone. How is this the same thing? You don't even have to hold it - just touch the bar and touch the bottom near the speakers. This is not the same thing as losing a signal due to placing a death grip on your blackberry's antenna enclosure. It's happening on mine as well.
Wouldn't really be an issue as I wanted the bumper for added grip anyway, but they sold out. :/
On the iPhone 4, lightly placing one finger in a commonly touched area of the phone and then lightly placing another finger (or palm) on the bottom of the phone causes signal loss. When people talk about this happening on other phones they mention covering the antenna or tightly holding their phone. How is this the same thing? You don't even have to hold it - just touch the bar and touch the bottom near the speakers. This is not the same thing as losing a signal due to placing a death grip on your blackberry's antenna enclosure. It's happening on mine as well.
Wouldn't really be an issue as I wanted the bumper for added grip anyway, but they sold out. :/
I have To agree with you. In my home I have never had fabulous signal but it was "good". We had a few bad storms in the last week and a couple of towers were taken down but the wind so bot signal in half my house is very weak. Well I have issues when hold the iPhone in my left hand (which sucks as I am left handed). However, I was away from home today in an area with strong service and I could not replicate the issue. I really think the problem is three fold -
1) cell phones do lose signal when held
2) the iPhone (either hardware or software or both) has problems with signal strength.
3) the last two days have seen a huge influx of iPhone users adding to already congested networks and/or other network issue resulting in weaker signal strength.
Perhaps I am lucky
I have five solid bars using AT&T network on iPhone 4 regardless of how I hold the phone. It is performing better than either the 3GS or the 3G at the same locations. How widespread is the problem? Does anyone know if it is any more than 0.0001% of users having this problem? The ones who don't have the problem are perhaps not being as vocal about it as I am doing here.
I have five solid bars using AT&T network on iPhone 4 regardless of how I hold the phone. It is performing better than either the 3GS or the 3G at the same locations. How widespread is the problem? Does anyone know if it is any more than 0.0001% of users having this problem? The ones who don't have the problem are perhaps not being as vocal about it as I am doing here.
Ha! Just return it like you would with any other product.
If a product doesn't work for you then get your money back... The product has been out for a whole day; anyone that isn't satisfied can return it.
Now that you know about the design flaw you have a choice: keep it and continue to whine OR return it and get a full refund.
If you don't own an iPhone 4 yet, you still have a choice: don't buy one OR buy one and continue to whine.
What does lawsuits have to do with it?
(The only situation I can think of is for folks that don't know about the flaw and if Apple refuses give a refund)
P.
I dunno putting a finger over the lower left on mine doesnt drop more than 1-2 bars. That is attempting to hold it like any normal person would hold a phone and no weirdness. Only way I can get mine to drop to one bar is to completely bury the lower left into my left palm in, what feels to me like, an unnatural way.
I'm sure mileage may vary, and 'in the lab' so to speak you can come up with all kinds of ways to get it to fade. In regular world use though, I cant see it being a problem unless you're left handed and hold that sucker tight in your palm.
Just look at the AT&T coverage map. The problem affects 100% of iPhone 4 owners when they find themselves a) in the city or b) farther than 1...2 miles form the cell tower.
There were 600,000 preorders for the 4. That's 60 users according to you.
This problem was discussed on CNBC and other mainstream media today. Also, expect many magazine articles in the next week with "The real truth behind the iPhone 4 signal problems!" articles.
Fun times for the AAPL spin machine.
Clearly there must be something wrong here for this to be spiraling like it is.
nexus one too
arn
O'rly?
I've put this theory to the test on 2 of our handsets. An iPhone 3G on o2UK in a good 3G signal area and my Nexus One on Orange in a low 3g (GPRS only) signal area.
Whilst my N1 did lose 1 bar of GPRS whilst covering the antenna (the antenna is in the bottom section of the Nexus from what I know), it didn't seem to affect the bandwidth available on speedtest.net, nor did it drop signal.
For shi*s and giggles, I also tested my wifes iPhone 3G in hand to see what happened.....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvMoV4_C4aA
Whilst covering the antenna will undoubtedly have an effect on signal quality, no handset I've ever owned has ever completely lost signal when being held in a certain way which is a surprise.
As the N1's antenna is located toward the bottom, when I make a call on it the front section is blocked by my face and the rear is blocked by my hand, yet it still manages to make a call without fail. My wife has also had NO issues of dropped calls on her iPhone 3G and neither did I whilst I owned one so in my experience, no, the Nexus doesn't do this.
Nexus is running Android 2.2 build FRF83 and the iPhone 3G is running iOS4.
Out of interest, has anyone with a working iPhone 4 posted a video of an iPhone 4 NOT encountering this issue?
Not meaning to accuse anyone of crying wolf here, but all the videos and pictures demonstrating this effect look to have the iPhone 4 held in a very specific and deliberate way. Obviously I'll have to wait until I can get my hands on one before I know for myself if it's a problem in everyday usage, but I've tried to hold my iPhone 3G this way and it feels awkward and unnatural - not to mention my palm gets in the way if I try to hold it to my ear to make a call.
Also, bars are not an absolute or even a relative measurement of signal strength between different devices. Saying that your 3GS stays on 5 bars before and after, while the iPhone 4 goes from 5 bars to 1 bar is a useless comparison. You should work out how to compare SNR and attenuation, as well as a whole series of speed tests between this and the 3GS. I'm sure Apple has done all of this and the net result is better, otherwise they would've scrapped this design.
It seems what we are seeing is the usual 'look for a problem and you'll find it' syndrome that happens with every new and exciting tech release. I second what a poster above said which is to just forget about it, use it naturally, and if it's a noticeable problem then to get a refund or do what you have to do.
Also, bars are not an absolute or even a relative measurement of signal strength between different devices. Saying that your 3GS stays on 5 bars before and after, while the iPhone 4 goes from 5 bars to 1 bar is a useless comparison. You should work out how to compare SNR and attenuation, as well as a whole series of speed tests between this and the 3GS. I'm sure Apple has done all of this and the net result is better, otherwise they would've scrapped this design.
It seems what we are seeing is the usual 'look for a problem and you'll find it' syndrome that happens with every new and exciting tech release. I second what a poster above said which is to just forget about it, use it naturally, and if it's a noticeable problem then to get a refund or do what you have to do.
Everyone likes to see the big boy on the block trip up. Standard issue. If ppl think covering a spot of the frame this big.... ' | ' ...is an issue.... then I guess they can go nuts about it.
Class action suit
Well said, Pete. Completely agree. Again, I am fortunate not to have any issues thus far, and sympathize with those who do. However, I am sure Apple would be glad to replace or refund the phone for those who so wish. No need for a law suit.
Well said, Pete. Completely agree. Again, I am fortunate not to have any issues thus far, and sympathize with those who do. However, I am sure Apple would be glad to replace or refund the phone for those who so wish. No need for a law suit.
This will be fixed in a software update. Actually, What I believe is happening is the Iphone is locking onto a cell with less traffic, that has higher RSSI, and as a result is a weaker signal. When you cover it, the signal goes down like all phones.
Fix will simply choose the most powerful cell instead, and even if it is covered, who cares it will be fine
Fix will simply choose the most powerful cell instead, and even if it is covered, who cares it will be fine
