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Other Mobile Phones with Similar Signal Loss Issues

Use some invisibleshield...

I had some scraps of invisibleSHIELD left over from when I covered my MBP.

I cut it to fit and and wrapped it around the edges I can't reproduce the issue anymore. I was able to place my thumb over the black bar on the bottom left corner and kill the signal every time.

**** design by Apple, but problem solved... For me anyways. Otherwise... This phone is great.
 
BobVB said:
that's because it didn't exist in previous generations. Sure holding any previous iPhone could make you lose a bar or 2 of signal strength, but no previous phone would go from 5 to 0 bars and dropping the call from holding it.

A single individual said he was told by  that there is supposed to be a coating on the metal to prevent the grounding of one antenna into another so it might just be a manufacturing defect that could be fixed with a replacement. But if this isn't true its a serious design flaw and if the Phone needs the bumper to work properly then it should be standard with the phone.
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Yeah. Dropping a call would be bad. Nit surrised in the least if al apple store pitvsome type of painted, rubber. Doesnt the 3 g have antenna on front, near top in the glass side?
Peace.
 
maybe a software issue

I went to a local apple store around 8 am this morning hoping to get the iphone 4 as first in first served but was told they sold out. anyhow, there were only around 5 people there so I decided to try to reproduce the issue with the demo iphone 4.

I tried 6 out of 20 demos and surely I was able to reproduce the issue on all 6. Here is what I did:
1. use the index finger to bridge the left down corner metals
2. hold it steady for a minute or two. (the drop doesn't happen right away. for people saying they cannot reproduce the issue, please hold the phone in that death grip for a bit longer up to say 5 minutes)
3. the signal bar dropped from 5 to 0.
4. BUT, i was NOT able to make it into "service search"
5. And i was able to make phone call in and out after the bar dropped to 0. and the call quality is very good.
6. So that prompt me to think the issue is very pervasive but it is more of a software issue instead of hardware issue since I was able to have a phone conversation even the signal bar is 0.

On FaceTime, I was surprised to notice the resolution is only VGA even you are using the back camera to try to show the other side what you are seeing.
 
teknishn said:
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.
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Exactly its literary a single spot this small |
You can avoid it so easily. I use to hold my phone in the center of my left hand. I just adjusted my grip to be less then a half an inch higher and problem solved. (I do not like using cases or else that would have solved the issue)

If you can't deal with it and don't want to use a case then return (or don't buy) the product. Stop complaining.
 
Wait -- I just put two known facts together, here.

Weren't we told that the iPhone 4 had an improved ability to pick out a band that was, perhaps, less congested even if the signal was a little weaker? Since the signal meter, as I understand, comes from the tower you are actually communicating with, this could cause the signal meter to act more erratically, in and of itself.

If this is the case, the phone should automatically switch to the stronger signal once the weaker signal gets attenuated to the point where it can't be used any longer. So generally it would not cause dropped calls in and of itself -- BUT, if the "strong" tower were so congested that it would have dropped the call anyway, the switchover could fail -- then the attenuation might be the proximate cause of a dropped call.

This explains the reviews which seem to universally report FEWER dropped calls with the new phone.
 
PstLMac said:
Just saw on GIZMODO someone dropped their phone on the ground and back totally cracked. Ouch!!!
http://gizmodo.com/5572227/fuuuuuu-gizmodos-first-accidentally-dropped-iphone

  1. Glass Back that cracks from waist high dropped impact?
  2. Brown spots on the retina screen??
  3. Metal Framed bridge-gripped antenna???

Apple...really????


Form should always follow function. Seems Apple spent a lot of money trying to reverse this methodology and seems to be back-firing.

Software is very cool, but a 4th generation phone...i expected better from what I'm hearing this EARLY in product release.:(
Click to expand...

wait a minute, youre telling me when you drop a piece of glass on cement that it will break? this is news to me, i better start telling people about how fragile glass is!

/sarcasm
 
Toyota just announced that their run-away acceleration problems can be solved by having drivers not hold the steering wheel from the lower left side.
 
Apple replacing phones

I just got off the phone with apple support. They are replacing my phone, no questions asked, no troubleshooting, nothing. All I said was I was losing signal when holding the phone. They offered to ship a new phone immediately, or I could go to an appt. this afternoon at the Apple Store, without waiting in line. So they DO HAVE AN OFFICIAL POLICY OF REPLACEMENT. They're just not announcing it.

If you have problems, call Apple Support, always so fast and friendly.
 
Cleverboy said:
This is amazing to watch. The amount of sheer hysteria over being able to reproduce an undesirable behavior that's existed virtually unbemoaned in previous generations of the phone. The examples of the Nexus One, the older iPhone, and the old Nokia are good ones, but its not convincing for people who think their phone should not behave negatively in ANY circumstance.
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1. The issue with the iPhone 4 doesn't appear to be the same issue the other phones are experiencing. Yes, there is some signal degradation when users interlace with the phone and create interference, but in the iPhone 4's case it appears the user is bridging a gap between two antennas.

Bridging two antennas is not the same as blocking an antenna on an older phone.

2. Isn't the reason most people buy Apple because they want technology that "just works." What does it say about Apple if their defense of a design flaw is to claim they have the same problems as other poorly designed phones?
 
leegordon79 said:
I just got off the phone with apple support. They are replacing my phone, no questions asked, no troubleshooting, nothing. All I said was I was losing signal when holding the phone. They offered to ship a new phone immediately, or I could go to an appt. this afternoon at the Apple Store, without waiting in line. So they DO HAVE AN OFFICIAL POLICY OF REPLACEMENT. They're just not announcing it.

If you have problems, call Apple Support, always so fast and friendly.
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Why would a new phone fix the issue if it's a hardware problem? I doubt there was a redesign of any sort this quickly.

And this is an issue for me. I took the bumper off on my drive to work today because my car dock to usb wouldn't fit in the phone with the bumper. My father called me, as soon as I picked up the phone and put it to my ear the call failed, and that has never happened to me before on my 3G.
 
Loss of signal does NOT occur simply because of bridging.


I can hold my phone with one finger on front screen glass and one finger on back glass and as soon as I place one finger on bottom left corner of the phone signal drops from 5 bars to 0. So obviously I am NOT bridging and signal still disappear

P.S what is the use of replacing the phone at Apple Store right now if they will give you exact same phone that has same problem? It seems that almost all Iphone 4s have this issue.
 
PstLMac said:
Just saw on GIZMODO someone dropped their phone on the ground and back totally cracked. Ouch!!!
http://gizmodo.com/5572227/fuuuuuu-gizmodos-first-accidentally-dropped-iphone

  1. Glass Back that cracks from waist high dropped impact?
  2. Brown spots on the retina screen??
  3. Metal Framed bridge-gripped antenna???

Apple...really????


Form should always follow function. Seems Apple spent a lot of money trying to reverse this methodology and seems to be back-firing.

Software is very cool, but a 4th generation phone...i expected better from what I'm hearing this EARLY in product release.:(
Click to expand...

Would you be basing your statements from hands on experience with your own iPhone 4...or just based on 2nd and 3rd hand 'reports' from forum posts and other 'media' outlets? Just curious.
 
My wife currently owns a 3GS. We are relatively happy with it and I was thinking about buying a new iPhone 4 for myself.

Thanks to the wonderful people on these forums who have shared their problems via video, and the crass response Jobs and Apple has given to this design flaw... I am not going to buy an iPhone 4.

Currently I am going to wait to see how the Droid X fairs with reviewers and early adopters. If it doesn't do well I'll get an Incredible.

My brother has an Incredible and I have to admit it is a sweet phone. My brother bought a better battery for it and it runs for several hours without any problems.

I do like Apple's UI a little better and the fact that most things "just work" but this new phone doesn't appear to be one of those things.
 
fox777 said:
Loss of signal does NOT occur simply because of bridging.


I can hold my phone with one finger on front screen glass and one finger on back glass and as soon as I place one finger on bottom left corner of the phone signal drops from 5 bars to 0. So obviously I am NOT bridging and signal still disappears.
Click to expand...

I tired what you explain here. I can not cause a signal decrease unless I touch the slit at the bottom left of the phone.

Neither can my wife phone, and 4 friends that have the phone. So either your phone has a completely different issue that no one else is experiencing or your making stuff up.
 
Apple spport says early phones lack metal coating!

There IS a reason I am getting a replacement phone. Certainly, I wouldnt make the time and effort to get another phone with the same problem. Apple support says an early batch of phones shipped without a non-conductive coating on the SS band. Later shipments are not having the dropped signal issue.
 
darkerside said:
I tired what you explain here. I can not cause a signal decrease unless I touch the slit at the bottom left of the phone.

Neither can my wife phone, and 4 friends that have the phone. So either your phone has a completely different issue that no one else is experiencing or your making stuff up.
Click to expand...

well that's what I said in my original post that I am touching bottom left of my corner. The thing is that most people say that signal loss is caused by bridging (holding phone bottom left side and other side). However, I found out that you don't have to touch other side of the phone. Only that bottom left side and signal is dropping.
 
Gee, this brand new, super expensive device has the same issue as a POS phone from the early 2000s. Thanks Apple!
 
BandGremlin said:
My brother has an Incredible and I have to admit it is a sweet phone. My brother bought a better battery for it and it runs for several hours without any problems.
Click to expand...

No way! several hours? Alert the media.

Meanwhile, my iPhone 4 works great. I'm having zero signal loss issues on my phone. And the 3G speeds are BLAZING.
 
Blacklabel34 said:
my 2G, 3G and 3Gs DO NOT experience this.

I guess the issue is a design flaw with our hands, since the iPhone is PERFECT:confused:
Click to expand...

Are you sure? I was skeptical about buying the new iphone alter all this, but was amazed when I picked up my BlackBerry Bold 9700 and it did exactly the same thing, I just never noticed it. Seems like all cell phones behave that way, as I also tried it with a Friend’s Android device.
 
job2 said:
Just in case you missed this particular post.
Click to expand...

wth dude..you linked page with 1000 comments.. I tried to look for comment that you were referring to and couldnt find it

Also, if that were the case why SJ said that it is "non-issue"
 
fox777 said:
wth dude..you linked page with 1000 comments.. I tried to look for comment that you were referring to and couldnt find it
Click to expand...

I have a suggestion. Why you don't you use the "find" tool and do a basic search with some key words such as "missing." Or would that be too hard for you?
 
Hey that's a nice phone...from 1999. :rolleyes:

Can we get real-world modern examples of phones completely losing network connection because they were held in a normal fashion in the user's hand?
 
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