Reminds me of a company sign that I saw in Hong Kong:
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Other Mobile Phones with Similar Signal Loss Issues
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Reminds me of a company sign that I saw in Hong Kong:
Well hopefully none. It is Steve's über secret obsession that keeps prototypes locked down in labs and puts them in cases that obscure the problem off campus. If they could have just used the phone 'as is' out in the wild this would have been a issue found way before it became critical.
External antennas are a good idea actually, they just needed to coat them and maybe move the left one (sorry lefties) down to around the bend so it's gap wasn't being bridged and the antenna shorted.
The new code works actually, very well in fact, if you are changing signal strength because of movement between one location and another. That it wasn't robust enough to handle the instant loss of touching the antenna never came up because at Apple campus they get such a strong signal its not an issue, and off campus no one shorted the antennas because of the case.
They can fix this if just by a new 'OMG they shorted the antenna' code segment to amp the receiver strength instantly when the condition is detected.
They'll fix it though I would feel much better about it if they gave me the fix for free, bumper, coating or whatever.
iPhone 4 Loss of Signal
I just spoke with upper level support about the issue. While they can't provide a lot of detail, the service rep repeatedly stressed that a response, and implied a fix, was imminent. He mentioned receiving many, many, many calls about this issue and it sound like Apple is scrambling to address this in the next few days.
Let's hope so.
I just spoke with upper level support about the issue. While they can't provide a lot of detail, the service rep repeatedly stressed that a response, and implied a fix, was imminent. He mentioned receiving many, many, many calls about this issue and it sound like Apple is scrambling to address this in the next few days.
Let's hope so.
All phones at apple store affected
I went to the apple store in Ohio today, and I was able to get 3 of the test iPhones to go to no service in about 40 seconds.. I'm sure the rest of them would have done the same.. The sales guy said they are aware of the problem and was trying to get me to stop doing it. He said that apple should address this issue next week... He even agreed that a new phone would not be any different..
Called Apple when I got home and the rep said the signal problem IS the device not AT&T.. She said she didn't know if the fix is hardware or software, they are working on it. As soon as a fix is available, they will contact me..
I went to the apple store in Ohio today, and I was able to get 3 of the test iPhones to go to no service in about 40 seconds.. I'm sure the rest of them would have done the same.. The sales guy said they are aware of the problem and was trying to get me to stop doing it. He said that apple should address this issue next week... He even agreed that a new phone would not be any different..
Called Apple when I got home and the rep said the signal problem IS the device not AT&T.. She said she didn't know if the fix is hardware or software, they are working on it. As soon as a fix is available, they will contact me..
A bumper is also a dielectric spacer which can greatly reduce the capacitive loading (and thus loss) on the antenna with only a moderate (but non-zero) thickness.
Antennas work best the farther away they are from anything even slightly conductive (such as the battery, wiring, circuits, salt water in the blood stream in your hand, etc.).
The iPhone 4's design puts the antenna as far away as possible for a non-external antenna (no whip, stub or hump) from the internal circuitry. The bumper moves your hand away from the antenna about the usual amount for an internal cell phone antenna.
Does the new iphone has this signal loss with other operators? Maybe it is that AT&T fault?
If this is due because of placing an hand, then that is major flaw conception that anybody from Apple even wondered it could happen.
See this is the problem with yearly releases. Not only the Iphone begins to show its flaws after its first days... I'm pretty much speechless.
If this is due because of placing an hand, then that is major flaw conception that anybody from Apple even wondered it could happen.
See this is the problem with yearly releases. Not only the Iphone begins to show its flaws after its first days... I'm pretty much speechless.
You know the funny thing about all this is that on my FM radio I HAVE to hold the antenna to get in my local stations
Hey
Maybe this is what they mssed when the engineer got his prototype lifted from his man-bag in the bar... they were testing the radio signals with case on instead of off...
Free bumper with every iPhone 4
Maybe this is what they mssed when the engineer got his prototype lifted from his man-bag in the bar... they were testing the radio signals with case on instead of off...
Free bumper with every iPhone 4
Maybe this is what they mssed when the engineer got his prototype lifted from his man-bag in the bar... they were testing the radio signals with case on instead of off...
Free bumper with every iPhone 4
Yes, that's my theory, and I posted it earlier in the thread, their secrecy bit them in the butt here...contrast to Sprint who gave thousands of EVOs to developers weeks before the public launch. The only serious bug (sdcard reading) was discovered and fixed with an over the air software update that was ready the day of the launch.
This would be a non-issue if Apple had done something similar, or at least let more employees into the real world with undisguised phones.
As for bumpers - I don't want a butt ugly bumper on my pretty little iPhone. They need a better fix than "free bumpers to all" or mine goes back for refund. ;-) (see note in next quote reply)
I can easily reproduce this now, just with my hand, in most places, BUT, I can never get the phone down to No Service, and even with zero bars while I death grip it, the phone still rings when people call it.
There's several other threads about this same overall topic, based on later new reports, including Steve's "Stay Tuned" email reply. I'm heading there to check out the drama. ;-)
I respect your right to want or not want to add an accessory. And it's a mistake by apple to have released a design that necessitates that (IF that's the case, since there's now some evidence a software fix might be forthcoming...)
but i'd just ask you and the others who refer to ugly bumpers: Have you seen one on a phone? It's an extremely well-integrated design. I can imagine many people seeing a phone-with-bunmper and assuming that's how the product comes. Other adjectives, maybe, but not ugly, imho.
Have you seen and handled one in a bumper?
The amusing aspect of this entire discussion is the assumption that this is NOT software related, but a hardware design flaw. We even have Danish specialists weighing in. Yeah, so. We'll see how this goes with an update, but I think this is hilarious how people see the same thing and come away with different thoughts.
The way I see it is this... Yup. There's a hardware issue at the core of this. It's present in EVERY shipping cellular phone. It was especially pronounced in the iPhone 4 when held in a strikingly common way (personally, it took me a while to reproduce the same results, I was holding it wrong).
"Hardware issue", YES. "Hardware flaw", NO. Why not a "flaw"...? Because it was done intentionally, and should not pose an ongoing, irresolvable problem. What few people are saying, is whether such a condition, as occurs here, can be addressed via software. Personally, I think only Apple knows for certain, but others can make very educated guesses (yet few have).
~ CB
The way I see it is this... Yup. There's a hardware issue at the core of this. It's present in EVERY shipping cellular phone. It was especially pronounced in the iPhone 4 when held in a strikingly common way (personally, it took me a while to reproduce the same results, I was holding it wrong).
"Hardware issue", YES. "Hardware flaw", NO. Why not a "flaw"...? Because it was done intentionally, and should not pose an ongoing, irresolvable problem. What few people are saying, is whether such a condition, as occurs here, can be addressed via software. Personally, I think only Apple knows for certain, but others can make very educated guesses (yet few have).
~ CB
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BS just because I know how an antenna works does not make it then work so I can use a phone, and it clearly is an issue if you are on a call then pick the phone up (not in any stupid death grip) and your call is dropped because of low signal strength, perhaps you should understand that
You know the funny thing about all this is that on my FM radio I HAVE to hold the antenna to get in my local stations
The proper length for an FM quarter wave antenna is about 1 yard/meter. Is yours that long? If not, your body is helping lengthen it.
See: this page
Beats me, I have days when local stations don't come in. I grab the antenna and they magically come in clearly. The radio is stock, antenna has not been clipped and its made by an internationally recognized company.
I drove around today making phone calls and using data on my iPhone 4. I deliberately held the phone each time with my hand or thumb 'shorting' the left bottom corner of the phone where the 2 antennas meet.
The results? No dropped calls, no garbled audio and no performance issues on data. The signal strength indication did drop, but nothing seemed to suffer as a result.
The results? No dropped calls, no garbled audio and no performance issues on data. The signal strength indication did drop, but nothing seemed to suffer as a result.
This video sucks.
Nokia is bashing Apple for its signal problems, when many of its phones share exactly the same problem.
Nokia is bashing Apple for its signal problems, when many of its phones share exactly the same problem.
But, it is not exactly the same problem.
Any phone with internal antennae has some signal loss if fleshy body parts are wrapped around the area of the case where the antennae are located.
The Iphone 4 is unique in that the antennae are external, metal pieces of the case - and if you touch the metal pieces it can effectively "short out" the antennae, leading to a drastic loss of signal (not "some signal loss").
The situation with the Iphone 4 that many people are reporting (i.e. "touch here and your call is dropped") does not occur with the other phones - they have a "wrap your hand around this part of the phone and you may have some issues".
That's not the same problem at all.
This antenna design is a big design boo-boo on Apple's part, and would have been seen and fixed if Apple had actually tested the phone in the field in typical use (instead of hiding them in cases and condoms that effectively did what the phone designers should have done).
Well that and Steve seems to hold his phones like a princess in his fingertips rather than like you'd hold a GPS, a calculator, a cellphone or anything else you hold in your hand that you might have to do input with the other hand.
Yes, and the odd statements that mostly "left-handers" will be affected, since right-handers would hold the phone in the right hand.
When I look at Iphone users - the right-handers hold them in their left hands, so that they can poke the shiny icons and type on that (IMO dreadful) virtual keyboard.
I typically hold my touch-screen smartphone in my left hand for phone calls - since it leaves my right hand free for poking shiny icons and other tasks. (For texting or surfing, I slide out the keyboard and hold it in both hands for thumbnail typing.)
A "right-handed baseball glove" is worn on the left hand - to keep the right hand free for throwing. Similarly, I'd think that it would be common for right-handers to hold a touch-screen phone with their left hands (in the dreaded "death grip" position).
they did try to test the phone.. until gizmodo "stole" the phone from them... blame gizmodo.
But the "found" phone was in a 3GS case, which would have blocked any problems due to actually touching the antennae.!
Apple's testing was not reasonable - since many people want to show off the latest shiny thing that they found on the Internet. They don't want to wrap their shiny new phone in a silicone condom.
____________________
But I'm glad that you put "stole" in quotation marks, since it recognizes that the official story is that the phone was lost and not actually stolen.
Many posters here don't recognize that possibility - they use terms like "stolen" and "lifted" without quotes as if a court of law has determined that an actual act of burglary has occurred.
(Regardless of whether the finder excerised due diligence in trying to find the owner - "finding" and "stealing" are very different concepts.)
Doesn't the *fact* that the phone often has problems if you touch it make you wonder about your belief?
Jobs' obsession with secrecy means that Apple hardware and software doesn't get wide testing before release. Apple could learn a lot from Microsoft in this area.