Seriously, This Antenna BS Has Got to Stop

[BOEK 1936]

I just got off the phone with Apple tech support. Here is what I was told regarding the current situation:

He said, "there is a problem and we are working to fix it. It is a hardware issue. The "bumper" does not fix the problem either."

I was told to turn of the Wi-Fi and that would give "fix" the issue. Three calls later (not many) and no dropped calls.

If this is "made-up" why are they acknowledging the problem?

I love Apple products too, but I try to remind myself that every time you buy a new product such as this there might be "growing pains".

Right?

Other than the dropped calls I love the phone!

 

[Coukos34]

Again, I ask. Have you dropped a call?

Are you deaf or just ignorant? First of all yes I have dropped a few calls, but the better way to measure is by viewing data throughput, not if u just drop a call. I don't know if you realize this, but the iPhone is more than just a phone i think some people would be interested in having their data not drop out as well. I take it you have not run this test. You def sound qualified to have an opinon

 

[iPhoneHome]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03PQyWp0mWE
Can you guys not click? Many people are experiencing this. Lmao. Must you see it in person or something? EVERYTIME I pick up my phone in the area I live in...the call drops. Not the bars just going down. IT DROPSSSS

I could be wrong...but can you really hold the phone with that bottom cupping grip? I just tried and its not comfortable at all.

Let me ask you a question: If you held the top end of a baseball bat with expectations of hitting homeruns every time, you would be sadly mistaken.

People don't hold phones like this while talking.

 

[wesk702]

Ur experience doesn't discredit everyone else's. There are people with real tech issues; you... just an ass.

 

[kernkraft]

Nokia - it just works.

 

[ashVID]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03PQyWp0mWE
Can you guys not click? Many people are experiencing this. Lmao. Must you see it in person or something? EVERYTIME I pick up my phone in the area I live in...the call drops. Not the bars just going down. IT DROPSSSS

Not sure why you were quoting me as I very much have the issue. My point was that the quotes in the media calling it "useless as a phone" are dramatically overblown. There is an issue with reception, most agree.



ash =o)

 

[woofermazing]

If you are a user who is not seeing any bar drops, please test your bandwidth with and without the death grip and note the difference. You can also use the field test mode by dialing *3001#12345#*

 

[Rooftop voter]

I've had the iP4 since the launch day and yes I have seen the bars drop...but haven't dropped a darn call yet. I'm on the phone for the better part of each day and I, like Mr. Jobs, see this as a NON ISSUE.

It's just like the old story "Dr. my arm hurts when I position it like this"... Dr: "Well don't do that"...."Oh, Thanks"

Honestly, the news, media and Apple haters have taken this story and misconstrued the hell out of it. Whenever any company sells a million of anything, there are going to be some issues with a small % of the devices. That's a given. The problem nowadays, is that the first "I want some media love-whore attention jerk" will begin to whine, tip news outlets and complain on every message bored around.






I've TRIED to drop a call by using a Samurai Death Grip and it just wouldn't happen. Yes, the bars fall but it's not hurting reception or the phones performance.

Anywho, to those who have been weary about picking up and iP4 because of this nonsense please don't hesitate...it's seriously not that bad.

Wow! I'm sorry wanting a phone that actually works offends you... Oh wait, I don't care.

 

[wongster41]

I've had the iP4 since the launch day and yes I have seen the bars drop...but haven't dropped a darn call yet. I'm on the phone for the better part of each day and I, like Mr. Jobs, see this as a NON ISSUE.

It's just like the old story "Dr. my arm hurts when I position it like this"... Dr: "Well don't do that"...."Oh, Thanks"

Honestly, the news, media and Apple haters have taken this story and misconstrued the hell out of it. Whenever any company sells a million of anything, there are going to be some issues with a small % of the devices. That's a given. The problem nowadays, is that the first "I want some media love-whore attention jerk" will begin to whine, tip news outlets and complain on every message bored around.

I've TRIED to drop a call by using a Samurai Death Grip and it just wouldn't happen. Yes, the bars fall but it's not hurting reception or the phones performance.

Anywho, to those who have been weary about picking up and iP4 because of this nonsense please don't hesitate...it's seriously not that bad.

are you kidding me? yes, this is a serious problem. Even though your calls aren't dropping, the signal is still degraded everytime you pick up the device. When the signal starts degrading, the phone tries to look for the signal harder hence killing the battery life.

 

[br0adband]

If you're left handed, holding the phone like Apple demonstrates in almost every single damned picture of it in the hand is precisely how not to hold it and precisely the way that causes the issue because the skin is bridging the two parts of the antenna bands in the lower left hand side:

The product demos and videos and pictures all show that hand position or something very close to it; the point being they all show the model's hand always making contact directly on the seam bridging the two metal bands that make up the antennas, which is what those of us that can readily demonstrate the issue and resulting loss of signal and then service are talking about so fervently.

It doesn't have to be cupped with "The Vulcan Death Grip" or whatever the kids are calling it, it's the skin-on-metal contact that's causing this problem - it's a hardware issue.

None of us are saying it's not a great product, honestly.

We're saying it's a great product that doesn't work, in our specific first hand situations.

 

[BrownManUPS]

I've seen the issue on my phone, but it isn't too bad. Especially with the bumper -- it is a non issue. I will definitely update my phone if a fix comes out, but will probably wait a week to see what the firmware fix "breaks".

 

[msduncan]

I could be wrong...but can you really hold the phone with that bottom cupping grip? I just tried and its not comfortable at all.

Let me ask you a question: If you held the top end of a baseball bat with expectations of hitting homeruns every time, you would be sadly mistaken.

People don't hold phones like this while talking.

Again, and with much exhaustion, I point you to my issue of data speed loss and surfing. Calls are not my problem. Holding the phone to explore the internet or perform tasks with apps that use the 3G connection is.

 

[PNutts]

Wow! I'm sorry wanting a phone that actually works offends you... Oh wait, I don't care.

LOL

It doesn't have to be cupped with "The Vulcan Death Grip" or whatever the kids are calling it, it's the skin-on-metal contact that's causing this problem - it's a hardware issue.

None of us are saying it's not a great product, honestly.

We're saying it's a great product that doesn't work, in our specific first hand situations.

+1

 

[iPhoneHome]

Again, and with much exhaustion, I point you to my issue of data speed loss and surfing. Calls are not my problem. Holding the phone to explore the internet or perform tasks with apps that use the 3G connection is.

Yes, valid point. But that's not what everyone is crying about. The main argument is Dropped Calls.

 

[Godzirra!]

Fanboyyyyy

 

[RonHC]

People don't hold phones like this while talking.

Most people do
I do because i want to have a strong grip so it doesn't accidentally fall off my hands and crack

 

[myfoneisdank]

I've had the iP4 since the launch day and yes I have seen the bars drop...but haven't dropped a darn call yet. I'm on the phone for the better part of each day and I, like Mr. Jobs, see this as a NON ISSUE.

It's just like the old story "Dr. my arm hurts when I position it like this"... Dr: "Well don't do that"...."Oh, Thanks"

Honestly, the news, media and Apple haters have taken this story and misconstrued the hell out of it. Whenever any company sells a million of anything, there are going to be some issues with a small % of the devices. That's a given. The problem nowadays, is that the first "I want some media love-whore attention jerk" will begin to whine, tip news outlets and complain on every message bored around.

I've TRIED to drop a call by using a Samurai Death Grip and it just wouldn't happen. Yes, the bars fall but it's not hurting reception or the phones performance.

Anywho, to those who have been weary about picking up and iP4 because of this nonsense please don't hesitate...it's seriously not that bad.

Clearly you've just sat in your house for the past two days or went to your buddys houses down the street.

Wait until you go somewhere that doesn't have as strong of a signal and try making calls with your left hand. See what happens fella

 

[RonHC]

Clearly you've just sat in your house for the past two days or went to your buddys houses down the street.

Wait until you go somewhere that doesn't have as strong of a signal and try making calls with your left hand. See what happens fella

BEE YACHT

Fixed

 

[Russ-LM]

As a developer myself, I am feeling it for Apple. On one hand you have angry customers that want their iPhones to work (NOW!), and the other you have happy customers who make it harder to determine what the problem is cause they are adamant that their phone is fine and nothing is wrong.

If you are not having a problem then sit tight and stay out of it, so Apple can work out the issue with people who are having the problem. Telling people to stop it, makes things worse for Apple not better.

 

[soundmanJP]

Anyway I have been following all this with great interest as I was finally planning to get one, after being impressed with my iPod touch, the specifications seem to finally be a point where it eliminates two or more devices out of my pockets/bags while travelling around and well all my Mac stuff is generally great.

Im living in Japan currently, so decided to go and check out Softbank and the Apple store and get some hands on time with the phone.

In one of the electrical stores they had a Softbank stand with both 3GS and iPhone4, in this particular store the signal seems marginal to begin with, and to my horror simply picking up the iPhone4 in my left hand (lightly and very naturally I would say), as if to browse the web or play a game resulted in no signal in about 10-15 seconds. After replacing the phone the bench the phone returned to "full" signal.
So this particular issue is certainly not related to a specific carrier or regional problem.

I decided to then try 3GS, in exactly the same circumstances this did not occur to the same detrimental degree as on the iPhone4, there was a little drop in signal, but no lose of 3G coverage.

Very discouraged by this I decided to wander up to the apple store a block or so away as see what was happening there.

In the Apple Store, which is a much more exposed location (living in a country with a real "legitimate" apple store is quite a treat for a Kiwi Chap still) no matter how I held, touched or looked at the phone the signal would not move.

So even 500m down the road a completely different result.

To the people saying there isn't an issue, there clearly is something that is causing loss of signal when using the phone in a manner very similar to much of apples own promotional material that in lower signal areas can cause the connection to the network fail.

I hope apple gets this sorted out quickly so as always I can get my rev B or C apple device as other than this it seemed amazing.

I say as always because being in a demanding professional sector using technology I learnt long ago being on the bleeding edge is nothing but painful every new release needs at least a few months to mature when a major change is made, but I hope all those people effected are treated well !

 

[-aggie-]

Um, I wouldn't call 28% small, according to the TechCrunch poll. By my calculations that means that 420,000 iPhone owners have this problem worldwide. That is not "a given."

I agree this is an issue, but you’re citing a poll that has no basis for representing what percent of users worldwide have this problem. You’d really have to get some reputable poll taking organization (like Harris or Gallup) to come up with any meaningful poll based on the iPhone 4 population. Of course, Apple knows how many complaints they’ve got, but I doubt they’ll let us know that info. Also, like I’ve said in other posts, if you looked at the posts on MacRumors, you’d think a huge percentage of users have this problem. That might be so, but most people posting would be the complainers. People who don’t have problems have either never heard of these forums or wouldn’t bother to post anyway.

 

[thercanbeonly1]

Have some people never owned a cell phone? Majority of cell phones made now a days have the antenna located at "base" of the phone. And if you bother to look at the manuals or stickers that come on brand new cellphones, they will explain the correct way to hold your cellphone so you do not block the antenna and lose signal. Apple should have included something stating this so people wouldn't freak out. I personally haven't had a major problem with the antenna issue(no dropped calls), yes my bars do go down with the grip of death but guess what, I don't hold it that way!! lol

 

[detroit1]

Um, I wouldn't call 28% small, according to the TechCrunch poll. By my calculations that means that 420,000 iPhone owners have this problem worldwide. That is not "a given."

unfortunately, your calculations are wrong. 650,000(the amount of preorders at at&t and apple had) x .28=182,000. (now if more people bought the phone then obviously this number can move up) thats IF 28% of people are experiencing this issue. Now of course these results are skewed. Obviously the most people doing a poll in an article about iphone 4 issues are going to already have an iphone 4 issue and are looking online for it. therefore, this percentage is way off. How did you get 420,000??

 

[futbalguy]

Have some people never owned a cell phone? Majority of cell phones made now a days have the antenna located at "base" of the phone. And if you bother to look at the manuals or stickers that come on brand new cellphones, they will explain the correct way to hold your cellphone so you do not block the antenna and lose signal. Apple should have included something stating this so people wouldn't freak out. I personally haven't had a major problem with the antenna issue(no dropped calls), yes my bars do go down with the grip of death but guess what, I don't hold it that way!! lol

You dont mind because you arent experiencing it to the degree that others have. I dont have to use a "death grip". I just put my hand on the phone and the signal immediately dies. I only have to touch the phone with one finger to make this happen. If I come in contact with that spot, it just stops. The speed test app goes from showing data transmitting to completely stopped instantly. The bars only go down slowly because there is some sort of smoothing of the signal over time.

 

[AbSoluTc]

If you hold the phone in the middle with your pointer finger and thumb you don't get dropped calls. I don't understand how people hold the phone up to their ear in a cup positioned way.

Is that how you hold your phone when you are using for data and such? With just a few fingers? Really? You must get some strange looks!