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Should I get the iPhone 4?

W

whokilledkaji

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 21, 2008
45
3
Hikone, Japan
I live in Japan and pre-ordered an iPhone 4, but Softbank didn't have enough to fill the demand. I've been waiting a whle, but I'm getting a little worried about all of the problems I hear concerning signal strength and yellow marks on the screen.

It seems that yellow marks go away, but how bad is the signal issue really?

I'm soooo happy with my 3GS even though it's taken a lot of abuse and should be replaced soon.

Should I wait or is the iPhone 4 really worth it in your opinion?

I should mention that the signal issue isn't widely known in Japan yet although the yellow marks were a big story...
 
You should hold on to your 3GS unless you really have the extra money to spend. Going from a < 3GS is worth it.


The yellow spots seem rare to me. I don't have them. You can possibly go into a store and get your phone, and check for any defects. That's what I did.

Sure there is an antenna issue, but unless you have a habit of death gripping your phone with your left hand on the bottom left, it's not an issue. At least it's not for me.
 
I am also waiting this phone out until everything settles and Apple or someone addresses all the issues. There seems to be too many problems (reception, spots, fragile, wifi?, and others that seem to come up each day).
 
Voltik said:
I am also waiting this phone out until everything settles and Apple or someone addresses all the issues. There seems to be too many problems (reception, spots, fragile, wifi?, and others that seem to come up each day).
Click to expand...

I have no problems. My phone was made in factory 83 and on the 26th week.
 
I think the signal issue is a bit blown out of proportion. I lose a bar or two when I cover the entire antenna, but that is just an unnatural way to hold the phone. I have yet to have a call be dropped on my iPhone 4.

I think you should totally upgrade to the iPhone 4. It is so speedy and the screen is so beautiful that it almost feels like a next-gen iPhone.
 
I have a iphone 3gs and after reading all this stuff. Im going to wait.I figure 3 to 6 months will be safe.I really wanted one but I dont want to deal with the nonsense. There is nothing wrong with the iphone I have now.
 
How is cell coverage where you are? I'm guessing better since there is a more dense population. It's a great phone and the reception issue is only able to be reproduced in specific scenarios. It really depends on whether or not the feature set of the iphone 4 is a big enough improvement to justify it for you.
 
chrmjenkins said:
How is cell coverage where you are? I'm guessing better since there is a more dense population. It's a great phone and the reception issue is only able to be reproduced in specific scenarios. It really depends on whether or not the feature set of the iphone 4 is a big enough improvement to justify it for you.
Click to expand...

Softbank is always the black sheep in terms of reception in Japan. The government won't allow them to use the same band that docomo and au enjoy. Even at that, reception is pretty darn good I think. I only have one 2 minute dead time as I ride the train to Kyoto, but it's the only place I've ever lost signal.

Anyways, I just got the call from my softbank shop and my iPhone came in! Ahhh!!! The excitement is returning. I have to make a descision by 6:00 tonight!
 
Keen to get an iPhone and am in Japan too, though after a look at Yamada, Softbank and at the apple store and seeing the reception issues first hand I am waiting until some improvement or announcement is made.

Hoping that doesn't mean waiting for iPhone 5 or 4S ..

Been keen to hear your experiences.
 
Voltik said:
I am also waiting this phone out until everything settles and Apple or someone addresses all the issues. There seems to be too many problems (reception, spots, fragile, wifi?, and others that seem to come up each day).
Click to expand...

Rumor has it that a journalist first used the sensational term "death grip". I know from first hand experience with my iPhone, it does not require a death grip to cancel the ability of the antenna to receive a signal. All it takes is to touch the antenna in the lower left with a finger, or palm of your hand. This causes the signal to plummet to an unusable level on some phones. On others, they drop to one bar or two. I bought three iPhone 4 models for my family. They came from three different sources, each of them has this defect. Mines so bad it's nearly unusable.*

I highly suggest that people wait. Apples too busy to deal with this now, I believe this is why they're calling it normal. What Apple is busy doing, is getting the CDMA version of iPhone 4 ready for their launch with Verizon, at the beginning of 2011.*

With today's discovery that Apple is soliciting for special antenna engineers, it's obvious the next version due in June of next year will be the one to have. Also for me, Apples arrogant response while not surprising has destroyed the trust I had in them. I expect bugs with a completely new design, but I expect a company like Apple to at least get the basics correct. iPhone 4? Good device with a horrid phone.*
 
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