Steve Jobs Again Speaks Out on iPhone 4 Antenna Issue via Email

[Jimrod]

Yeah, isn't it stupid how certain individuals on here will blindly defend Steve Jobs, no matter what he says or does.

They can't ALL be Apple shareholders surely?

I regard 'Fanboys' or 'Fanbois' as uninformed, reactionary individuals who lack coherent, intelligent thought, no matter what/who they're 'fans' of (Apple, Android etc).

Agreed.

If you say you drop signal/have poor quality the reply is: Well that's what happens if you smother the phone in a death grip concentrating on the bars you mindless drooling retard... Even if you're just trying to make a bloody call. It just so happens that because they live under an antenna and can't recreate the problem that the thousands of people with real problems are obviously deluded non-followers of the master.

Never even get started on the non-working proximity sensor - there's a 50 page complaint thread on Apple's own support forum about that, again must be retards with the wrong skin type, maybe you're supposed to hold the phone 3 inches from your face with one finger top and bottom for best results, that's what the master says...

 

[rhanley]

I can do the same thing, but only when I stand in an area that I know has good coverage.

Again, that's the whole issue. If you're in sparse coverage, holding the phone makes it more susceptible to dropping bars.

Exactly!

I know that my coverage is not great at my house, and my Iphone 3G would get choppy from time to time and I'd walk toward my front windows or outside and all was well -- never a dropped call.

I get my iphone 4 and I deal with constant choppiness and dropped calls at my house -- My phone is basically useless inside my home and I have to go outside to talk -- and I've even had 3 dropped calls when I was outside which seems crazy to me.

So, my entire point is that the reception in my house is worse than it was with my iPhone 3G -- That's all the proof I need.

And for the record, I hold my phone with 3 finger tips and my thumb, but my ring finger is where the antenna separation is. When I first pick up a call, or call someone, I make sure to shift my hand up to avoid that, but inevitably, I go back to how I'm comfortable holding the phone and it gets choppy, and I have to quickly move my hand again before the call drops.

It's not easy to change the way I've been holding a phone for 3 years - trust me, I wish I could, and maybe I will be alright with time -- but I at least deserve an official response from Apple. I prefer to focus on my phone conversation and not on how I'm holding my phone.

Steve Jobs: "It just works"

:: shakes head ::

 

[firewood]

Video or it didn't happen.

Anyone with more than -67 dBm of signal can make it happen. (They'll still have 5 bars and a great connection even after up to 24 dB of attenuation.)

 

[rpaloalto]

I admire Steve Jobs greatly, but he really needs to stop replying so much to customers e-mails. Seems like the last few months he has gotten into hot water more then a few times. Especially when he got in that email fight with that Gawker media guy, who was keeping silent on who he was.

Regardless of Apples official position on this issue. He should not be commenting on it, in emails.

I do hope however that Apple knows about it and is really working on a fix at least for future Iphones, coming of the assembly line.

 

[WeegieMac]

I admire Steve Jobs greatly, but he really needs to stop replying so much to customers e-mails. Seems like the last few months he has gotten into hot water more then a few times. Especially when he got in that email fight with that Gawker media guy, who was keeping silent on who he was.

Regardless of Apples official position on this issue. He should not be commenting on it, in emails.

I do hope however that Apple knows about it and is really working on a fix at least for future Iphones, coming of the assembly line.

A somewhat ironic late comment .... it's been proven that the comments in question didn't even come from Jobs.

 

[HLdan]

What a self absorbed a'hole!

LOL, if you really think about it, you'd be one too if you were the chief executive officer of a multi-billion dollar corporation under the radar with the SEC and major stock holders, which BTW you were the one responsible for bringing it back to profitability when it was just about to close up business.

What surprises me is with all of that responsibility and Jobs brining Apple into the most popular and profitable multimedia company in history, he would even take 5 minutes to respond to angry emails. If I were him I wouldn't. I find it hard to believe any other CEO does this, they normally put the responsibility on their YES men.

 

[donlphi]

Just another set of photos...

You've all seen it, but I am in a very good AT&T location in the Seattle Area. It was the second shipment of phones.

Normal Hand Position:

This is how I would normally hold my original iPhone and iPhone 3Gs with no problems. Notice the thumb is able to access the volume and mute buttons. I am pretty sure this was how the original phones were meant to be held - secure in the palm of your hand.

Altered Hand Position:

This is how I might hold the phone if I were holding it out to show somebody something. To use the phone with this hand position would be ridiculous and probably cause severe carpal tunnel.

I find it incredibly sad that nothing has been said or done a week after the release. I suppose I'll return the phone within 30 days if the problem isn't resolved and just go back to the 3Gs, but Steve leaves these messages like "Stay Tuned". It reminds me of being in high school or college when a girl would break up with me but still greet me with a hug or kiss. Does she want to stay together or does she want to stay broken up? I want to return the phone (break up), but Steve keeps making me feel like he's going to fix it.

 

[rhanley]

It reminds me of being in high school or college when a girl would break up with me but still greet me with a hug or kiss. Does she want to stay together or does she want to stay broken up? I want to return the phone (break up), but Steve keeps making me feel like he's going to fix it.

Hahaha, excellent analogy!

Just break our hearts Steve and quit playing these games!!

 

[BobVB]

You've all seen it, but I am in a very good AT&T location in the Seattle Area. It was the second shipment of phones.

Normal Hand Position:

This is how I would normally hold my original iPhone and iPhone 3Gs with no problems. Notice the thumb is able to access the volume and mute buttons. I am pretty sure this was how the original phones were meant to be held - secure in the palm of your hand

Pretty much exactly right though I hold the phone just a touch lower. Way I would and have held every phone I've had, GPS, calculator, whatever.

 

[Jimrod]

You've all seen it, but I am in a very good AT&T location in the Seattle Area. It was the second shipment of phones.

Normal Hand Position:

This is how I would normally hold my original iPhone and iPhone 3Gs with no problems. Notice the thumb is able to access the volume and mute buttons. I am pretty sure this was how the original phones were meant to be held - secure in the palm of your hand.

Altered Hand Position:

This is how I might hold the phone if I were holding it out to show somebody something. To use the phone with this hand position would be ridiculous and probably cause severe carpal tunnel.

I find it incredibly sad that nothing has been said or done a week after the release. I suppose I'll return the phone within 30 days if the problem isn't resolved and just go back to the 3Gs, but Steve leaves these messages like "Stay Tuned". It reminds me of being in high school or college when a girl would break up with me but still greet me with a hug or kiss. Does she want to stay together or does she want to stay broken up? I want to return the phone (break up), but Steve keeps making me feel like he's going to fix it.

Exactly, people keep saying "Just return it if you're not happy" - well we do like the phone, we just want to know if Apple will get it working. When Jobs says "Stay tuned" it leaves us in limbo about what to do next...

 

[HLdan]

It reminds me of being in high school or college when a girl would break up with me but still greet me with a hug or kiss. Does she want to stay together or does she want to stay broken up? I want to return the phone (break up), but Steve keeps making me feel like he's going to fix it.

BRILLIANT!!!

 

[deus_ex_machina]

You've all seen it, but I am in a very good AT&T location in the Seattle Area. It was the second shipment of phones.

Normal Hand Position:

This is how I would normally hold my original iPhone and iPhone 3Gs with no problems. Notice the thumb is able to access the volume and mute buttons. I am pretty sure this was how the original phones were meant to be held - secure in the palm of your hand.

Altered Hand Position:

This is how I might hold the phone if I were holding it out to show somebody something. To use the phone with this hand position would be ridiculous and probably cause severe carpal tunnel.

I find it incredibly sad that nothing has been said or done a week after the release. I suppose I'll return the phone within 30 days if the problem isn't resolved and just go back to the 3Gs, but Steve leaves these messages like "Stay Tuned". It reminds me of being in high school or college when a girl would break up with me but still greet me with a hug or kiss. Does she want to stay together or does she want to stay broken up? I want to return the phone (break up), but Steve keeps making me feel like he's going to fix it.

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2008/09/cell-bars-reception.ars

Read the article. Are you actually dropping calls or just watching the bars?

 

[482123]

You've all seen it, but I am in a very good AT&T location in the Seattle Area. It was the second shipment of phones.

Normal Hand Position:

Cut your nails.

 

[MrZip]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8A293)

You have to love how the old wind bag, Steve (blow) Jobs is handling this problem with his words. Are any of you iPhone users under his spell yet.

 

[n8236]

Ya, u ppl who are too sensitive need to get over it. U paid only $200-$300 for the thing, and u want it to be PERFECT? U can buy a $20,000 phone w/ stubbed diamonds and have more issues. Just because Apple has a track record of producing high quality stuff, it's not and never will be perfect to everyone's liking.

I personally like how Jobs handled this customer. It's to the point and keeps reality in check.

 

[Jimrod]

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2008/09/cell-bars-reception.ars

Read the article. Are you actually dropping calls or just watching the bars?

I have dropped 3 calls in my office where I always get 5 bars of reception, I didn't want to drop calls or try to - it's my business I'm trying to keep going, I'm not playing games. I have also muted a call with my ear due to proximity sensor and had 5 people tell me they can barely hear me due to crackle. I have also had plenty of calls which were fine in other areas. My 3G never exhibited any problems in this location.

 

[random person]

Forgive me if this has already been posted -- but has anyone noticed that the front page of macrumors has a correction on this story? Apparently the line that ends with "it's just a phone not worth it" came from boy genius writers, not steve jobs. Whew.

The sad truth is that everyone in this forum is right. Some of us have no problems, some of us have some problems, and some of us have major problems. In my case I fit all of those categories since I have found it is completely dependent on the quality of my cell phone signal and location.

So everyone here is right.

So why all the name-calling and hostility? And why hate steve jobs and feel it is appropriate to completely insult him? He has, after all, made some substantial technology contributions. No one can deny his importance, his influence, and his contribution.

In my case, my phone behaves exactly as ALL of you describe. It is both perfect and all screwed up depending on my location and how I hold the phone at the time. I purchased a bumper (two) and will get a case when I find one to my liking. What i won't do is insult people who claim not to have the problem -- because I am one of those people, depending on where I am! And I won't insult the people who are angry because they have a problem -- because I can relate to that too! And I certainly wouldn't dream of insulting steve jobs because no matter how you slice it this phone is a technological marvel and like everything apple does it gives us a glimpse of the future.

I'm keeping my flawless/flawed phone, and i am also trying to keep the conversation civil. Is that possible?

 

[surfkw]

Will the emergency doctor, who doesn't even know about this issue (because it's a non-issue, right?), say It is just a human life. Not worth it. when he cannot get a signal to call for the heart defibrillator?

In what hospitals are ER docs using their cellphones to call for a defibrillator? Cell phone use isn't even allowed in hospitals...

Even if that was the case, how can you compare a doctor saying a life isn't important to a businessman saying his product isn't important. Oh wait... Maybe there is a connection

 

[firewood]

I suppose I'll return the phone within 30 days if the problem isn't resolved and just go back to the 3Gs,

So you think a 3G is a better device overall than an i4 with a bumper?

All those nice features (Retina display, 5 MPix camera, front camera, LED flash, gyro, 800 MHz A4, 512 MB RAM, etc.) are worth less than $30 more for a bumper to you?

Sorry, but I still have my 3G, and it now seems really slow, pokey, and memory limited compared to the newer iPhones.

And I never took many photos with my 3G, they never looked that good to me. But now I'm having lots of fun taking great photos with my i4. I've even learned how to hold it properly, and not cover the lens with my finger when taking photos!

 

[WeegieMac]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPod; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Mobile/8A293)

You have to love how the old wind bag, Steve (blow) Jobs is handling this problem with his words. Are any of you iPhone users under his spell yet.

Bemoaning Jobs handling of words while using a term like "Steve (Blow) Jobs" to try and make a point ... I've not even defended Jobs in this thread and I found that cringeworthy.

Oh, and again, read posts instead of leaping in with both feet ... Jobs did not send the emails in this report, it has been proven just recently.

 

[Jimrod]

Ya, u ppl who are too sensitive need to get over it. U paid only $200-$300 for the thing, and u want it to be PERFECT? U can buy a $20,000 phone w/ stubbed diamonds and have more issues. Just because Apple has a track record of producing high quality stuff, it's not and never will be perfect to everyone's liking.

I personally like how Jobs handled this customer. It's to the point and keeps reality in check.

You are a manufacturers dream - I have some stock of $3000 speakers with bubbling wood veneer, you can but $100,000 speakers with problems so I'm sure you'd take them off my hands for full price? They are very well reviewed too!

 

[Jimrod]

So you think a 3G is a better device overall than an i4 with a bumper?

All those nice features (Retina display, 5 MPix camera, front camera, LED flash, gyro, 800 MHz A4, 512 MB RAM, etc.) are worth less than $30 more for a bumper to you?

Sorry, but I still have my 3G, and it now seems really slow, pokey, and memory limited compared to the newer iPhones.

And I never took many photos with my 3G, they never looked that good to me. But now I'm having lots of fun taking great photos with my i4. I've even learned how to hold it properly, and not cover the lens with my finger when taking photos!

You haven't "learned how to hold it properly" - you've learned a work around for a flawed design. A mobile phone is meant to be held in the hand, Apple pride themselves on this kind of thing... Usually.

 

[Tunster]

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2008/09/cell-bars-reception.ars

Read the article. Are you actually dropping calls or just watching the bars?

I have the exact same thing mate and I'm personally not watching the bars drop. Even in an extremely strong area here in the UK (at home) where every other phone hasn't had a problem, hold it with my left hand kills it pretty much.

Using my right hand to take calls isnt a problem, but using the left hand to hold it while i touch the screen with my right kills any 3G data.

Still, you wouldn't by a Sony HD TV and then expect to accept the fact that it may only come out as black and white. Then for Sony to say it's normal, would you accept that? You buy a product for the right purpose and unfortunately my iPhone 4 isn't doing that without problems with degraded or cut phone calls.

The sooner Apple come out and admit the problem out right and express their working on the problem, the better. They're causing the outrage and reactions by holding back denying the problem.

Surely Apple admire their products for being so simple to use... to tell use to use the i4 cack-handed is going against that principal. Still, I'll live whether it's a problem or not. I'm sure a bit of scotch tape isn't going to hurt it.

 

[JediZenMaster]

wow, you must have an apple tattoo on your arm. Do you have any thoughts of your own on this matter or do you have to bite off steve jobs words?

Actually i don't have tattoo's and i do have thoughts of my own. I personally believe people get too wrapped up in technology. For me it's a no brainer if my iPhone was having these problems i would rather return it then run my blood pressure up or stress out about it.

When i die all these gadgets and stuff will still be around. I'm not going spend a moment my life consumed in stress about a phone or anything. Life is too short to sweat stuff.

 

[Arne MBP]

So far I´ve read 5 rewiews on iPhone 4 here in Norway and NONE of them have able to reproduse the problem........