Im going to give it a few weeks to see how it pans out. Id like to get one but i need to know that first and foremost it works as a phone when i need it too.
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Steve Jobs denies iP4 reception issues!
- Thread starter rfbandit
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Oh, I'm sure lots of folks are. People read entirely too much into the snippets that Steve Jobs drops from his table scraps... reminds me of... a Cult leader offering up tiny little morsels of their own wisdom and the reactions their followers have.
Sad, really.
For all the joking that I and many others do with respect to "The Cult of Mac" over the past 25+ years, our jokes have a foundation of merit and accuracy because Steve Jobs and Apple breed it.
And that's no joke at all...
Sad, really.
For all the joking that I and many others do with respect to "The Cult of Mac" over the past 25+ years, our jokes have a foundation of merit and accuracy because Steve Jobs and Apple breed it.
And that's no joke at all...
Brian: Look, you've got it all wrong! You don't need to follow me. You don't need to follow anybody! You've got to think for yourselves! You're all individuals!
Crowd: [in unison] Yes! We're all individuals!
Brian: You're all different!
Crowd: [in unison] Yes, we are all different!
Man in crowd: I'm not...
Not when its the Daily Mail its not
They are so pathetic that I feel bad for taking the mick:
http://cl.ly/4f187fb0037cc9ded81c
Steve Jobs was right...
Steve Jobs was right when he replied with: "There is no reception problem" simply because there is no reception problem.
The main problem is the all new and brilliantly designed stainless steel antenna system on the iPhone 4, which is so much better, but unfortunately also more receptacle for (the slightest) signal change. Enter signal indicator problems.
The good news is that the (signal indicator) actuation can be calibrated with a simple software change, by Apple software engineers, and this change will be part of the iOS 4 update scheduled for next week, just like Apple did for the 3GS. Remember?
But the problem is twofold. The actual signal drop is baseband (switching) related, and this appears to be a much tougher problem to solve. This however is not a design flaw, and will also be fixed, next week at the latest, and thus that was why Steve replied with: Stay tuned.
Note: Not all replies from sjobs@apple.com are from Steve himself. Just to make it clear that previous replies might not have been Steve's...
Steve Jobs was right when he replied with: "There is no reception problem" simply because there is no reception problem.
The main problem is the all new and brilliantly designed stainless steel antenna system on the iPhone 4, which is so much better, but unfortunately also more receptacle for (the slightest) signal change. Enter signal indicator problems.
The good news is that the (signal indicator) actuation can be calibrated with a simple software change, by Apple software engineers, and this change will be part of the iOS 4 update scheduled for next week, just like Apple did for the 3GS. Remember?
But the problem is twofold. The actual signal drop is baseband (switching) related, and this appears to be a much tougher problem to solve. This however is not a design flaw, and will also be fixed, next week at the latest, and thus that was why Steve replied with: Stay tuned.
Note: Not all replies from sjobs@apple.com are from Steve himself. Just to make it clear that previous replies might not have been Steve's...
Updating to IOS 4 brought the issue to my 3G. So I'm quite confident it can be resolved by another software update.
And therein lies yet another problem:
What "scheduled update" are you speaking of? Do you work for Apple (but just can't admit it for fear of instant termination considering the unspoken rule that no Apple employee can be a member of this forum)? Can you point me or anyone else to any specific Apple.com page or something in their knowledge base that says:
"Yep, we know about it, we're getting the fix tested now and it should be available next week or sooner."
Because so far, no official Apple statement has made its way out of Apple, at least not that I know of (and nobody else does either).
It's a big problem when people keep making officially semi-officially inaccurate and completely speculative statements about "scheduled updates."
Besides, if Apple has a scheduled update that's an admission that yes, something is wrong. And of course, Apple is never wrong, nor is Steve Jobs, so... which is it?
Catch-22, much?
More from the SJ fact patrol: The sky is yellow. There is no oil leaking the Gulf of Mexico. Smoking doesn't cause cancer.
DBSAI
Suggestions:
1. Get the iphone4 and enjoy it, signals are ok
2. Get an iPhone 4 and a case. Enjoy it. Signals are ok.
'Copying' other companies ideas is certainly nothing new, and almost definitely not restricted to Apple. The fact that Nokia have started legal action against Apple means absolutely nothing. I could take out a patent tomorrow on some aspect of antenna or touchscreen technology and it would likely be granted. This doesn't actually mean it's a valid patent though.
The state of patent law today is very different to what it was originally was. No longer is it used to protect ideas, but is instead used to put up obstructions to competitors. Whether these patents are valid or not, is up to the other party to prove which costs money and time.
Before anyone starts calling me a fanboy, I do actually speak from some level of experience being an Engineer in a company making high end comsumer products that are subject to a lot of patents. We 'benchmark' our comeptitors products, as do they do with ours. This is the way we as humans work. We take the ideas of those before us and improve them.
So stop with the rubbish consipricy theories and ludicrous one sided accusations and just get on with your life. Patent law is silly, and in many cases completely un defendable. Tell me how for instance you can patent the idea of an external ariel? This idea is neither unique or patententable. I don't deny that Nokia have some kind of patent taken out on this, but I doubt it holds water, and realistically, Apples interpretation of that patent will mean it's in some way different, and hence will not infringe the patent Nokia has. This doesn't stop Nokia making noises about it, but if it is as general as covering external ariels, then a good number of phones from the last decade would also infringe that patent.
Owww please please please let this be in the printed copy! That kids is not how to be a journalist! Even the comments on the site are explaining to the journalist that it was a parody. Lets see how long it stays up
Do they care though? I have the utmost respect for the British and everything, but their newspapers (or tabloids, the line is somewhat blurred) make the National Enquirer look like the Washington Post. They seem to live in a fictional world where facts and truth are entirely irrelevant, all that matters is that you can come up with a har-de-har clever headlines like "Lickity Splat! Peaches Geldof Looks Pants Again In Awful New Outfit". Worst press in the world, hands down.
WiFi is an issue as well?
I might be late to this particular party, but I can also replicate this problem with WiFi when holding the phone in landscape mode. If I hold the phone in such a way that my left hand is covering the top (where the headphone jack resides) the WiFi reception attenuates. However, if I remove my left hand and hold it with my right hand only, no issues. The WiFi signal indicator goes back to full capacity. Essentially the same apparent issue of bridging the two antennas. I'm sure this was pointed out somewhere and I missed it, these threads have become huge.
I might be late to this particular party, but I can also replicate this problem with WiFi when holding the phone in landscape mode. If I hold the phone in such a way that my left hand is covering the top (where the headphone jack resides) the WiFi reception attenuates. However, if I remove my left hand and hold it with my right hand only, no issues. The WiFi signal indicator goes back to full capacity. Essentially the same apparent issue of bridging the two antennas. I'm sure this was pointed out somewhere and I missed it, these threads have become huge.
"A spokesperson for Apple was not immediately available to comment." - that's strange. I know for a fact that the Mail's editor normally has a direct line to Jobs. I spose he's busy at the moment.
shorting the antennas de-tunes the radios. So when he says, "stay tuned," he means don't short the antennas.
it it critical to stay tuned....
Hi All
Not sure if this has been covered in other posts (scanned through but could not find it).
Correct me if I am wrong (I am sure somebody will)
- There seem to be three black separators on the frame on the iPhone 4.
- The iPhone 4 is a multi band phone 850MHz to 2.4GHz
There are potentially 3 antennae elements on the iPhone of different lengths.
If this is the case then it is quite likely that Apple uses different ones (or multiple ones linked) for the particular band being used at the time as you get better efficiency if you have an antenna of the right length for the band in use. In the past you would physically trim the antenna length, these days there is magic performed at the antenna interface. This is called antenna tuning by many.
If shorting out (or providing an electrical connection with your finger) between two of the antenna elements occurs then some magic may need to be performed to re-tune the antenna elements if the band you are using was not already using these two elements connected.
Some bands (i.e. some people) will not need the retuning so will see little or no change, some bands will and it looks like some are. The solution is to re-tune or switch bands.
If the re-tuning can be done in software then a software update will probably reduce this problem to the level you would get with any other phone.
Trying not to read to much into this but that would match with Steve's comment of "There is no reception issue. Stay tuned"
Hi All
Not sure if this has been covered in other posts (scanned through but could not find it).
Correct me if I am wrong (I am sure somebody will)
- There seem to be three black separators on the frame on the iPhone 4.
- The iPhone 4 is a multi band phone 850MHz to 2.4GHz
There are potentially 3 antennae elements on the iPhone of different lengths.
If this is the case then it is quite likely that Apple uses different ones (or multiple ones linked) for the particular band being used at the time as you get better efficiency if you have an antenna of the right length for the band in use. In the past you would physically trim the antenna length, these days there is magic performed at the antenna interface. This is called antenna tuning by many.
If shorting out (or providing an electrical connection with your finger) between two of the antenna elements occurs then some magic may need to be performed to re-tune the antenna elements if the band you are using was not already using these two elements connected.
Some bands (i.e. some people) will not need the retuning so will see little or no change, some bands will and it looks like some are. The solution is to re-tune or switch bands.
If the re-tuning can be done in software then a software update will probably reduce this problem to the level you would get with any other phone.
Trying not to read to much into this but that would match with Steve's comment of "There is no reception issue. Stay tuned"
I kind of doubt that, because antenna is a piece of metal that can't be changed by software. You can't program an antenna any more than you can use software to program a wire.
iPhone 3GS with iOS 4.0 has the same issue.
To the same degree? At least one video shows the person holding a phone and the only difference in the hold was placing a finger across the lower left gap and holding it a few millimeters away. I haven't seen a 3GS video where the same is done to bring a three bar signal down to a disconnection. The hand doesn't absorb anywhere near that much signal.
So far, SJ isn't admitting to any kind of problem at all, except for blaming the user when it's clear that Apple videos and ads have shown iPhone 4s being held the wrong way.
Someone hypothesized that some iPhones might have an unintended short between the lower band and the LCD frame, that might be a possible root cause. But
The thing is, the most reasonable explanation is that the hand affecting the transmission line characteristics of the antenna. Transmission line behavior is what makes it a tuned antenna and not some other piece of metal. In the GHz range, you add a few microfarads of capacitance in the wrong place and it's no longer tuned to resonate at the necessary frequency. This is why even just adding a piece of scotch tape or moving the hand a millimeter away from the gap reduces the problem significantly.