or they all use the phone with their right hands? have to agree with you though. admitting the problem, whatever it may be, is the first step 😀
11 more steps apple!
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Steve Jobs denies iP4 reception issues!
- Thread starter rfbandit
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or they all use the phone with their right hands? have to agree with you though. admitting the problem, whatever it may be, is the first step 😀
11 more steps apple!
Veritas&Equitas
macrumors 68000
Peace, I've been here nearly as long as you (coming up on 5 years), so I'm not a new flamer, baiter, etc.
Between mine, my wife's, both of her parents, my brother, 6 different friends/acquaintances, and 7 co-workers (which is every person that I personally know that has the iPhone 4 by the way); EVERY SINGLE phone has exhibited the exact same antenna band issue, losing reception when you touch the lower left hand corner area in question. Also keep in mind that not one of these folks has ever been on this site, much less been able to vote in Arn's poll regarding their antenna woes.
While that sample size may not appease you, I can tell you that in my opinion, the folks in Cupertino have a MAJOR issue on their hands right now.
jb007clone
macrumors 6502
If this can be fixed through software, I'll be really impressed:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzn8QhrYIvI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wzn8QhrYIvI
You nailed it. I thought at first my phone was fine. Then a few hours later I was holding it in my left hand (I'm right handed) and using my right hand to surf on Safari when the page stopped loading. I looked at the bars, then my left hand covering the left side of the metal band, and I knew I had the problem too. Every phone has this problem, it is so obvious.
Xtremehkr
macrumors 68000
http://www.edibleapple.com/rumor-apple-ios-update-401-to-address-iphone-4-connection-issues/
Apple announced a fix at least a day ago. Mac Rumors has been content to let people argue about whether Apple released a defective iPhone or not.
I've come to expect a little better than that from Apple. There haven't been many real complaints about call quality rolling in so it does just seem to be a software issue.
This is basic engineering competency here. Perhaps the software issue should have been addressed before the phone was released but clearly it had been tested and Apple was happy with how the test models were performing.
They would have been absolutely shooting themselves in the foot to release a defective phone so you kind just have to take into consideration the likely hood of someone like SJ doing something so stupid.
Apple announced a fix at least a day ago. Mac Rumors has been content to let people argue about whether Apple released a defective iPhone or not.
I've come to expect a little better than that from Apple. There haven't been many real complaints about call quality rolling in so it does just seem to be a software issue.
This is basic engineering competency here. Perhaps the software issue should have been addressed before the phone was released but clearly it had been tested and Apple was happy with how the test models were performing.
They would have been absolutely shooting themselves in the foot to release a defective phone so you kind just have to take into consideration the likely hood of someone like SJ doing something so stupid.
-aggie-
macrumors P6
Okay, youd be a good one to ask these questions. Would you say you have to really try to get this effect to occur? Or just touching it you lose signal? In other words, does it make the phone unusable for most situations? Can you live with it?
Peace
Cancelled
I don't deny Apple has a problem. They do. But I just think if it were only a hardware problem EVERY phone would exhibit the problem. I also know there are a bunch of people on this board that are here simply to try to :
A. get something free from Apple
B. want to be part of a group that's complaining simply because their "internet-peer" group is.
C. want to try to bash apple.
You know, there are two ways that this could pan out:
Best case - software update released immediately which actually fixes the issue.
Worst case - Apple redesigns the antenna, adding whatever insulating film needed, and issues a recall.
For stockholders' and customers' sake I hope it's the former.
Best case - software update released immediately which actually fixes the issue.
Worst case - Apple redesigns the antenna, adding whatever insulating film needed, and issues a recall.
For stockholders' and customers' sake I hope it's the former.
Did anyone else notice that "Tuned" was capitalized? Is it a name of a as of yet unannounced product or service? Or simply a typo?
Honestly, I still believe that it is both a software AND hardware issue...
1.
The fact that some people can hold the left corner of their phone without loosing all their signal (or losing any bars at all), and some cannot, leads me to believe there is indeed a bad "batch" of phones that got out. I think Apple will replace these phones free of charge once they have figured out what the manufacturing flaw is.
2.
The fact that some user have reported that their calls have continued although their phone show "no signal" leads me to believe that in addition to the hardware issues, the signal meter is not properly calibrated, which is causing it to show a weaker than actual signal.
3.
In addition to the a mis-calibrated signal meter (software), and a potential grounding issue, etc present in a bad batch of phones(manufacturing flaw; hardware), I also believe that they may be able to find a way to minimize the impact of people hands blocking the signal by actively attenuating the signal through software (this part is mostly a theory).
4.
Even if all of this is correct, there will STILL be SOME signal loss when you hold the phone and cover the lower left hand corner, this type of signal loss is present (to some degree) in ALL phones. Hopefully some combination of the potential solutions I listed above will minimize the impact of this signal degradation, and make the phone perfectly functional even when it is held in this way.
1.
The fact that some people can hold the left corner of their phone without loosing all their signal (or losing any bars at all), and some cannot, leads me to believe there is indeed a bad "batch" of phones that got out. I think Apple will replace these phones free of charge once they have figured out what the manufacturing flaw is.
2.
The fact that some user have reported that their calls have continued although their phone show "no signal" leads me to believe that in addition to the hardware issues, the signal meter is not properly calibrated, which is causing it to show a weaker than actual signal.
3.
In addition to the a mis-calibrated signal meter (software), and a potential grounding issue, etc present in a bad batch of phones(manufacturing flaw; hardware), I also believe that they may be able to find a way to minimize the impact of people hands blocking the signal by actively attenuating the signal through software (this part is mostly a theory).
4.
Even if all of this is correct, there will STILL be SOME signal loss when you hold the phone and cover the lower left hand corner, this type of signal loss is present (to some degree) in ALL phones. Hopefully some combination of the potential solutions I listed above will minimize the impact of this signal degradation, and make the phone perfectly functional even when it is held in this way.
very interesting. This would be the best case scenario somebody above mentioned. if its true, steve was douche in that first infamous email for nothing
br0adband
macrumors 6502a
As the link in my sig details my experience and I'm line-of-sight with an AT&T cell site about 750 feet away, I started up a Pandora audio stream before doing my own Dim Mak on the iPhone 4 - ~30 seconds to loss of the stream, even in spite of it trying to buffer around 17 seconds into the touch, and ~45 seconds it's total loss of service.
I can replicate that inside my apartment or outside standing on the balcony (only about 25 feet difference) and honestly I can't get a stronger signal unless I go over, scale the building, and tap directly into the antenna array itself.
Defective by design...
Apple has not announced a fix. You are pointing to a sketchily sourced rumor. The origin was a now deleted forum discussion post that no one on these forums had seem for themselves 1st hand. I acknowldged that rumor in this news story.
arn
Then how do you explain this video from 2008: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AN6265QQwhU well before iOS 4 was out.
The way I see it there are 2 "issues".
#1 Wrap your hand around any phone tightly enough and the signal will degrade to some degree. All cell phones have this.
#2. The iPhone 4 has a single spot that when shorted will drastically drop the signal in certain common tower strength situations. See this paperclip example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgouzUMlQpY
....
#1 is what the 3GS is showing (even before iOS 4.0). #2 is the iPhone 4, which hopefully is addressable by a software patch.
arn
Exactly. I have a 3GS that now does it on iOS4 that didn't for the 9 months I owned it before the update. Oh well, we shall see soon enough.
kirk26
macrumors 6502a
Veritas&Equitas
macrumors 68000
Good question:
I'd say it occurs about half the time I'm on a phone call, where I will completely lose the call. I think part of it is that I really never have focused on where I put my hand when I hold the phone. After I drop the call, I look down at my hand, and realize my hand is covering the antenna.
Thus, when I don't drop a call, I realize that I'm subconsciously trying to hold it differently because the person I'm talking to will say that I'm "breaking up."
To be honest, I thought I'd be able to live with it, as I can normally get by if I consciously remember to hold the phone in certain way (a way that isn't too comfortable for me to be honest, as I've never held the phone that way).
However, I then realize how absolutely stupid my justification is. I pay over $2k a year for the phone and service, and really should not have to worry about my hand position on a phone call with my clients.
So to make a short story long, no; I don't intentionally try to lose reception, it manages to do it on its own a majority of the time unfortunately. And in my line of work (law), losing calls with my paralegal, important clients, etc. without being able to connect again quickly when time is often of the essence, yes; it does render the darn thing pretty much unusable.