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Steve Jobs denies iP4 reception issues!

Steve's clearly channeling the Iraqi Information Minister.

infoministeriphone.jpg
 
realeric said:
Steve is right.

"There is no reception issue" means "There is no (hardware) reception issue".
"Stay tuned" means "We will fix (software) reception issues".

iPhone 3GS with iOS 4.0 has the same issue. :cool:
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my 3gs with ios4 seems to be doing the same thing. I am not dropping calls but if I hold it the same way it drops to 2 bars every time. my wifi connection also drops.
 
There is no spoon... these are not the droids you're looking for.

All jokes aside, I'm interested to see what Apple's next move will be. One good idea I came across was best described in (of all things) a YouTube video.

"daidaiiroki: the issue is the same with an electric guitar. You might assume the guitar gets grounded when you touch the strings, however you are the one being grounded. There were similar issues with the Prius and the solar panel roof. Lots of small circuits like your typical accelerometer have actual loops for noise that merely require a cap of the right frequency. Put a 10mF cap between input 4 and 12 and viola no noise. Good thinking pdye723."
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sjinsjca said:
Yet none of the professional reviewers who received a pre-release unit and compiled their experiences up to the embargo date of Wednesday had the issue. Not one.
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Actually, poor reception has been noted by several large Apple reviewers - including iLounge and Walt Mossberg.

Neither of those is known for being particularly critical of Apple.
 
The "Stay tuned" piece does sound like an iOS fix is in the works but how could he say that "There is not reception issue" if Apple is going to to FIX it with an updated iOS release?

Doesn't make sense. Hopefully an iOS release is in the works and Steve is simply too proud to call this a reception issue.
 
I don't mind buying a case, and I'm sure a lot of people like the individuality of choosing a style that they like. However, I would like to see Apple release a low-cost, basic, rubber gasket-like free cover to go over the antenna. It would be a lower quality alternative to having a case that a user purchases, but it would be free to those that do not use cases and request the basic rubber gasket.

:apple::apple::apple::)

Remember when Steve was having trouble with the signal during the WWDC - it turns out he was holding the phone wrong.
 
Veritas&Equitas said:
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.
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You can add my three iPhone 4 experiences to your dataset as well. I got one, and my friend got two on launch day(one for his wife). My friend switched from Sprint and was a bit nervous about the AT&T network. I talked to him later that day and he was in a panic, completely convinced he lived in a dead zone. I told him to switch hands and all his problems went away.

My own phone exhibits the same behavior you described above. It's pretty frustrating, but the most frustrating part is being told you're just a whiner or a Droid fan who's here to dis the iPhone. Considering how difficult it's been to get an iPhone 4 this early, most of these "whiners" are likely Apple's biggest fans!
 
I've speculated on my Twitter stream over the last couple days that these issues might be from switching between different bands when coming into contact with interference from the hand. A software update is likely soon, probably next week.

For instance, I was at home in Kansas City, MO this past week doing some graphic design work and picked up my iPhone 4 at the Apple Store Leawood. I had this signal issue with my bumper off, and even to some degree with it on. I also noticed that the AT&T speed there seemed to be slower.

However, when I returned back to school in Springfield, MO, I couldn't get the problem to repeat itself. I used my iPhone for several hours with the bumper off on 3g. Not a problem at all. Something weird about Springfield: earlier this year AT&T did something to upgrade the network to super fast speed. I'm talking 4-6mbps. Like faster than Sprint 4g. Different spectrum or bands causing the problem? Maybe. Here is a badge I had posted to my Twitter stream last night that shows how crazy fast my AT&T 3g is here. The 3g that doesn't have this problem:

irnn.jpg
 
sjinsjca said:
Yet none of the professional reviewers who received a pre-release unit and compiled their experiences up to the embargo date of Wednesday had the issue. Not one. That's pretty interesting. I don't know what it means, but there are some intriguing possibilities. First, a late software tweak just before mass shipments might've broken something. Or there is a problem with certain batches. Or, maybe Apple just pays its reviewers well... ;-)

It'll get sorted out, of that I have zero doubt.
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You need to do your homework. Read Mossberg's review.
 
Another possibility?

My .02:

Remember back in 2006 when the original Intel MacBooks suffered from random reboots? If I remember right, the issue ended up being a temperature sensor that was faulty. When it gave an abnormal reading, the OS (or firmware or whatever) would shut down the computer, fearing the laptop was overheating. This was "fixed" via a software update in which this sensor was either ignored or the values were "re-calibrated". Please correct me if I'm wrong on this, I'm going off my memory...

Anyways... Using the speedtest.net app with my iPhone 4, the transfer stops *the instant* I touch the problem area on the lower left of the metal bands, effectively "bridging the gap" between the two bands. When I remove my finger, it takes a few seconds and the signal is restored.

I wonder if: When you touch the gap between the bands, you effectively "close" the circuit between the two, right? Maybe the OS interprets this as a "short circuit" and shuts down the antenna array to prevent damage, in the same way the MacBook shut down with the faulty sensor. In other words, this is actually expected behavior if, for example, a coin or other metal object were to touch two different parts of the band at the same time.

I imagine that it would not be difficult to re-calibrate this, as the human body's electrical resistance has to be different than straight metal to metal contact. By changing the electrical resistance cutoff value to not shut down at human-level resistance, and only shut down at metal-to-metal resistance, it should fix the problem, via a software update.

I have absolutely no idea if this theory holds water, but it crossed my mind so I thought I'd share.

Chris
 
sjinsjca said:
Yet none of the professional reviewers who received a pre-release unit and compiled their experiences up to the embargo date of Wednesday had the issue. Not one. That's pretty interesting. I don't know what it means, but there are some intriguing possibilities. First, a late software tweak just before mass shipments might've broken something. Or there is a problem with certain batches. Or, maybe Apple just pays its reviewers well... ;-)

It'll get sorted out, of that I have zero doubt.
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I'm sorry but this is completely wrong. Did you read Walt Mossberg's review? He devoted a number of paragraphs at the end of his of his review to mysterious reception issues he countered on the iPhone 4. He even mentioned that he had an older model iPhone as a comparison.

Note the key sentence: "However, on at least six occasions during my tests, the new iPhone was either reporting “no service” or searching for a network while the old one, held in my other hand, was showing at least a couple of bars."

http://ptech.allthingsd.com/20100622/apple-iphone4-review/

Wonder what hand he was holding each phone in?
 
Nebrie said:
Here is my hypothetical:

I'm guessing they looked into the reception issue, told their customer service to tell people to expect a press release yesterday, but then found out late in the day that it was not any of the hypothetical reception problems detailed in the many threads here and by experts elsewhere. Then today, found out there was *another issue* that was not reception related but caused the current reception symptoms as a side effect. Fix that, and the reception problems go away automagically.
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Either that, or the phone only THOUGHT that it was having less bars as a result of a software-level problem involving communication with the hardware. If there really is a software update claiming to fix this issue, I am very excited to see exactly what it does...
 
most of these professional reviewers on youtube are not even able to replicate the issue, they are not holding it properly atleast for the sake of showing that it is dropping, maybe they are scared to make apple angry. This problem exists on all iphone 4s and those who dont have the problem are using bumper or are living in a different world.

Also what steve jobs is saying here is that "there is no reception issue, there is a transmission issue". Whatever there is an issue, so stay tuned till your 14 days are over and then you are stuck with the phone. -- here i completed what steve wanted to say.
 
It is (mostly) a software issue. The reality is that putting your hand in front of any antenna is going to have the potential to interrupt it. For those of us with satellite radio the experience of driving through a dirt road where the sky isn't easily visible is maddening. These are realities of science, not Apple's fault.

What is Apple's fault is how the phone's software reacts to that interference. That's all I'm allowed to say, but trust me, the terrible behavior people have been reporting: It's a software problem.
 
Well Steve never did acknowledge that there were reception issues, did he? He acknowledged that there were issues with how people hold their I4's.

Now it appears that people aren't learning the proper hold of I4 so Jobs is asking them to "stay tuned" until Apple announces that I4 owners can go to their Apple store to pick up one of those ¢5 rubber bands that Apple is selling as "bumbers" for $30. Being the jolly company Apple is they probably cut the price in half now.
 
Working fine here

I have an iPhone 3GS (mc131x) and I have not had a single reception issue here in Australia with optus. I get full reception nearly everywhere. When I hold the phone or squeeze it, the reception stays at full strength. I'm running iOS4 and the phone seems fine. So glad I decided to wait for the iPhone 4G (next year).

Can't understand how people are justifying the issues just because it's Apple. WAKE UP PEOPLE.
 
konfused said:
most of these professional reviewers are not even able to replicate the issue, they are not holding it properly atleast for the sake of showing that it is dropping, maybe they are scared to make apple angry. This problem exists on all iphone 4s and those who dont have the problem are using bumper or are living in a different world.

Also what steve jobs is saying here is that "there is no reception issue, there is a transmission issue". Whatever there is an issue, so stay tuned till your 14 days are over and then you are stuck with the phone. -- here i completed what steve wanted to say.
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I cannot replicate the issue 100% of the time. There are a number of factors that play into causing this. In fact I posted a video of me spending 7 minutes trying to replicate this issue and failing to get the phone to drop to below 3 bars.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcYiaPmzCR8
 
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