Im not sure what you mean. You dont expect to return faulty merchandise and get a refund or a replacement (Id want a replacement, FYI)? Youre just supposed to deal with it?
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Steve Jobs denies iP4 reception issues!
- Thread starter rfbandit
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Im not sure what you mean. You dont expect to return faulty merchandise and get a refund or a replacement (Id want a replacement, FYI)? Youre just supposed to deal with it?
Same here, but I draw no conclusions from it - all three iPhone 4's I have had could have come from the same bad batch.
Hmmm, so if Apple had included the bumper and raised the price to $249, then people would no longer have to see the need to buy something extra. Plus the lines might have been shorter (I waited 8 hours).
For me, I'm clumsy enough that purchasing the bumper seemed necessary to keep me from chipping/cracking one of the glass corners. The fact that the bumper gives me 2 to 5 more bars in my left hand is just a free bonus.
Plus I'm not too old to learn to switch the phone in my right hand during calls, as I had to learn to do yesterday when I was showing off the iPhone 4 out of it's bumper (I saw the bars start to drop during a call and quickly switched hands, no dropped call).
Plus, as a bonus, I've now learned how to get cell phone reception in places I formerly couldn't by "holding different" with other cell phones (3G and even an Android MyTouch).
In an emergency, I'd probably put the iPhone in speaker-phone mode ASAP so I could continue the call even if I dropped the phone, or had to put it down to have my hands free for CPR on someone else.
There's no evidence that there currently exists such a thing as a "good batch" of iPhone 4's that would behave any different.
I checked my i4's frame with an ohm-meter, and there's no evidence of any partial non-conductive coating on any part of it, nor have I seen any reports of such (from somebody with an ohm-meter or other test equipment) on anyone else's i4. Plus, a decent dielectric would have to be a lot thicker at the frequencies in question.
It seems far more likely that someone getting a new device and not seeing the issue afterwards has a less sweaty hand, is closer to a cell tower, or maybe connected to a cell tower on a different frequency band than before.
Probably one of those mental illusions that so strongly attributes effects to a completely wrong cause.
If apple had included the case from day 1 maybe, but also that isnt what Steve Jobs and Apple paraded all over the stage, they even stressed the point of the great new antenna tech. The phone is not working as a phone, as advertised. They didnt parade it around on TV or at WWDC in a rubber
Also apple is telling me and others go buy your own cases.
also in an emergency and you are the subject of it, i seriously doubt you would remember the exact procedure to make a call, let alone from what you learned on how to get signals in places or how you held it to get signals there.
A wild guess....
Here is my guess or two at what is happening......
New iPhone negotiates with AT&T to find out the most "unloaded" band to be on. What if there is a bug here.
1) AT&T may be sending erroneous data about which band the iPhone-4 should use and that may trigger when the fluctuation in signal occurs when you bridge the antennas, thus magnifying the signal loss that would normally be experienced.
2) Apple may have a bug in the iOS4 software that determines which AT&T band to be on and erroneously chooses the wrong (weaker) band when the antenna signal fluctuation is triggered by bridging the antennas.
Either way, I am guessing the problem is related to the new signal optimization software. If the AT&T tower is close enough then you probably don't see it because something in the software stays locked on to that strong signal. But something goes awry when the tower is not close enough and the antenna fluctuation sends the iPhone-4 into a reception death spiral.
My friend has an iPhone-4 WITHOUT bumpers and he has experienced no issues whatsoever, no matter how he holds the device.
I just _hope_ the problem can be fixed on Apple's side because I think the folks at AT&T will take longer in rolling out a fix.
If this is truly a hardware issue then all I can say is "free bumpers for all"!
Here is my guess or two at what is happening......
New iPhone negotiates with AT&T to find out the most "unloaded" band to be on. What if there is a bug here.
1) AT&T may be sending erroneous data about which band the iPhone-4 should use and that may trigger when the fluctuation in signal occurs when you bridge the antennas, thus magnifying the signal loss that would normally be experienced.
2) Apple may have a bug in the iOS4 software that determines which AT&T band to be on and erroneously chooses the wrong (weaker) band when the antenna signal fluctuation is triggered by bridging the antennas.
Either way, I am guessing the problem is related to the new signal optimization software. If the AT&T tower is close enough then you probably don't see it because something in the software stays locked on to that strong signal. But something goes awry when the tower is not close enough and the antenna fluctuation sends the iPhone-4 into a reception death spiral.
My friend has an iPhone-4 WITHOUT bumpers and he has experienced no issues whatsoever, no matter how he holds the device.
I just _hope_ the problem can be fixed on Apple's side because I think the folks at AT&T will take longer in rolling out a fix.
If this is truly a hardware issue then all I can say is "free bumpers for all"!
And what would I do with a stack of $20 bills? It doesn't make phone calls any better.
Every product required "dealing with it" about some aspect.
With Apple, and all the various App store restrictions, I've already chosen to deal with a lot.
But if I were to score all features by some point system, and having to choose between my 3GS (or My Touch) and "hold stupid", and my iPhone 4 and "hold different", dealing with the latter gets a much higher score for me.
ymmv
If the cell tower is close enough, he might well have the equivalent of 10 or 15 bars of signal strength, so loosing 5 bars would still give him 5 bars or more of signal.
Updated
I just wanted to let everyone know what happened when I called Apple today to complain about this issue.
I explained that I am having the same issue as many other iPhone users when I grip my iPhone in a way that covers the black band on the lower left hand side.
He kindly informed me that iPhone 4 gets better reception than any previous iPhone and that many cell phones lose signal if held a different way. The iPhone 3GS has a similar issue.
I told him that I had a 3GS, a 3G and a 2G and never had a problem this extreme.
He told me that the spot on the 3GS is on the right.
I told him that I am right handed, and normally held my phone with my right hand and never had this problem.
He repeated that many phones have this problem and that I could hold it a different way to fix the problem.
I told him that while many phones my experience a degradation of signal of some kind if you grip it a certain way, I've never had a phone go from 5 bars to no signal within 60 seconds just by gripping it in a certain spot.
He told me to hold it a different way and that would fix the problem.
I told him that I have never had to think about how I was holding a phone before, and do not see this as a fix. Then I said, "You know, if I don't talk on it I won't have any reception issues either, but I'd hardly call that a fix."
He asked me to trying removing the sim and putting it back in (of course I've done that in my exploration of the phone), and said that was the only thing he could suggest...other than getting some sort of rubber case that goes around the perimeter of the phone.
Then I started talking about my problems with the proximity sensor...but that's for another thread.
Seems like the official word is still that there is no problem.
I just wanted to let everyone know what happened when I called Apple today to complain about this issue.
I explained that I am having the same issue as many other iPhone users when I grip my iPhone in a way that covers the black band on the lower left hand side.
He kindly informed me that iPhone 4 gets better reception than any previous iPhone and that many cell phones lose signal if held a different way. The iPhone 3GS has a similar issue.
I told him that I had a 3GS, a 3G and a 2G and never had a problem this extreme.
He told me that the spot on the 3GS is on the right.
I told him that I am right handed, and normally held my phone with my right hand and never had this problem.
He repeated that many phones have this problem and that I could hold it a different way to fix the problem.
I told him that while many phones my experience a degradation of signal of some kind if you grip it a certain way, I've never had a phone go from 5 bars to no signal within 60 seconds just by gripping it in a certain spot.
He told me to hold it a different way and that would fix the problem.
I told him that I have never had to think about how I was holding a phone before, and do not see this as a fix. Then I said, "You know, if I don't talk on it I won't have any reception issues either, but I'd hardly call that a fix."
He asked me to trying removing the sim and putting it back in (of course I've done that in my exploration of the phone), and said that was the only thing he could suggest...other than getting some sort of rubber case that goes around the perimeter of the phone.
Then I started talking about my problems with the proximity sensor...but that's for another thread.
Seems like the official word is still that there is no problem.
Well, that's definitely worse than I got when I called Apple Care. They just keep telling me to call back and that they're working on the issue. I just wish Apple would say something already. People have had the phone for 5 days now with no help from Apple regarding our reception problems. It's ridiculous.
I have been a Mac user; computer, iphones, ipods, etc. for a decade or more and had the original iphone and just finally upgraded to the 16gb iphone 4, purchased online from AT&T.
I am in Phoenix and have experienced the wide-spread signal/reception issues. I am right-handed but hold my cell and home phones in my left hand which causes my skin to touch and cover the bottom left of the iphone.
In and around my house, the signal drops bars until the call is lost, takes about 20-40 seconds. I tried it at a different location 5 miles away which I believe is on another cell tower, and I couldn't repeat the results as the signal strength remained intact.
I repeated this many times over, and when at home, all calls drop and I lose signal. Elsewhere, it's hit or miss. And I am a HUGE Apple kool-aid drinking fanboy, but there is something DEFINITELY wrong with this phone or at least my phone.
Also, was just at the mall and laid my iphone 4 next to my friend's iphone 3gs on a table with no hands touching either one. Hers had 5 bars and mine had 1.5. So I am experiencing an overall loss of signal strength...
I am in Phoenix and have experienced the wide-spread signal/reception issues. I am right-handed but hold my cell and home phones in my left hand which causes my skin to touch and cover the bottom left of the iphone.
In and around my house, the signal drops bars until the call is lost, takes about 20-40 seconds. I tried it at a different location 5 miles away which I believe is on another cell tower, and I couldn't repeat the results as the signal strength remained intact.
I repeated this many times over, and when at home, all calls drop and I lose signal. Elsewhere, it's hit or miss. And I am a HUGE Apple kool-aid drinking fanboy, but there is something DEFINITELY wrong with this phone or at least my phone.
Also, was just at the mall and laid my iphone 4 next to my friend's iphone 3gs on a table with no hands touching either one. Hers had 5 bars and mine had 1.5. So I am experiencing an overall loss of signal strength...
There have been number of reports of no issues. Maybe those close to a tower or in great cell area just won't see the problem. But earlier someone posted that was able to cause the issue right near a tower.
All I see is mountains of conflicting evidence. Some see the problem, some don't... kind of calls into question if it really is what most here seem to think, a design flaw or defect.... because it's possible it merely has inferior reception, and that doesn't necessarily mean flawed, just not as good as other branded phones reception. It's just not clear.
I am anxious for a response from Apple... because no matter what, whether the issue is real or not, they must respond now.
While I generally agree with you, "headphone antennas" don't prove anything, as they are insulated. Not sure if I'm misunderstanding you.
I have the problem and low signal in my home. I had to buy a case from best buy just so I could place a call. I initially planned to wait for a response from Apple but after 4 days of this with no official response I think I am going to set up a return. This sucks because I otherwise completely love the phone.
You're mistaken. It's clear. It's a clear case of not enough in-field (i.e. real world) testing before releasing a flawed product. Of course, you'll get better reception results with the iPhone 4 in a sterile environment with no interference by unwanted signals received by the detuned antenna (i.e. finger over gap). The major culprit here is just that users are likely to arbitrarily detune the antenna just by holding the phone and the SKY ICs and firmware that cannot handle this detuned antenna (yet?). Under the same test conditions, iPhone 4s produced in each and every iPhone 4 factory known to the public exhibit this behaviour. They are all a bad batch.
All that is clear is that some, many, but not most (almost 2 million iPhone 4 s out there... so a far cry from "all"), are seeing something. Some of these somethings are more severe than others. And, again, some see no issue.
I am sure Apple will respond. But whether the issue is universal is not clear. And from experts explanations, the situation is complicated. Also, if other branded cell phones show a similar effect, it sort of calls the whole thing into question... Just what is really going on here? How much of this is loud mouthing (like at every iPhone launch), Apple bashing... and how much of it is legitimate cause for concern? (fyi, rhetorical)
I'm on the edge of my seat, but I can't draw any conclusions yet.
The key being "if." They don't. (They show an attenuation effect, but no one has suggested or produced any actual evidence of a detuning effect).
This issue is certainly picking up steam. Finally called into Apple after my 4th dropped call today and they knew right away what I was calling about once I said iPhone 4 and call issues. The rep I got claimed they have been receiving calls all day on the reception issues.
The issue I am having now is that it appears they are not willing to do much for you since it has become "widespread" (his words, not mine). I asked for a replacement or bumper to see if it would help, and he simply stated all he can do is suggest I hold if differently, buy a case, and wait and see if there is a fix soon. He said Apple is aware and "yes, a fix is coming", guess we'll see.
I love the phone, so I'm really just hoping for a fix.
The issue I am having now is that it appears they are not willing to do much for you since it has become "widespread" (his words, not mine). I asked for a replacement or bumper to see if it would help, and he simply stated all he can do is suggest I hold if differently, buy a case, and wait and see if there is a fix soon. He said Apple is aware and "yes, a fix is coming", guess we'll see.
I love the phone, so I'm really just hoping for a fix.
Fair enough. I did read about the two issues. As I stated, it's complicated (to me, anyway... maybe not to Mr. Science or whatever, but it's certainly neither plain nor obvious)
I would have welcomed a response like that! He wouldn't budge from the idea that this is a normal occurrence, and I should simply hold my phone differently. Maybe SJ trained him on how to take calls.
You "completely love" a bare iPhone 4, but with a case it suddenly becomes something bad enough to return? Maybe a different or better looking case would help?