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White iPhone 4 Proximity Sensor and 'Death Grip' Tested

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Apr 12, 2001
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Italian site iSpazio has been able to get its hands on a white iPhone 4 as several European outlets have begun selling the device ahead of tomorrow's official launch. With the new iPhone in hand, the site has put together a handful of videos [Google translation] testing out a few of the areas of concern users have had with the black models, most notably the proximity sensor performance and signal loss caused by "death grip".

The proximity sensor has been one of the most interesting features given Apple's redesign of the area surrounding the sensor on the front of the device above the earpiece slot. Early white iPhone 4 samples and images showed a grille of small holes, but that design has been replaced in the shipping version with a lozenge-shaped black window covering the sensor. The sensor covering is essentially invisible in the black iPhone 4 given that device's coloration.

According to iSpazio, the white iPhone 4 exhibits excellent proximity sensor performance, responding immediately to turn off the device's display when covered but then also keeping the display off until a finger or head is a "relatively large distance" away. The black iPhone 4s initially exhibited problems with displays coming back on while on phone calls, resulting in unintentional touch input. The issue was largely fixed in an iOS update, but it is reassuring to see that the white models exhibit solid performance from the get-go.

iSpazio also tested the "death grip", attempting to generate signal loss by covering portions of the stainless steel band that serves as the antenna for the device. As with black iPhone 4s equipped with iOS versions released since Apple addressed early issues, the white iPhone 4 exhibits a slight drop in signal strength, but the drop does not appear to have a significant effect on connectivity.

Anecdotally, the site reports that the white iPhone 4 may have slightly better reception than the black model, although it is difficult to say if there is any material difference.

Article Link: White iPhone 4 Proximity Sensor and 'Death Grip' Tested
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2011/04/27/white-iphone-4-proximity-sensor-and-death-grip-tested/
Excellent, hope Apple learnt its trade and my iPhone 4S / 5 will be good from day one.
 
I think i just learnt something about Apple products. Buy the absolute last revision done before a new generation is due and you're good. Because they almost never get it right the first/second try.
 
FuNGi said:
That was one of the most unscientific and ridiculous attempts at demonstrating nothing
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Agreed. How could you have done a wide enough real-world test to know for sure? There were a lot of black phone that experienced the proximity sensor issue but probably a small percentage compared to the amount circulating. There couldn't possibly be enough circulating yet to know if this is an issue or not.
 
Last edited:
daneoni said:
I think i just learnt something about Apple products. Buy the absolute last revision done before a new generation is due and you're good. Because they almost never get it right the first/second try.
Click to expand...

Welcome to the club. I finally caught on around 2007.

If you wish to have a keen, worry-free, long-lasting, versatile product: get 2G or 3G or later. 1G is almost always a disappointment with time, if not (rarely) immediately. Usually the tech just smoothes out and is more expandable/upgradeable in 2G onward.
 
iCrizzo said:
Well if the proximity sensor has been fixed then I must buy one tomorrow. My phone's sensor is terrible.
Click to expand...

The black iPhones have been fixed, too. I took mine up to an Apple Store and told them my sensor was still wonky even after the latest iOS update, and they swapped it for a brand new one, no questions asked. They also swapped my Bumper since it was starting to fall apart.

Do it. My new iPhone hasn't had a single problem since, even though the Genius insisted that it was a software thing.
 
You had me until "reception is slightly better."

These things have the exact same innards. Period. It would be a manufacturing nightmare to have separate components.

There's no difference in the phones, other than the fact they have white face/back plates.
 
ciTiger said:
Better reception than the black? Maybe that's a placebo effect... lol
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Agreed! The sensor I can see, reception... extremely unlikely. Everything about the white is identical to the black except for the glass/grill in front of the sensor which I believe was only a concern with the white in the first place. As far as the sensor issues, that has been fixed via software and proven many times over. The people who test "deathgrip" and reception side by side with another device fail to realize that 1: having devices in such close proximity can effect signal on either one or both and 2: gripping the devices in the exact same way down to the pressure, coverage area, time, and hell even perspiration is damn near impossible by hand. :p

I think someone farted when they were testing the black model which caused the slight difference. :D
 
FearlessFreep said:
You had me until "reception is slightly better."

These things have the exact same innards. Period. It would be a manufacturing nightmare to have separate components.

There's no difference in the phones, other than the fact they have white face/back plates.
Click to expand...

I'm a bit curious as to what iFixIt.com has to say about the innards of the new White iPhone 4 and wether they are different or not, something could have changed in the last 10 months, the proximity sensor has.
 
So wait.... if you change the paint used in the factory to white instead of black then you have the same odd problem as if you'd used black paint?? Wow, I never would have expected that.
 
saving107 said:
I'm a bit curious as to what iFixIt.com has to say about the innards of the new White iPhone 4 and wether they are different or not, something could have changed in the last 10 months, the proximity sensor has.
Click to expand...

Actually, we don't know that the prox sensor has changed. We know that the glass in front of the sensor is different in the white model. That's all we really know at this point, until someone, like iFixit.com, cracks the white model to see what's inside.
 
I got my iPhone 4 on release day, it's a week 22 manufacture date.

Not once have i had a proximity sensor problem, nor have I ever dropped a call or had data problems.

I haven't gt a case on it either.
 
0815 said:
Why the hell would anyone expect that the color of the phone changes reception of the phone?

If I paint my silver car in bright red, does it then go faster or slower?
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No, but if the manufacturer of your silver car had months to fine tune the design before releasing a red version it might indeed have improvements.
 
If they had a black iPhone and did a side by side that would have been a better test. Until then they can't say the white iPhone holds better reception.

As for proximity sensor I have never had an issue on my iPhone, always works when I want.
 
itsmemuffins said:
I got my iPhone 4 on release day, it's a week 22 manufacture date.

Not once have i had a proximity sensor problem, nor have I ever dropped a call or had data problems.

I haven't gt a case on it either.
Click to expand...


Same here. I've NEVER once been able to replicate that stupid "death grip"...
 
If the internal RF portion or antenna is changed (doubtful) then the white phone would have a new FCC-ID.

The "death grip" issue is most certainly real, however its not quite as bad as the media made it sound. If you already have a weak signal you can make a call drop, or if the signal meter is displaying the signal in dbm's you can see quite a signal strength difference. The one aspect of the antenna/iphone 4 design rarely mentioned is that it allows the phone to continue working with very weak signals.
 
I never had problems with the proximity sensor until I updated to iOS 4.1. Have had "flashing" phone calls ever since. I'll probably send it in while it's still under warranty, it also takes oddly colored photos.
 
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