iphone bumper does not resolve the issue completely. something else is also contributing to the issue, if not the root cause.
There are a range of theories. Some say it is iOS4 glitch that can be remedied by a firmware upgrade in the future.
Some say all phones do this, it just happens to a different spot on each model because of the different antenna placement.
Others say it is to do with how much static electricity a person has in their body.
One thing is for sure - it depends a lot on how close you are to your cell tower. If you are close to it and have a strong signal to begin with then the issue isn't so apparent. Some users have found relief by resetting their network settings on the phone. All this does however is force the phone onto the nearest, strongest tower for a while and masks the symptoms - and you nix all your wifi info.
All the Chicken Littles out there should take heart. iPhone is one of Apples biggest income streams now so you can bet your arse they are working on it.
Until the issue is isolated and fixed the best thing you can do is use a bumper, or an invisible shield type of product.
I personally was going to get one anyway to keep the phone looking nice. The film is a dielectric insulator so it will fix the immediate problem until a more permanent solution is found.
Apple is not going to pull a Google on this like they did with the Nexus One.
Just relax and enjoy your phone!
Oh and before you do, please post the last digits of your iPhone 4 serial number so we can see if it is batch issue.
If a shield type of product is not an option, you can put a tiny bit of Scotch/Sellotape on the black bar in the bottom left hand corner. This will also work as a temporary fix.
I think iP 4.1 is much better. At least it makes phone calls.
hilarious. as a left handed user I could never buy an iPhone 4. it's very surprising and un-apple to make such a glaring design mistake. "we're gonna put the antenna around the perimeter of the phone, the only place where people directly grab it!" yeah, great job.
i would like to see if someone with the bumpers notices signal improvement. hopefully it really works - if i bought an iPhone 4, i would buy a bumper as well anyway.
This should be toatlly unacceptable to iPhone owners who spent $200.00 + for their device. They deserve to get a device that is NOT defective. Perhaps a class action law suit is needed to institute a Recall of this defective device and force Apple to make it right.
What else is Stevieboi going to tell me I am holding ''IT'' wrong. Then he will tell me to use my first finger and thumb instead of my hand wrapped it.
HaHa, I Wrote an email to Steve Jobs yesterday stating the antenna issue is due to conductivity (human hand messing up their seam separation) and should offer the bumper case for free.
If I get a reply from him, I will post a follow up.
It's been proven beyond any scientific doubt that the iPhone 4's reception issue is actually not any issue whatsoever and can be duplicated on every cell phone in existence by anyone that understands why it occurs.
Apple will surely leap to respond to this issue as catering to it's least intelligent and most paranoid customer base is what they have always done.
Now Apple will just need to respond to this newly discovered flaw that when you use the sleep button, the screen goes blank. The same thing happens when you switch it off. I can't believe they're still in business... I really can't.
I'm parodying the excellent images by those parodying Apple ignoring what everyone believes is a design flaw in the face of mountains of undeniable and incontravertable scientific evidence. I apologize for any embarrassment or inconvenience I may have caused for the cat.
hilarious. as a left handed user I could never buy an iPhone 4. it's very surprising and un-apple to make such a glaring design mistake. "we're gonna put the antenna around the perimeter of the phone, the only place where people directly grab it!" yeah, great job.
i would like to see if someone with the bumpers notices signal improvement. hopefully it really works - if i bought an iPhone 4, i would buy a bumper as well anyway.
It's not just a lefty vs righty issue. As a righty I hold the iPhone cupped in my left hand when I'm surfing or using apps, but in right hand when talking.
IMHO, the blogs are really to blame for this over-reaction. What we've seen over the past 36 hours is a perfect example of how the internet, bloggers, and message boards can turn a mountain into a mole hill.
I'd wager that there are far fewer actual issues from the antennae than reported. Very few consumers have the technical or troubleshooting knowledge to really isolate an issue to be caused by one variable. Logically, in many of the reported cases, there is no way for the user to know if it's the weather, the signal, interference, aliens, or just poor reception.
For the record, my iPhone4 works great. So does my wife's. No issues.
C'mon now....you can't complain about all the negative Apple buzz when just days ago it was all sweet smelling roses.....You have to take the good Apple media frenzy with the bad Apple media frenzy.....
I found this very interesting and will give it a go when I get my iPhone 4 here in Oz...
"There?s something thinner than tape, and much more attractive
I used to be an R&D;engineer in fuel cells, where corrosion and ?passivation? issues are very important.
Stainless steel doesn?t corrode because it develops a thin layer of transparent, non-flakey oxides (passivation) on the nickel and chrome in stainless. oxides don?t conduct electricity?believe me, they don?t. But such oxides don?t interfere with the radio signals (photons) being emitted by the metal an
It?s possible that Apple knew of this problem and dismissed it. I note that in almost all the videos by users, they hold the video camera with their right and hold it with their left. So normal, right-handed use might make it so this is a rare phenomenon on average.
I don?t yet have my version-4 phone (still have my 3GS) But if it were me, the first thing I would try (be careful if you try this) is to make sure the stain band is very clean and free of oils.
To clean, try one part Windex in three parts distilled water and dampen (not soaked) a rag. Wipe down the edge to make it completely free of oils
Then to passivate the stainless (make a very, very thin ?piece of tape?), I would rub it down with a damp rag with distilled or tap water (if it isn?t really water). Let the dampness dry. Repeat several times. You can even use a hand-held hair drier on low (~140 °F) to accelerate the drying and promote deeper passivation.
A mild acid, like vinegar will really passivate stainless quite well. But you REALLY have to be careful; ensure the rag is only *damp*. You should also on a small spot on the bottom of the phone to make sure it doesn?t discolor the band.
I should think that skin would have a terrible time galvanically connecting to the stainless and bridging the different antennas if the stainless is fully passivated."
Maybe they would have if Gizmodo didn't steal their test unit...
Back on-topic... I would hate to have to cover up a great looking phone with a rubber bumper. This solution would not work for me, makes the phone look cheesy as does any case or cover IMO. I know many like the protection they offer but I prefer to take my chances.
You're right. Buying a bumper should be an option not needed for the phone to function correctly if that ends up being the case.
I've done 2 full battery recharges and the bar drop all but disappeared. It was noticeable during the first day, less so after the first recharge, and now I've been squeezing the heck out of the phone for 30 min straight and it stubbornly stays at 5 bars.
Could it be that the whole thing is a combination of software/power management, and a conditioned battery responding much better to the changes in the antenna load? Notice, that all the negative responses appeared during the first day of use.
You're right. Buying a bumper should be an option not needed for the phone to function correctly if that ends up being the case.
No but that is a cheap and fast solution. Nintendo did the same thing with the wii controller when people started to complain that the controller slipped from their hands. First Nintendo gave away stronger wristbands and then gave away silicon skin for the controller. Stopped the issues and didn't affect their profit margin one bit.
I am sure Apple will change the production to fix the problem but until then they should issue free bumpers for new iPhone 4 owners.
Steve Jobs is an a**hole. He does this crap and expects is loyal followers to say, "OK MESSIAH!". I like my Apple stuff to but man I'm so pissed about this. And I saw the iphone 4 yesterday and I wasn;t impressed. I'll stick with 16 gig(8.65 now) 3GS.
If Apple stocks gets hurt badly from this the Iphone 4 debacle, it will get revised.
And bet your life there will be a class action lawsuit.
If the analysts quoted on another current thread can be quoted after polling people standing in line, so can I. I just reviewed all the posts on this thread up to now. I counted up the number of people who have iPhone 4 who claim problems, and those who claim no problems. I trusted everyone was telling the truth. I counted each phone if someone said they had 3 and all were doing it. Here is the result of my unscientific investigation.
Problems: 7
No Problems: 7
Does this imply that 50% of phones have a problem? No. Because we might assume that complainers tend to be more motivated to sound off than satisfied customers. You can ponder the meaning of this yourselves. But clearly, the complainers are getting more air time in the media that the others.
Does this imply that 50% of phones have a problem? No. Because we might assume that complainers tend to be more motivated to sound off than satisfied customers. You can ponder the meaning of this yourselves. But clearly, the complainers are getting more air time in the media that the others.
Strange that you get 7 vs 7. I checked the thread and the comparison shows 11 had problems and 5 did not. Based on that I get approximately 69% who experienced problems against 31% who are problem free.
While we can't accurately judge the ratio of motivated complainers to motivated satisfied purchasers, I'd say that twice as many dissatisfied against satisfied is a pretty clear indicator that there is a real issue at this point.
However, since this is my first post here, I'll no doubt get the usual "you're a troll" response applied to those who don't follow the cheer book to the letter, so have at it.
Just that you're up to your usual willful misrepresentation of facts. But, now that your brother in arms tekstud has been banned again, I guess you have to pick up the slack. Troll on dude.
Comments
and condensation relates to this story/rubber bumpers in what way???
God! I have a real job. I can't hold your hand all the time...
How does your hand "short" the antennas? By creating an electrical bridge between them.
Everybody knows water is a conductor of electricity.
Condensation gets trapped under the rubber bumper and recreates that bridge.
Anybody that feels the bumper only masks the problem, should let Apple know by returning their phones.
iphone bumper does not resolve the issue completely. something else is also contributing to the issue, if not the root cause.
There are a range of theories. Some say it is iOS4 glitch that can be remedied by a firmware upgrade in the future.
Some say all phones do this, it just happens to a different spot on each model because of the different antenna placement.
Others say it is to do with how much static electricity a person has in their body.
One thing is for sure - it depends a lot on how close you are to your cell tower. If you are close to it and have a strong signal to begin with then the issue isn't so apparent. Some users have found relief by resetting their network settings on the phone. All this does however is force the phone onto the nearest, strongest tower for a while and masks the symptoms - and you nix all your wifi info.
All the Chicken Littles out there should take heart. iPhone is one of Apples biggest income streams now so you can bet your arse they are working on it.
Until the issue is isolated and fixed the best thing you can do is use a bumper, or an invisible shield type of product.
I personally was going to get one anyway to keep the phone looking nice. The film is a dielectric insulator so it will fix the immediate problem until a more permanent solution is found.
Apple is not going to pull a Google on this like they did with the Nexus One.
Just relax and enjoy your phone!
Oh and before you do, please post the last digits of your iPhone 4 serial number so we can see if it is batch issue.
If a shield type of product is not an option, you can put a tiny bit of Scotch/Sellotape on the black bar in the bottom left hand corner. This will also work as a temporary fix.
I think iP 4.1 is much better. At least it makes phone calls.
hilarious. as a left handed user I could never buy an iPhone 4. it's very surprising and un-apple to make such a glaring design mistake. "we're gonna put the antenna around the perimeter of the phone, the only place where people directly grab it!" yeah, great job.
i would like to see if someone with the bumpers notices signal improvement. hopefully it really works - if i bought an iPhone 4, i would buy a bumper as well anyway.
What else is Stevieboi going to tell me I am holding ''IT'' wrong. Then he will tell me to use my first finger and thumb instead of my hand wrapped it.
God! I have a real job. I can't hold your hand all the time...
How does your hand "short" the antennas? By creating an electrical bridge between them.
Everybody knows water is a conductor of electricity.
Condensation gets trapped under the rubber bumper and recreates that bridge.
Anybody that feels the bumper only masks the problem, should let Apple know by returning their phones.
And did you know that condensed water happens to be non conductive?
//Rob
He just referenced Mac Rumors and Gizmodo and interviewed Jesus Diaz.
HaHa, I Wrote an email to Steve Jobs yesterday stating the antenna issue is due to conductivity (human hand messing up their seam separation) and should offer the bumper case for free.
If I get a reply from him, I will post a follow up.
What's his address??
Apple will surely leap to respond to this issue as catering to it's least intelligent and most paranoid customer base is what they have always done.
Now Apple will just need to respond to this newly discovered flaw that when you use the sleep button, the screen goes blank. The same thing happens when you switch it off. I can't believe they're still in business... I really can't.
hilarious. as a left handed user I could never buy an iPhone 4. it's very surprising and un-apple to make such a glaring design mistake. "we're gonna put the antenna around the perimeter of the phone, the only place where people directly grab it!" yeah, great job.
i would like to see if someone with the bumpers notices signal improvement. hopefully it really works - if i bought an iPhone 4, i would buy a bumper as well anyway.
It's not just a lefty vs righty issue. As a righty I hold the iPhone cupped in my left hand when I'm surfing or using apps, but in right hand when talking.
IMHO, the blogs are really to blame for this over-reaction. What we've seen over the past 36 hours is a perfect example of how the internet, bloggers, and message boards can turn a mountain into a mole hill.
I'd wager that there are far fewer actual issues from the antennae than reported. Very few consumers have the technical or troubleshooting knowledge to really isolate an issue to be caused by one variable. Logically, in many of the reported cases, there is no way for the user to know if it's the weather, the signal, interference, aliens, or just poor reception.
For the record, my iPhone4 works great. So does my wife's. No issues.
C'mon now....you can't complain about all the negative Apple buzz when just days ago it was all sweet smelling roses.....You have to take the good Apple media frenzy with the bad Apple media frenzy.....
It is just the nature of the beast!
"There?s something thinner than tape, and much more attractive
I used to be an R&D;engineer in fuel cells, where corrosion and ?passivation? issues are very important.
Stainless steel doesn?t corrode because it develops a thin layer of transparent, non-flakey oxides (passivation) on the nickel and chrome in stainless. oxides don?t conduct electricity?believe me, they don?t. But such oxides don?t interfere with the radio signals (photons) being emitted by the metal an
It?s possible that Apple knew of this problem and dismissed it. I note that in almost all the videos by users, they hold the video camera with their right and hold it with their left. So normal, right-handed use might make it so this is a rare phenomenon on average.
I don?t yet have my version-4 phone (still have my 3GS) But if it were me, the first thing I would try (be careful if you try this) is to make sure the stain band is very clean and free of oils.
To clean, try one part Windex in three parts distilled water and dampen (not soaked) a rag. Wipe down the edge to make it completely free of oils
Then to passivate the stainless (make a very, very thin ?piece of tape?), I would rub it down with a damp rag with distilled or tap water (if it isn?t really water). Let the dampness dry. Repeat several times. You can even use a hand-held hair drier on low (~140 °F) to accelerate the drying and promote deeper passivation.
A mild acid, like vinegar will really passivate stainless quite well. But you REALLY have to be careful; ensure the rag is only *damp*. You should also on a small spot on the bottom of the phone to make sure it doesn?t discolor the band.
I should think that skin would have a terrible time galvanically connecting to the stainless and bridging the different antennas if the stainless is fully passivated."
Hope it helps...
Maybe they would have if Gizmodo didn't steal their test unit...
Back on-topic... I would hate to have to cover up a great looking phone with a rubber bumper. This solution would not work for me, makes the phone look cheesy as does any case or cover IMO. I know many like the protection they offer but I prefer to take my chances.
You're right. Buying a bumper should be an option not needed for the phone to function correctly if that ends up being the case.
I've done 2 full battery recharges and the bar drop all but disappeared. It was noticeable during the first day, less so after the first recharge, and now I've been squeezing the heck out of the phone for 30 min straight and it stubbornly stays at 5 bars.
Could it be that the whole thing is a combination of software/power management, and a conditioned battery responding much better to the changes in the antenna load? Notice, that all the negative responses appeared during the first day of use.
You're right. Buying a bumper should be an option not needed for the phone to function correctly if that ends up being the case.
No but that is a cheap and fast solution. Nintendo did the same thing with the wii controller when people started to complain that the controller slipped from their hands. First Nintendo gave away stronger wristbands and then gave away silicon skin for the controller. Stopped the issues and didn't affect their profit margin one bit.
I am sure Apple will change the production to fix the problem but until then they should issue free bumpers for new iPhone 4 owners.
//Rob
Steve Jobs is an a**hole. He does this crap and expects is loyal followers to say, "OK MESSIAH!". I like my Apple stuff to but man I'm so pissed about this. And I saw the iphone 4 yesterday and I wasn;t impressed. I'll stick with 16 gig(8.65 now) 3GS.
If Apple stocks gets hurt badly from this the Iphone 4 debacle, it will get revised.
And bet your life there will be a class action lawsuit.
If Jobs doesn't chill he'll get replaced.
We are all expendable!
Ha!!! Classic upset guy! I love it.
Problems: 7
No Problems: 7
Does this imply that 50% of phones have a problem? No. Because we might assume that complainers tend to be more motivated to sound off than satisfied customers. You can ponder the meaning of this yourselves. But clearly, the complainers are getting more air time in the media that the others.
Problems: 7
No Problems: 7
Does this imply that 50% of phones have a problem? No. Because we might assume that complainers tend to be more motivated to sound off than satisfied customers. You can ponder the meaning of this yourselves. But clearly, the complainers are getting more air time in the media that the others.
Strange that you get 7 vs 7. I checked the thread and the comparison shows 11 had problems and 5 did not. Based on that I get approximately 69% who experienced problems against 31% who are problem free.
While we can't accurately judge the ratio of motivated complainers to motivated satisfied purchasers, I'd say that twice as many dissatisfied against satisfied is a pretty clear indicator that there is a real issue at this point.
However, since this is my first post here, I'll no doubt get the usual "you're a troll" response applied to those who don't follow the cheer book to the letter, so have at it.
Sorry did you say something?
Just that you're up to your usual willful misrepresentation of facts. But, now that your brother in arms tekstud has been banned again, I guess you have to pick up the slack. Troll on dude.