Apple says any mobile phone has reception issues when held wrong - Page 2

What a blunder!

When I was an art director, I often had to keep designers in check. They fall so in love with their beautiful designs they forget about function.

If you can't hold the phone any way you wish, then it is a bad design. It might be a shocker to some in Cupertino, but this is not a museum piece.

I really have to wonder how many of the people that are whining about this issue actually have the new iPhone.

There's a big possibility that this issue has gone viral and it's the in thing at the moment to gripe about Apple.

As an example... I noticed that the main whiners on this forum are the regular bitch and moan crowd. Do you really have the new iPhone? Really?

I'd like to see some statistics regarding user satisfaction.

This reminds me of the puck mouse. Looked pretty, but the cursor would shoot off at crazy angles all the time if you were not holding it just right. So it looked pretty but was basically useless as a mouse.

As with my previous 3G iPhone which took me several swap-outs to find one that worked, I seem to be experiencing the same issues. My new iPhone4 has poor reception to the extent of many dropped calls regardless of how it is held. These dropped calls are from the same location I've been making calls for the past 3 years. It appears that I am just an unlucky soul who has a bum device which needs to be replaced.

I agree! I don't know about anyone else but I do consider this antenna issue to a major design flaw of the iPhone 4. I remember the big applause Steve Jobs got when he highlighted the new design during his keynote. Apple definitely needs to include a free bumper case with all iPhone purchases. Steve Jobs should be embarrassed about this. I know we'll be hearing more from the Apple haters. I hate giving them something legitimate to complain about. I wonder how long it will be until Droid airs a commercial about their "perfect" antenna??

They aren't admitting their mistake because they didn't make one. All cell phones have potential issues with how you hold them.

And the fact that there's not 100% reports of this 'mistake' shows that it's not all about the design. Some of it could be user error. Some of it could also just be shitty ATT coverage in the area. In fact several of the folks that I saw making reports of this 'major design flaw' admitted that they 'have never had great ATT service in the area'. Well geez Beav could that be the issue and not the phone at all. perhaps.

Apple can not be responsible for those that put a hand right over the antennas, after they told folks that that's what the band is. they can't be responsible for those that drop or lose their phones or get them wet etc. No more than any other company. If this was an Android, Rim etc we wouldn't be hearing about it. Because it's Apple all 'flaws' are suddenly a huge thing.

Perhaps the mistake they need to correct is this media obsession with painting them as perfect so then folks will stop with the expectations.

right, all the testing Apple did probably sported a fake case to disguise the Iphone 4 prototype. So they missed all the antenna problems completely.

this is a big issue and it makes me happy i don't have an iphone 4 yet. of course i want one and will use a case if i do get it. but this is a pretty sizable design flaw.

no matter the publicity drones and social networking spin maestros at work no doubt.

[QUOTE=Ireland;1661 [/QUOTE]
your a bigger jerk than teck stud ever was
crawl back in your wintel whole dude

apple is doomed

oddly your screen shots came into my apple devices at such a high res i feel apple has done no wrong at all

yes ATT has shit reception in nyc sanfran dallas
99000 posts ago we knew that
i will not buy an iphone until verizon gets on board or apple becomes the gatekeeper for me

9

You are wrong. And so is Steve Jobs. With my Verizon phone I can wrap my entire hand around the case and never lose a bar. It's sort of sad to hear Jobs making excuses for this obvious design flaw. Nevertheless, I am still hoping for a Verizon iPhone this fall....hopefully, with a new and improved antenna.

Didn't one of the video adds or the keynote say this kind of antenna had never been done before?

now you know why...

well really I am sure it has been done before actually. Hope to god they sort this out, not because I care about apple's stock price but I actually like the phone.

His entire post was sarcasm. He knows this iPhone 4 has a big issue.

You're right! My old RAZR does this too! If I sit on it. There's a difference between "some attenuation" from "gripping" and total loss of signal from normal holding.

no no no
this is an iphone 4 centric issue
holding the device in the left hand in a certain way blocks the signal
a rubber bumper solves that or hold the phone ina different manner
a small trade off for such a great phone


no ??
9

What applies for DC does not apply for RF, especially with respect to UHF and microwave.

There are many antenna designs that exhibit a short at DC, but operate just fine at their resonant frequency. This is common, especially in situations where antennas are prone to having to deal with lightning strikes.

I think there's a bit of a design flaw here, you just can't have count on not coupling between the skin and the antenna element. The solution is for the phones to come with radomes. I just want mine to have tiny Andrew red lightning bolt logos on it.

With that said, I'm going to get me one of these phones. But true to my love of Apple products, I wait until the *second* iteration,.

You weren't going to buy an iPhone anyway. So don't try to use this for justification.

i loved that mouse

Who is the bonehead at Apple who decided it would be a good idea to blame the customer?

The mere fact that this is true is troubling.

Interesting analysis by an antenna engineer:


Article here (spotted on Daring Fireball)

I used to think all these posts were sarcasm, now I'm not so sure. Are you high?

If Apple doesn't fix this issue, on a hardware level I suggest you don't buy an iPhone. Their response is rubbing every normal person the wrong way. It's disgusting.

As SJ says it is the same with other phones, see MacRumors lead article at this moment in time

http://www.macrumors.com/2010/06/24/...l-loss-issues/

Tape does work if applied on the right spot. But not buying an iPhone 4 works better.

No matter how may times you repeat this crap doesn't make it true. What are you going to say when Apple does actually fix this issue? You're full of shit.

That's so cute!

Wow, you really have become a '... censored...' these days.

Well put.

Exactly ...this has links to YouTube samples

http://www.macrumors.com/2010/06/24/...l-loss-issues/

Why are you taking his bait?

So you are being sarcastic. You trickster, you.

And all the phones were working fine in the pictures ... Great post.

I can as so can many people hold them that way and they work fine. So go figure ...

I don't see how you would have given anyone something legitimate to complain about. If it's legit then it should be complained about. I never cared for defending Apple, if the goods are good enough you shouldn't need to.

This is an Issue,

I have used Many Motorola phones, two Blackberry's, and even a Nokia. All had one thing in common. I never had to hold them the Proper way as you describe the iPhone 4 requires.
The Proper way to hold a phone is in your hand , if it doesnt work In your hand then its an issue.

It's amazing how much the iPhone gets bashed because it is so popular. When they talk about anything being bad with cellphones...it is always "The iPhone this or that". All phones do the signal loss with hand placement. I have noticed it with all of my iPhone but no one ever said a word about it before. If you cover up an antennae, crap happens. Get over it. They are just making a big deal of it now due to the new type of antennae design.

People love to bitch about anything that dominates the rest. But, they still want it so bad it hurts.

If you don't like how the iPhone acts with hand placement, hold it right, learn to use your right hand (lol), or, JUST BUY SOMETHING ELSE!!! You don't HAVE to buy the iPhone you know.

First of all, i have to say i'm glad Apple has come out and admitted there is an issue with the signal when you hold it certain ways. It's always nice to hear it from the horse's proverbial mouth.

Second, I can't say i'm too suprised by the response from Apple as well. Blame it on the technology why don't you?\

For a company that prides itself to provide the most innovative user-freindly products that work every time you use it without problems, to provide products that are well designed, built and perform to the highest level of self scrutany, and for a company headed by a man that nit-picks every minor detail about a device and places the fear of god into it's designers and engineers to perfect it, i'm a little dissapointed by the excuses and solutions brough forth today.

Personally, if i produced a product that is performing to an unsatisfactory level like this after touting my horn a few weeks ago about how fantastically awesome it is, and to read the sleugh of poor reviews about performance; i'd have a hard time living with the excuses given by my company today. Who was this person who gave the official Apple responce? Why wasn't it the man (SJ) himself to come out with the statement?

To blame the technology for (what appears to be) a design flaw (albeit not every phone reacts this way but enough do) is just plain lame and a bit cowardly. Then to provide a band-aid solution is even more cowardly. Apple is one of the most innovative companies out there and to place blame on a technology, when they are innovators of such technology, seems a bit ignorant. If they knew of this issue, why not attempt to be innovative and come up with creative solutions to this "allegedly" known issue? What makes it worse is that the people buying iP4 from today on will have no excuse to complain. Because all the "Geniuses" out there will just throw out a big, fat "we told you so".

Like I said, i'm not suprised by the responce, but it doesn't make it any less dissapointing to hear that they will attempt to do nothing to resolve the problem.

ID 10 T...I hear enough of that at work from my own IT staff and I refuse to accept this from a leader of innovative technology.

I expect to see a new form factor in June 2011. I'm SO glad i waited on a purchase of this new device. My 3G with iOS4 up and running smoothly will sufice for now!

That's for calling me a jerk btw. I'll try not to call Apple out on massive design blunders in the future. You're the type of reason PC users hate Mac users. Blind love.

I have loved my iPhone 2G since the day I bought it. Loved it!

The iPhone 4 has a major issue, if you can't admit that your stupid.

*yawn*

In a matter of weeks millions of iPhone 4' users will be able to report in ... already there are a hell of a lot of them ... so if it is as bad is the trolls want you all to think it is we will see them all being returned. I wonder how many have been returned far?

I am sure Apple may tweak the design slightly, or mod the OS but given this is a common fact for all mobile phones only a troll would be trying to persuade people not to buy iPhones because of this.

The sky is not falling folk,s no matter how much Scotland or whatever his name is wants you to think it is.

That's bollocks. I have the 600 up stairs in my safe. You have no idea what you're talking about. I love the iPhone 4, but this issue is major, and I will recommend against the iPhone 4 until Apple fixes it.

I know this all seems to be about the grounding of the antenna, but . . .

I have a bumper on my phone, and all morning it has been dropping calls. (never does that here)
At one point, I pulled the phone from my head and noticed that there were no bars, and almost instantly the bars came back, 1 by 1.

And no, there is not a metal plate in my head.

Also, the sensor seems to not work right, I am always muting the phone while talking on this one, which is problematic.

So, I think this unit has to go back to be exchanged or replaced with a 3Gs.