Apple says any mobile phone has reception issues when held wrong - Page 3

You're cute. I'm sure your loyalty won't go unnoticed by Apple.

It's shocking that those word are true. Ashamed Mac user here.

Excuse partial quote but just wanted to expand on your last paragraph ...

According to many now, even iPhone 3Gs has same problem with iOS 4 ... check out this very post earlier on ...

This is the extent to which this is being over blown and becoming hysterical. Next it will be MacBooks fail at WiFi when your left hand is on the corner!

BTW, I agree, my 3Gs is fine with iOS 4 as is my 3G.

FFC's fault my ass. This iPhone has this issue worse than previous iPhones, the FFC's rules haven't changed. He's an antenna engineer and he still bought an iPhone 4? He's one dumb antenna engineer.

Another antenna guy had a story two weeks back that predicted it, the link in over on digg.

On the contrary, near as I can tell everyone who says things are fine don't have the phone and those who say there's a problem do. I'm typing this on my iphone4 right now. I've owned every model of iPhone Apples made and have apps in the app store. I have a Mac, iPad, and have been using Macs since 1988. I'm a software engineer by trade and took a few EE courses at Carnegie Mellon back in the day. Do you want my full resume? The problem is real and it's not just losing a bar or two because of a blocked signal. It's sequentially losing ALL bars in the span of seconds and your phone going to "Searching..." because you thought it was okay to hold the phone at the left bottom corner (as almost any right-hander would hold a touch-only phone.)

Don't get me wrong... Strangely enough I'd probably STILL go for this phone. The screen is absolutely phenomenal and it's an engineering marvel. I can probably build some new muscle memory to hold the phone differently. But don't lie to me and tell me I don't know what I'm talking about.

My point about "legitimate" was made because I've read many so-called complaints that were only sour grapes. My guess is that this antenna flap will fade. I fully expect it will be fixed in future upgrades. It won't stop me from getting an iPhone when Verizon comes on board.

Exactly. That's why "shorting" with a 1kOms of your hand does not do anything. The capacitive impedance, on the other hand can be essential, especially at high frequencies.

i [with my two macpro's, macbook pro, macbook air, ipad, 2 iphones and mac mini] am not a troll, but EVERYONE I KNOW WHO BOUGHT AN IPHONE 4 CAN REPLICATE THIS PROBLEM to the point where they get "no signal". this is a QC nightmare.

if Apple's solution is to tell us to go spend 29 dollars on a silicone bumper that it costs them 18 cents to manufacture, they can go fcuk themselves. their "genius" antenna needs fixed, in the meantime, they NEED to give those bumpers out free to everyone who bought an iPhone4.

Apple's obviously wrong, and they're really pushing the line in terms of how much bs they can sell to the public.

Obvious flaw in Apple's logic: If any mobile phone has reception issues when held wrong, why are some reporting that their iP4 doesn't suffer from this!?

I've honestly never heard of this, and I've been using a cell phone of some kind for about 10 years now.

Maybe for Michael Jackson

That's exactly how i feel about the NEW iPod Shuffle. Give me some damn buttons already!

... and the Apple haters are working overtime to make this an issue.

Let's wait a month to see if this dies away or if it stays real.

After 2 million phones are sold we should be able to find out if it's an issue or a non-issue.

No, he (Stevie) is tekstud.

As long as we're all honest.

They did except that there security is so tight that every phone that left the compound was wrapped in a disguise, a case that kept this from happening, oooops.

Yeah, you're right. I don't know.

You title your post "common sense..."!? What is wrong with you???


This part made me laugh at first, but then I sighed in pity. This is the epitome of "Letting Steve Jobs think for me" syndrome.

Here's a shocker: This IS NOT a common fact for all mobile phones. If a few weeks ago I told you this, you would have debated me up and down that I'm wrong, and that your iphone doesn't suffer from it because it's not a POS. Now that Jobs has said it, there's no questioning it.

absolutely incredible.

Oh, that makes sense.

You can't write this stuff.

Yes they did, more to follow.


100% of the people do not have the same type of hand, are not all right handed ect...... User Error, sorry how dare you hold your phone in your hand that is not what is meant to do. Just because it is not 100% does not make it a non-issue, ask Toyota.


God forbid someone might want to actually hold their cell phone they way it was meant to be held. Maybe Apple should have made a phone that a user can not put a hand right over the antenna but they didn't, the screwed up.


Perhaps Stevie needs to man up for once and admit a mistake, oh he doesnt have to because all the fanbois will forgive him regardless and keep shelling out money to him.

Even Apple can't override the laws of physics.

Let's get it straight. There are TWO different iPhone 4 issues and Apple has commented on them separately:

1. The signal loss when the antenna is covered. This happens on every cell phone ever made and is controlled by the laws of physics. They could increase cell phone power to compensate, but the FCC wouldn't allow it (not to mention that then all the complainers would be talking about Apple's phones emitting too much radiation). For this issue, Apple's statement was that it's limited by physics and they can't do anything about that - so if it bothers you, you'll have to change the way you hold it. The same would be true of any other phone on the planet (yes, I know that some of you have never had problems with other phones, but some people never have problems with the new iPhone, either. Some people HAVE had problems with all types of phones).

2. A completely unrelated issue, apparently related to touching the antenna at or near where the two antennae approach each other. Probably due to a capacitance issue. Apple acknowledged this one, too, and told Mossberg that there will be a software fix. Many people (including myself) see the number of bars drop when touching the phone there, but signal quality (as measured by Speedtest) doesn't change. There are reports of dropped calls, but it's not yet clear that this is anything more than AT&T's behavior with heavy traffic.


#1 can't be fixed.
#2 is design related and needs to be fixed. Apple says software will fix it. Let's give them the chance to prove it before going on any campaigns.

IF the software patch doesn't fix #2, then Apple will need to do some design work. First priority would be to figure out what the problem is and then fix it so they don't produce 30 M bad phones. Then, the should repair or replace phones that are already in the wild. It's that simple.

If they wish, they might also offer a choice of a free bumper or a full refund, as well.

Apple has a history of high quality products and addressing problems when they come up. There's no reason to think this will be any different - but expecting Apple to violate the laws of physics is just unreasonable.

There are 2 questions:
1. Is this an issue for the iPhone 4 in general? If it's a design flaw, will it be handled well (corrected and recalled, etc)? If it's a manufacturing flaw, how many units are affected and what are the workarounds (besides contorting yourself to hold it).
2. Is this an issue for the people it's happening to? The answer (speaking as one of those people) is yes. This isn't normal attenuation. It happens in 5-bar places and sends you "Searching..." in under 20 seconds. Then shift your hand up or switch hands and in seconds you get 5 bars back.

So either: 1. This is acceptable for all phones and Apple just happened to make the worst phone ever made in terms of "signal blockage", or 2. There is a problem with the design and/or manufacturing of some number of iPhone 4's that needs to be corrected.

First of all, nobody's making this a bigger issue than Apple. They could have chosen a better course than to tell people to not hold the phone wrong. It's a phone, I'll hold it with my feet if I want to.

As to the rest of your post, that's very fair. Many people are reporting that they DON'T have an issue like this, but that flies right in the face of what Apple's saying here isn't it?

No doubt you'll call anyone a troll who tries to open your eyes to how absurd this is though.

Bottom line: If this was any other company besides Apple, it would be the Apple fans jumping all over it in the same way :/

Borderline trolling.

I'm joking.

I get called a troll a lot around here lately. Which just happened to miraculously occur along with one of the biggest design flaws in Cupertino history.

i always use a cse, presently its rubberized so it doesn't slip out when calling

awesome phone, can't wait....non issue.....for me.

I just read where Apple is going to offer right-handed and left-handed iP4 models.

This drum is dead Stevie, stop beating it.

No they don't! Never seen it before and I have owned many cell phones. Hell my iPhone 3G doesn't do it.

i saw this at engadget and it gave me a chuckle:

You are joking.

Stevie/tekstud never mans up, never admits a mistake. He will switch his argument 180 degrees and fervently deny that he said what he said two posts earlier rather than admit he was wrong. Doesn't everyone remember the time he thought SMS messages magically traveled from phone to phone without going through any carrier infrastructure, then denied he ever said any such thing? I particularly like his habit of posting the same thing over and over again in a thread, hoping to finally hook someone in. Then when he's really caught out, he will tell you to ignore his posts. Hahahahaha.

Gotcha!

Your ambiguity of comment is diluting whatever the hell it is you are tying to do.

Actually, the article that was quoted in your reply above was pretty interesting. It makes sense. Especially where the guy says he voted with his dollars. Now, back to if you don't like it, buy an Android phone or whatever suits you. Nobody is forcing people to buy the iPhone. Hell, buy a 3Gs that they are still selling. It amazes me how it did the EXACT SAME THING with its antennae and nobody bitched. I just learned that holding it certain ways caused my data transfer to slow down. So, I stopped holding it that way. Problem was fixed.

My iPhone 4 is great. It loses bars when I hold it a certain way just like the gripe goes. It still makes and receives calls fine. What's funny is that I am at work in a metal building where all cell signal disappears. We call it the black hole for cell phones. My buddy keeps having to pick his Verizon phone up when it rings and sprint to the front door to talk. I am sitting here making/receiving calls sitting down with no problems.

Keep bitching people. I'll keep enjoying my kick ass new phone! HAHAHA!

Wouldn't painting the stainless steel fix the problem? Therefore preventing skin contact with metal.

... and you are a bigger a_ _ hole than I had originally thought.

Personally, I'm just waiting for the Otterbox case for the new iP4. Once that one comes out, the bumper goes back and that goes on. Really need to get one for my 3GS also. Just need to go check out where I can get one, and the colors. Not really a big fan of white which is the only color I've actually seen so far.

I can't ignore him, you need some retards around to spice up the forum.

I was so confused about this issue till Mr. Jobs told me what to think.

You can do what you want, no one cares.