Yes, more than 50%, almost all (definately more than 60% of the calls dropped). It didn't seem to matter where I was, dropped calls occurred everywhere. I would talk to people on the iPhone 4, the call would drop, I'd call back, usually that call would drop, people would ask me 'what's wrong with your phone?' I'd get tired of the dropped calls (and people asking 'what's wrong with your phone); I'd finally call them back from a land line.
I put up with it for 3 1/2 weeks (you only get 1 month to return the phone), I had to make an executive decision to either keep it or return it. By this time, all the antenna-gate stuff was coming out. I decided to return it, despite loving everything about the phone but the dropped calls. I figured there was an antenna design problem.
Maybe I had a defective phone but after 3 1/2 weeks, I only had a few days left before my one month return policy expired. I wasn't going to chance being stuck with a problem phone.
Curious........around the holidays (Christmas 2010), I went to the local Apple Store; I thought I might give the iPhone 4 another try. Maybe they fixed the antenna...... I started to talk with an Apple store employee. I told her of my iPhone 4 experience from June/July, all the dropped calls and returning the phone. Her reply was that if I expected a new iPhone 4 to be as good at not dropping calls as the current 3GS I was using, I would be very disappointed.
I have had zero dropped calls and no problems accessing AT&T's network from my iPhone 4 since day one. The network is blazing fast, faster than DSL. What do you expect would happen if I handed you my iPhone 4, you put your SIM card in it, and let you use it for 3.5 weeks? Do you expect it to suddenly begin dropping 60% of the calls? Or do you expect it to work flawlessly?
I have had zero dropped calls and no problems accessing AT&T's network from my iPhone 4 since day one. The network is blazing fast, faster than DSL. What do you expect would happen if I handed you my iPhone 4, you put your SIM card in it, and let you use it for 3.5 weeks? Do you expect it to suddenly begin dropping 60% of the calls? Or do you expect it to work flawlessly?
Lets face it. The phone does not work properly for about 1% of users under normal conditions! The phone needs to be re-designed to avoid this problem.
Think of it this way. If GM sold a new model car that died 1% of the time it was driven faster than 5 mph, the government would force a recall. Of course, all you had to do was buy a bra to cover the front and it would run just fine.
Fix the phone!
As for CR, I cannot believe the ignorance of the people posting here. They do NOT take advertising or any type of company sponsoring. The fact that you accuse them of doing so without any evidence is just more evidence of your complete bias and drinking Apple kool-aid!
Hard to believe that Apple can sell millions of IPhone4 s and CR is still moaning and groaning about antenagate.
From what I saw on the review they rated the IPhone4 highest overall but wouldn't recommend it. Does anyone really care if they recommend it?? I don't.
'Twas a hypothetical question anyway. I couldn't tell if that person sincerely thought the iPhone 4 was designed wrong or if he had a lemon, or if it was AT&T. Maybe he was jinxed. What did he expect to happen if he was handed a proven-to-work-flawlessly iPhone 4? Would it mysteriously stop working?
Seems like it just needs to be rethought entirely. I'm not sure if the iPad design would be any better for reception or even pass FCC guidelines but I think it would make a for a neat phone:
No shattering, no scratching, easy to hold as it's curved, no cracking back plastic like 3G/3GS, no complaining about a white model, no light interference on the camera.
Just the radio antenna right next to your head,
There's a reason the place the antenna's at the bottom.
There's a reason the place the antenna's at the bottom.
I'd take the risk to get a phone with that styling - has anyone been known to actually die of cancer from using a cell-phone too much? At least not within a single phone generation. They can mess about with the antenna position though.
I still think they should make iPods and leave the antenna design to the phone companies. Just have a bumper case with the phone parts in it.
'Twas a hypothetical question anyway. I couldn't tell if that person sincerely thought the iPhone 4 was designed wrong or if he had a lemon, or if it was AT&T. Maybe he was jinxed. What did he expect to happen if he was handed a proven-to-work-flawlessly iPhone 4? Would it mysteriously stop working?
I don't know either, whether it was designed wrong or I had a lemon (for the dropped call problem). All I know is that I had a very limited time left to either keep the phone OR take it back for a refund. Because of the problems I had with so many dropped calls, I elected to take it back for a refund.
I guess I'll never know what the problem was, maybe I was spoiled with my 3G (although kind of slow) and my 3GS (pretty fast). There is no doubt, my iPhone 4 was blazingly fast for data/internet access, apps opened so fast it made my head spin, the display was unbelievably beautiful, everything blew me away but the one I had dropped most calls.
What made me think it was a phone/antenna problem was the fact that I had both previous phones with very few dropped calls AND all the comments and 'press' regarding antennagate. Then when the Apple store employee told me (around Christmas), that if I expected the iPhone 4 to be as good or better than my current 3GS at not dropping calls, I would be very disappointed........that indicates they must have 'some' problems they know about.
If you gave me you?re "proven-to-work-flawlessly iPhone 4" and it worked as good for me as it had for you, I'd be elated!!!
It's interesting how many people feel compelled to make up numbers as part of their attacks on Apple and its customers.
Apple admitted that about 1.5% of their IP4 customers have this dropped call issue. If I were making up a number, I would have used a higher number to make my point across-just like Republicans do.
By the way, I own Apple stock and I do have a iPod Touch. I just don't think that ignoring clear defects is good for the consumer or the advancement of consumer technology.
There are a lot of fanboy responses here ripping on Consumer Reports.
Consumer Reports is a reputable organization. Their product reviews are typically very well researched, and carry weight among buyers who like to find out more about products before they buy. I'd bet that most Apple product users are early adopters, so it's no surprise that they don't understand this segment of the market.
So we've got an ongoing antenna issue with Apple iPhones, they report it, so you conclude that the website is irrelevant. Awesome stuff.
So pray tell us, what product you adore, and I will dig out consumer reports that lambast it.
How come they pick on Apple ? Simple everybody does, because they are envious.
Do they pick on android garbage ? No. One reason is that there are hundreds of different phones out there, and it would take them ages to character assassinate them all.
Because Apple is at the top of the food chain, it is a convenient target for the lazy and unscrupulous, who want to make a buck of be hip in the eyes of the consumer/pundits.
I pre-ordered an AT&T iPhone 4 last June. While I was waiting for the iPhone 4 to come in, I started to read about antenna/signal/dropped call problems. I thought it was probably just a bunch of Apple haters who were blowing something way out of proportion. Since I had a 3GS (and a 3G before that & NEVER had a problem with either), I thought Apple could do no wrong. I was excited to get my new iPhone 4!
I got it and used it for 3 1/2 weeks. I had to take it back for a full refund, it was the worst phone I've ever had (for dropped calls). I loved everything about the iPhone 4, display, speed, etc. but it dropped almost every single call that came in or went out. It didn't matter whether I was holding it or it was sitting somewhere while I used my Bluetooth, it dropped almost every call. I expected it to be as good as or better than my 3GS & my 3G, did I expect too much? I couldn't wait to get rid of the iPhone 4 because above everything else, it failed miserably to function as a 'CELL PHONE?!
I was EXTREMELY disappointed in Apple. How could they let such a piece of shit 'CELL PHONE' get to market with their name on it?
So, I reactivated my 3GS and life is good. When I see someone with an AT&T iPhone 4, I ask them 'how they like it' (I never say anything about 'antenna/signal/dropped call problems'). Almost every response is........."It drops a lot of calls".
With your brilliant deduction, ALL iPhone 4s are bad.
Funny, I have one, no problems due to the phone, if a call is dropped its because its CARRIER related. I wonder if this sinks in, or will you continue to bag the world's best mobile phone ?
The same people that think the iPhone 4 is a POS for the supposed antenna issue are the same people that think the Xoom with its high price, buggy OS, lack of real apps, missing blockbuster app (Adobe Flash), missing blockbuster technology (4G), and non-working SD card slot is totally awesome.
Remember how lack of cut and paste in the original iOS was a huge deal to these people? Gotta love double standards.
Yep the same ones who YELLED OUT at the top of their lungs that the iPad is nothing more than a large iPhone. Hang on aren't these the same ones wetting themselves silly with the arrival of the Exhume ? But its just a bigger android phone, isn't it ?
The same ones who laughed at Apple when they got rid of the floppy disk drive for USB.
Man, I could go on and on about these retards, because that is what they are.
If you argue yourself to oblivion that product X is pure garbage and then a little while later worship a company that brings you product X, then you are simply retarded, end of story.
So the rule is you can only post about products that are available for you to buy? You may want to stop posting on this site then since it specializes in news and rumors about products none of us can buy yet.
I agree with you and I responded to him/her like-wise.
I suggest that you make a complaint about this person to the moderators, as I have done in the past.
This person is of the opinion that he/she is Lord of the Manor. Not to mention extremely arrogant.
Come one complain, that way the moderators may actually do something this time.
See many black helicopters hovering over your house at night?
Wear a foil cap to keep them from reading your (few) brainwaves?
Avoid the tapwater 'cause the fluoride brainwashes you?
CR isn't saying "don't buy this phone". In fact they rated it very highly.
What kind of consumer reporting entity would they be if they DIDN't point out that touching a spot on the phone could make it totally fail at it's primary function (in weak signal spots)? I say kudos to them for continuing to draw attention to this.
Everybody can be bought.
Do you think CI are pure and cannot be influenced by a wheel-barrow load of money brought in by Google ? The sworn enemy of Apple.
Apple admitted that about 1.5% of their IP4 customers have this dropped call issue. ...
Apple never gave any such number. They gave numbers on the return rate of IP4, which isn't necessarily indicative of any particular issue, and they gave numbers on the dropped call rate relative to the 3GS, which may not have even been statistically significant, the difference was so small.
I'd take the risk to get a phone with that styling - has anyone been known to actually die of cancer from using a cell-phone too much? At least not within a single phone generation. They can mess about with the antenna position though.
I still think they should make iPods and leave the antenna design to the phone companies. Just have a bumper case with the phone parts in it.
No deaths from cancer documented but changes in brain activity:
"Scientists have said repeatedly that there is no known biological mechanism to explain how nonionizing radiation might lead to cancer or other health problems."
And it was a 7% difference in brain activity after nearly a 50 minute exposure. Plus it said it sped up brain activity so might even be beneficial. Maybe the radiation from the brain scan was even interfering with the test.
People who use their phone for a prolonged period of time can use a bluetooth headset. One can be provided on long call-time plans for free.
Comments
quote:
Yes, more than 50%, almost all (definately more than 60% of the calls dropped). It didn't seem to matter where I was, dropped calls occurred everywhere. I would talk to people on the iPhone 4, the call would drop, I'd call back, usually that call would drop, people would ask me 'what's wrong with your phone?' I'd get tired of the dropped calls (and people asking 'what's wrong with your phone); I'd finally call them back from a land line.
I put up with it for 3 1/2 weeks (you only get 1 month to return the phone), I had to make an executive decision to either keep it or return it. By this time, all the antenna-gate stuff was coming out. I decided to return it, despite loving everything about the phone but the dropped calls. I figured there was an antenna design problem.
Maybe I had a defective phone but after 3 1/2 weeks, I only had a few days left before my one month return policy expired. I wasn't going to chance being stuck with a problem phone.
Curious........around the holidays (Christmas 2010), I went to the local Apple Store; I thought I might give the iPhone 4 another try. Maybe they fixed the antenna...... I started to talk with an Apple store employee. I told her of my iPhone 4 experience from June/July, all the dropped calls and returning the phone. Her reply was that if I expected a new iPhone 4 to be as good at not dropping calls as the current 3GS I was using, I would be very disappointed.
I have had zero dropped calls and no problems accessing AT&T's network from my iPhone 4 since day one. The network is blazing fast, faster than DSL. What do you expect would happen if I handed you my iPhone 4, you put your SIM card in it, and let you use it for 3.5 weeks? Do you expect it to suddenly begin dropping 60% of the calls? Or do you expect it to work flawlessly?
I have had zero dropped calls and no problems accessing AT&T's network from my iPhone 4 since day one. The network is blazing fast, faster than DSL. What do you expect would happen if I handed you my iPhone 4, you put your SIM card in it, and let you use it for 3.5 weeks? Do you expect it to suddenly begin dropping 60% of the calls? Or do you expect it to work flawlessly?
I'd expect that you'd never see him again.
Think of it this way. If GM sold a new model car that died 1% of the time it was driven faster than 5 mph, the government would force a recall. Of course, all you had to do was buy a bra to cover the front and it would run just fine.
Fix the phone!
As for CR, I cannot believe the ignorance of the people posting here. They do NOT take advertising or any type of company sponsoring. The fact that you accuse them of doing so without any evidence is just more evidence of your complete bias and drinking Apple kool-aid!
Lets face it. The phone does not work properly for about 1% of users under normal conditions! ...
It's interesting how many people feel compelled to make up numbers as part of their attacks on Apple and its customers.
From what I saw on the review they rated the IPhone4 highest overall but wouldn't recommend it. Does anyone really care if they recommend it?? I don't.
I'd expect that you'd never see him again.
LOL. I could probably buy my iPhone back on eBay
'Twas a hypothetical question anyway. I couldn't tell if that person sincerely thought the iPhone 4 was designed wrong or if he had a lemon, or if it was AT&T. Maybe he was jinxed. What did he expect to happen if he was handed a proven-to-work-flawlessly iPhone 4? Would it mysteriously stop working?
Seems like it just needs to be rethought entirely. I'm not sure if the iPad design would be any better for reception or even pass FCC guidelines but I think it would make a for a neat phone:
No shattering, no scratching, easy to hold as it's curved, no cracking back plastic like 3G/3GS, no complaining about a white model, no light interference on the camera.
Just the radio antenna right next to your head,
There's a reason the place the antenna's at the bottom.
Just the radio antenna right next to your head,
There's a reason the place the antenna's at the bottom.
I'd take the risk to get a phone with that styling - has anyone been known to actually die of cancer from using a cell-phone too much? At least not within a single phone generation. They can mess about with the antenna position though.
I still think they should make iPods and leave the antenna design to the phone companies. Just have a bumper case with the phone parts in it.
'Twas a hypothetical question anyway. I couldn't tell if that person sincerely thought the iPhone 4 was designed wrong or if he had a lemon, or if it was AT&T. Maybe he was jinxed. What did he expect to happen if he was handed a proven-to-work-flawlessly iPhone 4? Would it mysteriously stop working?
I don't know either, whether it was designed wrong or I had a lemon (for the dropped call problem). All I know is that I had a very limited time left to either keep the phone OR take it back for a refund. Because of the problems I had with so many dropped calls, I elected to take it back for a refund.
I guess I'll never know what the problem was, maybe I was spoiled with my 3G (although kind of slow) and my 3GS (pretty fast). There is no doubt, my iPhone 4 was blazingly fast for data/internet access, apps opened so fast it made my head spin, the display was unbelievably beautiful, everything blew me away but the one I had dropped most calls.
What made me think it was a phone/antenna problem was the fact that I had both previous phones with very few dropped calls AND all the comments and 'press' regarding antennagate. Then when the Apple store employee told me (around Christmas), that if I expected the iPhone 4 to be as good or better than my current 3GS at not dropping calls, I would be very disappointed........that indicates they must have 'some' problems they know about.
If you gave me you?re "proven-to-work-flawlessly iPhone 4" and it worked as good for me as it had for you, I'd be elated!!!
It's interesting how many people feel compelled to make up numbers as part of their attacks on Apple and its customers.
Apple admitted that about 1.5% of their IP4 customers have this dropped call issue. If I were making up a number, I would have used a higher number to make my point across-just like Republicans do.
By the way, I own Apple stock and I do have a iPod Touch. I just don't think that ignoring clear defects is good for the consumer or the advancement of consumer technology.
There are a lot of fanboy responses here ripping on Consumer Reports.
Consumer Reports is a reputable organization. Their product reviews are typically very well researched, and carry weight among buyers who like to find out more about products before they buy. I'd bet that most Apple product users are early adopters, so it's no surprise that they don't understand this segment of the market.
So we've got an ongoing antenna issue with Apple iPhones, they report it, so you conclude that the website is irrelevant. Awesome stuff.
So pray tell us, what product you adore, and I will dig out consumer reports that lambast it.
Its amazing how you trolls react.
Do they pick on android garbage ? No. One reason is that there are hundreds of different phones out there, and it would take them ages to character assassinate them all.
Because Apple is at the top of the food chain, it is a convenient target for the lazy and unscrupulous, who want to make a buck of be hip in the eyes of the consumer/pundits.
I pre-ordered an AT&T iPhone 4 last June. While I was waiting for the iPhone 4 to come in, I started to read about antenna/signal/dropped call problems. I thought it was probably just a bunch of Apple haters who were blowing something way out of proportion. Since I had a 3GS (and a 3G before that & NEVER had a problem with either), I thought Apple could do no wrong. I was excited to get my new iPhone 4!
I got it and used it for 3 1/2 weeks. I had to take it back for a full refund, it was the worst phone I've ever had (for dropped calls). I loved everything about the iPhone 4, display, speed, etc. but it dropped almost every single call that came in or went out. It didn't matter whether I was holding it or it was sitting somewhere while I used my Bluetooth, it dropped almost every call. I expected it to be as good as or better than my 3GS & my 3G, did I expect too much? I couldn't wait to get rid of the iPhone 4 because above everything else, it failed miserably to function as a 'CELL PHONE?!
I was EXTREMELY disappointed in Apple. How could they let such a piece of shit 'CELL PHONE' get to market with their name on it?
So, I reactivated my 3GS and life is good. When I see someone with an AT&T iPhone 4, I ask them 'how they like it' (I never say anything about 'antenna/signal/dropped call problems'). Almost every response is........."It drops a lot of calls".
With your brilliant deduction, ALL iPhone 4s are bad.
Funny, I have one, no problems due to the phone, if a call is dropped its because its CARRIER related. I wonder if this sinks in, or will you continue to bag the world's best mobile phone ?
The same people that think the iPhone 4 is a POS for the supposed antenna issue are the same people that think the Xoom with its high price, buggy OS, lack of real apps, missing blockbuster app (Adobe Flash), missing blockbuster technology (4G), and non-working SD card slot is totally awesome.
Remember how lack of cut and paste in the original iOS was a huge deal to these people? Gotta love double standards.
Yep the same ones who YELLED OUT at the top of their lungs that the iPad is nothing more than a large iPhone. Hang on aren't these the same ones wetting themselves silly with the arrival of the Exhume ? But its just a bigger android phone, isn't it ?
The same ones who laughed at Apple when they got rid of the floppy disk drive for USB.
Man, I could go on and on about these retards, because that is what they are.
If you argue yourself to oblivion that product X is pure garbage and then a little while later worship a company that brings you product X, then you are simply retarded, end of story.
Why do we even bother with these morons ?
You're an Australian, living in Australia, they are commenting on a product that is only available in the USA, what does it matter to you?
Well, well, well its my good buddy jfanning.
Did the moderators get back to you when you attacked me on this site ?
I see you are spouting your usual garbage in attacking someone who does not live in your country.
I thought this site was open to all people ? So now you have taken it upon yourself to filter out those that can/can't make comment.
Its very obvious that is your intention based on your post.
So the rule is you can only post about products that are available for you to buy? You may want to stop posting on this site then since it specializes in news and rumors about products none of us can buy yet.
I agree with you and I responded to him/her like-wise.
I suggest that you make a complaint about this person to the moderators, as I have done in the past.
This person is of the opinion that he/she is Lord of the Manor. Not to mention extremely arrogant.
Come one complain, that way the moderators may actually do something this time.
Hmmm...
See many black helicopters hovering over your house at night?
Wear a foil cap to keep them from reading your (few) brainwaves?
Avoid the tapwater 'cause the fluoride brainwashes you?
CR isn't saying "don't buy this phone". In fact they rated it very highly.
What kind of consumer reporting entity would they be if they DIDN't point out that touching a spot on the phone could make it totally fail at it's primary function (in weak signal spots)? I say kudos to them for continuing to draw attention to this.
Everybody can be bought.
Do you think CI are pure and cannot be influenced by a wheel-barrow load of money brought in by Google ? The sworn enemy of Apple.
Apple admitted that about 1.5% of their IP4 customers have this dropped call issue. ...
Apple never gave any such number. They gave numbers on the return rate of IP4, which isn't necessarily indicative of any particular issue, and they gave numbers on the dropped call rate relative to the 3GS, which may not have even been statistically significant, the difference was so small.
I'd take the risk to get a phone with that styling - has anyone been known to actually die of cancer from using a cell-phone too much? At least not within a single phone generation. They can mess about with the antenna position though.
I still think they should make iPods and leave the antenna design to the phone companies. Just have a bumper case with the phone parts in it.
No deaths from cancer documented but changes in brain activity:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/0...ref=technology
No deaths from cancer documented but changes in brain activity:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/0...ref=technology
Still:
"Scientists have said repeatedly that there is no known biological mechanism to explain how nonionizing radiation might lead to cancer or other health problems."
And it was a 7% difference in brain activity after nearly a 50 minute exposure. Plus it said it sped up brain activity so might even be beneficial. Maybe the radiation from the brain scan was even interfering with the test.
People who use their phone for a prolonged period of time can use a bluetooth headset. One can be provided on long call-time plans for free.