Consumer Reports changes stance, cannot recommend Apple's iPhone 4

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  • Reply 301 of 406
    tulkastulkas Posts: 3,757member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by rbonner View Post


    I agree, but am having the prox sensor issue as well, which is a deal breaker.



    The funny thing is, after I upgraded to iOS4 on my 3G, I have since had it happen to me twice. Talking on the phone and out of nowhere I hear a line ringing and someone from my contacts or MRU answers. AFAIK, I am the only person in the world without an iPhone 4 that has this problem
  • Reply 302 of 406
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Who cares. It works just fine.
  • Reply 303 of 406
    str1f3str1f3 Posts: 573member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sacto Joe View Post


    Exactly. This is not a joking matter, and to make a joke out of it is to suggest the tests were never really serious.



    Frankly, if CR doesn't come out with a LOT more detail about this report, I for one would be willing to join a class action lawsuit against them to acquire and publish that info.



    And if it's bogus, then heaven help CR!





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Berp View Post


    Apple is creating Life out of technology. The iPhone 4, as the iPad, is engineered and designed as a projection of day-to-day Humanity. It breathes and pulsates in waves. It costs an arm and a leg because it is an arm and a leg. It has been built from the inside out as we have been, dna strand by dna strand until our senses start making sense of the whole.



    Organic we evolved, organic the iPhone better be. For better or worse. My arms cannot bend backward, neither can my fingers; I cannot swivel my head 180 degrees; I have limited vision: but I can feel things just fine and that keeps me alive and thriving. The iPhone partakes in an imperfect but highly adaptable journey through evolution of meaningful ends.



    Of course, with asymmetric alchemy comes fear of the unknown. It always did, as in the witch hunts of past centuries. And bitterness for the comfort zones left behind. Cold comfort indeed, for in Hell lies the belief that it should deservedly be host to your enemy. Let the threatening catharsis find its way through an echo chamber redemption!



    The antenna is sensitive to contact with the human hand and so it should be. As my hand feels the warmth or coldness of a brother's handshake, I tune my response on the adaptable me. I'm not a borg, nor a hermit, and neither am I an android. As a flesh and blood human being I've grown to rely on human nature's frail and fallible sagacity.



    There is nothing wrong with my antenna that I couldn't correct with the hand that beholds it. Kindred Antennas are known to keep in touch.



    The two funniest posts of the thread.
  • Reply 304 of 406
    If an outfit like Consumer reports could not replicate the problem the first time, it suggests to me that the problem is, at most, minor.



    That said, I have not even seen an iPhone 4, so I do not have an opinion about the extent of the problem in the real world.
  • Reply 305 of 406
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Sacto Joe View Post


    Frankly, if CR doesn't come out with a LOT more detail about this report, I for one would be willing to join a class action lawsuit against them to acquire and publish that info.



    Somehow, I doubt that you have much of a case, unless Jobs & Co. fail to pursue legal action.



    And even then... truth is a defense to libel.







    Disclaimer: ...IANAL
  • Reply 306 of 406
    mnbmnb Posts: 15member
    I dunno, I can repro a signal loss on my 3GS phone. You have to hold it differently, as you would other phones because the antenna shape and position is different.



    Consumer Reports does some good work on cars and appliances, but I dunno about areas like this...



    I've spoken to a good dozen people with the new phone. Not a one has problems with the signal.



    Of course, that's far from a scientifically valid sample size, but still...
  • Reply 307 of 406
    naboozlenaboozle Posts: 213member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Foo2 View Post


    Yes, I believe Apple has known all along about the signal bars. Remember this episode from 2008, when Apple increased the number of bars displayed in iOS 2.1?



    http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-10115756-233.html



    No! No! They were "stunned"! Norwegian Blues stun easily, Major!



    Lovely phone, eh? Beautiful plooo-mage!?
  • Reply 308 of 406
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    What an utterly informationless thread.



    YES. NO.

    BARS. NO BARS.

    YOU'RE WRONG. I AM RIGHT.

    GREAT RECEPTION. LOUSY RECEPTION.

    FANBOY. TROLL.

    RETURN. SUCK IT UP.

    FREE BUMPERS. NO BUMPERS.

    APPLE RULES. APPLE SUCKS.



    In the meantime, not one mind was changed.



    Sigh......
  • Reply 309 of 406
    h2ph2p Posts: 329member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by macinthe408 View Post


    I am taking my iPhone 4 into an Apple Store this week to get a refund, and a replacement 3GS. And I also need to convince my wife that she's not getting the white iPhone she thinks she's getting later this month.



    Why would you bring it back instead of putting some clear tape over the gap & wait for an Apple fix? (yes it's got to be free)... Vs getting rid of the iPhone 4 features.
  • Reply 310 of 406
    I've worked in an Apple store and I work at a cellphone store that carries the iPhone now. The amount of people that ever have the phone in hand without a case is very minimal in my experience in addition to the fact that this only has effect if you are in an area with bad reception, very much makes this a non-issue for most costumers. The fact that anyone would even have such a device without any sort of exterior protection is unimaginable to me. The consumer report's ridiculous recommendation of using a large piece of duct tape as oppose to recommending users purchase a case which not only prevents the issue while in low service areas but protects the overall device makes their point much more of an attention grab then a valid argument against the device.



    I still plan on purchasing the iPhone 4 with a case that I would have gotten anyways and I wont feel cheated because having a case improves my service in the process. Realistically that doesn't reduce the value of the phone it increases the value of the case.
  • Reply 311 of 406
    mazda 3smazda 3s Posts: 1,613member
    Wow, Brian Williams on NBC Nightly news just covered the iPhone/Consumer Reports story and sarcastically made fun of Apple's responses about "hold it differently" and that a "software fix" was coming.

  • Reply 312 of 406
    zebzeb Posts: 5member
    Had my iphone 4 since day 1 release day.. Never had a problem with reception
  • Reply 313 of 406
    bartbuzzbartbuzz Posts: 131member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Mazda 3s View Post


    Wow, Brian Williams on NBC Nightly news just covered the iPhone/Consumer Reports story and sarcastically made fun of Apple's responses about "hold it differently" and that a "software fix" was coming.





    NBC still does news?
  • Reply 314 of 406
    bartbuzzbartbuzz Posts: 131member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by talkshowonmute View Post


    I've worked in an Apple store and I work at a cellphone store that carries the iPhone now. The amount of people that ever have the phone in hand without a case is very minimal in my experience in addition to the fact that this only has effect if you are in an area with bad reception, very much makes this a non-issue for most costumers. The fact that anyone would even have such a device without any sort of exterior protection is unimaginable to me. The consumer report's ridiculous recommendation of using a large piece of duct tape as oppose to recommending users purchase a case which not only prevents the issue while in low service areas but protects the overall device makes their point much more of an attention grab then a valid argument against the device.



    I still plan on purchasing the iPhone 4 with a case that I would have gotten anyways and I wont feel cheated because having a case improves my service in the process. Realistically that doesn't reduce the value of the phone it increases the value of the case.



    Stop with the logic!
  • Reply 315 of 406
    mazda 3smazda 3s Posts: 1,613member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by BartBuzz View Post


    NBC still does news?



    So are we now trying to discredit CR and NBC?
  • Reply 316 of 406
    mazda 3smazda 3s Posts: 1,613member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by talkshowonmute View Post


    I've worked in an Apple store and I work at a cellphone store that carries the iPhone now. The amount of people that ever have the phone in hand without a case is very minimal in my experience in addition to the fact that this only has effect if you are in an area with bad reception, very much makes this a non-issue for most costumers. The fact that anyone would even have such a device without any sort of exterior protection is unimaginable to me. The consumer report's ridiculous recommendation of using a large piece of duct tape as oppose to recommending users purchase a case which not only prevents the issue while in low service areas but protects the overall device makes their point much more of an attention grab then a valid argument against the device.



    I still plan on purchasing the iPhone 4 with a case that I would have gotten anyways and I wont feel cheated because having a case improves my service in the process. Realistically that doesn't reduce the value of the phone it increases the value of the case.



    I understand what you're saying, but that is your opinion and it still doesn't solve the underlying problem. While many people DO buy a case to put on their iPhone for cosmetic/protection reasons, you SHOULDN'T have to buy one to make the phone function normally when holding it.



    One of the main draws of the iPhone 4 was Steve's assertion that the new iPhone is sturdier with strong glass front and back, and features scratch resistant coatings. Adding to that, the phone just feels so good in my hands sans case.



    So buying a case may fix Apple's design flaw, it negates the advances Apple made to make it a more attractive, sturdier device that shouldn't require such superfluous additions.
  • Reply 317 of 406
    hands sandonhands sandon Posts: 5,270member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by David Scubadiver View Post


    If an outfit like Consumer reports could not replicate the problem the first time, it suggests to me that the problem is, at most, minor.



    That said, I have not even seen an iPhone 4, so I do not have an opinion about the extent of the problem in the real world.



    This is what CR said happened after they took them home with them-



    Quote-



    "While we've been unable to date to create the reported conditions in our National Testing Center in Yonkers, New York, I and a colleague did repeatedly experience loss of signal when using an iPhone 4 a few miles north of there today.



    While in my home, I held the iPhone in my left hand, gripping it with normal pressure. My palm covered a gap between parts of the metal band that forms the outer ring of the iPhone and serves as its antenna. As I did so, I moved my pinky finger to the corresponding gap on the other side.



    Almost immediately, the signal strength began to drop in the meter from the original three or four bars—depending on my location within the house—to zero bars. The drop took about 5 seconds.



    Apple has admitted to problems with the metering on its iPhones, and there's some question about whether the drop in displayed signal is merely a metering issue, and whether call quality or the ability to place calls is affected.



    In my informal tests today, however, the drop had a significant effect on both call success and quality. When the phone was in the low-signal state in my hand, calls placed to it from another cell phone (a Motorola Droid, running on Verizon's network) repeatedly failed.



    And when I initiated a series of calls to editor Paul Reynolds, and then placed my pinky over the gap in the iPhone 4's band as I continued speaking, the calls consistently deteriorated. Paul first heard my voice breaking up, followed by static and the dropping of the call; again, the elapsed time from the placing of the pinky to the call being dropped was about 5 seconds."

    ~ http://blogs.consumerreports.org/ele...reports-s.html









    Now several days later they have done thorough tests that confirm that the iPhone 4 is crippled.
  • Reply 318 of 406
    newbeenewbee Posts: 2,055member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by anantksundaram View Post


    What an utterly informationless thread.



    YES. NO.

    BARS. NO BARS.

    YOU'RE WRONG. I AM RIGHT.

    GREAT RECEPTION. LOUSY RECEPTION.

    FANBOY. TROLL.

    RETURN. SUCK IT UP.

    FREE BUMPERS. NO BUMPERS.

    APPLE RULES. APPLE SUCKS.



    In the meantime, not one mind was changed.



    Sigh......



    I'm with you .... it seems to be true: The more things change, the more they stay the same. \
  • Reply 319 of 406
    hands sandonhands sandon Posts: 5,270member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SendMe View Post


    Fact is, the iPhone 4 has better reception than any other cell phone on the market.



    Oh yeah, that explains why a phone I bought for £40 ($60) on the same network as my 3G and now my iPhone 4 has never once lost reception in my house when both the 3G and iPhone 4 are always struggling to keep a signal.
  • Reply 320 of 406
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by DasJetta View Post


    Personally I think the free bumper thing is their best corrective route. It probably costs Apple about 50 cents for one and they charge $30.00. Get real Apple, thats just too much money for a silly band to wrap around the phone.



    It?s an inexpensive work around for the Bumper, but it?s not a fix (it?s a workaround) and it likely comes with much more expensive costs if they did that. Specifically, even more lawsuits, but this time not just from customers but from case makers who feel they can?t sell a case as easily as before it all iPhones come with a free case.





    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hands Sandon View Post


    I suspect it's (annoyingmouse) referring to solipsism who tested someone else's 4 next to his. I also suspect that solipsism deliberately neglected to tell us that one of the 4's had a case on and one didn't.



    I've now had a replacement and it has dropped signal just like the old one did and just as severely.



    1) You know his AI alias, use it. It makes you sound immature and it?s grounds from being banned.



    2) No iPhone 4 had a case when I did my testing. Do you really think that the extensive testing I?ve mentioned in multiple posts that if it had a case I wouldn?t have once thought to remove it? Seriously?! I?ve mentioned using fingers and salt water, various pieces of metal!
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