• Covering the lower-left corner of an iPhone dependably forces 3G and even voice reception to disappear. This may make the handset especially hard to use for left-handed owners, at least without a case. Apple has claimed that reception issues involve a software bug wrongly indicating bad signal, and that a fix is enroute. Because the iPhone 4 uses a new antenna design integrated into the edge, however, and covering part of the edge kills reception, concern has been raised that the flaw is inherent and could require a hardware revision. Cases, such as the bumpers sold by Apple, may provide a stopgap solution by preventing the interference caused by a hand.
• Some owners are also reporting discolored screens, tinted yellow in spots, typically towards the bottom corners. The exact cause is unknown, but one person claims that the problem may be related to a chemical called Organofunctional Silane Z-6011, used to bond glass layers together. Units may be shipping so quickly after finishing production, the person suggests, that the Z-6011 has not completely evaporated. If so, the yellow spots should disappear after a day or two of active use.
Full article, with links, here.
MacDailyNews Take: We can reproduce the issue of diminishing or disappearing AT&T bars on our units by blocking the lower left corner completely with our hands on iPhone 4 units without cases, but do not believe it to be a hardware issue. In fact, with 3+ bars, we don’t notice any loss of reception, even if we make the bars go away. According to a trusted source, there are multiple points on the iPhone 4’s frame for antenna reception. Our source says that the issues “can and will” be addressed by tweaking, balancing, and/or redistributing antennae reception and/or signal strength display via software. When asked if it could be a hardware issue, our source said, “Don’t be silly. It’s not the hardware. Apple’s too smart for that. In fact, most any handset maker is too smart for that.” As for the screen tint issues, we do not see them in any of our units – all of which arrived via FedEx yesterday, so maybe they were manufactured earlier than units showing the yellow tint. We’ll continue to follow this issue to see if it – ahem – “dries up” or not.
[UPDATE: 11:24pm EDT: Apple has issued a statement: Apple responds to iPhone 4 reception attenuation issue: ‘A fact of life for every wireless phone’]
Capacitance changes the characteristics of an antenna. If Apple is saying its fixable in software, then it means that the circuitry is reacting too aggressively to signal strength changes.
Call me silly but I won’t hold my breath for a ‘software update’ to remedy this.
let’s hope these are not serious issues… otherwise there will be FUD field-days ahead and I don’t even want to mention names…
Apple has a good track record on fixing these types of issues and replacing defective units.
That should be “too aggressively”…
if it was on Verizon, the iphone wouldn’t have these issues…right?
I thought I read that the reception was not actually affected, but that the bar indicators were.
I got mine yesterday, and it works flawlessly. Even FaceTime works great.
if verizon had the iphone 4 it would shit gold bricks and get reception in bomb shelters and on the moon. besides the obvious fact that all products have quality control issues apple is very good about fixing them. Once the supply comes in all a person has to do is get a genius bar appointment and in about 15 minutes they will have a new unit. see if your precious google will even take the call let alone replace the handset.
@MDN Take:
In fact, we don’t notice any loss of reception, even if we make the bars go away.
This guy effectively demonstrates otherwise.
Because of this video, I’m not certain this is just a software issue. I get that capacitance could make the “bars” change erroneously, but that doesn’t explain dropping a call when “bridging” the antennas with your hand.
I don’t think we’ve seen the last of this story…
@caddisfly:
You’re correct, Verizon signals exist everywhere and can penetrate steel reinforced concrete bunkers as well. And if you ever drop a call, Verizon’s CEO personally apologizes to you and hand you a refund for your monthly service charge.
These is one issue that needs to be looked at. Upgraded my 3G to the new OS. I have been having problems with the audio on the headphones, specifically when using the phone. The level of the audio has been cut in half. Checked the discussion boards and others are having the same problem. It surprises me that they would have changed the code in this area. Something so rudimentary should have been caught in the testing phase.
Can’t wait to buy a new phone. The purchase got delayed by the washing machine going out 🙁
I got mine yesterday and the screen is beautiful – no yellow at all. However I can reproduce the signal loss issue perfectly and consistently. As soon as I bridge with my skin the metal strips that are separated by the thin black bars on the bottom sides of the phone, I can watch the signal strength drop from five bars to one or none in about fifteen seconds. As soon as I set the phone down again and remove my hand, the signal returns to full in the same amount of time – about fifteen seconds. I am on the phone with Apple right now and they are telling me to buy the Apple Bumper Case, and if that is necessary to make the phone work, then it should have come with the phone, included in the purchase price. This is frustrating.
@Silly
Then if they release new ones without the screen issue you can swap yours for free
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If I run a bandwidth testing tool on my iPhone 4 with the lower left-hand corner covered by my hand, the tool proceeds at a crawl (if at all). It’s definitely not simply a “bar” issue; connectivity is dramatically hindered.
I cannot say with any knowledge whether software would fix it, but I’d be thrilled if so. I’m gradually retraining myself to hold it differently, and it’d be nice to not have to worry about it.
Certainly not enough of an issue to consider alternatives. The iPhone 4 is a work of art, and I’m in love.
Regarding the screen issue…
If a thousand customers report a problem, that is a large number. But if you have sold a million of that something, 1000 is 1-in-1000, or one tenth of one percent (0.1%). So look at the big picture…
As usual, the media will report it as if “everyone” is having whatever problems. Obviously, any complex electronic device will have a small percentage with manufacturing defects. The people with actual problems should get a replacement; that’s the purpose of the one-year warranty.
1. sorry but this is a serious issue and not likely a software issue – it was probably not well tested without a case because of secrecy concerns so it was not really noticed ahead of time
2. why no white? because they are fixing the reception problem by redesigning the phone a bit and the white will have the problem corrected
3. why so few black? shortages and missteps in the roll out are likely due to Apple’s awareness of the flaw and they are retooling to remedy it without scaring off everyone
4. it is NOT just an issue with the bars on the display, it will literally drop a call or else make it impossible for the person on the other end to make out what you are saying – trust me I have experienced this first hand today – it is a real problem – so for that reason, thus far, the iPhone 4 has the worst reception of any phone I have ever used, unless you put it in a case or do not hold it
hope this is acknowledged publicly by Apple – we all deserve to know what is going on with this – and Apple should not rush a product to market with an issue like this in the future
I don’t think software will fix this. Have you seen the videos? It does drop calls. I know. I am left handed and it dropped a call twice. The person on the other end had an iPhone 3G with 4 bars. Mine showed one bar in my hand and three or four on the table. This is a design flaw. Apple needs to include a free rubber Bumper with every phone so users can insulate the phone from their hands.
4 new iPhones (family plan) 4 bad reception. 2 proximity issue face dialing, holding etc.
Nail in the coffin for me. If AT&T;wasn’t bad enough, now hardware.
Off to get a droid.
Sorry Apple, I wanted to believe.
the problem really is a hardware issue? Atleast per this statement Apple would be:
“Don’t be silly. It’s not the hardware. Apple’s too smart for that. In fact, most any handset maker is too smart for that.”
I think SJ is becoming too soft, too many errors lately from Apple, errors that Steve would never have allowed to happen just a few years back…
No screen problems, but the reception issue is for real. I can reproduce it every time. If I hold the phone in the lower left corner I can get the phone to go from 5 bars to “searching” within a minute. What’s even worse, it that this signal loss doesn’t change even if I wrap the phone with a paper towel (electrical insulator). I don’t know what will happen with the rubber bumper. Lets face it folks, this is a major physical issue that affects EVERY iPhone 4 and I don’t see it going away with a software fix.
I get 2 bars of Edge in my basement office. I can hold the 4G with 2 fingers near the middle, start a web page downloading and then move my hand so that I’m holding it like “normal” – yes, covering the antenna gaps – and instantly stop the download and my signal bars drift slowly to 1 or none. Move my grip back to 2 fingers and it takes off again. Also tried it on a voice call. 2 fingers, loud & clear. Normal grip and they say I’m breaking up. At one point I got “No Service” if I held on to a normal grip for a couple of minutes. As a final test, if I hold the phone with a normal grip but wrap the phone with a thin towel I get no signal loss whatsoever. So this effect is definitely real, at least for me. And at some point, the signal loss was great enough to cross the threshold of working to not-working.
Kinda doubt that software can fix this. Apple should be including one of those $30 bumpers that they sell with every iPhone.
Seems like some of the loudest whining here come from people who don’t actually have the phone.
I must be lucky because I can’t get my iPhone 4 to do this no matter what I try. We shall see. Different body chemistry maybe?
It apparently happens on older iPhones that have been updated to iOS 4.
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2010/06/24/that-ios-4-reception-issue-is-looking-more-and-more-like-a-software-bug/
The problem did not happen with iPhone OS 3.x. Therefore, probably some issue with current release of iOS 4.