“That said, however, it’s not at all clear what the real-world effects of the antenna issue actually are for most people — as we’ve repeatedly said, several iPhone 4s owned by the Engadget staff (including our review unit) have never experienced so much as a single dropped call, while others suffer from signal issues that results in lost calls and unresponsive data in a dramatic way,” Patel reports. “What’s more, at this point Apple’s sold well over two million iPhone 4s, and we simply haven’t heard the sort of outcry from users that we’d normally hear if a product this high-profile and this popular had a showstopping defect. Honestly, it’s puzzling — we know that the phone has an antenna-related problem, but we’re simply not able to say what that issue actually means for everyday users.”
Patel reports, “So we’re doing what we can do: we’ve collected reports from every member of the Engadget staff who’s using the phone, as well as reached out to a variety of tech industry colleagues for their experiences. As you’ll see, most of our peers seem to be doing perfectly fine with their iPhone 4s, but the people who are having problems are having maddening issues in an inconsistent way. We’d say it all comes down to the network — particularly in New York City, where AT&T just completed a major upgrade — but even that isn’t a consistent factor in predicting experience. Ultimately, we just won’t know what’s really going on until Apple comes clean and addresses this issue (and the growing PR nightmare it’s become), but for now we can say with some certainty that not everyone is affected, and those that are seem to be in the minority.
Read the full report here.
MacDailyNews Take: It’s déjà vu all over again. Let’s roll the ol’ iCal back about two years and see what we find:
• Additional testing of Apple iPhone’s 3G antenna again shows completely normal results – August 27, 2008
• Apple iPhone 3G antenna test verdict: completely normal – August 25, 2008
• Apple hit with lawsuit over iPhone’s 3G speed and reliability – August 21, 2008
• Apple: iPhone 2.0.2 Software Update ‘improves communication with 3G networks’ – August 20, 2008
• Apple releases iPhone, iPod touch 2.0.2 Software Update – August 18, 2008
• Steve Jobs: iPhone 3G reception issues affect 2% of total units shipped; software update coming soon – August 18, 2008
• iPhone 3G reception issues could be fixed via firmware update as early as this week – August 18, 2008
• WSJ: Apple preps software fix for iPhone 3G reception issues reported by some – August 15, 2008
• ABC News, Associated Press propagate iPhone FUD – August 15, 2008
• Nomura analyst Richard Windsor and his extraordinary knack for sniffing out Apple iPhone ‘issues’ – August 14, 2008
• Software fix on the way for iPhone 3G reception glitches – August 14, 2008
• Aussie telco source blames Apple secrecy for iPhone 3G reception issues – August 13, 2008
• Apple and AT&T investigating reports of iPhone 3G connection issues – August 12, 2008
Interesting, isn’t it? Even in reruns. Whoever’s participating in this year’s short and distort scam is laughing all the way to the bank.
I’m using an iPhone 4 and I have no issues.
sure is.
Get real. This is happening to people who don’t care about Apple’s stock price, and those that do. Obviously if Apple remains deadly silent with no fix people are going to speculate. Apple have only themselves to blame, both for releasing a questionable product and for handling the outcry so poorly.
Remember when it was the battery. What, you can’t remove it?! We just retired the old first generation iPhone. The battery and phone are still working great. I may give that one to my Daughter. Her husband has her using some junky Verizon throw away phone. I can add her to our family plan for about $30 a month I think. That iPhone still has several years in it!
Bongo, I have an iPhone 4 with a edge bumper. Works great. No problems. Get a bumper. You will spend several thousands of dollars over the next 2 or 3 years using the iPhone 4. Protect it and get a bumper.
I have a bumper-like cover from Griffin that covers the antenna, which I would have regardless of the issue. So, no issue for me. Great phone. Wouldn’t use another.
@Bongo
if this were a significant problem for any significant number of real people, don’t you figure they would taking Jobs up on his offer to let them return their phones? and wouldn’t we then be hearing more about that, rather than just people bitching about this supposed issue while (like Consumer reports) acknowledging by their failure to return the phone that even with this supposedly dire “issue,” iPhone 4 is hands-down the best phone in the world.
iPhone 4s are sold out cross-country, 3-week backlog for online orders, millions upon millions sold. Meanwhile overall iPhone consumer satisfaction ahead of the competition by nearly double, as MDN reported earlier.
I’ve said it before, anyone has any problem with your iPhone 4 just send it over here, all this attention and FUD just makes me grate all the harder at my ineligibility for upgrade until January.
@Bongo
Reading comprehension is obviously not one of your strong points. Neither is the ability to think in a critical manner.
=:~)
I think that I’ve finally figured out Apple’s strategy. THe rumors and press are advertising the name of the iPhone for brand recognition and they also slow down the rate of purchase. The purchase rate is already capped by the rate of production. So there will be a longer uptake period and they will not need to produce iPhones as fast as they might have. Also no bad press about long lines as demand overwhelmingly outstrips supply.
For me, it became painfully obvious that this issue was overblown when those Gizmodo bozos, immediately after complaining that the antenna issue was going to be huge in that it was serious, pointed out the fact they were able to make and receive calls from areas that they have not been able to make calls from previous iPhone. So yeah it’s probably time to let this entire thing go.
I would never have one that wasn’t in a case. I have been unable to repeat the problem. The screen is amazing.
“I think that I’ve finally figured out Apple’s strategy.”
Glad someone did.
These MDN hacks are in complete denial. This issue doesn’t seem to effect everyone but it is REAL. iOS4.1 beta is out and already people on MacRumors are saying it changes the look of the bars but the signal is still effected.
This is real why be in total denial of it?
Oh yeah the MDN folks are childish over zealous fanboy types.
Has anyone thought to wonder if it’s the PEOPLE using them?
We all know people we avoid because they sap our energy… perhaps they do it to the iPhone signal too?!
I’ve choked my iPhone 4 and no signal loss. What should I do???
The only one for whom this is a big deal is the media who in an attempt to score hits is willing say any kind of bullshit, make a big deal out of it and milk it by keeping it rolling.
Consumer reports!? I’m 57 and I didn’t even know that piece of shit is still around. I already figured out in the 70’s they didn’t know what they were talking about.
PS I’m in NYC and have yet to drop my bars let alone drop a call no matter how I hold it.
“…but it is REAL.”
Idiot much?
I got it! —The Kirlian Field (aura) affects the iPhone 4 uniquely for each person!
Apple’s REAL strategy is to let market forces decide. So far, so good.
Honestly – I’m so sick of this overblown issue – get a case (which 99% of people get anyway) and move on! The REAL issue is the proximity sensor – messes up on me everyday!! Apple should be counting their lucky stars that people aren’t complaining about this problem
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@Macaday: Very perceptive.
A LOT OF THIS COULD HELPED BE SOLVED BY:
Everybody that has an iPhone 4 and decides to comment re how bad or good their reception is should also post their location.
Phone signal bars do not represent a % of the signal it is receiving. Phones simply display 5 bars up to when they can think they can do a good call, and then they continue to display 5 bars for even stronger signals.
In other words, not all full bars are equal. All iphones might be reducing the signal by a fixed amount, but if someone has double and triple the “minimum 5 bar signal” then he is not going to be seeing an effect anyway. On the other hand, if someone is right at the edge of said 5 bar signal, or less, then he will. Mmmkay?
Reminds me of the stupid “Mars will be as big as the moon” spam that goes around this time of the year. Could Apple be so blase about this because this has happened before and they know their fix will solve most issues not related to AT&Ts;network?
A friend of mine at work went to an AT&T;store yesterday to get a wireless modem replaced. In the short time he spent there, he witnessed five iPhone 4’s being sold.
This is a non-issue, folks. The phone is selling like hotcakes.
——RM
UPDATE:
A LOT OF THIS COULD HELPED BE SOLVED BY:
Everybody that has an iPhone 4, OR KNOWS OF SOMEONE THAT DOES, and decides to comment re how bad or good their reception is should also post their location.
Thenfirst day i used my iPhone 4, I had 2 calls drop, or attenuate about 20 seconds into the call. I had no bumper yet, and I noticed that right when they went down, my Facetime icon went live. I then turned Facetime off in the settings section, and had no further issues, even without the bumper. I have tried and tried to show antenna issues since, and always get full bars.
So my theory is that when when the Facetime ability engages, and you are in a very weak WiFi area, and then you hold the phone in a certain way, it attenuates.
I have since employed a bumper, and always keep my Facetime off, and have no issues. It’s not perfect, but it works for me.
I love my iPhone 4 and wouldn’t trade it in for anything else if you paid me ten times what I paid for it!
It’s in the take “Short and distort”. Bingo.
Three days with phone; held it (smothered it) every which way; absolutely no signal issues. No “shrunken” bars, no dropped calls, no problems. Put on bumper, nothing changed; this is not an issue. Signal dropping? Go back to bashing ATT, phone does not have the problem.
Wow.
> but for now we can say with some certainty that not everyone is affected, and those that are seem to be in the minority.
Engadget comes to a reasonably valid conclusion, based on REAL world usage and REAL iPhone 4 customer comments. And just in time to feed into the AAPL price rally before quarterly results next week, after helping push the stock price down for the last two weeks. Amazing how the timing of it all works out…
I just picked my iPhone 4 up knowing about the antenna issue and guess what? It clearly has issues when held in that position. And I am a loyal apple fan. iMac, mb pro iPhones since ’07 and two iPads. Apple clearly needs to address this I can’t even hold the phone normally. I don’t like using cases as it takes away from the luster of these kick ass products. Oh and I’m north of Boston as well.
The amount of butthurt that Gizmodo is showing about the iPhone is enough to make me hope that Apple sues them into oblivion for the article they published.
Bunch of whiney children.
Once again, no issues to report. Have tried replicating this stuff on my iPhone 4 and cannot do it. My 3GS and 3G were exhibiting strange signal behavior, but since the 4.1 developer update, they do not.
My verizon blackberry, however, continues to drop calls and have issues….. Where is the gizmodo piece? Where is the CR report on it’s problems?…
@Chas
Care to elaborate? What did I comprehend incorrectly? Sorry, but blindly supporting a company and degrading anything that could possibly oppose it is not thinking critically.
@Fredo
I would guess people are reluctant to return the phone because of the hassle (maybe they got rid of their old ones already), their belief that a proper fix will come, and that the phone is amazing in every other respect. The fact that there may or may not be a large number of returns is not related to the fact that there is a problem here.
This whole episode has been nothing but an exercise in FUD spreading by the anti-Apple, pro-G_ _ gle folks. The reality is that we ought to be discussing iPhone 4’s amazing display, better battery life, Facetime, best photo producing phone camera. The “news” media has gone along with Eric T. Mole and accomplices so that we aren’t talking about what a truly amazing device iPhone 4 is.
There’s the rub.
I live in Chino Hills, Ca. It’s about 40 miles east of Los Angeles and…….I HAVE THE RECEPTION PROBLEM. I find that in areas where there is a strong 3g signal, my reception stays just fine. Doesn’t get negatively impacted whatsoever. At home, where my 3g signal sucks, my reception is degraded to the point of “no signal”. So, this is real. It’s not a hoax. It’s not about manipulating stock, of which I own several shares. This is the real deal. It needs to be addressed and fixed.
I am not a person who is likely to believe in conspiracy theories but…
Why couldn’t this be part of a guerilla marketing campaign started by Apple’s rivals? It really doesn’t take much to get things rolling these days. A few people posting to a few widely read technology sites, others read it, they hold their finger over the antenna connectors and watch the bars drop and the next thing you know it’s on David Letterman. It just takes just a few people to make a big noise on the Internet.
It may sound foolish but if you are Google, Nokia or Microsoft it might make perfect sense. Actually, it wouldn’t even have to be a company. Just an individual who hates Apple.
Like I said before; lefties only… Sinister as they are
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who does not use an iPhone case?
foolish people thats who!
Off topic…
Steve and Apple could move USA to the metric system.
These itches and scratches with foot in the mouth are annoying.
wtf? No I am having dejavu of the dejavu.
At this point, it’s painfully clear that forces and competitors interested in Apple failing… at something… at ANYTHING… are behind the continuation of this issue.
Sure, some have problem. Buying a case is simple and cheap solution.
Why anyone would NOT have a case in the first place is as baffling as the life of this thing!
If your wondering why there had not been a big uproar if almost all of the phones are affected, it is because when you place a bumper on the phone as I have, the issue no longer exists and goes away. that may work for other covers as well. Most people will not continue complaining if they believe that I slight issue is resolved in relationship to the whole ability of product!
Like most of these type issues, there’s probably a number of things contributing to signal problems. Now that this antenna story is out there, everybody who has anything go funny attributes it to this. It’s like if you find some bugs in your house, every time you feel an itch you’re sure there’s a bug crawling on you. Is it a legit issue? Sure. Is it the end of civilization? No. It’s a phone. I love my iphone 4, and btw I’ve tried repeatedly to create this phenomenon and cannot.
The problem is those reporting having the issues are doing so to perpetuate the myth that there is a problem.
I choked, strangled and suffocated my iPhone4 and it refused to give up the ghost. The “death grip” seemed to have no effect. Maybe I am the lucky one. Those who are experiencing reception problems, just place a condom around the phone or return the phone to Apple. Case solved.