“As proof, a YouTube user has posted a video of his iPhone 3G, held in a similar fashion as the iPhone 4s in the YouTube videos we showed you yesterday, losing signal strength as soon as it is clutched,” Bettiol reports.
“As this did not happen with iOS 3.0, this suggests a software bug which affects the signal meter the user sees,” Bettiol reports.
Bettiol reports, “Even more interesting is the fact that despite displaying a weak signal — and in some cases no signal at all — many users report that the iPhone 4 is still able to make calls as if nothing were wrong.”
Full article, with the video, here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we reported earlier today, “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.”‘
[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’]
Not to worry, 4.01 will fix that and more.
How can you compare a 3G to a 4? It’s not the same hardware.
I’m going to count this as “wishfull thinking” until I see an explanation for this video, which shows a call in progress being dropped when the iPhone 4 is held a certain way:
Assuming this video isn’t faked, this would clearly point to something more serious than a spurious signal strength indicator.
Sorry to be a skeptic, but….
Apparently when I hold the iPhone 4 a certain way, I spell “wishful” incorrectly…
ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh….yeah you guys go ahead and keep beta testing that for me…aaaaaaaand I’ll buy the updated working version
Yes, but these are CRAPPLEfanboy drones. They wouldn’t, nay, COULDN’T ever consider returning something as magical as an iPhONe!
They simply wait for their demigod, iSteve, to tell them it’s okay, then chant under their breath, “It’s a feature! IT’S A FEATURE!!”
From now on bing and decide. http://www.bing.com
Somebody explain this to me. Either the phone gets reception or not. So if there is reception how would the screen graphic be wrong?
did none of the field testers ever hold the phone in that position?
If its a software fix, why did apple not fix it first?
@ Hello
> How can you compare a 3G to a 4? It’s not the same hardware.
That’s the point exactly. If the same problem occurs on two different pieces of hardware running iOS 4 and the problem did not occur on the older one when it previously ran iPhone OS 3.x, then it is very likely that it is the same software issue affecting both versions of the iPhone.
Still, Apple should not have let such a problem slip by their final testing.
This is not because of some electrical conductivity between the two antennae components. My phone drops from 5 bars to searching within 1 minute when held with my hand on the left side. I wore a surgical glove on my left hand and held the phone with the same problem. You can place an electrical conductor like a copper wire between the two segments on the left (ie to short circuit – copper is a much better conductor than your hand) and this doesn’t cause the problem. So it has something to do with your hand on the lower left side blocking the signal. As a result, I don’t think it will be fixed with the rubber bumper. Hopefully fixed with software.
I LOVE my iPhone 4! I’d better love it, I waited in a stupid line this morning for 3 1/2 hours.
The first thing I did with my phone was test this “diminishing bars” problem. No matter how I hold my phone the bars never diminish. However, I saw someone post a comment (I think it was at AppleInsider.com) about how to see the difference in reception.
1) install the speedtest app (it’s free)
2) disable wifi, so you are on 3G only
3) sit the phone on a table or desk (don’t touch the sides)
4) do a speedtest and notice your ping rate and download rate
5) do the same test, holding it so your hand spans the two antennas on the bottom right corner. This is how I normally hold the phone in my left hand.
My Results:
Not holding the phone
Ping: 408 ms
Download: 3125 kbps
Holding in my left hand
Ping: 2110 ms
Download: 964 kbps
Try it and see. I’m not sure what Apple will do about this problem. I didn’t want to get a bumper because I love how it looks without, but maybe I’ll get one just to mitigate this issue.
OOPS!
Step 5 above should say “so your hand spans the two antennas on the bottom LEFT corner”
@ PhxDoc
Interesting experiment.
Just curious – does the touch-screen on the iPhone respond when you touch it while wearing the surgical glove? If it does, then it might not necessarily rule-out the capacitance theory….
Too smart for a hardware problem…but not a software one. Does that mean the hardware guys are smarter than the software guys ?
Its not just a software problem, how could that affect touching the phone?
Take a look at the YouTube video I shot and see what happens when you touch the lower corner of the iPhone 4.
@I`ve got VD
Shoo troll,
before you get sprayed
I don’t know anything about any iPhone 4 problems, but I can state that since putting iOS4 on my 3GS, I get about half the battery life. Something is not right, but I haven’t been able yet to experiment. Anyone else with battery drain using iOS 4 on older iPhones?
Ah, MDN… so quick to make conclusions about other handset makers having problems with their initial launches… but a bag of excuses comes out for Apple. I’m not saying the iPhone 4 is DOA. But dropped signals, yellow screen, an easily scratched back, and, what is actually a really buggy iOS 4 are quite a tall order. It’s almost a trainwreck when all these things are put together. Even if you don’t have issues with the iPhone 4, iOS 4 is really buggy.
It’s iOS 4.0 people. It will all be humming by 4.5, trust me.
Apple is too smart to ship a phone with a hardware issue, but not smart enough to ship a phone without a software issue? That’s silly.
Apple testers had sleeves on the phones to hide them. No wonder this slipped by. But it does sound like a software problem.
What’s so special? I’ve been making calls on ATT phones regardless of what appears on the signal strength indicator for years.
Wouldn’t it be funny if the white phone comes and not a problem with it. I’m waiting for a white one now.
i have the new iphone 4.
antenna problem is definite.
software problem – that doen’t make sense.
it looks like phone is going back!
a huge disappointment!!!
I don’t think this is a software issue.
It’s a software problem until it isn’t.
I’ll just chill for a bit and let things play out.
are people actually dropping more calls on the device ? I read in another blog that apparently Steve emailed someone telling him to hold it in a different position. I reiterate my question .. are people actually dropping more calls, or just trying to find the weak spot so the bars go down intentionally ?