“What I have not seen discussed is the entire issue of the antenna, and its placement on wireless devices,” Seybold writes. “There are a number of interwoven issues here, all of which can help explain the problems encountered.”
“The transfer of radio signals to and from the antenna and the radio receiver and transmitters, and the efficiency with which that is accomplished determines how well the device will perform,” Seybold writes. “For voice the difference will be a clean completed call or a noisy dropped call, for data services the better the signal strength the higher the data rate you will obtain in both directions. If you device is not designed properly your results will be worse than someone standing next to you with a different and better designed device.”
Seybold writes, “I am not saying the that the iPhone 4 was not designed properly, but it does appear to me that their goal was to provide for better performance and a better data experience for their customers, and if the ‘fix’ is to put a rubberized case around it to keep hands from touching the metal portion of the phone than that is a simple enough ‘fix.’ If this type of a fix does not prove to be workable, ie, there is something more involved, then I am sure that Apple and the network operators will figure it out and come up with a fix.”
There’s much more in the full article – recommended – here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers “JES42” and “Jersey_Trader” for the heads up.]
Reality Bites, do you even own an iPhone 4? There have been several people on here, including myself, that have had no issues. There is no need for a recall, I get the best reception on the iPhone 4 compared to my 3GS or original iPhone. Even in my office where I have always had crappy signal I drop less calls than I ever had on the other phones.
I do have the reception issue. Because I live in Japan, I cannot return my iPhone without breaking my contract and never being able to get another cell phone.
@Schmluss,
You and several other posters on MDN having one and not having problems, are balanced against other posters who say they have one and *are* having problems. Some of those are actual registered MDN users too, unlike yourself.
Reality bites having an iPhone 4 or not, is therefore irrelevant. His comment is over the top, but Islandgirl is 100% correct in saying Apple needs to handle the PR on this much, much better. And I don’t mean a press release dismissing Consumer Reports, saying that other phones have the same problem. That will just add fuel to the fire. iPhone is supposed to be heads and shoulders above the rest, remember! Saying it’s no worse than the rest won’t fly!
Like it or not, Consumer Reports has the ears of many, many people. Their saying they can’t recommend iPhone 4 because of the antenna issue made my local news–it’s the 6th story on their website. A local company that specializes in electronics tear-down and analysis was interviewed, they stopped short of saying it’s a definite problem but did say Apple may have rolled the dice with their design and came up wanting this time around.
OH WHAT A BLACK EYE FOR APPLE – PLEASE SJ, JUST FIX IT. IF HE GIVES AWAY THE BUMPERS HE ADMITTING GUILT – HE’LL NEVER DO THAT…HE’S TOO PROUD.
Apple are being either (a) foolish, or (b) too slow in regards to this issue.
It hardly matters now what the truth is about the bloody antenna – what matter is that everyone believes that its a problem and that will hurt credibility and sales.
I have to say that its time for Steve Jobs to loosen his iron grip a little and stop the secrecy and all the rest of the crap.
Apple is a frickin’ computer co., not the CIA.
I HAVE HAD NO ISSUE AT ALL! We have 10 iPhone 4’s in my small business and NONE of us have had an issue. Good Lord… It’s a phone,computer, and most anything else you want it to be. If you’re wimpy about this minor issue TAKE THE DAMN THING BACK AND BUT A DROID! I think Apple will survive without your one sale! Damn!
I just had a thought. Why not use painter’s tape and mask off the antenna and paint it black to match the case? The paint would insulate the antenna from one’s skin and alleviate the need for a case.
I wonder what Apple will do. This isn’t gonna get fixed through software updates.
Returning your iPhone to Best Buy will result in a 10% restocking fee. For verification just turn over any Best Buy receipt and read their return policy.
Interesting the only comments my wife has made about her new iPhone’s reception is that the data is much faster and she has not had a single dropped called in a week the iPhone 3GS her average drop call rate was 2 per week. There is no case on my wife’s iPhone 4 and she does not hold it any different then she held any other phone she’s used.
In my opinion the problem is everyone saying that Apple has an iPhone 4 antenna issue is nut’s and are not RF Antenna engineers including the testers at Consumer Reports. I’d even say that their tests with the iPhone 4’s antenna are bias and inaccurate as the tests were designed and specifically created to cause antenna attenuation issues only for the iPhone 4. The Tests were designed to find or make an issue when no issue really is present. I can design a test to make any cell phone loose it’s signal in a closed environment, we do it all the time. I fact, the testing we have done in the Naval RF Signal Lab shows the iPhone 4 under normal use is less prone to signal attenuation issues then any other smart phone. Apple’s use of the iPhone outer case band for the antenna makes the iPhone 4’s antenna superior to all the enclosed off the shelf antenna packages everyone else uses in their cell phones. Consumer Report’s findings are at best bias as it is clearly obvious that they specifically designed tests to make the iPhone 4 to drop it’s signal, then they did not specifically design tests to make the enclosed antenna package phones loose their signal, they used the iPhone 4 test to see if it effected these phones, which it will not because the antenna are completely different. The enclosed antenna package phones are by far are much more prone to signal loss in tests equally designed to make a phone loose it’s signal then the iPhone 4 is. Because of this I’d say that it’s likely Consumer Reports iPhone 4 signal attenuation and lose of signal tests were perhaps a fraud against the buying public designed to boost it’s subscription sales? So, far the findings reported by Consumer Reports is present only in their lab and no other lab operated by and tests conducted by RF Engineers.
This should tell you something about Consumer Reports testing protocols and the credibility of it’s tests and results.
Touching the iPhone 4 antenna has no effect on the iPhone 4 ability to get or maintain an RF signal. RF is not effected by grounding the antenna with your body you can’t short the antennas with your hands/face either. A piece of tape around the iPhone will have no effect on RF Signal attenuation. RF energy to and from the phone must be either reflected with metal or absorbed by a material where the RF energy is converted to another type energy, like heat. The human body absorbs RF energy and converts it to heat.
Apple is discriminating against left-handers!!!!!!
The arrogant statement about changing your grip by SJ only accentuates Apple’s total disregard for left-handed people!
This arrogant statement by SJ regarding an obvious hardware defect has changed this fanboy’s perception of Apple forever…
Why is everyone suddenly assigning an “attitude” to Apple based on a single product. Apple management and employees care about their products. Otherwise they would not work so hard to develop cool stuff that most people failed to appreciate for years.
People like that cannot stand to make mistakes. The fact that no one is perfect does not console a perfectionist. So, you can bet your a$$ that hundreds of engineers at Apple are working overtime to come up with a practical solution to the iPhone 4 issue. You can either show some patience and wait for a while, or return your iPhone 4 for a refund. If you return your iPhone 4, then you can either wait for a fix of some type, go with (or return to) an iPhone 3GS, or switch to Android or some other brand of smartphone.
There it is…take your choice and end this discussion. I am starting to long for the days of discussions about when the next PPC was going to be released for the Mac.