MacDailyNews Take: It was at that exact point that we went off: “Bzzzt! Wrong answer, Steve. Try again… iPhone 4. Not only does it disappear in bars when it’s put down, but its bars disappear when it’s picked up. Talk about ‘magical.’ …If the iPhone 4 requires a ‘case’ or rubber ‘bumper” in order to operate properly, then Apple should provide one in every box free of charge. All that said, the iPhone 4 is the best smartphone/pocket computer we’ve ever used. We wouln’t give our units up even if they had to held with salad tongs.”
Bajarin continues, “By the time the press conference rolled around, however, Jobs had taken complete charge of the problem—and he had taken responsibility for it. Jobs made Apple’s response and fix quite personal. His initial e-mail may have seemed flippant, but I sense that Jobs’s response was a reflection of his trust in his staff and the technology itself. Apple is an engineering company—technology is its focus. The technology isn’t always perfect, but Apple tries hard to be the best-in-breed with each product it brings to market.”
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“That fact was really driven home for me when a group of us were allowed to visit Apple’s antenna lab after the press conference. This too was unprecedented—until then, no outsiders had ever been allowed in this super secret lab. During out tour, we saw eight of the 16 special anechoic chambers the company uses to test antenna accuracy. Our tour guide explained that the company conducts tortuous tests to ensure that any antenna it creates is highly sensitive and accurate,” Bajarin reports. “I have been inside similar testing facilities in Japan, Korea, and the Midwest. Apple’s setup was the most sophisticated I have ever seen. This fact was driven home for me when an executive from another handset company told me that, at first, his company was elated that Apple had made such a ‘misstep’ with the iPhone 4’s antenna.”
“However, once the company realized that Apple had actually created a real breakthrough with its latest antenna design, the joy was short-lived,” Bajarin reports. “That fact became even more clear during subsequent conversations with two other top-notch antenna designers. They told me that Apple’s antenna is best-in-breed and predicted that other manufacturers will be forced to try to match it in the future.”
Bajarin reports, “History will show whether antennagate will have a long term effect on Apple’s image or sales, but either way it will certainly affect the company itself. You can bet that this type of mistake will never happen again.”
Read more in the full article here.
Lava_Head_UK,
I think what bothers people about posts such as your original post is that this was a singular (intended) phone. Persons who make generalized statements based on limited data do themselves and those they accuse of a great disservice. This is both poor science and worse logic.
While with some effort I can induce the dropped bars phenomenon I still find the reception and sending to be superior to my previous iPhone. But I make no general conclusions about the antenna design based purely on my experience. I find that even with one bar induced by the death grip I can still make and receive calls. This suggests to me a superior design to my previous iPhone, but again no general conclusions.
People should not rely on the number of bars per se but rather the relative number, eg. the number of bars suggests a greater or lessor signal strength relative to another position.
Cheers
FTA: “…this type of mistake will never happen again.”
The interesting question is:
What type of mistake?
– An external antenna mistake?
– Any antenna mistake, internal or external?
– Scrutiny of field test results?
– Public relations complacency/arrogance?
– Underestimating the desperation of the competition?
– Underestimating the carelessness of the mainstream media?
– Underestimating the power of mob psychology among the Apple-haters in the blogosphere?
– Having the CEO give unfiltered answers to random questions from just about anyone with an email address?
– All of the above?
I’m pretty sure the answer is “all of the above”, but I still wonder how Steve Jobs would prioritize this list.
As I mentioned in another post, I have yet to drop a call but I do experience problems browsing the Internet when I hold the phone in my left hand and scroll with my right- my natural position. I never had a problem on my 3G. That’s all I can say. Perhaps the overall strength is better and reception is higher on average, but there is an undeniable trade-off. Whether it’s worth it is dependent upon the user and their location.
ATT to fix data glitch:
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ATT-to-fix-data-network-rb-489514369.html?x=0
@Bongo:
Try Vaseline.
@ Lava Head UK
Did you by any chance restore the new phone with settings from your old one? Just wondering if this is a contributing factor to poor signal strength …
There is nothing to fix. Got my iPhone saturday. I can force the signal antannagate. However, when i use the phone the way i normally do, i am unaffected, completely unaffected. In fact i get better signal than ever before. I pass through areas that i ALWAYS dropped calls at before (iPhone 3G) and I don’t drop calls now.
Also, phone is wicked fast and the multitaskign is so sweet. The screen is the bomb, looks so crisp it looks fake.
Top Notch.
settings from your old one? Just wondering
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