“Consumer Reports’ made waves last week with its decision not to recommend the Verizon iPhone 4 because of the same ‘death grip’ antenna problem that plagues AT&T’s iPhone 4,” David Goldman reports for CNN/Money. “But the magazine may have made the wrong call: Tests show that Verizon’s version is significantly improved over its rival’s.”
MacDailyNews Take: Made waves with the Hoveround crowd, maybe. Consumer Reports’ demographic is the non-coveted “older than dirt” segment. Which probably explains why the rag has to grasp at Apple’s coattails in a desperate quest for relevance. If Consumer Reports thinks that this is a good way to get the interest of a younger demo, they’re sadly mistaken. Anyone under the age of embalmed now knows that Consumer Reports is a piece of shit. The National Enquirer has a sounder grasp of the scientific method. And, there’s no “may have.” Consumer Reports did make the wrong call because a) they’re desperate for readers who still possess a pulse; and/or b) their staff of pretend “scientists”/publicity whores did yet another shitty job.
Goldman reports, “Gadget analysis group AnandTech, which was the first to diagnose the iPhone 4 antenna issue, ran a thorough test of the new Verizon iPhone 4 and found that the ‘death grip’ problem has been mitigated. ‘Apple fixed the problem,’ said Brian Klug, author of AnandTech’s report. ‘You can use the Verizon Wireless iPhone with no case without any concern for losing signal because of how it’s held.’ AnandTech founder Anand Shimpi criticized the Consumer Reports study for failing to provide data to support its findings. Consumer Reports spokeswoman Melissa Valentino declined to offer the group’s test results, only saying that the Verizon iPhone and the AT&T iPhone performed ‘similarly’ in tests.”
MacDailyNews Take: Uh, gee, where’d the “test results” go, Missy? “Tests.” Pfft. The only thing that performed “similarly” in both cases is Consumer Reports. Their quest for free publicity long ago turned into a self-immolating vendetta as toothless as their decaying readership. Unsurprisingly, it turns out that shitty self-described “scientists” produce shit “science.”
Goldman reports, “The AnandTech study, however, showed that the Verizon iPhone performed roughly on par with its non-iPhone peers — and far better than the AT&T version — in terms of cell signal attenuation… So why does Verizon’s iPhone fare better than its AT&T cousin? A key difference lies in its antenna architecture.”
“A teardown analysis performed by IHS iSuppli revealed that the Verizon iPhone kept the same integrated antenna design of the AT&T iPhone, but Apple made several improvements to fix the signal problems that the earlier model. The Verizon antenna employs a ‘dual-antenna design that takes advantage of antenna diversity to improve reception,’ iSuppli said in its analysis,” Goldman reports. “Unlike its competition, Verizon requires that all of its smartphones have multiple antennas that can be switched depending on which one has a better signal. That so-called antenna diversity also allows the phone to average out the two antennas to get a better signal.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: So, the Verizon iPhone 4 does not have the same “death grip” issue as the AT&T iPhone 4 and, oh by the way, all cellphones attenuate when held in certain ways as Apple proved with numerous videos last summer and YouTube users prove daily. Therefore, big surprise: Consumer Reports is wrong. Again.
Hey, did we mention that Consumer Reports is a piece of shit? Tell your great, great grandma to cancel her subscription.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Ken M.” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
Consumer Reports: Verizon iPhone 4 has antenna ‘problem’; not recommended – February 25, 2011
Consumer Reports continues laughable vendetta against iPhone 4 – January 14, 2011
Android sweeps Consumer Reports’ rankings as iPhone 4 is omitted – November 17, 2010
All of Consumer Reports’ ‘recommended’ smartphones suffer attenuation when held – July 19, 2010
Consumer Reports: Apple’s free Bumper case does not earn iPhone 4 our recommendation – July 16, 2010
Consumer Reports: Apple’s Bumper case fixes iPhone 4 signal-loss issue – July 15, 2010
Consumer Reports continues harping on iPhone 4 attenuation issue – July 14, 2010
Electromagnetic engineer: Consumer Reports’ iPhone 4 study flawed – July 13, 2010
The Consumer Reports – Apple iPhone 4 fiasco – July 13, 2010
Consumer Reports: Oh yeah, almost forgot, Apple iPhone 4 is also the best smartphone on the market – July 12, 2010
Consumer Reports: We cannot recommend Apple iPhone 4 – July 12, 2010
Consumer Reports: Apple Retail Store is the best place to buy a cellphone – May 11, 2010
Consumer Reports: AT&T dead last in service survey; 98% of iPhone users would buy iPhone again – December 01, 2009
Consumer Reports does their readership a disservice, says viruses target Apple Macs – December 13, 2005
Consumer Reports: Apple’s new iPod screens scratch-prone like iPod nanos – October 28, 2005
Consumer Reports dubiously finds 20-percent of Mac users ‘detected’ virus in last two years -UPDATED – August 10, 2005
@ken1w
The only time I could replicate the death grip is after seeing a youtube video of how to actually death grip your phone. For some reason… I still didn’t get it to drop bars when holding it in any weird manner up to my ear.. but if I put my fingers across the antennas and squeeze tight.. then I would see it.
I’m right handed though I hold the phone the same way on either hand..
My right thumb is on the sim card
index and middle finger are on the right side of the phone and ring finger is on the bottom.. kinda like a support.
I don’t know how some people can actually grip the thing full handed and still have it up to their face.. it felt like I was making a fist and holding it up to my ear.
very unprofessional. After my response I will never visit this site again. Consumer Reports is a voice for the consumer. They buy the product and test the product. Nothing is given. They fight for the consumer. We need that voice. If you think they are bogus that is your prerogative. No consumer reports? No voice for the consumer? Sounds like big business heaven.
Except their “Testing” is based on their opinion of the product PRIOR to testing.
the Death Grip is FUD, Remember when CR pulled the vids of them accidently showing that the EXACT same thing happens to a blackberry they praised? remember when they said this blackberry doesnt show a signal loss like the iPhone does? whoops… pull video.
Remember when they Rallied against Toyota for months…. then NASA proved them wrong? wait, did they say sorry? nah, they continue to bash Toyota.
Oh really? If Consumer Reports is a voice for the consumer, then explain why the hell they don’t recommend the iPhone 4? Because consumers sure recommend it. Can you say cognitive dissonance?
You demonstrate exactly why the world would be better off without CR, by the way: their “scientific tests” are made-up bullshit and yet you implicity trust them. Voice for the consumer? Give me a break. They’re trying to manipulate the consumer by exploiting the trust people have in their publication.
It doesn’t matter what the truth about the iPhone 4 is, they just don’t wan’t people buying it, period. I wonder why. *Cough cough, bribery, cough*…
what is popular is not always right – what is right is not always popular.
Consumer reports have given highest marks for all apple computers including cinema display.
and here is a tour of their lab:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/aboutus/labtour/index.htm
where are you facts? on this bribery claim? and exploiting? or are you just a crazed conspiracy theorist?
and…. the brand loyalty on this board is depressing. Everyone has their pitchforks and torches yelling kill whitey. You all may be too dense or narrow minded to realize how insane and scary this all appears.
Sad things is, people (old people) listen to CR..
CR attacks Apple, proven wrong. the attack Apple Again…
CR attacks Toyota, NASA proved them wrong, CR attacks Toyota anyway.
CR has always been a pointless publication in my opinion. 30 years ago I sold hi-fi gear and every time CR did a comparison of say, speakers. they would pick the worst product on the market because of the “specs”. We would then have tons of people show up looking to buy the lousiest sounding product on the market ’cause the “consumer bible” told them to
Consumer reports is just wrong period! There biased which is the first rule in reporting that you shouldn’t break but they did! So there worthless and If you subscribe I suggest you cancel right away. They will only give you there bias opinion and not the facts which is exactly NOT how to do reporting.
No test results=did not happen. Simple.
So sad. Consumer Reports can’t test. So what are they good for?
I am compelled to throw my two cents in here. But read through before thinking you should flame this post.
Consumer Reports ‘for the most part’ has been a very useful organization. I have disagreed with few of their findings (over 30 years) and they can, at times, very much help positively with purchases in a broad range of categories. I have really only found two non-Apple related reviews to be blatantly wrong. When they rely on user feedback for items, they’re almost always right. After all, it’s us, you and I who are deciding what we like or don’t, and why. When they add their (Iinternal) opinions, it’s a mixed bag at times. They sometimes don’t seem to see the whole picture, and in fact, seem to lose objectivity. It’s hard to say whether this is deliberate (corporate) or just a weakness with those individuals who are charged with analyzing things.
That said, it would seem that with regard to Apple and most related products, it (the organization or a part of it) has its collective head in the sand (which is something ostriches don’t really do). With regard to cars they will even offer opinions on ease of use and functionality…something dear to anyone who has ever used a Mac. For some reason, they have a blind spot when it comes to the solidity, functionality (ease of use and efficiency), reliability (both hardware and software) and positive visual impact of Apple products. They seem to go out of their way to find something…anything to screw up an otherwise good review. It’s like the left-handed compliment computer users would give to Macs, 10 years and more ago, that they were the best with graphics. It made us laugh, but others believed it. Fortunately, the public seems to have ignored THIS particular fault with CR and continues to support the platform with an increasing market share. It might be that many see these reports as the blatantly erroneous news items that cause AAPL to drop 4% in a day, only to recover when it is found to be an obvious attempt at stock manipulation.
So, I’ll believe them (most of the time) when they review blenders, televisions and alkaline batteries. When it comes to Macs and other Apple products, I know better.
How much publicity are these clowns getting outside of the Apple world? Very little. Why even comment on their foolishness?
@ Richard Wolfert: Fair enough, you have found them useful in the past – the problem for most users is that when you find them so far amiss on something you know about, that it brings into question their judgment on everything else too. Reliable advice is no longer hard to find – so why waste your time with an organisation that has demonstrably let its standards slip so badly?
You
r points are well taken but the use of profanity is uncalled for to make your point.