14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has a big problem on its hands with the newborn iPhone 4, and it’s not the fact that white models are harder to manufacture. It’s actually something much worse - iPhone 4 has serious reception issues. When the device is held by its steel frame, which acts as the phone’s antenna, the operator signal drops off to zero bars in just a few seconds.
The Mac maker went with a bold design for its new-generation smartphone, using the steel bezel (which houses the phone’s inner-workings) as antennae (celular, Bluetooth and WiFi). Parts of the frame are sectioned by seams no larger than a millimeter, so that the antennae do not interfere with each other.
However, holding the iPhone in your hand (in a fairly normal manner) bridges the antennae, causing interference, which leads to signal loss. A number of tests have been carried out (videos embedded below). They seem to indicate this is, indeed, a problem with the iPhone 4.
The fact that Apple needs more time to get the White iPhone 4 out may actually allow the vendor to do some hardware adjusting. A firmware update is highly unlikely to fix what seems to be a serious hardware issue with the new smartphone. The electro-conducive nature of the human skin is most likely the cause of signals being scrambled, as the antennae are physically bridged. According to a report by thenextweb.com, the Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg has been told by Apple that a fix is in the works.
As shown in the videos below, when users hold the phone by its glass case, the device receives normal service. However, when the user holds the phone by its stainless-steel bezel (in what is the normal way to hold a phone when on a call) the signal suddenly drops off.
Softpedia readers who own an iPhone 4 are encouraged to use the comments and tell us how their phones have behaved so far (include details like the country you live in, operator, iPhone version, etc.)