Design Flaw Makes iPhone 4 Virtually Unusable as a Phone, Tests Show
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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.)
So you are in an RV, while your friend drives in and out of a tunnel? Is that why the camera is shaking so badly, or do you have some sickness that makes you shake so badly? No sign of your surroundings, I notice, just a counter top and keyboard.
Nice trick there, they are moving, you can see it in the video. Wait, wait, wait, OK, NOW remove your hand (we are coming out of the tunnel now. Snicker!
Well, all this comes down to is it sucks to be left handed, or to hold the phone in your left hand... and everyones gonna buy a case anyway, and that solves teh problem. so in reality this story is just a way for haters to hate on the iphone 4...
It's not just about being left-handed. I bought the phone the first day it was released, and it dropped every single call, regardless of how they phone was held. I took it back and got a replacement three more time from three different stores here in the US, and it has happened every single time. It's fine if you leave the phone lying on a flat surface on speaker and do not touch it for the duration of your phone call. But if you try to hold the phone like a phone and make a call--well, mine just completely dies. I bought Apple's case, and it still does it. AT&T is telling me to take it back. This is a hardware issue, not a firmware issue, so any software update that Apple is releasing for it in the foreseeable future is not likely to fix the problem. So my question is, what are they going to do to about it? I don't want my money back; I want a phone that works. That's why I bought it.
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