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The original iPhone had an aluminum backing, with a small black band that ran horizontally along the bottom of the back of the phone. If you covered this area
by sounddust 16y ago
The original iPhone had an aluminum backing, with a small black band that ran horizontally along the bottom of the back of the phone. If you covered this area while using the phone, you'd find that your EDGE speed would drop dramatically, and you would lose signal strength. Once you knew this, you had the choice between avoiding this area with your hands for maximum network performance, or holding the phone exactly how you liked and having reduced performance.
The iPhone 4 (mine, at least) has the exact same issue, and it's almost in the exact same place, the only difference being the reasoning behind why it happens (in this case, it seems to be about bridging two pieces of metal with your hands), and how it can be avoided (buying a case might help with the iPhone 4, whereas it didn't with the iPhone 2G).
I've owned many other phones that were sensitive to where you held them, in fact I think every phone I've ever owned without an antenna that sticks out is sensitive to this problem to some degree. I had to "train" myself not to cup my hand behind the top-backing of the Nokia I had before my iPhone. And now I'm already "trained" from holding my iPhone that I don't touch the bottom left of the phone when I talk anyway.
It's not a big deal, just something to get used to (and it might turn out that a case will resolve it, which can't be said about many other phones with this issue). It is a legitimate "con" when determining whether to buy the phone, but it doesn't deserve all the ridiculous comments about how the phone is somehow flawed because of this.
(And just to give some more specific details of how this affects my phone: if I put pressure on the bottom-left corner of the phone with my hand where the seam is, the signal strength drops: by 1-2 bars if I hold it normally, or all the way to 1 bar if I give it a death grip. In either case, the calls don't seem to drop).
- khafra 16y agoIf you use their Apple-branded case, the little rubber band that goes around the outside edge, does that fix the problem?
- sounddust 16y agoI don't know because it doesn't seem to be in stock anywhere yet. (An odd mistake on Apple's part, as you certainly want all the accessories to arrive on the day that people buy their phone, otherwise they're much less likely to buy them).
- nerfhammer 16y agoWhat happens if you just insulate the phone from your hand with any other non-conductive material?
- sounddust 16y agoThen it stays at 5 bars no matter how I hold it. I took a ziploc bag folded in half (therefore 4-ply) and wrapped it around the metal, and no matter how hard I squeeze it or cover it, the signal doesn't drop below 5 bars.
- Terretta 16y agoIf not in at your Apple store, maybe a local issue, as they're in stock by the truckload at Apple stores nearby (NYC area). With it on, the glass is separated from flat surfaces you set the phone on, and the phone looks less distinctive too (which can be a good thing).
- Perceval 16y agoReports sent to Gizmodo seem to indicate that the bumpers do fix the problem: http://gizmodo.com/5571171/iphone-4-loses-reception-when-you-hold-it-by-the-antenna-band http://gizmodo.com/5571171/iphone-4-loses-reception-when-you...
- moe 16y agoIt's not a big deal, just something to get used to Excuse me? Not a big deal that my $1000 phone loses reception when I... hold it in my hand? I've owned about 20 different phones now; from Nokia, Siemens, Sony Ericsson, HTC (G1) and BenQ. I remember exactly one that had a remotely similar issue like this, it was an older Nokia where the call quality would indeed reduce when you touched the upper back side with your hand (which is where the antenna was). And let me tell you, even that was an major annoyance. Despite my hand rarely actually reaching up that far, I had quickly developed a habit to be very careful in holding the phone - always afraid to screw a call by holding it just casually. This iPhone issue looks even more severe than that. In some of the videos it goes down to zero bars just by holding it normally. That is simply not acceptable for a $1000 Phone. And much less for a $1000 Phone.
- sounddust 16y agoWell I've been making calls all day while "holding it in my hand." And I can even make calls all day while holding it my hand very tightly in that one spot that makes it drop to 1 bar. It's a complete non-issue for me, and I'm sure for many others. And it looks like installing any sort of case would eliminate the problem completely. If I had known about this issue beforehand, I still would have bought the phone. It doesn't impede my usage in any way, and this is easily the best phone that I've owned, taking into considerations its positives and negatives. It's definitely worth it to me. Of course you have the right to disagree, and if you already bought the phone and are dissatisfied, then I hope that you'll get a refund. But I think that you are exaggerating somewhat; you have to look at the overall package and function of a phone to determine if it's worth buying, and I don't think this issue is as severe as you're making it out to be.