Because it's not a blunder. As Apple said, it happens to a lot of phones, not just the iPhone.
I've never owned a phone (including the 2007, 2008 and 2009 iPhone) that when holding it in a normal and natural position causes the signal to degrade that severely 2 blocks away from a tower. Being that my primary use of the device is for data services, the degradation is very noticeable. I'll be keeping the device though, since the tradeoff of getting a case is much easier to live with then dealing with the issues of trying to go Android.
I wonder how much testing was actually done with the bare phone out in the field. We all know about the lost phone, and it was in a case designed to make it look like the older models. It's very plausible that none of the field testers ever held the naked phone out in public the same way the masses are now using the device.
The good news though seems to be that the iPhone 4 is holding up much better in the dense environment of New York for actual phone calls. http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/25/the-jimmy-fallon-test-is-the-iphone-4-dropping-less-calls/ Even Brian Lam (of "we must bash Apple due to our own felony class mistakes" Gizmodo) was quoted in the New York Times as saying even with the antenna issue, he is able to use it as a phone in his house, something he had problems with on all previous models and AT&T.
tfabris carpal tunnel
Registered: 20/12/1999
Posts: 31597
Loc: Seattle, WA
I work in a company that, as part of our day to day work, has to test WWAN devices: Phones, pocketPC's, WWAN cards, laptops with embedded WWAN chips, you name it, we've seen it. And I'll attest that any device's reception can change depending on its orientation, or whether or not you're blocking its antenna with large masses of RF-absorbing material (like a glass of water or a hand or a body or a desk drawer, etc.)
I think that the reported changes in reception are simply due to people looking at it more closely now, when they didn't have a reason to look at fluctuating signal strength before.
It's interesting to note that some people are saying the unit has better reception than prior units in optimum conditions. I wonder if this is just a question of scale.
Orientation and a mass blocking it I can understand and will accept as the price you pay for using something that is wireless.
It is more that you can't touch that very specific spot on the side because you end up detuning or shorting the antenna that is a little off. If this came up in testing then they should have coated the metal band with a non conductive material like a varnish or just designed a plastic band that goes around it. You'd get none of the signal issues and the aesthetics and size of the phone would be minimally impacted.
Originally Posted By: tfabris
It's interesting to note that some people are saying the unit has better reception than prior units in optimum conditions. I wonder if this is just a question of scale.
The antenna in a cell phone is generally tiny so the metal band is probably helping because its significantly larger. IANARE (I am not an RF engineer)
Interesting that the one person who could knowledgeably comment on the antenna issues skips straight to "tap to focus".
Mmm... It is difficult to comment on a hot topic like that without incurring the wrath of superiors and lawyers. Even the disclaimer that their views are their own and not of their company wouldn't really cover it since this is a public forum where anybody can look at it.
If I remember right, Hugo is a manager on the non RF side of the iPhone hardware, so he probably has little he can say personally without speaking for someone else. Hardware wise, the rest of the phone is quite nice. As far as the signal dropping issues, some reports are starting to indicate it may be more a problem with the baseband not properly adjusting, due to some people seeing similar issues on 3GS devices only after the iOS 4 upgrade. Well, so says AppleInsider anyhow.
What amazes me is how well the new screen is working with the OS. It's really making me want this high DPI screen in other devices now, as long as the software is up to the task. DPI scaling in Windows is horrible, to the point I generally avoided the laptops with really high resolution screens. If OS X on the desktop can do this same job, sign me up for a new monitor.
For anyone interested in photo quality from the iPhone 4, here are my pictures from the IGDA Picnic event that I went to today. This is held on part of the land Richard Garriott's owns.
Hey! Are the new iPhones any more water resistant than the old ones?
No. It still has holes in it for the sockets etc. No gaskets on the panels either from the teardowns. If the old iPhones are anything to go by then Apple will have put multiple moisture detection pads in it to tell if you've dunked it.
Originally Posted By: gbeer
My niece has drowned three of them, and has given up owning one, even thought she really really wants another.
Maybe she should just stop dunking them in stuff :P There aren't that many waterproof phones out there and the ones that are tend to be the more basic models. They're also generally quite chunky from all the waterproofing.
Originally Posted By: gbeer
There must be some kind of water proofing that can be applied to the internal boards.
You'd have to waterproof the PCBs. The mic. The speaker. The docking port. The headphone socket. The LCD. The touchscreen. The battery etc... Its not just a case of covering the PCB in a conformal coating and calling it waterproof.
I'll be curious to see what Apple's formal response is now that Jobs is trying to resort to Jedi mind tricks. I was having definite reception issues with it at the picnic if I held it normally. I even handed it to a few other people just curious to see the phone, and they all killed the signal to the point where it dropped off the network every time, and they weren't even aware of the issue or where to hold it.
iTape? I thought thats what those Apple stickers in the box were for. Apple just anticipated this years ago so they've been quietly supplying everybody with them. Time Machine mk 2
iTape? I thought thats what those Apple stickers in the box were for. Apple just anticipated this years ago so they've been quietly supplying everybody with them. Time Machine mk 2
As the man said, it's not a bug, it's a feature! The iPhone 4 is actually two devices in one. Sitting on the table, its an iPhone. Pick it up and it seamlessly becomes a Touch. Now, that's innovative engineering!
tanstaafl.
_________________________
"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch"
If this came up in testing then they should have ... just designed a plastic band that goes around it.
Like this one? It was announced in the keynote with the phone. I suspect covering up the antenna was the primary goal of this product design. Steep price, but it does include its own metal buttons.
Like this one? It was announced in the keynote with the phone. I suspect covering up the antenna was the primary goal of this product design. Steep price, but it does include its own metal buttons.
I mean one that is integrated with the phone and not removable. I know that they did the unusual step of releasing the rubber bumper for the iPhone 4 since they've never had anything like that for older iPhones.
Dignan carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
They've never even sold their own case before, have they? The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if they did know about this issue, thought it was an issue, and created this case to address it.
I read one story claiming that reception issues like this exist for the Nexus One. I'd never heard of it, and I've certainly never experienced it. Does anyone know what it is? If there's a way to hold my phone that will demonstrably decrease the signal to the same extent it does on the iPhone 4, I will not give them any crap for this. In my experience, though, I've never had a phone do this to this extent, and to say there's "no issue" is absurd.
There are two issues at play with the iPhone 4 from what I've been able to gather.
There's the normal attenuation issue which can affect signal quality and then there's a software issue which is responsible for all the press we've been seeing. In other words, touching the antenna in a certain way "shouldn't" cause a complete failure of communication.
I think that's why we've seen the two distinctly different messages from Steve Jobs on the issue. The latest of which says there's no "reception issue" and to "stay tuned."
Seems Nokia tried to poke Apple about the issue publicly, only to have it backfire with people digging up manuals from Nokia phones advising users not to touch the bottom, and demos of some Nokia phones experiencing the same issue.
So it's definitely not an issue with just the iPhone 4, as the above story shows videos from several phones, including the Nexus One. And as Tony and others have explained, yes, part of this is normal, though hopefully future phone designs will better account for their customers holding them.
For me, I generally don't cup the phone, I hold it with the left edge against my palm, and my finger tips holding the right edge. So for the previous iPhones, this never blocked any major portion of the antenna, but with the iPhone 4, it's connecting the two antennas together to cause my phone to drop signal strength quite a bit. I can't get exact DB numbers since it seems the field test app is no longer accessible on iOS 4. And so far, the Apple store reports being out of stock on the bumpers every time I check. I will continue to "hold differently" for now, to see what Apple's formal fix is.
*edit*, found this good video demonstrating it's not an issue with covering the antenna, it is indeed just "The Spot". http://vimeo.com/12864890
Dignan carpal tunnel
Registered: 08/03/2000
Posts: 12338
Loc: Sterling, VA
Weird, but I can't tell at all what your opinion on this is, Tom. Am I right in summarizing that you think all phones have this problem, yet the iPhone 4 has it particularly badly and in one single spot that significantly affects it?
I just think it's a bad design.
And I watched that video in the article you linked about the Nexus One reception problems. I attempted to replicate the experiment, but I don't think I have anything on my phone to get the proper information. Do any Android owners know what app would show me current signal strength?
As is, I could only test with the Speedtest.net app. With my phone covered up as completely as possible with my hands (more so than the guy in the video), I simply couldn't get it to alter the speed test results. It appeared that I would occasionally lose one bar, but then it would come back while still covered.
Of course, I'm probably not in a good place to test this. I'll try it when I'm out and about tomorrow, and not when I'm in my house, where I can see a tower from my front door...
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