Major antenna flaw in iPhone 4

[surfinhicdude]

http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-...c=rss&attr=all

The newly released Apple iPhone 4 appears to have a significant design flaw that means the device loses network signal when you hold it in your hand.

Reports are flying across the internet that highlight the problem, and TechRadar has discovered that its own handset is badly affected by the same problem.

We found that holding the handset quickly brought the handset down from five bars of 3G coverage within our offices to limited edge or even no data network coverage at all.

But you don't have to take our word for it – here's our video footage of the incident.

Macrumor users are also having problems with frequent call drops and loss of signal if you touch the antenna in a particular way.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=947585

[ryan92084]

the almighty iphone is not meant to be held by mortal hands

[Exa.bit]

According to this http://gizmodo.com/5571143/some-ipho...yline=true&s=i, it's not the only major flaw.

[Loque]

patch it with duct tape !

[Manicdan]

so lets get this strait, the only things the iphone4 added were:
better antenna
better screen
better cpu
multitasking

and sofar 2 major things are broken:
antenna
screen

anyone wanna take a guess that these new chips are gonna cause issues like over heating or instability, and the multitasking is gonna be worse than androids?

[Luka_Aveiro]

So, does this means more suicides?

[GTSRboy]

The problem with the screen is a bonding agent used in the layers of glass that has not fully dried, because of the speed in which they are built and shipped. The yellow spots on all the iPhone 4's will go away in a few days.

You all talk about the "apple fanboy" type, but for every 1 apple fanboy im seeing, about 10 equally clueless Apple haters.

[surfinhicdude]

The problem with the screen is a bonding agent used in the layers of glass that has not fully dried, because of the speed in which they are built and shipped. The yellow spots on all the iPhone 4's will go away in a few days.

You all talk about the "apple fanboy" type, but for every 1 apple fanboy im seeing, about 10 equally clueless Apple haters.

To me it looks identical to the problems that plagued the screen on the iMac, those never went away.

[Syn.]

To me it looks identical to the problems that plagued the screen on the iMac, those never went away.

Its the mark of the Genuine Apple product. Steve Jobs "blessed" each phone

[Wiggy McShades]

how does a BETTER antenna not get reception through a hand? wouldn't that make the antenna weaker?

You all talk about the "apple fanboy" type, but for every 1 apple fanboy im seeing, about 10 equally clueless Apple haters.

I'm glad someone said this, although this antenna issue you must admit is insane. AT&T may of helped me by screwing up my preorder.

[Circaflex]

the iphone is a complete joke... dont get me wrong its a freakin awesome device but realistically a terrible phone.

[Exa.bit]

On the contrary, I don't hate apple. I just hate their policies and procedures in reguards to the new Iphone. Also, I don't like ill-informed people getting suckered into inferior products by marketing or "hype". If Apple made a android based phone with a little larger screen, I'd be all over it. I do love the new high res display but at 3.5", that just means I would have to zoom more often.

In reguards to this...

The problem with the screen is a bonding agent used in the layers of glass that has not fully dried, because of the speed in which they are built and shipped. The yellow spots on all the iPhone 4's will go away in a few days.

You all talk about the "apple fanboy" type, but for every 1 apple fanboy im seeing, about 10 equally clueless Apple haters.

Yeah I read that too, because I'm a clueless Apple hater I had to fuss about it. Hey, I just bought a "new" house and we moved in last night. Only problem is it doesn't have a roof yet but hey, in a couple of days it will... So basically your saying it's ok for Apple to sell incomplete products.

Edit: There are simply too many negative for me to buy a device that is already outdated and lets face it, if there was a smart phone for dummies book the iphone 4 would without a doubt be the star. On a posstive note, I've always loved Apples slim and sleek styling.

[damha]

only to be used by robots.

[kromosto]

apple did the good moves in last years but with these years they also develop a huge self confidence. this is the problem.

[zanzabar]

apple did the good moves in last years but with these years they also develop a huge self confidence. this is the problem.

when was the last time apple made something with good hardware or without 1 or more major hardware flaws.

sure this will kill reception but its not like the old one had that problem and then that made att look bad for somehting that they had nothing to do with. if they would just load the top or bottom with proper antennas like every other smart phone has then att would not have problems with its rep for bad reception and the phone would work better. with the Ios4 they are supposed to fix the data disconnect problem so maybe apple lovers wont take out the data servers when they get in group anymore or they could just hold their phones and it wont work just like every other iphone

[kromosto]

with good moves i mean attacking microsoft on vista, going to x86 and multitouch interface of iphone. these hugely increased their market share and hide their flaws. this makes them forget their flaws by developing a huge self confidence on them and this confidence makes them blind

[Toolius]

hahaha.. i love it.. more junk from 1 infinite junk , cupertinno .

[generics_user]

when was the last time apple made something with good hardware or without 1 or more major hardware flaws.

sure this will kill reception but its not like the old one had that problem and then that made att look bad for somehting that they had nothing to do with. if they would just load the top or bottom with proper antennas like every other smart phone has then att would not have problems with its rep for bad reception and the phone would work better. with the Ios4 they are supposed to fix the data disconnect problem so maybe apple lovers wont take out the data servers when they get in group anymore or they could just hold their phones and it wont work just like every other iphone

don't get me wrong but the macbooks are great and thie touchpads are completely unmatched in terms of usability (nothing windows based comes even remotely close to the apple touchpad); their keyboards are better than almost everything else on the market (minus highest end thinkpads which cost even more and 2000$+ thinkpads) and battery life /performance / weight ratio is unmatched by every other notebook manufacturer

[Bodkin]

I dont love or hate apple, but i really dont understand why users on this forum I usualy hold in high regard become foaming haters any time apple comes up. No one is making you use there kit, as you often point out there are many alternatives. With any outher subject would mad rants or comments like the first reply on this thread not count as trolling?

[damha]

Everyone needs a scapegoat, its a free country. If the mods are to adopt a no mindless-company-insulting policy, news section would be .. barren.

[Kallenator]

Makes it seem like the iPhone 4 was really rushed!

If I was among the engineers on the Apple team right now I would be sweating buckets. Cause there is absolutely nothing worse within engineering than noticing flaws after production.

[Truckchase!]

But all the ads told me I want it! I don't understand!

[Vapor]

Based on the case they sell, the "Bumper," I think they might have known about this. It's a plastic and rubber ring that surrounds (and insulates) the metal frame and does little else. Maybe some shock absorption on a corner-fall, but it really does seem like the Bumper is just to prevent contact with the metal frame/antenna.

Playing with my iPhone 4 now....if I clutch the frame I can bring reception down to ~3 bars (I live in an area with great AT&T reception, however).

EDIT: and I don't get the Apple bashing either, if these comments were made about AMD/nVidia/Intel, the user would be banned quickly. Going to the Mod lounge and getting others opinions on action.

[icecpu]

Lucky for me I didn't get one today because the line was hell a long when I get to the Apple store early 7 A.M.

[Helmore]

how does a BETTER antenna not get reception through a hand? wouldn't that make the antenna weaker?

I'm glad someone said this, although this antenna issue you must admit is insane. AT&T may of helped me by screwing up my preorder.

It's not about reception through the hand, it's about your hand being a little conductive. If you hold it in the wrong places you will make the separate antennas come into contact with each other through the conduction of your hand and you don't want your UMTS antenna to come into contact with your GPS antenna for example. A little duct tape around the edge of the iPhone 4 should fix that though.

As for the screen problems, that only seems to be temporarily and should be gone in about 2 days. We will know in a couple of days whether that turns out to be true.