iPhone 4: Dropping calls when antennas are touched together

[Kaido]

WTF do you mean it's not an issue in real life situation? I hold the phone in my hand (with the left bottom corner resting in my palm) when I'm browsing the web.

And on my new iPhone 4, the indicator goes from 3G to EDGE, then it finally goes to "No Service"

I'm sorry, that is bull and you know it! I can't believe all of the apologists coming out on this one.

I can understand a bar or two - my previous iPhones had that problem - but going all the way to Zero bars is just plain ridiculous. I have a $19 slider phone from Verizon that doesn't drop ANY bars and it's so small my hand completely encompasses it.

They wouldn't give my buddy a free bumper for his phone, btw.

 

[shocksyde]

Would a piece of clear tape or some other material solve the problem?

 

[Kaido]

Would a piece of clear tape or some other material solve the problem?

I'll test that today, good thought.

 

[shocksyde]

Would a piece of clear tape or some other material solve the problem?

Just tried it. Nope.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Doesn't happen to mine, i've been trying to make it do it, but it wont. Must be a physical problem?

 

[shocksyde]

I guess tape doesn't block conductivity. What would?

 

[aphex]

I guess tape doesn't block conductivity. What would?

Electrical tape would

 

[blurredvision]

I guess tape doesn't block conductivity. What would?

A $29 bumper.

 

[shocksyde]

Electrical tape would

Ah, now that makes sense.

Changing my tune a bit here... Just went from 5 bars and 3G to no bars and Edge network in less than 30 seconds. Browser stopped loading web pages. Changed my hand position and it returned to normal in 30 seconds.

 

[JC86]

While I don't think Apple purposely designed the problem to sell bumpers, maybe they found the problem so late in its design cycle that they figured they might as well make the bumpers as an accessory and sucker us into buying them. I wonder if Invisible Shields max coverage, which includes strips for the antenna is enough to prevent this problem from occurring? I think the phone itself is so gorgeous that I'd hate to hide it in a case. Plus the flat surfaces of the iphone 4 should make the application that much easier without the curves to deal with on the iphone 3g

 

[GT1999]

Looks like I'll be going Android once I want to upgrade my 3GS. Which is a shame because I was looking forward to the new iPhone. Apparently if you have sweaty hands it makes this problem worse, which I have.

Apple fail.

Sell your stock now!

 

[Kmax82]

Looks like I'll be going Android once I want to upgrade my 3GS. Which is a shame because I was looking forward to the new iPhone. Apparently if you have sweaty hands it makes this problem worse, which I have.

Apple fail.

Sell your stock now!

I would actually be ok with it, if they found a workaround later on and did a recall, or just included the bumper.. but the fact that they are just ignoring it and making you either "hold it differently", buy a bumper or not buy the phone is obnoxious.

 

[accguy9009]

This is all very clever but let's be honest... Apple tests the shit out of their products. They knew this flaw existed just like they knew people would spend more money to buy a bumper for it. I just think it's hilarious that people are okay with that.

Regardless of if the conspiracy theory is true or not, the email Jobs sent back to that guy asking about the issue makes me want to sell all of my Apple stuff.

You've got a hell of a lot of nerve Fingolfin posting anything in this section of the forums that is in any way critical of Apple or anything they have done or will ever do. You should be ashamed of yourself, tarred and feathered and ostracized by the Apple community.

 

[accguy9009]

WTF do you mean it's not an issue in real life situation? I hold the phone in my hand (with the left bottom corner resting in my palm) when I'm browsing the web.

And on my new iPhone 4, the indicator goes from 3G to EDGE, then it finally goes to "No Service"

I'm sorry, that is bullshit and you know it! I can't believe all of the apologists coming out on this one.

Were you really expecting the sheep, eh I mean apologists, here to say anything different? There is a minority of folks here who call things as they see them but come on, Apple could double the price tomorrow for all products and services and most here would double down without batting an eye. Buying the $ 29.00 bumper is no different then buying the $ 20 or $ 30 adapters you sometimes have to for different things when buying a Macbook vs the MBP fpr example. But remember its for your benefit, not Apples. Its not about the extra margins either because as we all know Apple is a full service company.

 

[speg]

So does anyone here actually have this problem?

 

[Dacalo]

So does anyone here actually have this problem?

Did you read the freaking thread?

 

[JC86]

I'm kind of confused and getting mixed signals reading the multiple threads online about the antenna issue. So are all the iPhone 4s affected by this or just a rather large batch that made it past QC? I've put all my iPhone's i've ever owned in a case anyways but Apple's response has me really shaking my head . . . Good thing I didn't pre-order it.

 

[speg]

Did you read the freaking thread?

Yes, and no one so far has complained that they've been unable to make a call from what I'm reading.

 

[ubercaffeinated]

I've not been able to replicate this problem on both the iphone 4s I used in the past 2 days. With bumper or without, this is a random problem, I'm sure. And if it is large scale, Apple will most likely exchange the affected phones in store for you.

 

[speg]

I've not been able to replicate this problem on both the iphone 4s I used in the past 2 days. With bumper or without, this is a random problem, I'm sure. And if it is large scale, Apple will most likely exchange the affected phones in store for you.

Have you tried wetting your hands to see if that helps lower the resistance?

 

[aphex]

I herby retract my previous statement. While my phone was not doing this the other day, it sure as heck is doing it now.

I dropped 3 calls today, all while sitting in my house in the exact same spot. A spot where i consistently have 5 bars of service, and where i have 5 bars of service right at this moment. The culprit? Yep, i was holding the phone the "wrong way", either holding it in my left hand, or in the right hand with a portion of my finger at the bottom left. I can replicate the issue every single time, while mine never goes to 'No Service', it does indeed drop to 0-1 bars within 10-15 seconds and yes, it does drop the call.

If this isn't fixed VERY soon (within the return policy which I think is 30 days with AT&T - need to check), I will be bringing the phone back to AT&T and looking elsewhere. The last thing on my mind when i'm in the middle of a call is how i'm holding the phone.

 

[Zebo]

We all have different criteria. To me bumper would not be an issue in fact I'd get one even before reception issue. What IS an issue is data caps making the plan I would have to buy $115 a month for a half ass capped plan with no insurance since I eat phones. Funny how that works...

I have a smart phone now, TP2 (second one), and still think best pure phone I ever owned was a i580 dumbphone. Throw it against a concrete wall, drowned it in water didn't matter never dropped a call and talked way out in the sticks with it's retractable antenna and for 3-5 days before charging.

 

[natgas]

I'm not sure if it's ATT or the phone but I"ve lost every call during the first 15 seconds the past 2 days. I'll wait until my case gets here and then decide what to do.

 

[al981]

proper way to hold the iphone 4:

 

[Fingolfin269]

proper way to hold the iphone 4:

Is that Death Note?