So…. The iPhone 4 has been out for a day now, and thousands of people queued up to get their sweaty hands on one because it would seem the World would end if they didn't have one the moment they were released.

Since then, a fair percentage of those people have reported that, if they hold the phone a certain way (ie. in their left hand when making a call, as many many people do), they lose signal and get disconnected. The same goes when texting someone.

When the issue was discovered, a few people (such as Walt Mossberg – Wall Street Journal for example) tried to make a call with the iPhone 4, which failed 6 TIMES. He then did the same call, using the same hand, with the 3GS and guess what – no issue whatsoever.

Now, to me, this smacks of a design flaw on behalf of Apple, as the stainless steel antenna band surrounding the phone is reacting with the electrical charge from users' hands, causing it to lose signal. The phone antenna would seem to be in the exact place that a normal user would cover the phone with their left hand/left thumb (bottom-left corner upwards).

Steve Jobs is a man who occasionally responds directly to customers' emails – here's what he said to someone who wrote to him concerning the signal loss:

http://mygadgetnews.com/2010/06/25/apples-response-to-iphone-4-issues-youre-doing-it-wrong/

Once again, Apple FAIL to acknowledge that there is an issue with their latest and greatest. Can they really be this arrogant?

I had money saved up to buy the iPhone 4 – But sod Apple and their defective handsets. I'm going back to HTC!

Ah, that's better 🙂

I suspect that anyone who has a life is stuggling to care

Why do people put so much energy in ripping on Apple products? I just don't get it. Most new bits of technology have issues, but yet somehow people seems to fight the urge to post about them.

Weird.

Nick, I mustered all the care I had, but, yeah, struggling to find a small thimble full. I expect CFH to be along soon with a link to someone else's clever satire. 🙂

True Jamie. But Apple do have a pretty big marketing engine. If you whip people up in to a frenzy about buying a new product to the extent that people camp outside the shop to buy one and you have press etc lined up for the launch, and it doesn't work properly then you have to expect negative feedback.

Who is Steve jobs?

most new bits of technology have issues

very true, but virtually never as major as this. Its like buying a bike which doesn't steer, a oven that doesn't heat up.

but yet somehow people seems to fight the urge to post about them

Apple marketing is a massive beast, therefore their products create much more interest than any other tech company (or pretty much any company full stop) so when they fail many, many people have to live with that failure, and they talk about it a lot. If it was great they'd get loads of positive press. live by the sword and all that.

Nick – Member
I suspect that anyone who has a life is stuggling to care

Oh, I'm sure that there are plenty of people who've bought an iPhone 4 who would take issue with that, Nick.

Who is Steve jobs?

Think he waorks for Superstar Customer service.

The thing is, tens of thousands of people have upgraded their contracts early (at extra expense), or forked out £££'s for a SIM Free iPhone 4, just so that they can have one straight away, and because the man in the Levis and black mock turtleneck has told them that it's absolutely the best, most revolutionary handset the World has ever seen.

It's a phone which can't even hold a phone signal properly. Lots of people will probably now have to live with this as a result of being suckered in to Apple's marketing machine. That's what winds me up a little bit.

Oh, I'm sure that there are plenty of people who've bought an iPhone 4 who would take issue with that, Nick.

Maybe, but you didn't buy one, and yet you feel impelled to scribe a screenful of secondhand bile about Apple. Life. Get a.

or forked out £££'s for a SIM Free iPhone 4, just so that they can have one straight away, and because the man in the Levis and black mock turtleneck has told them that it's absolutely the best, most revolutionary handset the World has ever seen.

they are all idiots

rOcKeTdOg:
Who is Steve jobs?

You are trying to hard and I claim my £5.

DRJ +1

Also it is not a unique problem to Apple phones.

Interesting coverage on it at Gizmodo:
http://m.gizmodo.com/5571171/iphone-4-loses-reception-when-you-hold-it-by-the-antenna-band

As I said on the other thread, my mate has hers and can't reproduce this issue, so it is possible this is limited to a "Friday afternoon" batch.

The response from Apple has been very poor though.

I'm holding off buying one till I see how this pans out.

Also it is not a unique problem to Apple phones.

Mmmm… Can't think of many other phones that have an exposed metal antenna running around the outside of the phone with an easily bridgable short where you are likely to hold it.

The iPhone 4 will work – you just need to upgrade to iHands 2.0

Nexus phones have 'known' antennae issues.

I've had a lot of problem with my Nokia 5800 randomly switching off when in my pocket. Nokias solution is to put some sticky tape on the back of the battery to make the contacts work better.

All phones have problems – mostly they're software related, sometimes hardware.

As I said on the other thread, my mate has hers and can't reproduce this issue, so it is possible this is limited to a "Friday afternoon" batch.

Same here. Tried at length to replicate it, but can't. In fact, holding it that way affects the signal more on my old 3G.

they are all idiots

LOL at the iphone haters.

The answer is simple. If you buy a product that is faulty, return it and demand your money back. Eventually the manufacturer will "catch-on"

DrJ – Member
Life. Get a.

Knickers. Untwist.

earbyphil – Yep, this is the case with most manufacturers. Apple, however, choose to tell their customers that they're "doing it wrong"..

I'd liken it to someone like Rockshox telling it's customers to ride differently because their dampers were faulty.

LOL at the iphone haters.

Not an iPhone hater at all, nice devices. Just bemused why people are so utterly desperate to get one the moment they come out on the market.

A man who flew from Dubai and queued on a London street for 32 hours to be the first in line to buy the new iPhone 4 had his efforts dashed when Apple allowed intenet pre-order customers ahead of him.

Alex Lee, 27, who headed a 500-strong queue outside the Regent Street store this morning, said he would now write to Apple chief executive Steve Jobs.

Instead, the first person to by the new iPhone was 23-year-old graduate Ben Paton, from Stoke-on-Trent, who had queued for 16 hours.

32 Hours!!!! Hahahahaha what a total loser, bet you'll be able to get one in about 10 minutes next week.

lol thats the most horrific flaw I think I've ever seen designed into a product. I wonder if they were designed to have some sort of non-conductive coating on the bands but that was later dropped from the spec and it never got fed back to the original designer. Shame for them, but it looks like a very unpleasant one to sort out – that is the way almost everyone I've ever seen with an iphone holds it.

Why do people put so much energy in ripping on Apple products?

Because the messianic hype really gets up some people's noses, and consequently they love to stick one back on Apple when they get the chance.

messianic hype

Heh heh – slightly ironic to complain about "hype" in such hyped up tones!! 🙂

Because the messianic hype really gets up some people's noses, and consequently they love to stick one back on Apple when they get the chance.

…but is it 'messianic hype' though? Apart from Apple/Jobs…who to be fair are trying to sell the thing….and a few fanboys most people just like the device and so buy it.

FWIW I'm sure Apple are already working on applying a coating to the antenna band on the next batch of iPhones, although they'll never admit that there was a problem in the first place.

Perhaps a lesson for people to wait for the second batch the next time around 😉

Jamie – Member
…but is it 'messianic hype' though? Apart from Apple/Jobs…who to be fair are trying to sell the thing….and a few fanboys most people just like the device and so buy it.

I think, in a way, it is 'messianic'. There are millions (literally) of fanboys who see Steve Jobs as something akin to a god, and will happily go out and spend their cash on the next new thing to come out of Cupertino, because he says it's the best thing ever.

There are an awful lot of fanboys… And the marketing is annoying too – making out that they were the first people to come up with an idea when they weren't.

molgrips – Member
There are an awful lot of fanboys… And the marketing is annoying too – making out that they were the first people to come up with an idea when they weren't.

Ah, you'd be referring to the video calling, multitasking, customisable wallpaper, 5mp camera with flash, and the ability to put things in folders, then..?

I'm pretty sure that these are all things my Nokia N95 did, all those years ago 😉

As I said on a previous thread: MultiTasking, Folders and VideoCalling do all have a unique Appley spin on them (for better or worse).

But yes the "Look what we invented" does get a bit tiresome, though I suspect some clever marketting guru figured out that "Look what we have done ever so slightly different to everybody else" wasn't quite as good a seller. 🙂

molgrips – Member
'Why do people put so much energy in ripping on Apple products?'
Because the messianic hype…

I buy them because they work and I don't have to know anything about how they work.

I haven't bought an iPhone yet, but I'm going to get one of this model because I'll be able to dispose of a couple of other gadgets once I have it. But I'm waiting for the buzz to die down first.

Ah, you'd be referring to the….*snip*

Actually I was referring to the ability to download apps, but those are good too 🙂

They've been doing it for decades tho. Their original big thing was the GUI, but they ripped it off Xerox.

I'd wait for the revised version if I were you. I tend to do that with most gadgets – wait for them to spot the early mistakes, then get a revised version!

Actually I was referring to the ability to download apps

Which again they put a unique Appley spin on and implemented it in a way that hadn't been done before (for better or worse).

Jamie – Member

rOcKeTdOg:
Who is Steve jobs?

You are trying to hard and I claim my £5.

well i take it he works at Apple, is he the customers services manager or something, i have no idea why you mention him, or does he own Apple

EDIT:ah! just googled him, sorry for not knowing!

Fine they put an Appley spin on it, I appreciate that and it's great for driving the industry forward..

But their adverts say stuff like 'you can download loads of apps' then they say 'only on Apple'. But it's not only on Apple….

The large range of apps produced in large volumes by all sorts of companies to support their own products, that's only on Apple (I think). I wouldnt' mind if they acknowledged what's gone before and then said they were better – that's almost certainly true in the case of apps.

They've been doing it for decades tho. Their original big thing was the GUI, but they ripped it off Xerox.

Sigh. That canard again. The actual history is more interesting.
http://www.mac-history.net/the-history-of-the-apple-macintosh/rich-neighbour-with-open-doors-apple-and-xerox-parc