What's Wrong With Iphone 4's Antenna?

June 24, 2010

The rumors are true:

iPhone 4 signal strength wavers when the device is held in the hand. Isn't that like the typical position for holding a cell phone?

When the phone is flat down, I see four to five bars.

When I hold the device in my left hand, the bars slowly go down until either there is one bar or "searching" appears on the screen.

By appearances, the act of holding the phone impares signal strength.

I'm not so bothered because I typically use a bluetooth headset rather than hold a phone. Flat or holstered in a case are the handset's typical positions when used. But many other people do palm their iPhones when making calls. More significantly, the problem raises possibilities of a flaw in the newly redesigned antenna array. In my brief testing on one phone call, the recipient reported degradation in calling quality -- "crackling" -- after the bars receded to none.

A cell phone should be a phone first and everything else second. It's unclear yet how serious the problem really is and how much it could affect calling quality on networks.

The problem also raises questions about a known design flaw. I ask because of Apple's iPhone "Bumper" guards, which from their announcement seemed strange starter accessories to me. But what if using the Bumpers separate the metal band from the hand enough to remove any signal interference?

If I hold the phone out from my palm, but sill firmly gripped, the number of bars diminishes only slightly.

The signal strength decline is most bothersome when left thumb covers the volume keys and silent button and remaining side of the phone presses against the palm

June 24, 2010

Generally, the networks seem lousy at the moment :censor:

I make calls & can't hear the person I'm calling, , or who is calling me.

This is not normally the case. I can make calls to Canada up till now & chat for 1/2 an hour with no problems. Not at the moment.[ 1 hour free per month to N. America & Europe :yahoo: ]