iPhone 4 Antenna Problem is Caused By a Design Flaw, Not Signal Blockage

[hands4100]

If yall don't like it.. Just get another phone brand

[clinique31]

oh come on apple a is very good company and there are very correct ...nothing in life is perfect...if you are not happy from all billions of people are happy like me and my family we love apple and iphone 3 and 4 just change it...or get your moeny back is easy...

[clinique31]

oh come on apple a very good...nothing in life is perfect...do something better...

[MyZippy13]

See how you can guarantee to make & receive calls on an iphone 4 with no call drops?

at my page

myzippy13

[eonxeng187]

i saw how steve jobs explained about the two antennas . so if you're using 3g , hold iphone with right hand . if you're using wifi , hold iphone with left hand :))

[JOHNBASS117111]

COUGH I GOT VERIZON COUGH

[royandben]

יא זבל הומו



[Topflh1]

i bought my iphone 3 days ago for 940$ 16GB and theres no problems with signal

[QualityCompare]

not issue in finland, so overhyped, thats just because usa At&t Sucks so bad

[safarsafar1234]

LOL THIS ISSUE WAS SO OVERHYPED...nobody complains anymore!

[Xephirox900]

wtf mine doesn't drop at all... maybe its because I have a phone signal enhancer lol

[sirPhyxius]

Only in the usa. Sweden=no problem unless you are in the top sweden in a forrest or on a mauntain

[dylanSAURIOL55]

I have the iphone 4 and it never drops signal by holding it....

[ThatOneGuyWhoVlogs]

At 0:20, his finger freezes, but the iPhone signal drops. fake.

[sinnaever]

@ThatOneGuyWhoVlogs true words of a Apple Fan...

[akirafactor]

@ThatOneGuyWhoVlogs No, your screen is just so shitty and small that you can't distinguish single pixels or your seriously need and exam.

[Noodle0792]

@ThatOneGuyWhoVlogs If you blow up the video you can see his hand moving slightly.

[5tyl3]

the only thing for fixing it is to put it in a safety bumper so that your finger or skin can not touch those two contacts at the side of the iphone

[Cursecut3r]

Some people say they may fix this in a software update. How would they fix it? -.-

[Smokeystyle]

jailbreak that shit >.>

[killjack123]

on the 17th second u sound like scooby doo

[killjack123]

on the 19th second u sound like scooby doo

[flyhighrover]

does the iphone 4 have a tilt lock like the ipad?

i guess ill have to wait till next year when they fix this problem and when they add a tilt lock function

[taypuc31]

@flyhighrover It has tilt lock.

[flyhighrover]

@taypuc31 tyvm for the feed back

[iFonsoTechReviews]

i dont have that problem xD

[killjack123]

@iFonsoTechReviews hey there, i wanted 2 know if this problem exists with all the iphone 4s? or few ? or all most all of them?

[iFonsoTechReviews]

@killjack123 idk dude, in portugal, i use vodafone and there is no single problem with the reception

[delta3303]

haha this whole thing happens for everyone but Canadians. I lol-ed so hard when I found that out. UK and US models brought to Canada and this "death grip" can't be replicated lol

[BDRioga]

Consumers are stupid. They agreed to the easy solution Apple offered them. WTF is wrong with you guys? fuck Apple and their 'rubber cover' solution shit. They MUST test their products PROPERTLY before they sell it. Get your fucking money back RIGHT NOW.

[delta3303]

@BDRioga haha this whole thing happens for everyone but Canadians. I lol-ed so hard when I found that out. UK and US models brought to Canada and this "death grip" can't be replicated lol

[tilmanj]

the other producers of cell phones like nokia probably watched the press conference and thought: Oh we've tried that eight years ago and it didn't work ;-)

[wikkidselekta]

5 seconds (per your video) for the signal to start dropping.

how hard is it to not to keep contact with the one spot, ONE SPOT on the phone?

either hand, and you don't have to be dainty like a girl.

[Moonshade21]

Doesn't happen for me!!!

[couldnotfindaname69]

Igarbage? Delete his comment, he's obviously ignorant, I have an iphone4 and and an htc diamond and droid evo, I still think iphone4 beats all of them. Actually is extremely close with evo. Calling it garbage though??? Cmon funny guy...

[bigjonnyjon]

@couldnotfindaname69 iphone 4 beats them in what feature besides the no flash and call dropping lol?

[yaotly1]

Actually the super amoled ie much better display.

[bufbarnaby]

Apple FAIL

[mingkee27]

This is bad when you put antenna bare as it's pretty sensitive to touch.

[malgacho]

Apple wants to spin this as a weak spot on the phone.

But there is a reason why they need two different antennas.

Apple made a mistake (they didn't realize humans can conduce electrical impulses).

And now they are spinning the whole thing as a weak spot apparent in most phones, IT IS NOT!

[darreno1450]

iGarbage

[jmcb74]

TY for this video.

This is what ppl fail to realize.....lol

TY so much.

[nodivisions]

@ivopersevics Wow. You're a genius. You've discovered my evil plan. Rather than take a video of myself reproducing this widely-known and easily-reproducible bug, I took individual photos, doctored them, and then stitched the hundreds of photos together into a video.

[sudhu122]

@nodivisions :lol

[sudhu122]

@nodivisions : lol 

[mrroboto790]

@ivopersevics the time changes

[yukiweiqi]

@ivopersevics haha fucking idiot.

[yoon19]

@ivopersevics So stupid...

[blacksheepshepherd]

The whole problem lies on the design of the product. Anyone still remember old cell phones that has their antenna sticking out? It's purpose is to optimize reception quality & the manuals always inform users to aviod touching the antenna.. why do they say so? because of SAR ratings? Yes, but also to maximize on the reception quality & not having your hand cupping the antenna. This is 'ancient' knowledge.. phone design 101 bro... Apple needs to admit this antenna design is a flop.

[eujeeves]

It's not a signal flaw it's a screen size flaw. Look @ the competition they have way better screens than you apple...

[tnoyy34rt]

@eujeeves - incorrect, the iphone 4 has the best screen by a wide margin.

[eujeeves]

@tnoyy34r wrong! HTC kills it...

[Habbloxian]

@eujeeves YE BUT DO DEY HAS SONIK DA HEJEHOG 1?!!?!?!!? NO SO HAHHAHAHAHA-Just kidding.

Just get an iPhone 3GS. :/

[adryfantic]

LOL

[Koolass598]

wow the display is AMAZING

[BlackAvenger001]

its a small percentage that get the issue there's a large percent that are happily enjoying there phone. don't put your hand on the black strip, stop being such whiners, and if that's too hard for you take your phone back to the apple store and get a refund.

[BlackAvenger001]

"its not about covering it, its about covering it" the only reason everyone is whining about this phone is because so many ppl bought it what was it he said again '3 mill in 3 weeks?' yea if everyone bought keybos they would have ALOT of people complaning, for all you that dont get what im saying, if 10% of the phones fail and 100 ppl bought it then 10 of those 100 will not work, if 1000 phones sell then 100 phones will not work. and with 3 million selling yea your going to get some complaining.

[Ginkoblatt]

Why the hype about this? Because Apple's competitors lost their market share. And some people will buy apple stock at the current bargain price and sell it with high profits next week when Apple announces its brilliant quarterly results. The whole thing is a non-issue. If it were a problem, all users would simply return their iPhones, as Apple offered to refund the money.

[cogumel0]

I have seen plenty of videos claiming that if you bridge the two antennae in that particular spot the signal drops. However, if the problem comes by bridging the two antennae then it really shouldn't matter where you bridge them, as long as your hand is touching both antennae. In other words, can you replicate the issue by bridging the antennae with 2 fingers (one on one antennae another on the other antennae) without using that particular spot?

[tattat101010]

I had the iphone 4 and i took it back 4 days later the resumption sucks weather it is the phone or at&t a l ital of both but i cane say yes i had more then 3 dropt calls in 4 days i don't have that minny  in a year on Verizon i love my htc droid incredible it blows that iphone away....

[PatBattleBF1942]

@tattat101010 Reception on my iPhone 4 has been much better in general than my 3GS. Not one dropped call (as I've had with Verizon, consistently, where I live).

Apple will fix iPhone 4 antenna going forward, and recall existing phones for those that this poses a problem for.

Let's not make this a "droid is better" discussion, seriously man.

[reynoldsjanine]

his whole point is WHY THE FUCK SHOULD I ADAPT!Totally legit concern.. Why should he put a rubber on the product if it sold as advertised working WITHOUT the rubber. its like buying a car and not be able to drive it because you hold a steering wheel a certain way.

[themrharrison]

@mkrmec. There is NO better phone than the iPhone 4!

[dparsons62]

You are blocking the signal by touching that one spot because your are shorting two antennas together which will have the effect of degrading cell reception substantially.

[wildmushroomfarmer]

This design flaw can be easily corrected by putting the phone in a bumper case, something most people do with their iphones anyway. The bumper will insulate the antenna from your skin. Why does everybody have their panties in a bunch over this??

[nodivisions]

@wildmushroomfarmer Lots of people don't use a case, and don't *want* to use a case. I've been using iPhones for 3 years without cases and I'm not going to start using cases now.

[wildmushroomfarmer]

@nodivisions Not even a "thong" bumper case that is just a strip of rubber around the edge of the phone? That is quite unobtrusive you know. Or maybe they could come up with an adhesive, thin clear plastic covering that won't hide the metal band.

[nodivisions]

@wildmushroomfarmer Two of my favorite iPhone features are that it's beautiful, and that it's sleek & thin. Putting it in a case, even one of the "bumper" (aka rubber-band) cases, changes the aesthetic significantly. There's also the principle of the matter: the idea that we should *need* to put our iPhones in cases, to work around a design flaw, just really bothers me.

[wildmushroomfarmer]

@nodivisions I agree that the aesthetics will suffer, but perception is very relative. If Steve Jobs had introduced the same iphone4 with a bumper already on it at WWDC, I'm sure we'd all be going ga-ga over it just the same. There's also the consideration that the iphone4 has tested out at twice the bandwidth under the same conditions as the iphone3g. So once you get the bumper on it, it will rock. I agree that ideally they should give the bumpers out for free, after all it's Apples mistake.

[flarbton]

dipshit, why would you lay your phone on it's side and leave it there, then touch it on a 1 millimeter spot just to degrade the fucking signal? asshole pull you head out and buy a fucking cheap case or learn to adapt like a human being and hold it so you don't touch that little sliver of a spot that's 1 millimeter thick.

[nodivisions]

@flarbton You're not very smart, huh. It's useful to demonstrate the simplest possible input required to reproduce the problem; that's what this video shows. And quite obviously, the spot shown in the video is a spot that lots of people touch while holding their phones in the normal way.

[CommanderKairu]

@nodivisions Why not complain when you paid a shitload of money for a product and it's not even working correctly?

[nodivisions]

@CommanderKairu I created this video to document the problem, and I stated that I think Apple should fix it. Or do you mean that I should contact Apple and complain directly to them? I doubt that would help. And they are offering refunds within 30 days of purchase, for anyone who's that dissatisfied. But I'm extremely satisfied: iPhone 4 is amazing, and this particular problem, though annoying, doesn't affect me very much, because ~95% of my iPhone usage is data (not calls) and wifi (not cell).

[Borridd]

@nodivisions Data and wifi uses the same antenna..

[nodivisions]

@Borridd No, there are separate antennas for UMTS/GSM and WiFi. YouTube is garbage so I can't post a link, but it's bHA1Hk on bitly.

[Borridd]

@nodivisions Really? I've seen it stop connections on the internet (NYT and speedtest)

[CommanderKairu]

@nodivisions I never said you had to complain to THEM,I just said complain in general, although if enough people DID complain,and returned,or didn't buy the product it would force them to change the product due to the loss of money. Which should be done,seeing as most people don't sit in their homes on their wifi with their Iphone,its meant to be carried.On the standpoint that only 5% of it's usage is in using it as a phone, maybe u should just buy a netbook instead of this phone?Just a thought.

[nodivisions]

@CommanderKairu Actually, you just said "complain" with no explanation. I complained by documenting the problem on video and posting it on a public website. And no, I have no interest in a netbook. What I want is a small, powerful device that does web/email, phone calls, SMS, and tons of other stuff. with a battery that lasts all day, and that fits in my pocket. The iPhone isn't perfect -- nothing is -- but it's darned near exactly what I want.

[TheMightyLu]

@flarbton Its a demonstration. You can easily do this by holding it in your left hand by accident.

[mkrmec]

@flarbton what a moron you are.. jezz.. adapt? wtf... be smart and buy a better phone...

[Nuvolari1]

as we just learned, the signal strength algorithm is faulty, so the meter is not accurate (but optimistic by about two bars).

The death grip issue is nothing a small strip of masking tape couldn't fix., no?

[MalteaserMilly]

@Nuvolari1 but why would you want to put masking tape onto a brand new phone it will make it look like its falling apart!

[ThePivotXtreme]

Everyone should of known that something good from Apple was too good to be true.

[JohnMSawyer]

Check out the anandtech website for the best article I've seen so far on the technical details about the iPhone 4 antenna problem.

[geraldcatcher]

That doesnt happen to the Htc Evo 4g

[ginerika]

why the f..k should I pay apple for this phone if it has issues? Apple...people doesn't wanna pay 600$ in europe for a broken phone...sorry all if I i had a bad english :))

[nuthouseproductz]

Holy hell apple nice crap up.

[fragglet]

Great video, and debunks all the claims that it's just attenuation from having your hand in the way.

The comments from Apple fanboys on this video are hilarious. Apple fucked up, big time. You shouldn't have to hold a phone in a special way to avoid losing all signal.

[9ellert]

HOLD THE IPHONE IN THE MIDDLE LIKE PEOPLE WOULD ACCEPT TO DO IF YOU CAN'T HOLD IT ON THE BOTTOM!!!!GET A BUMPER CASE THANX!!!!

[naturesd0gg]

stop touching it there. jeez...solves all the problems

[SoftMonsta]

Best and clearest demonstration of the problem I have seen yet. Well done!

The sooner Apple comes clean about this really dumb design flaw, the better. If they don't, they will be forced to do so in a class action lawsuit.

It's time to come clean, Apple.

Meanwhile, I am reaching for my black electrical tape!

[icelegendz]

Is there anyway to solve this problem?

[angieskidney]

I wont be buying that phone! That would suck to lose signal in an important call!

[FutureInventions]

@angieskidney lol. You can just put tape on it though.

[ShadowStylez]

@FutureInventions That just sounds stupid.

[IamNiiTeiko]

sheesh

what happened to Apple's R&D? was this phone rushed to appease the shareholders? why will customers accept and make excuses for this like I know they will?

lovely screen though

The Almighty's Blessings

[nodivisions]

@ficeto Because you don't have to do exactly that; the same problem occurs when you hold the phone normally, as Apple does in all their promos. Also: I "advice" you to become literate before you go calling other people idiots.

[dannyandrijanic]

The number of bars displayed are changing but how is the signal actually being affected? Is the power level and SNR decreasing and causing observable communication problems, or has the user display method changed with this OS version?

[nodivisions]

@dannyandrijanic The signal eventually goes to zero, at which point (assuming wifi is disabled) you get a "not connected to the internet" error if you try to do anything like browsing webpages. When it's showing 1 or 2 bars of signal, browsing works, but slowly and spottily.  In other words the signal strength meter seems to be accurate.

[montanez707]

I agree, my area get's horrible reception, this just killed it for me. I can't use the phone part of it! I'm force to return mine back. I still have my 3gs thou. Disappointed in Apple!