They told Engadget, and our own reader Jason:
Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases.
In essence, don’t hold it that way. Or use a case. Both pretty horrible solutions to what is evidently a hardware problem. Meaning they probably can’t fix this with a software update, or else Apple’s statement would have included an item about their engineers working on the issue, and saying there will be a fix soon.
matt
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 10:40 AMhmm, if only they had included a non conductive case, or better yet, made it out of non conductive material. you know… like the old ones!
apple’s form over function has been understandable in the past, but I think this might be a bit much
Peter Steve
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 10:48 AM▄██████████████▄▐█▄▄▄▄█▌
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boc
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 2:37 PMThar she blows!
Jim
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 11:02 AMWell, this is MAGICAL!
I Can’t hold it from the sides ??!! come on, Its a friggin phone for GOD sake.
Tony
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 11:14 AMAnd why exactly diddnt they put this black strip of reception doom in the metal band somewhere you don’t hold your phone while making calls? Maybe in the top? I’m still using my 1st gen iPhone and was looking forward to upgrading to iPhone 4. But now hmmm not so much. I might have to wait till the next revision to see if they get it right…. Or not
Mike
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 11:26 AMTotally, my wife’s 3G hardly works anymore but i’m not upgrading to this Iphone 4G till I hear all the issues are resolved, bumper cases are not good enough that ruins the look and feel of the phone in my book.
Tim
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 11:26 AMThats a great response from Jobs. Obviously a true Apple fan with a concern and his reply is – Care factor ZERO, just keep buying my stuff B##ch !
Next Apple will be selling toilets without a flush button !
Superintendent Chalmers.
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 12:52 PMThey are Tim, it’s called the iphone 4…
Kato
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 3:23 PMYou sir, get a Comment Gold Star.
Tim Gleeson
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 11:26 AMOutstanding!
Jimmy T
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 11:32 AMSeems like all they need to do is put a thin layer of some non-conductive material onto the metal band and problem solved. It will also protect the metal from getting scuff marks.
eide
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 11:43 AMsee, only Apple is brave enough to use this conductive antenna, if it happens to anybody else, their phone will be died before release.
Bernhard de Kok
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 12:14 PMMy old Nokia had a similar problem. The user guide stated that you should never put your fingers on the back of the phone near the top (behind the ear piece). Which is actually how most people hold their phones.
I tested this on other phones and they’re all similar to varying degrees. That is, all phones have a sensitive spot you shouldn’t touch as it can attenuate the signal strength.
I’m pesonally not concerned as I always use a case for all my phones.
Matt
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 12:43 PMI managed to replicate this problem on a 3GS. I think you will find within a month that in real world use this problem wont really be a problem. I have never had issues with reception on the 3GS. Does make you think twice about upgrading though. And sticking a case on it it is not a solution.
Jamie Borg
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 1:04 PMComing soon……. the iGlove. It lets you use the touch screen and boosts your antenna signal by a factor of 3! *
* signal boost only applicable for iPhone 4 models
dan
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 2:50 PMIt’s like buying a car that you can drive as long as you are not sited on the drivers sit… Lame!!!! ehhhh sorry you are doing it wrong… you gave to sit on the back sit and make sure you don’t touch the steering wheel or the pedals…
Lu
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 4:53 PMGrow up people!!! …. he said lower left corner of the mobile …who is gripping it like that while on the phone ????? Left handed not for sure and right handed neither ….. give it a try … grip the lower left hand corner with your hand and see how silly you look in the mirror trying to have a phone conversation… before jumping to any opportunity to bash the new iphone ..think people …think!!
Bill
Monday, June 28, 2010 at 12:41 AMHey Lu take a chill pill pal. Anyway you look at this it’s bad. They can’t be exposing the hardware to gaily serious issues like this and then saying “oh sorry, just use a case”! I’m no apple hater, I’ve got an iPad and until recently an phone as well but this is just not good enough! So glad I didn’t wait for the iPhone 4.
Apple jus continues to prioritize style over function and one of these days it’s going to bite them in the ass!
Lillee
Thursday, July 1, 2010 at 3:55 PMI am confused, how else do you hold a phone? at the top? What about surfing the net and typing with two thumbs with the phone upright. Where are you supposed to grip the phone? from the top?? Sorry I don’t have double jointed thumbs like you obviously do
sam
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 10:54 PMlooks like ill wait for iPhone 4.2.0 then, crap was hoping to ditch this POSh 3G, wonder if it’ll keep kicking for another year… oh well if not there’s always my 3310 in the draw.
Maccer
Friday, June 25, 2010 at 11:03 PMthis isn’t an iPhone4 or iOS4 only problem.. same happens with my older iPhone 3G and OS 3.01!.. which means all iPhone’s are affected of this issue (not sure about the 2G but similar reports are out regarding the 3GS).. either way I have never even noticed it until hearing the new iPhone 4 owners complaining about it yesterday.. calls don’t seem degrade or drop out even when the bars reduce to almost none..