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Verizon iPhone 4 also has antenna issues
In the course of conducting its standard suite of iPhone 4 performance tests, iLounge discovered the phone can lose substantial cellular signal strength when held in the prior "death grip" position, as well as Wi-Fi signal when held in a different "death hug" position. In both cases, data reception is either noticeably slowed or completely stalled. A video demonstration shows the findings:
Thankfully, the issues can be fixed in the same way as with the GSM version of the iPhone 4: buy a case. Keep that in mind if you're planning to purchase an iPhone 4 from Verizon. Alternatively, you can just wait till this summer, when the iPhone 5 will likely arrive.
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User Comments (18)
Post a comment|
princeton
on February 9, 2011 3:29 PM |
This is just pathetic. |
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madboyv1
on February 9, 2011 3:30 PM |
Can't just blame the carrier first this time Apple... |
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Cota
on February 9, 2011 3:42 PM |
iPhone 5 in summer, lol really? |
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Guest
on February 9, 2011 3:43 PM |
Not a fanboy, but just look @ the way he is grabbing the iPhone.... Oh, BTW, iLounge should post that you cannot make phone calls and cannot browse internet 5 floors underground inside the elevator..... Ohhh, Shame on you Apple |
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Emil
on February 9, 2011 3:52 PM |
Cota said: iPhone 5 in summer, lol really? Yep, June 2011. |
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princeton
on February 9, 2011 3:55 PM |
Cota said: iPhone 5 in summer, lol really? Like emil said. Apple releases new iphones like clockwork. The only discrepancies are when they updated the 3G with a new bootloader and when they released the iphone 4 on CDMA. |
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madboyv1
on February 9, 2011 4:30 PM |
Guest said: Not a fanboy, but just look @ the way he is grabbing the iPhone.... Oh, BTW, iLounge should post that you cannot make phone calls and cannot browse internet 5 floors underground inside the elevator..... Ohhh, Shame on you Apple +1 People will complain because they can compain. And yes, Shame on Apple! =p |
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aj_the_kidd
on February 9, 2011 4:30 PM |
Its most likely they were just interested in just getting the phone ready for their network as opposed to fixing the antenna issues. Its better to have the phone out there with a hardware flaw then to not have it out at all, gotta make that money. |
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Guest
on February 9, 2011 5:05 PM |
Haha at the supposed "not" fanbois, yeah people are going to complain if they can't hold their phone in the way people have held phones since they were invented and make a "phone" call. |
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matrix86
on February 9, 2011 11:57 PM |
Guest said: Not a fanboy, but just look @ the way he is grabbing the iPhone.... And your point is? I hold my blackberry exactly like that and have no signal loss. At work today, I held some of my coworkers phones (ranging from blackberries to MyTouch 4G to Samsung to Windows phones) and none of them had issues either. I'm sorry, but how you grab the phone should not matter. I also notice that a lot of people hold their phones that way. At least people who are afraid of always dropping their phones (like me). The death grip is a comfort grip, lol. |
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Guest
on February 10, 2011 12:43 AM |
You really hold you phone that hard? I mean you would have to be really fat to have that fat of hands to hold you phone and have you hands over it that much. I can say I am an iphone and apple hater never had a single apple product and doubt I ever will have there over priced hardware but common now. The wifi was even worst you would get so tired holding your phone like that. The problem with the 4g one for at&t was it wasn't shielded making you contact degrade the signal. I don't know if the 4g for verizon is shielded or not but it would make a big difference. I don't think I have ever seen someone hold there phone that hard as he was in the death grip while talking on there phone. |
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mattfrompa
on February 10, 2011 9:43 AM |
rofl dats some good QA right der |
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Rick
on February 10, 2011 2:52 PM |
Anandtech did a really through investigation of this and while the problem measurably exists -- in reality -- it makes no difference. [link] Anandtech: As we'll show in a second, how you hold the phone makes a huge difference across every smartphone - and we've tested thoroughly in 5 different positions. Anadtech: since I couldn't make calls drop driving around an entire day cupping the phone, despite being at -113 dBm (1 bar) most of the time. Anadtech: I can honestly say that I've never held onto so many calls and data simultaneously on 1 bar at -113 dBm as I have with the iPhone 4, so it's readily apparent that the new baseband hardware is much more sensitive compared to what was in the 3GS The quotes I've taken out of this article are intended to support my point that this is a non-issue and people should chill out. No one is denying that holding the phone under performs when held in common positions (as the article clearly points out), but the difference is negligible and certainly not worth crying about. |
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nazartp
on February 11, 2011 7:22 AM |
@Rick. I respect Anandtech and the work that they do. However, until my wife bought a case for her iPhone 4, just holding it in my left hand next to my ear, i.e., just speaking on the phone, was bringing the connection down to nothing withing about half a minute. My work provides me with a new Blackberry every year I never had a similar problem. So talking about your "chill" suggestion - I will go by my own experience. Launching the phone with poorly designed antenna was an easily fixable mistake. Doing it twice is plain ridiculous. |
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Guest
on February 11, 2011 11:20 AM |
Its not Ridiculous... its the Apple way. |
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Guest
on February 13, 2011 1:02 PM |
Having an Iphone 4 (GSM version) I would say the problem is not negligible as suggested, but for me it isn't that acute either (and I don't use a case/bumper). Also from anandtech it seems that the Verizon version is noticeably better than the old one so I'd say Apple has tried to mitigate the problem - making it equal in degree to other smartphones. I'd say Apple-bashing has gotten a little old (although in my opinion they have without a doubt deserved some of that bashing), and it seems that the irrationality of some apple/iphone-haters is equal if not greater to that of some apple/iphone-lovers, making it hard to make an informed decision regarding the pros and cons of different smartphones. |
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fobsternd
on February 13, 2011 4:20 PM |
Yep, June 2011. for att or vzw? |
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captaincranky
on February 13, 2011 5:30 PM |
....C n.....yo........ ear ...........m ..........now.......? |
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