iPhone 4 reliability issues reported
Apple's iPhone 4 might look the part, but early adopters are reporting series flaws in the hardware.
The first - and most major - complaint appears to be a result of the radical design of the antenna, which in the iPhone 4 uses the metal band around the edge of the device. According to BetaNews, when the handset is held with the fingers touching this band - and if you're using it as an actual 'phone, it's going to be difficult to hold it any other way - the signal strength drops through the floor, switching from "four to five bars" to "one bar or 'searching' appears on the screen."
This behaviour isn't limited to BetaNews's Joel Wilcox's iPhone, either, with Gizmodo readers also complaining of the same issues - a sudden drop in signal strength when you pick up the handset, which can result in dropped calls and reduced call quality.
As if issues with using the smartphone to make phone calls wasn't enough, other early iPhone users are reporting problems with the much-vaunted high-resolution 'retina' display. According to CNet, numerous people are complaining of a yellow hue to the display - or, in some cases, obvious yellow spots marring an otherwise sharp and clear screen. Interestingly, this appears to be a very different issue than when the iPhone 3G launched, which featured a display with a different colour temperature prompting similar complaints of a yellow-ish tint.
It's possible that the display issues - which have been confirmed as a problem by Apple, which is offering to replace affected handsets - are a result of the allegedly poor yields that display manufacturer LG Display is experiencing with the new high-res technology.
So far Apple hasn't commented on the possible antenna design issue, but with increasing numbers of users complaining of dropped calls it may have to make a statement soon if only to assuage the fears of those who have not yet upgraded.
Have you already decided that you'll be upgrading to the iPhone 4, or have these reports just reinforced your opinion that it's better to wait until a new revision of the hardware comes out? Share your thoughts over in the forums.
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Discuss in the forums ReplyStill don't see any reason to upgrade from me 3GS which with the new OS just makes it even better. (Couldn't afford to anyway)
What a poor bit of design, although hasn't making calls been a weekness of all the iphones?
form over function
I'll let you know later when my sim is activated and I can actually make a call with it!
Why would you queue for a phone? Its not like the shop is going to run out of them.
Actually that's exactly what is happening, most stores only got 30-40 phones so wiring was essential this morning!
I doubt you'll ever share a starbucks with 500 mifi devices blasting out a wifi signal...
Although said glove may suffer same problems as their screens......
Im sure they will get some more, its not like its some limited edition thing.
keep drinking that kool-aid apple kids...
I'm sure you're not wrong either but for saddos like myself who just HAD to have it today, queuing was the only option!
I decided it was better to que for a couple of hours than go though having to constantly phone/visit shops over the next few weeks to try and get one.
I've been trying to replicate the signal loss, but it is not shifting at all.
Loc: Hampshire
Operator: O2
Nah, don't understand. Its a minor revision of an existing product, what's so exciting about it?
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/24/some-iphone-4-models-see-signals-drop-to-0-when-held-left-handed/
Well for me the HD video recording is a big plus as I have my first child on the way so it'll be really nice to capture all those moments of him/her growing up. I upgraded from a 3G too so it's feels so much faster than that. Also the 3G can't do multitasking either so really it feels like a major upgrade rather than a 'minor revision'.
it's a design flaw expected from external metal antennas.
2) So the larger OLED display, used in competing Smartphones (read Samsung Galaxy S, et al), are rubbish right Mr Jobs?? Last thing I hard they were the next gen. replacement for older liquid crystal technology (IPS/PVA,panels etc.)
Hmmm wonder if you can use the iPhone 4 in sunlight (an epic fail on the iPhone 3GS/iPod touch 3G). My iPod touch 3G is highly adverse to sunlight when playing video... The Jobs iPhone 4 demonstration was carried out in a very dimly lit auditorium...
Edit: Beaten to it :(
http://i192.photobucket.com/albums/z193/madness_3d/35390_10150194666120371_851930370_1.jpg
Outside my local O2 store. Luckily I switched to Vodafone and was only ~6th in the vodafone store. Went in at 7:45 was out at 9 ish
All you iPhone 4 users having signal problems?, your holding it wrong. lol
Summed up best I think by a comment in that post..
How about don't even bother review at all.
It's an awesome phone/OS.
After seeing exactly how it was done I've manage to do it a couple of times now, still not an exact science for me. I'm really having to try to do it too, though I'm not what you would call clammy handed.
I'll consider it a secret feature allowing me to have calls drop during uncomfortable conversations, I'll just need to carry a paper clip or something round with me :P.
i concur
On a side note, whats peoples opinions on the X10 experia?
One of the top Android phones. Just that apparently quite a lot of people don't like it for some reason.
I was having a play with one in the carphone warehouse a couple of months ago, seemed like an awesome phonwe and was gonna get it but the guy there said it was brand new out and he couldnt give me much info on reliability, battery life etc so i left it lol
Steve Jobs to Lefties: Hold the iPhone 4 differently or buy a case!
I can't believe people will take this **** for granted. Only apple fans will say this is a feature or a new good way to hold your phone...
I believe it is done on purpose. So Apple can sell expensive cases.
Because Sony Ericsson aren't know for reliability and build quality when it comes to phones
What's new?
There's a front facing VGA resolution camera that you can only use for video conferencing when you have a Wifi connection, which defeats the purpose of putting it on a mobile device. Oh, and there's now a flash on the camera so you can capture the extra two mega pixels that the rest of the world has had for the past year in low-light conditions!
In all seriousness, upping the processor speed and increasing the pixel density is NOT enough to warrant a whole new device. The screen is the same size, the applications are the same (and since they're all made to run on ALL iPhone / iTouch devices, they will limit the processor in the iPhone 4), the OS is the same... Even the argument that it's thinner is out because with the extra glass on the back you'll HAVE to get a hard case like an Otterbox just to keep your phone from breaking when the inevitable drop occurs. I literally see ZERO reason to upgrade to an iPhone 4 if you've already got a 3GS.
I think I'll stick with my Evo 4G and my customizable Android OS.
In fact, in tricky spots of the hospitals where I work (wards with lots of screened walls because of imaging equipment) I can pick up a signal where many other phones can't. Turns out that the common denominator is the telecom provider. O2 works fine, others like Orange don't.
We've been there before. All new products have their teething problems --it is why I'm not an early adopter on principle (yes, I'm eligible for the iPhone 4 upgrade. No, I'm not queueing for one. I'm kind of busy working for a living right now. I'll get one in a few months when the hysteria has died down).
What I can't get my head around is that people actually think that this is an inherent design flaw; that the kind of design engineers who work for a multi-million dollar company would not have thoroughly tested their new antenna design and taken body contact conductivity/interference issues into account (usually touching an antenna improves reception, by the way). The signal issue may just be a software glitch of iOS 4. People have been able to replicate the issue on up-flashed 3G's and 3GS's. I have as well --holding my 3G in the lower left corner loses a bar of the signal. Interestingly, people have also observed that even when the indicator shows no signal left at all, call quality is just fine.
Similar problems have been reported on the Google Nexus One. It is just something that is inevitable in mobile devices. I expect that there will just be a firmware update and the problem will be sorted.
Vaja
EDIT: ... gutted, coming soon.
Unfortunately i live in an area where I only get 1-2 bats, and as soon as i pick it up it drops down to none and then searching so is in fact, useless :(
There were 2 other people in the O2 store returning it for the same reason while I was there.
Pics of how I hold a phone (3GS now substituted for 4g).
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd341/Neat693/iphone1.jpg
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd341/Neat693/iphone2.jpg
This is how is is in my hand when its next to my ear and feels very natural for me, i'm sure someone will tell me i'm holing it wrong somehow...
It's a shame, as apart from this it appeared to be a great upgrade from the 3gs, now I just have to wait for my account to be transferred back onto my full size sim.
This reminds me of a similarly peculiar issue with the Palm IIIc. Initially there was a problem with the plastic casing on a batch of them --factory got the mix wrong somehow, making the cases slightly more brittle and prone to cracking. When people exchanged their cracked units, a new problem altogether manifested itself: with screen brightness turned up fully, graffity recognition went down the toilet. If you throttled the screen brightness down to below 50% it was fine.
The problem was: it took Palm ages to cotton on to this. People would return their IIIc for graffity problems and technical staff would reset the device and test it. Unfortunately the default value for screen brightness was 50% so of course they did not experience a problem; as such the units were shipped out as replacement for subsequent exchanges... I remember having to return my IIIc twice for that reason until I brow-beat them with the Sales of Goods act and TOLD them in no uncertain terms to FOR F*** SAKE TURN THE SCREEN BRIGHTNESS TO 100% BEFORE YOU TEST GRAFFITY RECOGNITION, one more dud unit and I would demand a refund. That solved the problem for me.
I would not be surprised if there was a batch of iPhone 4's with a capacitor or something that is slightly off value, or that there is a wonky relationship with screen brightness or something. The Palm IIIc story illustrates that many new devices have their teething problems. I'm sure anyone can think of anecdotes. Remember the floating point issue in the first Pentium chips? Sony laptops overheating? The Nvidia's 8800gt d.o.a. issue? The motherboard 'capacitor plague' of the early noughties? Sure you do. New tech always has problems. Complex new tech has complex problems.
...um u can buy a third party case for like $19 tho...
lol
Ok, ok; my iPhone 3GS is jailbroken and just as customizable as your droid dude. No you don't have to get a HARD case, just a rubberized one. Like every other phone, screen is the same but more pixels, HD video recording and multitasking; which all the app makers are modifying their apps for.
Plus the phone looks damn hot. I'm sure a lot of people drop their 'droids once and they break, but an iphone breaking is highlighted because there's a lot of hype surrounding it.
How many people have said they dropped their iPhone by accident and it broke? I read my 19 tech rss feeds everyday and I've only seen two reports of that happening so what were you saying?. If you jailbreak the iPhone 4 you can have multitasking of ALL apps, all the features of your Evo 4g and more.
Btw facetime will soon be using 3G.
As far as busting an iPhone goes it isn't hard, compared to other touchscreen phones though? Who knows. Not many folks in truth.
kloisle please try and use proper language and grammar next time, that was absolutely abysmal.
I have a iPhone 3GS and there's no problem with it. And I plan to buy an iPad sometime - but not until the 2nd or 3rd Generation.
Yeah and they'd charge $150 for it - and they'd still be a whole big bunch of twats lining up outside Apple stores for hours to buy it.
And they'd still only get it right in the 2nd or 3rd generation.
The first generation would only have 4 fingers or something.
But the Mac fan boys would still call that a 'feature'
It's not a 4G phone and no where in any of it's documentation is it called 4G or stating it can use 4G.
It' just the iPhone 4, or better the new iPod Touch without any internet. Since it's can't make calls or use the net at the moment.
It's a disgrace that you spend almost £500 on a phone and it won't even work as advertised, so you have to buy and bumper or case.
No one should stand for that, no matter how good it might be.
interesting, going went droid myself (on verizon, can't help it). Now especially glad I did.
I had the Iphone 4 for 2 days and im sorry to say it was a nightmare. I'm left handed and everytime i made a call the signal dropped and i lost the connection. Apple told me to hold the phone differently or buy a bumper. I was so upset and angry that i sent the phone back and got a full refund. My advice would be certainly don't buy it until they come up with a new model