Just prior to the iPhone 4 launch yesterday, reports began to surface claiming that iPhone 4 loses reception depending on the device’s position in the users’ hand. The problems seems to have been isolated to antenna band in the lower left corner of the device coming in contact with the user’s hand while on a call.
However, these symptoms seem to dissipate when the users don’t hold the device in a manner that covers the antenna stripe, and others have had luck when putting the device in a protective case. In other words, reception picks back up when the antenna band is not in contact with skin.
In the mean time, customers have been sending emails to Apple CEO Steve Jobs enquiring about this strange issue. MacRumors reports that one of their readers emailed Jobs. The Question:
Question – What’s going to be done about the signal dropping issue. Is it software or hardware?
Jobs then replied:
Non issue. Just avoid holding it in that way.
Wow, what a smartass. Don’t tell the customer it’s his fault, especially when he’s not doing anything out of the realm of normal use.
Anyway, in a following email, Jobs expanded on his explanation:
Gripping any 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.
Apple then released an official statement backing up what Mr. Jobs had been stating in his emails.
To be fair, it does seem that other phones do indeed suffer from a similar problem. However, to be fair to everyone experiencing this problem, it does seem to be pretty prevalent amongst iPhone 4 users. That said, the device has only been on the streets for a day. We’ll keep you posted on future developments.
In the mean time, avoid tightly holding the bottom third of your iPhone 4, and consider putting it in a protective case.
I told you this was going to be a rough launch.
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