Consumer Reports confirms iPhone 4 antenna problems -- and so do we
By Nilay Patel 
posted July 12th 2010 1:30PM
posted July 12th 2010 1:30PM
Of course, we couldn't sit around waiting for someone else to test the iPhone 4 in a more controlled way, so we actually asked our good friend Erica Sadun from TUAW to write us a bespoke signal strength app for iOS 4. Obviously we couldn't submit it to the App Store, but we've been running it on all of our phones here at Engadget and we can independently confirm Consumer Reports' finding that there's a serious signal attenuation issue with the iPhone 4's antenna -- every phone we've tested displays dropped signal when held with the bottom left corner covered. Now, what we don't know is whether that signal attenuation consistently affects call quality and data rates, which we suspect is more directly related to the network in the area; some of our iPhone 4s drop calls and experience low data rates with alarming frequency, while others -- like our review unit -- have almost never dropped a call and have had no data problems. However, now that we've confirmed and clarified that the antenna issue affects every iPhone 4, we can take on the next step, which is sorting out exactly when and where the issue is most severe. Either that, or Apple can do something to actually fix the issue -- we'll just have to wait and see. For now, check our app in action after the break.
Update: To clarify, "here at Engadget" is a virtual location -- our iPhone 4s are actually located across the country in San Francisco, Chicago, and New York, and we saw the app respond that way regardless of location. Dropped calls and other effects weren't as consistent, however, and we're still testing to sort out when the effects of the antenna issue are the most severe.
whatevs
@TomSawyer
mine works just fine.
@TomSawyer
you spent a few paychecks on a defective phone, so we know you have to keep telling yourself that.
@TomSawyer, I highly doubt yours doesn't drop calls. I grabbed a co-workers it drops calls every time you hold that corner. It's really easy to reproduce.
@TomSawyer
The issue is real, and a real pain in the ass. I used my original iPhone for almost three years, and never with a case. True, I can get better reception on the iPhone4 than I could with the 1st gen model, but if I'm not careful with the way I hold it, I get worse. Having to buy an accessory to make the product work in a reasonable way is criminal.
@TomSawyer
guys its ok. Steve Jobs told me that you can buy a case, and waste your own money, to POSSIBLY allow your defective phone to make phone calls!
@MicrosoftOwns
maybe you make minimum wage at your local Foot Locker, but $200 is hardly "a few paychecks" for most people (including myself). And my phone gets perfectly fine reception, and I've been increasingly less able to duplicate the signal-loss issue. Just my experience.
@TomSawyer
I heard Apple is planning on pushing a software fix that blocks consumer reports from showing up on your phone. That will fix the problem right?
@TomSawyer This news is just confirming that the problem is real. Primarily because people said it was AT&T's fault, but that couldn't be as other iPhones on other carriers suffered the same problem.
@pple is poo with a restocking fee...
Wanna hear something funny?
The guy who lost the iPhone4 at a bar, Gray Powell, is a baseband engineer for Apple.
Just how shitty must his life be right about now?
@TomSawyer
Leave it to engadget to bury the relevant point:
They RETRACT their recommendation!
@TomSawyer
I can see the issue, but it doesn't affect me because, though I use my left hand to hold the phone, I can't stand holding the phone in a way that drops the signal, I have yet to have a dropped call. On another note, I can reproduce the issue with my iPhone 3G (which was replaced less than a month ago due to the case cracking).
@FNi At least he was smart enough to keep his in a 3GS case. He knew about the issue all along!! Conspiracy I say!
@Engadgett
Will you guys put up a fair review based on all of these reports? Or will users be mislead by relying on your iPhone 4 review that doesn't even mention these problems?
@Templarian
No it doesn't
@N900
I've been suspecting there was never a problem with AT&T's network from the get go but this only serves to further my belief that it's been apple's fault, always has been.
Been on AT&T since 2007 and I don't have any issues with service unless I'm underground.
@MicrosoftOwns
actually, they paid me.
sold my 3gs for $250
bought the iphone 4 for $199 + tax.
netted roughly $20.
vote me down all you like... i can see the signal meter drop when i hold it the way everyone is complaining about... but ive yet to drop a call.
@Mentat, yes it does. Although I'm kind of picturing you standing next to a tower grinning. :P
@pple is poo thats the dumbest post ive ever read. i think i should sue you because i feel that ive become more stupid by even reading your post.
Is it my imagination or does the author of this article go to great lengths to defend Joshua's original iPhone4 review?
I'm not saying the review was wrong (Josh seems very competent), but that part of the article does seem to be...prickly.
@pple is poo
Since Apple has been dragging it's feet when it comes to resolving this issue it's obvious people have NOT been returning the phone even though they have the ability to. It shows that even though this phone has a major defect people want it enough to ignore it.
I'd like to see Apple offer a free bumper for every phone. It may not be the greatest fix but it's cost efficient for them and can prevent further backlash from the media.
@pple is poo
Including restocking fee and the ETF on my ATT contract? Cool!
Now we can all go to Verizon and get an Android phone.
@spartandre217 Well, before I switched over to T-Mobile, I had fine reception in Edison. Two Bridges is another story, but that's just NY for you. Frankly I believe the network is touch-and-go. Some people have good coverage, some have spotty.
Anyways, Apple really should announce a recall to these phones. Send them in, coat the band, then send it back. The 30-day policy is also applicable, I believe (though many people prefer that Apple fix it since it is their fault). They might face more class-action lawsuits, but they have enough money to settle these suits if they should arise, don't they?
@TomSawyer - LOL! Not my precious iEye ;^p...
Listen the Fruit n00bs have SUCKED AT ANT/RF Stacks since fruit phone one and it was partially because they didn't want to use proven chip-sets and a know-it-all pighead attitude:
2.5 - had bad network timing issues (I heard that at&t actually had to adjust the network, for one n00b phone, can you believe that?)
3 & 3GS - have awful hyper-band hand-offs (i.e. they suck at switching between Edge & 3G and would rather drop the call).
4 - and now this antenna design debacle which NO amount of signal display finagling will fix!
Said it before and will say it again, there are other phones on the same network, same cell site, same sector (some costing $50 bucks) and they work fine. So the next time you are in the company of an iP4 user complaining about network issues be kind and let em make a mercy call with your $50 Samsung. Sayin...
@Microdot And went on a 2 year contract.
To think that if they had put the seam somewhere else - perhaps higher up or lower down, perhaps on the bottom edge, this could have all been avoided. Apple must be kicking themselves!
But JTops swore that his unit didn't have it? :/
@TomSawyer
and AMAZINGLY the Engadget review has this device at a 9/10 with a AWFUL flaw and a phone like Droid X gets a 7 ...Right.
@TomSawyer
Are you this stupid? ITS A 20db Signal drop on ALL IPHONE 4's. That doesn't mean you will drop a call, hell, it doesn't even mean you will lose a bar depending on the signal strength, but your just being stupid when you say you don't have it. Get into a weaker area & I will guarantee you loose a couple calls. 20db is alot & will hurt all but the strongest signals. Try getting on the web too & forget ever using videochat (Maybe thats why they don't allow facetime on 3g) since it affects your data speed. Buy a case and say you don't care but don't say your phone is fine Apple has just released over 1.6 million defective devices.
@TomSawyer
this might sound like a bit of a harsh thing to say, but i do like hearing this news. anything that can get steve's attention and get him off his smug pedestal is a good thing. but in reality, it probably wont. apple has its money, they've already received their money from all their rabid apple die hards so they dont care. but if there's anything i HOPE steve does care about, its his rep. and the apple rep is seriously taking a good hit from this.
@simbadogg
Everyone calm down, its still a 9/10 according to Joshua Jobs Topolski - we shouldn't be concerned (PSHHHH LOSERS)
@pple is poo
How far up your ass is your iphone lodged?
@BerkleyBerkley2011
and yes he legally changed his middle name this week.
@spartandre217 I've been saying this since the 1st gen iPhone came out. I've never had issues. 10+ years on AT&T, no iPhone, no issues.
@TomSawyer
Engadget it's time you go back and review the iphone again - because there is a real lack of credibility on your part at this point for either of these reasons:
A) You never tested the actual call quality when you were supposed to test and review the iphone 4
B) You don't want to go back and post a negative score because of some bias on your part of apple products
Let's see if you have the journalistic 'balls' to re-review the iphone 4 now that you 'know' of the problems with this phone. I'm betting you dont.
@FNi
you know it does explain why he was using a case on it too, not to hide its identity, but to helps its stupid hardware bug! :P
@TomSawyer That's what she said.
@Fez - Yeah, it's just criminal that Engadget gives the iPhone 4 a "9" while the Droid X is only a "7." The reasons given for kicking down the X's rating were insignificant compared to the antenna issue with the iPhone 4.
@TurboTalon
"I'd like to see Apple offer a free bumper for every phone. It may not be the greatest fix but it's cost efficient for them and can prevent further backlash from the media."
While that is an affordable fix, I don't think you'll see it. Problem with it is that you'd only do that if there was a problem with your iPhone. And according to Apple, the only problem was how the bars reflected signal strength. Add to that all of the people who wouldn't want to use a bumper. What do you do for them? Replace/repair the phone?
Essentially, doing ANYTHING short of admitting and fixing properly is opening up a can of worms - no matter how cost-effective and/or well-intentioned.
@FNi Not just you...in fact I would say that the most relevant part of this article is NOT that antenna issues are on all iPhones...thought we knew that for a while now. The most relevant part is that Consumer Reports can NOT recommend the phone when it can not make calls..should have made that the headline.
@MicrosoftOwns
People.... is this really that big of an issue?
I mean, every one of these people willingly and knowingly purchased iPhones... how concerned w/ call quality can they really be?
@TomSawyer
Lol, Engadget becomes a team of scientists when this phone has problems. You guys could probably figure out HTC's real reasons for limiting EVO and Blackberry's resistance to innovate with focus like that lol.
@TomSawyer
"Consumer Reports confirms iPhone 4 antenna problems"
I don't care.
"Consumer Reports tested three iPhone 4s and several other AT&T phones in their RF isolation chamber that simulates varying levels of signal from every carrier, and found that the iPhone 4 was the only handset to suffer signal-loss issues."
I don't care.
"while the iPhone 4 has the "sharpest display and best video camera" of any phone its tested, it simply can't recommend the device until Apple comes up with a permanent and free fix to the antenna problem."
I don't care.
iPhone 4, where is the iPhone 4?
@MicrosoftOwns So, there's an app for that too? Wow... Guess it does have an app for everything.
@TomSawyer
There is clearly a problem with this phone's hardware. However, Apple probably didn't push a knowingly flawed product out to the market. The prototype posted by Gizmodo was disguised in an iPhone 3GS case, which fixed this issue during field tests. Looks like Apple has outdone themselves with this one. This and the Android App Inventor (to combat Apple's overly-complicated XCode -- and I am a developer on several platforms) is going to hurt them way more than any other phone by itself ever could. Even the DROID. Buy an EVO, people!
@SharonW They gave it a 7 because it didn't have at the time of the review the unofficially released Froyo 2.2.
Maybe they should have lowered iPhone to a 7 as well being it didn't have iOS5...
@EggoEspada
A compilation of various phones dropping bars while being held...
HTC EVO: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh6pUNY_rv8
HTC Evo Signal Attenuation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pj2YBYTbag
Samsung Galaxy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPCQdYtPihg
@BrandonHarris
Droid Incredible: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaDE941PzQk
Droid Incredible (With Network Extender in Room): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VpEQH...eature=related
Nexus One: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qEIA_lMwqJA
@BrandonHarris
Nexus One vs. iPhone (start at 1:29): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvMoV4_C4aA
Nexus One: http://posterous.com/getfile/files.p...n_-_iPhone.m4v
Nexus One (after Google's update to correct): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2g5J4qPp54