It looks like a number of iPhone 4 units are having reception and/or display issues. On the reception side, several users have claimed that signal can be lessened by touching certain points of the phone’s metal band, which also serves as an antenna. Earlier in the month, Professor Gert Frolund Pedersen predicted this issue via Comon:
Human tissue will in any event, have an inhibitory effect on the antenna. Touch means that a larger portion of the antenna energy turns into heat and lost. This makes the antenna less efficient to send and receive radio signals.
As for the display issues, a number of users have reported and sent pictures of yellow bands appearing on the display. Gizmodo has several photos and user reports.
Yesterday Rpadholic N8R mentioned that he was probably going to wait for the second batch of iPhone 4 units, waiting for Apple to work out the initial kinks. Do either of these issues make you want to hold up on your purchase? Or are you still enamored with this beautiful and technically impressive phone?
wow. I want to hold up on it now for the screen issues. I doubt they will fix the metal band reception issue. odd i always thought i got better reception (back in the day) when i touched the rabbit ears antenna??? or was that just me???
I'll buy it and then make Apple replace it if any of these things occur.
crap! I forgot about the 1 year limited warranty plus i can always take it back in 30 days. thank you for the reminder smartguy. I'll be in line tomorrow!
My other theory is that Magneto went whoring 20 to 30 years ago. His descendants are wrecking iPhone 4s with their electromagnetic powers.
hmmmm i wonder who you can be referring to???
@tokz
NP. easy way for ppl to get their fix tomorrow and then get a white one in a few weeks lol.
I know it's horrible…but I keep thinking of the Foxconn workers. They must have shit themselves when they saw a 600k pre order number. Now they have to be literally shitting blood on hearing that some devices are defective. I feel sorry for them.
@smartguy I'm not certain either is a manufacturing problem. The reception issue is an engineering one. From what I understand, the banding stems from the way Apple put together the LCD panel, touchscreen, and glass; there's no space between them, resulting in a better picture and protecting against dust…but apparently it also leads to yellow blotches.
@Ray
Ooo…that will be a significant thing for them to correct then. You think it will happen soon?
@smartguy Well, I'm not even sure how big the issue is. Let's see some percentages first. It's easy to think it's a big deal when all you're hearing from is loud Internets people. Also, there are two (rather stupid) conspiracies.
1) Apple knew about the reception issue and that's why it is selling the bumper accessory.
2) Gizmodo is posting as many negative Apple articles as possible because…well, you know.
I'm not buying either theory.
@Ray
That bumper theory is clever. I think it would have more credence if Apple packaged in a color of your choice though.
I agree that the few people who have units right now are the loudest, and I also doubt the authenticity of some of these claims. I do believe BGR (boygeniusreport) when they say they have issues. They are reporting certain issues discussed above. To be honest though, it isn't going to deter me. Just like it wouldn't deter me from buying an EVO since some screens seem to fall off or whatever.
@smartguy It's funny that you brought up the Evo. The iPhone problems combined with my heavy use of Google products and the Sprint service discount I'd get and experiencing 4G during E3 (it's up in downtown LA) have me REALLY close to keeping it as my main phone.
@Ray
Since tomorrow is the last day of my fishing vacation and given the fact that ATT sucks here…I'm gonna pop into the walmart about 10 miles from where I am and see If I can score one. I'm sure I can since there is only Edge network available here and since rednecks like Nextel…and I'm surrounded by them…lol. I'll let ya'll know.
@smartguy Good luck with the iPhone quest! I wish I had one to review for launch, but I'm waiting on Apple to see if and when I can get one. Hopefully next week.
@ Smartguy;
You know why rednecks like Nextel/Sprint?
-M
@Iceman
Indeed I do. The fact that nextel makes them think they have a CB just sweetens the deal.
got mine today, it is quite simply amazing. I haven't had any signal or display issues yet, but I'll let you guys know. I had a good time with face time already, and the retina display is beyond words
@shockwave
So you holding the phone on the bottom left portion doesn't drop your signal at all?
i would just like to say that the italian soccer team is a total disgrace.
@thunder
agreed, those guys let me down and busted my bracket.
after reviewing some videos it looks like I can get the bars to drop by simultaneously touching the left antenna and bottom metal at the same time. interesting, though I'll be getting a cover that is curious
@shockwave
please let us know if the cover effects reception. if just touchiing the bands in those two areas effect. i wonder if a cover will.
this antenna issue might actually force me to finally get a cover for my phone. although touching the left and bottom of the phone isn't a natural holding position for me while I'm on the phone.
@tokz, according to gizmodo's page, several users have fixed the issue by putting a cover on it (which is probably why apple released a first party bumper device). Either way it seems the electrical current goes from your hand to the signal which is the issue
@shockwave
I always get a cover for my phones. I invest good money into them why not take care of them. good to know. I kinda figured that a cover would probably help since you wouldn't be touching the antenna anymore. sometimes common sense escapes the mind.
@tokz – I know what you mean. I usually like covers for phones, but apple makes the phone so sexy it's hard to cover it up… but I've broken quite a few of them, this is the push i needed
I like my phones to go commando. I'd like to go on record of saying that if Apple intended the bumpers to resolve this reception issue then they should have packed one in the box. That is ridiculous.
It almost makes me not want to get one for that reason. I hold the phone with my left hand to make calls and when I'm using internet on it.
I hold my phone on both edges and generally I keep my pinky underneath the bottom of it. Its just comfortable that way. I don't know exactly where on the phone I'd need to touch but I'd probably touch it.
My phones go commando too! I figure if your spend that much money on a phone it should be able to withstand a few drops, but I almost never drop my phones.
@slicky
sounds like a fancy way to hold it. I hold mine in my right hand. the heel of my palm at the bottom right corner of my phone and my fingers near the top left, in case the volume is down or it's too high i can lower it.
@big blak
you just jinxed your mytouch.
@ Tokz
Lol I did just drop it right after the post lmao!
It was on a carpet so I'm good lol.
@Big Blak
i figured you would know about jinxes just as much as i would. You have respect them and not anger them. If i were you i'd start looking for a way to get rid of that future problem phone.
@ Tokz
I actually haven't seen a case for my phone, but I haven't been actively searching either.
"Rant"
I know this issue has been mentioned before (pretty sure I have even commented on it) but the lack of local multiplayer games anymore is very annoying. One of my roommates and I have been trying to find games to play through the campaigns in co-op because we both have a little bit of time for it and also because he has one of those passes from blockbuster where he can rent any game or movie for as long as he wants, then when he is done he just goes and exchanges it for whatever else he wants. Now I do also realize that Blockbuster's selection here is horrible anyways and really only has the newest games. We played Gears of War, then Army of Two: The 40th Day and we were going to get the first Army of Two or Gear 2 next but their one copies were still checked out. So we looked around for anything else that we could play…almost nothing. (and he didn't really care that much for Gears 1). The only other game that we found was CoD: World at War. All of the battlefield games, all of the other CoD games, anything that they have out right now is single player only, and the only multiplayer that we can do is if we both have a copy and play on separate 360's. On top of him not being the biggest fan of deathmatch style online games, what is the fun in two people playing the same game together in separate rooms, tv's, and 360's???!!!
I am really annoyed right now that our love of playing with people across the world has gotten so far out of hand that it is this difficult to play with someone in my own apartment. Granted if the first Army of Two game and Gears 2 gets returned we can still play those, but that is only 5 games out of their whole selection that we are able to play co-op on.
*end rant*
if anyone has some suggestions on other co-op games that we can play through we might be able to see if we can find them somewhere to play…it would be appreciated to at least know what good games we can play like that.
@bsukenyan Almost all of the games Nintendo showed at E3 had local multiplayer and/or cooperative modes.
@Big Blak
search Amazon when you get bored and use Rpad's links.
@bsu
that sucks. I know what you mean. I miss local MP too. I remember Arguello said that you can rent a game from Blockbuster and they will mail it to you if they dont have it. He never got back to us on how that works.
@Ray
Nintendo is finally making me want a Wii.
@Tokz
Thanks for the tip, I will have to look in to that a little bit.
I might have to go buy the first Rainbow Six Vegas so that we have something good to play. I was going to get it sometime anyways but I just looked it up and it said it has multiplayer co-op.
@bsu
no problem. let me know how that works. I've been dying to get my hands on MAG and Demon's souls before i buy them.
@ Bsukenyan;
I'm on the same boat with you man. My wife and I love to play local co-op together, but there seem to be so few AAA titles where you can play through the whole campaign on local co-op. I recently started playing regular games by myself and our relationship has suffered because of it. Why won't developers help mend my marriage?!
I can tell you that we went through Resident Evil 5 and Gears of War 2 together. I was looking at Army of Two for our next game, but wanted to know if the game was any good before I commit to having to use it as relationship building material.
-M
@BSU
Capcom is your friend man. Try RE5 and LP2.
@Sandrock
I will have to mention RE5, because I think they might have that. If they don't then it is at least another game to look out for for the future. Does LP1 have local co-op as well?
@Iceman
If you really want a team building type game to help with relationship building, I would recommend Army of Two and Army of Two: the 40th Day for sure. Team work is the focus of the whole game and the games (the second one for sure, but I think the first one does as well) even go so far as to give you meters which show who the enemies are focusing on which gives the other person a chance to move about without getting shot at as much, etc. To get over obstacles you have to have both people there to open gates, climb walls, plant explosive, and so on. I think the game does a good job of showing the balance between both players and really focuses on what I think you are looking for. The achievements are pretty good as well. On 40th Day the contractor difficulty is not too difficult in my opinion, my roommate and I were able to play through with only having to repeat a section at most probably 10 times or so for the very last part and maybe a couple though out the game. Teamwork and talking to each other worked really well for going through parts with more enemies also. Then there are the moral choices that you must make as the game progresses which are cool to see, because once you make a choice the game shows you what the results of that choice are. Last but not least, the achievements are pretty good as well. We didn't play any online, but most of those seemed pretty basic. The story related and offline achievements were fun to get and some of them also require teamwork in order to get them. We also did not play the DLC for this game so I cannot comment on that either.
Overall I would definitely recommend both of those games (although I have not yet played the first one, I hear that it is similar to 40th Day). Also, they are third person shooters with bulky characters which reminded me of Gear 1 and 2, so that might help your wife out as far as getting used to the controls and movements. I rate this game: 4 1/2 mended marriages out of 5.
Also, I am going to be playing through the Rainbow Six Vegas games in the near future if you would like me to tell you about those as well, or any other local co-op games we happen to run across.
Wow, Bsukenyan;
I wasn't expecting a "not-a-review" style explanation, there, but thanks. Your last post should be copied and saved if Mr. Padilla ever gets around to creating a "Reviews" segment of this site. I think I'd be lost and damned without it.
-M
Apple has acknowledged the reception issue and is encouraging current iPhone 4 owners to avoid holding the device a certain way.
@Ray
That is like if Microsoft would have simply told 360 owners to stop playing in a certain way to keep their 360's from red ringing. It was Microsoft's responsibility to find a solution for the red ring of death just like it should be Apple's responsibility to find a solution for the reception issue.
@Iceman
No problem, it was especially easy since I just finished playing 40th Day. Hopefully that helps out with everything. I also think it would be a great idea to have a user review section somewhere, I would be willing to write more summary's in that style for other games I have played just as I'm sure many of the other Rpad-a-holics would be willing to do.