Apple has admitted to a widely-reported problem in which millions of iPhone 4 units are likely to lose signal when gripped by the lower left corner, saying there’s nothing unusual about the flaw, illustrated in this video.
In an official statement issued late last night after hundreds of customers reported the flaw, which particularly impacts left-handed users, the company issued the following widely-published statement.
“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 CEO, Steve Jobs also emailed one user to say: “Just avoid holding it that way.”
In a little extra tax on early adopters, Apple is also advising users to purchase a protective iPhone case, doing so will ease the problem, the company explains.
But with Apple’s own cases costing an additional $29 atop the unit price, customers are likely to complain that the iPhone should have shipped with some protection in the first place, in an echo of the outcry which greeted the iPhone nano in one iteration.
MacRumors points to a support thread for Google’s Nexus One which warned of a similar issue in February.
Apple is expected to have sold up to one million iPhone 4’s yesterday, and had 600,000 of these sold last week.
It is possible Apple missed this problem in testing because prototype units were disguised inside cases designed to make the iPhone 4’s lool like the iPhone 3GS.
Apple should learn from nintendo and just include a bumper case with the iPhone, at least until (if) they solve the issue.
yes, but attenuation issues have always been an issue with handheld wireless devices. Go tune in your desk radio to a fuzzy station, then touch the antena, the fuzz goes away. Exposed antenna and human flesh never work good together. Even a good muleteer will read conductivity with the probes on the same thumb of some people, or even pinky to thumb.
I think the only fix, since the antena is exposed is to use a case, a bumper, or wrap it with electrical tape.
Yet another reason I won’t buy another Apple product. Enjoy early adopters!
grow up
it’s a valid reason … grow up is dismissive … it suggests that you should grow up.
Honestly, the majority of people I see with iPhone use cases, so it likely wont affect anyone who uses one.
I have an old Nextel IDEN i580. It has attenuation problems holding it certain ways too. In some cases loosing signal all together. The i365 i had prior had the exact same problem. But i love the IDEN network/technology, and i like the military spec phones for camping and being out on sight for construction.
I think there is allot of hyper-sensationalism about a cell phone issue that has been an issues with wireless devices for decades. Overall, people who haven’t experienced it should just consider themselves lucky, and move on. The only reason for all the attention is that it’s an Apple product.
Actually, the reason for all the attention is because of all the hype and marketing Apple does. They promote this awesome new, cool, must-have technology that isn’t really that new or great and suffers from several bugs and problems. Saying that it is an issue decades old isn’t an excuse when you are marketing something to people as being so new, great, and technically advanced….compared to other devices and your previous one….which is only a year old. Sorry, but this rush to market of new devices is an utter joke. Apple is about to seriously destroy it’s image if it continues down this path. This growing list of hardware and software bugs is going to get them in the end. No wonder they have stopped making and showing those MAC vs PC ads…..they clearly cannot translate that success to the mobile market….and are showing that they are not as superior as they are trying to portray themselves.