On gaps, antennae and reception
There is now proof, or at least a better set of experiments, that shows a problem with the iPhone 4 antenna, something which users have been reporting anecdotally almost since the phone was first delivered on June 24.
Although there have been a lot of stories written about the reception problem suffered by users of the new iPhone 4, there has as yet been very little scientific experimentation pertaining to the issue. Now, however, AnandTech has performed and published a study which confirms what anyone with a finger and an iPhone can experience for themselves. If you place a finger (or your nose, for that matter) over the gap in the iPhone 4 wrap-around antenna, the phone’s reception gets worse. AnandTech’s conclusion is that:
The fact of the matter is that either the most sensitive region of the antenna should have an insulative coating, or everyone should use a case. For a company that uses style heavily as a selling point, the latter isn’t an option. And the former would require an unprecedented admission of fault on Apple’s part.
Apple has said, of course, said that the reception experienced by all cell phones is affected by how the phone is held. The AnandTech study confirmed that conjecture, at least with a few phones, including the iPhone 3GS and the Google Nexus One, as reported in a Wired story. But the iPhone 4 was the worst of the lot when that famous antenna gap was bridged by a human body part. Thus the AnandTech recommendation that the phone be used in a case or that the materiel of the antenna be somehow insulated so that it cannot be bridged by the skin of the user.
AnandTech also reported that, overall, the signal reception qualities of the iPhone 4 are significantly superior to those of the iPhone 3GS or the Google Nexus One, at least until that famous gap is bridged. It is likely that some enterprising entrepreneur will come up with a 99 cent (plus shipping and handling) mechanical solution for this issue. Or, perhaps, owners of the black iPhone 4 model, which is all there is right now due to other production problems, could go out in the garage or down into the basement and get some shiny black electrical tape with which to cover that pesky gap.
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July 2nd, 2010
R2D2 here,
Apple Inc. said Friday that it was “stunned” to find that its iPhones have for years been using a “totally wrong” formula to determine how many bars of signal strength they are getting. Since Job’s first fix “you’re holding it wrong” did not sell well he now has the solution: Use software to pretend that the hardware is working. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Oh, and that new software will also make you weigh ten pounds less and will add 10K to your bank account. Ahhhhhhahahahaha! Oops, help me Obi-Wan! I laughed so hard I fell over and can’t get up.
It’s July and hot on Earth. Better drink up that Kool-Aid.
No such problems with my Droids. The hardware is the best in the galaxy. You earthlings can expect another delivery very soon. The Millennium Falcon has just jumped to hyperspace to get my Droids there without delay.
The Force is with us! R2D2