I think I figured out why Apple never found the reception issue while testing...

[slugg]

Didn't they keep stealthy cases on the iPhone 4 at all times to disguise them as a 3GS? So basically, there was never any contact between the user's hand and the metal bands...

Just a theory.

 

[Spineshank]

My friend has one and he doesnt have any of the issues that are being reported. So im thinking maybe just a bad batch...massive batch at that.

 

[DivideBYZero]

 

[alfa147x]

Post in the right thread. Here are two possible options:

iPhone 4: Dropping calls when antennas are touched together

The Official iPhone 4 Thread

 

[mmntech]

My friend has one and he doesnt have any of the issues that are being reported. So im thinking maybe just a bad batch...massive batch at that.

According to Engadget, it seems to be more of a problem if you're a lefty.

Word to the wise, the iPhone wouldn't drop calls in the first place if they actually put it on a decent network.

 

[TheWart]

According to Engadget, it seems to be more of a problem if you're a lefty.

Word to the wise, the iPhone wouldn't drop calls in the first place if they actually put it on a decent network.

Word to the stupid: Verizon and Sprint actually get worse reception than AT&T in some areas. Some people actually like AT&T's cell reception....not every area is the same.

 

[Phobic9]

According to Engadget, it seems to be more of a problem if you're a lefty.

Word to the wise, the iPhone wouldn't drop calls in the first place if they actually put it on a decent network.

People in other countries are also having similar problems with signal issues so it's not just AT&T.

 

[SpatiallyAware]

word to the stupid: Verizon and sprint actually get worse reception than at&t in some areas. Some people actually like at&t's cell reception....not every area is the same.

rofl.

 

[slugg]

Word to the stupid: Verizon and Sprint actually get worse reception than AT&T in some areas. Some people actually like AT&T's cell reception....not every area is the same.

I switched from Sprint. Not only is the customer service better at AT&T, but so is the wireless reception. So I agree with you.

My dad has Verizon. The customer service sucks, but the reception is absolutely amazing. Really impressive.

 

[James Bond]

There is no way that they had cases on all phones during testing. That's absurd.

This issue is so easy to replicate that they had to have realized during testing.

You don't need to be left handed to replicate this, I do it all the time on accident. ALL that has to happen is for a single finger to bridge the gap between the two antenna's.

 

[mmntech]

Word to the stupid: Verizon and Sprint actually get worse reception than AT&T in some areas. Some people actually like AT&T's cell reception....not every area is the same.

Really? Most Canadian iPhone owners I know never have problems with dropped calls. That's why I figured it was a crappy network.

 

[slugg]

Back on topic...

I'd like to speculate as to why this wasn't an issue during testing. Maybe for some freak reason it IS, in fact, a software issue? Assuming it was a software issue, it could have been introduced in the production version of the iOS 4 release, whereas the old pre-production software didn't have the bug. This could explain why the reception problem didn't show up in testing.

My gut feeling is that it's a hardware issue. I think it's pretty obvious. If they fix it with software, I have a feeling it's going to be a band-aid as opposed to a real solution.

 

[MJinZ]

Back on topic...

I'd like to speculate as to why this wasn't an issue during testing. Maybe for some freak reason it IS, in fact, a software issue? Assuming it was a software issue, it could have been introduced in the production version of the iOS 4 release, whereas the old pre-production software didn't have the bug. This could explain why the reception problem didn't show up in testing.

My gut feeling is that it's a hardware issue. I think it's pretty obvious. If they fix it with software, I have a feeling it's going to be a band-aid as opposed to a real solution.

No need to speculate. It's just design/engineering issue. Read the review on the front page.

 

[Kadarin]

I'm going with the "AT&T has such a shitty network that QA engineers just shrugged off call drops during testing, thinking it was perfectly normal for AT&T" theory.