ABOVE: Putting masking tape over the iPhone 4's offending antenna to prevent direct contact with your hand, which can interrupt calls. It might not be pretty, but it works, says Consumer Reports.Influential US publication Consumer Reports has changed its
ABOVE: Putting masking tape over the iPhone 4's offending antenna to prevent direct contact with your hand, which can interrupt calls. It might not be pretty, but it works, says Consumer Reports.
Influential US publication Consumer Reports has changed its tune on the iPhone 4.
Initially, a blog on Consumer’s website said reception issues with Apple’s new handset were probably not serious, and no better or worse than those experienced with any smartphone (a finding backed by early New Zealand iPhone 4 adopters who contacted NBR).
But a week in, Consumer staff started to experience problems, and extensive testing of three iPhone 4 handsets in three different locations, plus a lab, found that reception was an issue.
Senior electronics editor Mike Gikas blogged earlier today:
"When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone's lower left side - an easy thing, especially for lefties - the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you're in an area with a weak signal".
Problems with call dropping were not experienced by other phones in the same tests.
Mr Gikas concludes "Apple needs to come up with a permanent - and free - fix for the antenna problem before we can recommend the iPhone 4".
The publication also rubbished Apple’s explanation:
"Our findings call into question the recent claim by Apple that the iPhone 4's signal-strength issues were largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software that 'mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength.' Consumer Reports said.
Consumer Reports did have a solution: to place a piece of masking tape over the offending lower left hand corner of the iPhone 4’s external antenna to prevent direct contact with your hand (the so-called "grip of death").
But it might not be that appealing to image conscious iPhone owners.
Apple promises a software update that will boost the iPhone 4’s ability to handle poor reception.
A Vodafone New Zealand spokesman would only comment that the company tests all handsets before launch. Testing might or might not take place in New Zealand.
Apple shares (NAS: AAPL) fell 0.9% in regular trading on the Nasdaq, but recovered after hours. The broader market rose 0.09%.
