Is iPhone 4 Reception Issue Really Caused by a Math Error? I Don’t Think So. [Video]

I have been using iPhone 4 for the last 5 days now and no matter what I do, I am unable to replicate the iPhone 4 antenna reception problem which everyone keeps talking about. I know the problem is there, because I have seen lots of YouTube videos which shows it all. Also, Apple has acknowledged the issue now and they are going to fix it via software update which is due in the next few weeks.

Apple iPhone 4

Oh and it seems like I am not alone on this. I also asked about this problem on my Twitter account the other day, while most were complaining about this issue, there were some like me who couldn’t replicate this issue at all. Some of these responses were..

k3v1nc0chran @TaimurAsad I have also tried every possible variation with my iPhone 4 and I haven’t lost any reception..

jamesbrobinson @TaimurAsad I can create it with either hand. It’s making me wonder if the problem is limited to some handsets. I need to try mate’s iPhone.

cauchope @TaimurAsad No problems with the reception issue!!!!! I made all the test still 5 bars

manan so how many people I know have iPhone 4s? Do you guys actually face this issue? @taimurasad said he doesn’t.

spinalc0rd @TaimurAsad no reception issues here either I think it might be an AT&T issue I’m on t mobile in the uk

Vistazifta88 @TaimurAsad @k3v1nc0chran same here couldn’t reproduce them dropped calls

bingoprof @TaimurAsad I have replicated the loss of bars of the Death Grip; still able to make a call while showing no bars.

VishalOnboard @TaimurAsad was loosing bars before but strangely after trying to reproduce it again now I’m not losing any bars?

Twisted337 @TaimurAsad Had it the first day it came out and I have five bars consistently,no matter how I hold it.

ThaJonzes @TaimurAsad I got my #iphone4 on the 23rd and I’ve never had any issue with the reception. With or w/o the case on, knock on wood!!!

Travisd_SR @TaimurAsad I got 2 phones launch day, I can reproduce the reception issue on both. trying hard to hold it correctly while tweeting now lol

kes1981 @TaimurAsad I’ve got better reception than on my old one!

j0w33zy @TaimurAsad never got any reception issue and I’ve had the phone since release date and been beasting on it (cont)http://tl.gd/28nj8f

eMxPi @TaimurAsad I’ve met this problem, when my hand gets a little bit wet, and my palm links the two part of the left bottom (i’m in france)

Before doing my demo video, I came across this video on Vimeo which shows the exact spot on iPhone 4 that kills the signal.

Even after trying what was shown in the video above, I couldn’t replicate the issue. And so here is my video demo, you can clearly see that I was getting full 5 bars of signal no matter which way I held my phone.

According to Gizmodo’s and AnandTech’s report on iPhone 4 antenna issue, this issue is REAL and all users will face this problem at some point. But from my day of testing, I didn’t get this issue even after trying it in different parts of city – in both low and high signal areas.

So is this a hardware issue or a software one? or is this problem just tied to some networks only? cause different networks use different frequencies which may cause this problem. According to Apple, the problem is related to the “totally wrong” formula which was used to calculate the signal strength. Really Apple? then why are some of us not getting this issue? Or are we running a different version of iOS 4? I mean if it really was a math error, then we all should have got this problem.

All this makes me believe that Apple has a bigger problem on their hands than what they want us to believe. To me, this looks like an isolated issue which is more related to hardware than software. There are certainly some units out there which are immune to this problem. Apple may “temporarily” fix this by changing their algorithm for calculating signal strength in the next firmware update, but how long will that last is something that is still remained to be seen.

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