If it really is a antenna issue then explain this...

[marketsqhero]

If it really is an antenna issue then explain this...

Ok, so let me get something straight. According to the presentation by SJ and subsequent slides that have been seen, the GSM antenna runs from the bottom lhs, around the bottom left corner, across the bottom, all the way up the rhs, and across the top and stops just to the right of the noise cancelling mic where there?s another black band.

The WiFi antenna starts there and then goes around the top left corner, down the lhs, and meets the GSM antenna at the bottom left corner.

So:

a) Why does holding the phone normally not cause the issue? The minute you touch both the lhs (WiFi) and rhs (GSM) (i.e. hold it!) it should in theory short the antennas but this doesn?t happen.

b) Why doesn?t touching the black band on the top near the noise cancelling mic exhibit the same behaviour as the bottom left black band. As far as I know this should be indentical as it?s where the two antennas meet also.

So I call bull on the fact that shorting the antennas is the problem as it doesn?t happen on other places on the phone where you should be able to.

Obviously there is some issue (not as big as people are making out) which is specific to that bottom corner, but I don't believe for one minute that it's actually a fault in the antenna design as it would exhibit the same behaviour when touching the phone elsewhere.

 

[chippy19977]

That's what I don't understand either, but I'm far from an expert when it comes to these things. I'm still not sold on a hardware issue. But I wouldn't be surprised if it is. I just don't know at this point. It's really frustrating!

 

[stkywik]

Actually, the band is split up into three different antennas. The GSM antenna starts in the lower left corner and moves around the bottom side of the phone where it terminates in a black band directly across from the infamous black band in the lower left corner. In the end, though, I get your point. From a logical layman's point of view, it should be able to be replicated at the other end of the antenna as well. I'm sure there is some complicated engineering explanation, but I don't know what it is.

 

[marketsqhero]

No, I just had a quick look back at the keynote and at about 34 mins in you can see the slide that shows the two antennas. The right side (the one with the SIM card slot) and bottom of the phone is actually one piece for the UMTS and GSM antenna. And the left side piece is for Bluetooth, Wi-FI and GPS.

It seems the black bar on the rhs is just decorative to match up to the actual separator on the other side.

 

[jakej914]

I still think if you're in an area with crappy reception, you're going to have problems associated with holding the antenna in various ways. I have strong reception where I live and can almost never replicate this problem. The fact of the matter remains that Apple should have coated the antenna. Whether they're going to do something about it remains a mystery.

 

[stkywik]

I could almost sware that I saw that it was split into three different antennas. Oh well, I can't watch the video while at work. Maybe the answer is the "dummy" band in the lower right corner? Maybe it acts as an insulator in some way that stops the bridging effect at the top of the phone. I don't know.

 

[Fausty82]

There are only two antennae on the iPhone4. There band on the lower right side is purely decorative - there's a groove where the decorative band is inserted...

 

[marketsqhero]

There are only two antennae on the iPhone4. There band on the lower right side is purely decorative - there's a groove where the decorative band is inserted...

Yup, that's the slide.

So then, how come if the antenna design is flawed do you not get attenuation when touching the black band at the top as this should have the same effect as the one at the bottom as it's the "joint",

In fact touching the left side and right side together should in theory cause the same issue as you're touching both antennas.

Has anyone stripped one of these down yet? I wonder if it's more related to the placement of a component in that lower left corner rather than the actual bands on the outside as it makes no sense otherwise.

 

[ghostface147]

So then, how come if the antenna design is flawed do you not get attenuation when touching the black band at the top as this should have the same effect as the one at the bottom as it's the "joint"

FCC regulations prohibit the antenna/radios to be placed at the top of the phone. It must be down at the bottom. That is why there is no attenuation at the top. The radios are located inside the phone at the bottom.

 

[marketsqhero]

So your saying the slide SJ showed is wrong?

 

[macharborguy]

honestly, i think the whole thing is a crock of crap and PR (because even bad news is good news), and it will all be a non-issue once the patch comes out. after all, it's MAGICTASTICAL

either way, i had a case on my iPhone 4 from day one, and will continue to do so, making the issues non-existant for me.

 

[ghostface147]

So your saying the slide SJ showed is wrong?

Not at all. The band is the antenna, but the radios are a different component.

 

[marketsqhero]

Ok, so we're in agreement then that it actually is nothing to do with the antenna (steel band), but more likely the placement of the GSM/UTMS radio?

In which case why do people "believe" a bumper or case is the answer as that doesn't affect where the radio is.

I think people see what they think they see, possibly the bumper is a placebo effect nothing more.

 

[ghostface147]

The antenna is directly related to the radio. The radio processes the signal based upon the antenna's ability to work with the signal. You impede the antenna, the radio doesn't work or it's usefullness declines. You use a case or bumper to shield the antenna, radio works better since there is nothing impeding it.

 

[marketsqhero]

But the antenna only exhibits this behaviour in a 2mm section of the whole band. Why does it not happen anywhere else, it should happen anywhere you can short the two antennas (i.e. everywhere!)

 

[macharborguy]

I took a metal key, had it touch the two bands together, each contact point was about a half an inch away from the black band, up and down.

After about 10 seconds, the bars went from 5 to 1, and my Wifi dropped and reverted to Edge.

It is not simply the 2mm near the black band

i was not touching the phone the whole time that the key was touching it. i had the iPhone standing on it's bottom (dock connector area), with the key leaning against it.

 

[noaim]

it is a hardware problem no matter what way you try and word it its a hardware problem

 

[marketsqhero]

I took a metal key, had it touch the two bands together, each contact point was about a half an inch away from the black band, up and down.

After about 10 seconds, the bars went from 5 to 1, and my Wifi dropped and reverted to Edge.

It is not simply the 2mm near the black band

i was not touching the phone the whole time that the key was touching it. i had the iPhone standing on it's bottom (dock connector area), with the key leaning against it.

Useful, is that the kind of scenario you find yourself in on a daily basis?

 

[Dphone]

it is a hardware problem no matter what way you try and word it its a hardware problem

My words exactly, why do we try and defend Apple so much. It's a great phone but it has a flaw. Is it so hard to accept ? Just fix it. I still love my iFlaw, I mean iPhone.

 

[macharborguy]

Useful, is that the kind of scenario you find yourself in on a daily basis?

just showing that the bridging of the antennas does not HAVE to be right at the black band on the lower left, NOR do you have to do the grip of death, as simply bridging the bands with a thin, conductive object, can cause issues.