Apple has already confirmed that they will be holding an “emergency conference” for the iPhone 4. Many already assume that the agenda will be covering the ongoing issue with the device’s antenna.
To make a quick recap, the antenna of the iPhone 4 has been designed with a very striking flaw, it loses reception easily. This is triggered when a certain part of the metal band around the handset comes in contact with human skin. It is notable to add that while it is common for any handset to lose a couple or so bars when held in certain ways, this is the first time that holding a smart phone in a casual manner has the possibility of lowering performance.
The issue is so predominant because all it takes to ‘accidentally’ press the antenna’s weak spot can be done by holding the device with the left hand when taking a call. This is because the exposed antenna portion is situated to where a finger would casually land.
The initial reaction from Apple was pretty nonchalant, and the first online interaction with Steve Jobs was not helping anyone. Apple seemed to approach the situation by telling people that they are holding the device in the wrong way. This led to a public outcry against Apple’s stand on the matter.
Things took a turn for the worse when Apple officially dismissed the issue as a result of a faulty signal meter display. While Apple may have been telling the truth about the OS having such a problem, it was a completely different matter that did not have any relation to the antenna problem. This seemed obvious to most people, as the iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS had no such issue.
Some users have resorted to finding their own solutions to the problem. A few crafty iPhone 4 owners taped the exposed area, while a few covered it with a coating of nail polish. Some discovered that the Apple iPhone 4 bumpers also made for a great fix.
Tags: antenna, Apple, Apple-iPhone-4