Issue with Proximity Sensor during calls

99 pages??? will we get 100?

Oh man, i feel something abrewing

UPDATE: I called apple today as soon as as I got done replying on this thread and this is what they told me. This is a common problem that they have been seeing more and more of and the shipment of iphone 4's that went out last week to all of the Apple stores, have been fixed and the proximity sensor should act the same as previous iPhones. I setup a appointment for tomorrow at the Apple store in Nashville so I will see what happens. They will be replacing (2) 32gb. I will make calls in the store before I leave and I will also bring my old 3gs to see how the proximity sensor compares to it. This is very frustrating considering the price tag they placed on these. I'm guessing that they will need to change some specs within the proximity sensor so it will not activate and deactivate while it's in the same position against your cheek. Look forward to a update tomorrow night about 9:00pm central.

I have had mine for a few days...ugh!
1. Bluetooth will not hold in car!
2. My cheek mutes my calls or changes and flashes other screens. Tough because I do phone training seminars.
3. My hard wire headset does not work properly. Statics out and listeners have a hard time hearing.
My iPhone can do almost anything but be a phone.

I'll give them a week and then I am sending it back. How could this been missed in testing?

In reply to some other post, you can do all of the 1.75" testing you want but the hard facts are that the phone does not function as previous models. I tested both iPhone 4's that I have, smashed against my face with the sensor completely covered and and the screen would still light up while I was in a call and it was only a matter of time before the call was getting muted or put on facetime. From my experience this has nothing to do with heat or direct sunlight. I experienced the problem all the time. My wife & I cannot complete a call more than 5 minutes without a issue with the sensor kicking the screen on. I'll keep you updated.

" This is a common problem that they have been seeing more and more of and the shipment of iphone 4's that went out last week to all of the Apple stores, have been fixed and the proximity sensor should act the same as previous iPhones."

If the information you were given is true, then does this not mean that the 1.7 million IPhone 4 devices sold have the problem and should be replaced? That is how I would understand it.

" This is a common problem that they have been seeing more and more of and the shipment of iphone 4's that went out last week to all of the Apple stores, have been fixed and the proximity sensor should act the same as previous iPhones."

If the information you were given is true, then does this not mean that the 1.7 million IPhone 4 devices sold have the problem and should be replaced? That is how I would understand it.

That would be a huge recall with a already short supply for being able to make sales with, and put them 1.7 mill phones in the hole

Off topic a bit, but we all have the same problem proximity sensor and reception. I new that stainless steel is a poor conductor of heat, it is the reason they dont sell pure stainless steel pots only outter and inner layer are stainless. So I thought I would see if it is a conductor of electricity, and its not.

Physical Properties of Stainless Steel

Though the word 'stainless' suggests that it is a stain proof material, actually steel is not completely stain-proof, rather, it does not get stained easily. In all, there are more than 150 grades of steel, out of which 15 are very commonly used. Some of the important physical properties of stainless steel are listed below:
•Stainless steel is a hard and strong substance.
•Stainless steel is not a good conductor of heat and electricity.
•Stainless steel possess high ductile strength. This means it can be easily shaped or bent or drawn in the form of wires.
•Most varieties of stainless steel possess magnetic permeability. They are strongly attracted towards magnets.
•It is highly resistant to corrosion.
•It does not get oxidized very easily.
•Stainless steel can retain its cutting edge for a long period of time.
•Even at very high temperatures, stainless steel is capable of retaining its strength and resistivity towards oxidation and corrosion.
•At cryogenic temperatures, stainless can remain tough.

Makes me wonder if it was even a great idea to use as antenna.

I'm having the same problem. I have to use the speaker phone for calls. The screen keeps flashing off and on. Getting tired of hanging up on everyone. My phone also will go from 5 bars to 0 depending on how you hold it. This is my first iPhone, I came from Verizon, What a disappointment this has been. I like the phone for everything but being a phone. Wish Apple or AT&T would just make this right.

I'm not buying the heat or length-of-call argument - in my experience this issue is very simple to recreate regardless of these other factors. I experienced this issue on my first call after picking up the phone the day after launch day, consistently up to today, and I can reproduce it within the first few seconds of a call even if the phone is cold and was previously turned off for hours.

In my experience, I make a call, put the phone to my ear, and depending on where the phone is resting on my ear, it immediately starts to blink on and off like a Christmas tree. If I start with the earpiece at the top ridge of my ear, it's not too bad. If I then slide the phone slowly down the length of my ear, while keeping it in contact with my ear, the issue gets much worse when the earpiece crosses the middle of my ear, then the issue seems to subside once the earpiece reaches the bottom of my ear. This is 100% reproducible for me. The proximity sensor issue is definitely at its worst when the sensor is over the middle of my ear, which is the deepest part of my ear (leading to the ear canal, etc.). If the sensor is over a shallower part of my ear, the issue is either much less noticeable or disappears altogether. Again, this is regardless of heat, how long I've been on a call, etc.

Another point of interest - if my son holds the phone to his ear during a call, no matter where on his ear, we cannot reproduce the problem. His ear is much smaller and shallower than mine. This leads me to believe it is an issue with every phone, and some people may not realize it because of how they're resting the phone on their ear or due to their ear shape. I already have to hold the phone a certain way to not kill the reception, I'm not going to deal with resting it a certain way on my ear to avoid the proximity sensor issue.

Until Apple releases an official statement (if they do), I don't think we can be sure if this is a hardware or software issue, or a combination of both. Being a former-hardware-now-software guy, I would think this could be alleviated in software, but it depends on how much control the software has over this sensor.

@CellPhoneRepairs, I hope you're right in what you're saying re: Apple having fixed the issue in all the new iPhone 4's coming off the line, but that would mean it was indeed a hardware problem. If that's the case, and as others have said, Apple's going to be in a really tough spot with the millions of phones they've already sold. Apple left me a message earlier this weekend that my replacement phone was ready. I'll go in this week and check it out, but I'll refuse the phone if it exhibits the same issue. At that point I'll have a couple weeks left before my return period is up, I'll hold out until the end and if there's no fix, I'll return for a refund and not look back. I've bought Apple exclusively since the late 1980's, so this is very troubling for me. No company is perfect, and if the iPhone 4 is Apple's "Vista", I sure hope they make it right somehow.

I am also having this issue and I am ready to return my iPhone 4. I have ended calls, put them on mute, pushed face time, and even added a call without my knowledge. This issue, in addition to the numerous dropped calls because of signal issues, is driving me crazy. I am regretting that I didn't wait to buy this phone like I have done with all my other iPhones. I hope Apple has a fix for this issue SOON!

I've made a video that shows--very clearly IMHO--how crazy the iPhone 4 proximity sensor is acting. In my case, it's behavior that's easy to reproduce if you know what you're trying to do.

Here's a link to the YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX7EPVDVEEg

In the video, I used my finger as a stand-in for one's face, and tested it in three different positions, showing how it behaves when moving between those states. One position is right against the phone, another is completely away from the phone so the proximity sensor sees nothing, and the third is hovering about 0.75 inches above the phone. (It works the same out to about 1.25-1.5 inches...it's just harder to do everything repeatably for video at that distance).

For the first few trials in the video, I moved my finger directly from its position against the phone to the point 0.75 inches away (still should be in detection range). Every time I do this, the screen turns on when it's not supposed to. At this point, you might think it's that simple, the phone can't detect far enough away, and it could just as well be a hardware defect.

However, in the next part, it acts differently when the finger is moved into that same "hovering" position directly from a location totally away from the phone (so right after the sensor has been looking at nothing). When I move the finger directly into the "hovering" position from the "absent" position, the screen blanks with no problem at all. This is the same position it was earlier when it failed to activate properly, but now it's acting as it should. Finally, at the end of the video, I go back and forth between the two different scenarios a couple of times just to show it's very predictable.

So I think what's happening to me (and probably many others) is that during a call, the phone is held (even momentarily) so that the proximity sensor is directly against part of the ear. This makes the phone stop reacting to a slight separation until it's removed from the ear entirely. So then, if the user moves the phone a little (without moving it away from the hear entirely) so that the proximity sensor sees into the ear canal, or even into the "bowl" around the ear canal, then the phone activates the screen and face-dialing ensues.

I think this is prettly clearly a software issue. I can go back and forth between these modes indefinitely, and it's very repeatable. A hardware problem couldn't "forget" how to register the face an inch away in one instance, then "remember" how when the set of recent inputs is slightly different. No, that's definitely a software bug, and that gives me hope that it's something Apple could fix with an iOS update.

That being said, I'm still returning the phone next weekend if they haven't made a statement about it by then. I can't take the risk of being stuck with a phone they decide never to fix.

My senior advisor keeps telling me they are working on it. I just want Apple to admit there is a problem.

The issue will go away once you Restore your iPhone as a new phone and reset to default settings using the settings app.

@iMatt.co.tv; Obviously you have not read the full thread on this issue. I suggest you do. For a few people this works or a short period and the issue returns. For most people it does not work!!!!!!. THE PHONE IS FLAWED!!!!!!!!

i got mine on launch date and first probs i had was the signal and yellow screen at the bottom,took about a week befor i noticed the proximity sensor ,now i have problems on every call i make..my ear has also managed to start playing my ringtones while on a call. its very embarrasin after telling everyone what a great phone its gunna be then having to explain sheepishly why u jst cut off there call or muted it lol

i made a appointment with genious about the yellow screen and also took my boyfriends along about his sensor. when speaking to apple on the phone they promised to replace both but on arival they were happy to change mine due to the screen but just said the sensor prob will be sorted with the update. after trying the new replacement i didnt have the problem untill about 3 days later . its such a pain. made another appointment with genius for saturday to get them replaced or im getting my money back. no point in having a phone if you cant use it to call!