Signal issues? You're holding the phone wrong.

Yup, it's software, no question in my mind. Just need to sit tight until early next week. That being said, it's not even an issue for me anyway.

molotovito wrote:
Yes, the 3gs does the same thing. Hold it the same way as the iPhone 4 and the bars go down quick. I will still get myself an iPhone 4!!

I have a 3gs as well as my husband and we don't have any problems whatsoever. After reading about all this stuff for the last 2 days, I even tried it with my 3gs on purpose. I cupped it in my hands covering as much as I possibly could but nothing happened, it still had its 5 bars. I did see the videos on youtube though. So maybe the problem affects the 3g/3gs iphones but it isn't nearly as bad as on the iphone 4.
As for "holding it wrong" stuff and having to put scotch tape to cover the slot, it just makes me laugh. Really, putting tape on a sophisticated piece of technology such as iphone 4? What's next, hocus-pocus spells for it to work?? It's too bad, I was very excited to get an i4 white and now I'm not sure I should. But what's sad in all this is that Apple will keep throwing their "you're holding it wrong" at us because in the end of the day we still say "wow, this iphone is terrific, I still want it no matter what!"

Are your 3GS on iOS 4? Anyway, if you're having sort of reservations about iPhone 4, I recommend getting past them. It's an absolute marvel of engineering. A software update will fix this baseband calibration issue pretty soon. To he honest, I would never have known there was a problem were it not for the hoopla on the Internet. Much like all of the reviews of the device, most people don't have problems at all. Me included.

To be clear on this reception issue.... It only applies to iOS4. 3.x on a 3GS is completely normal. Upgrade to 4 and you'll have the same issue as the iPhone 4. I bet 4.01 or 4.1 will be out as soon as early next week.

I too have this issue with my iPhone 4 -.-''

i think its a hardware issue but it also could be a software issue too

maybe when the phone drops one bar the software just tells it to continue to drops bars or not give more power to the antenna like a bug or some **** i dont know lol -_-

im going to give apple a few days hopefully they have this issue fixed and everyone can be happy with there new toy 🙂

i love apple i own a lot of apple **** and want to continue to use apple products but this needs to be fixed ASAP.

also i only notice that it does this when im in a area that has poor coverage ( my house even verizon ***** out here lol) and i live in reno nv

so the people who dont have the problem at all im sure u people have like perfect coverage so it would not matter if u hold the phone the wrong way ur coverage is so strong it wont matter

please fix this apple!!! i love this **** display on the phone and id hate to see it go -.-

Yeah, that's exactly why I'm keeping my phone on the OS I bought it with! If indeed it's a software issue, I prefer to continue enjoying my first iphone with it's perfect reception. 🙂
In any event I'm inclined to still get the i4 I've been dreaming about since the very first time I saw it. It is unbelievably beatiful! I hope by the time I get mine (I have my eyes set on the white one), the problem will be dealt with. And I really wouldn't want to hide the beauty under rubber bumpers, I was thinking of some kind of invisible protecting shield.

My phone does experience 'the problem'. I just naturally avoid the area in question. When it really comes down to it, we are talking about a spot this, ' | ' big. I can definitely see this being an issuer for lefties though.

As one who is incredibly impacted by this issue, have a quick question..

To those who can repeat it with frequency, do you notice any issues with your home button as well? It seems that my home button is a bit loose, and it feels as if it has two levels of button pressing. I can push it down a quarter of the way and feel it 'click' as if it has been depressed, but it doesn't register a press on the home button.

The other issue I have is the proximity sensor issue, too. My face has canceled quite a few calls..

Perhaps this indicates a lot of iPhones which had overall bad QA quality and have both problems?

In any event, my iPhone seems to die in most phone calls I make.. As a southpaw, I revert to holding my phone the way I've held every iPhone since it was released, and the call within 30 seconds drops and reverts to 'searching.'

As someone who has purchased 4 iPods, iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and the iPad 3G, Apple has really let me down. It's not so much that the issue exists, it's that I'm being told all sorts of wondrous things such as I'm holding the phone wrong, or that being left handed is wrong :P. Please just send people bumpers, fix it, move on. There is no need to continue to berate loyal customers.

The response thusfar has been abysmal, and down right anti-leftist 🙂

Message was edited by: chomski

well.. i got mine on June 23 in mail, since then I've noticed only one thing that when I hold phone against my ear with my left shoulder and bam! call drops in few seconds and iPhone goes back to sleep mode well i don't know its related to this issue or not, but no hands touching any part of iphone just pressed against my left ear with my shoulder and that's it. Hope this is a software issue

Contrary to early reports/theories, the bumper guard won't help the problem. Nor will tape, rubber bands, or any other case. The issue is software and it will be fixed. The problem at hand did not exist with OS 3.x, but it is seen on any device with iOS 4.

As for the home button, mine is fine. If yours is a problem I'd get the phone replaced at an Apple store.

As for 'the issue', I hold my hand with my fingers, not my palm, and I use my right hand, not the left. If you use your left palm you are absolutely screwed until the update hits.

My personal feelings are work with it and around it until the fix comes down... Hopefully soon. It would be a shame to miss out on such a great product because of bugs. I'm not giving Apple/Jobs too much credit.

Thought it was all just rumor, until I ran into myself. Every call I made today dropped, 1 of them 3 times. No matter how carefully I hold the phone, it happens. When I realize the call is gone, the phone has no bars. I can easily make it happen, and it came in handy when my mom called.

As novel as it is, I'll be undoing this purchase if the issue isn't fessed up to and fixed right away -- my 3GS is just a returned iPhone-4 away 🙂

I meant to say I'm not giving apple/jobs too much credit. I'm giving them the benefit of the doubt. Senior Apple tech staff have acknowledged the issue and have said a fix is immanent.

At the end of the day this is a real unfortunate situation for Apple, and more importantly the customers that forked over there hard earned $$. As an iPhone developer I have dealt with some serious bugs in the betas, but you always have the hope/confidence that things are sorted by final release. Alas, in this case this .0 release has a big problem with baseband management, and we must all deal with it until the new firmware comes down the pipe.

With all the great things Apple does, I can forgive this issue until its fixed. I hope everyone else does too so they can enjoy this amazing product.

The issue mostly impacts people who cradle the phone in the left palm. Note that this is not all or even mostly a problem for "lefties". I'm right handed and normally cradle it in my left palm and use my right fingers on the screen. That feels the most natural to me. Other righties cradle in the right hand and use the right thumb on the screen. If you generally use the phone that way, this issue won't impact you much.

It also appears to vary based on how close you really are to a transmitter cell.

For now the "hold it differently" fix works but it does make the phone more awkward to use for someone who naturally tends to want to cradle it in the left hand -- whether you're right or left handed.