Is IPhone 4 really that bad?

YES

No the phone is not as bad as it's made out to be by far. Put a dang case on it and it works as intended, lovely device, blows my Bold 9700 it replaced out of the water.

I find it quite humorous that some die hard apple peeps who dont see the problem believe that everyone else is just making it up. A whooping 25% of people report problems. Thats a lot. Normally a defect affects less than 0.1% of people but 25%. Wowza!

I fully plan on getting an iphone as soon as my carrier offers them and hopefully one which doesnt have these problems. But being real. It is a hardware fault (touch the line, it goes wrong, software isnt doing that). A fix means a re-design which means FCC approval. That isnt a quick thing. A spray of non-conductive paint may be all it needs. Not sure why they didnt think of that before but its the age old argument of designer vs engineer. Its apple so designer always wins.

Dont get me wrong, every smartphone I have owned, typically Windows Mobile devices has had its major faults. Camera slow, OS slow, response no good, hang up buttons dont work. But a phone which cant hold a call...

If a case fixes it, then ill get a case. Most likely would have done that anyway.

But those who think software is going to fix it. Your holding out for the impossible in a desperate attempt to validate your belief that apple loves you, that it wouldnt put out a product with any sort of a fault.

Guy, no offense (and I'm not a fanboy - only own the iPhone), but your statement that it can't be fixed with software is really just your opinion, unless you're an RF engineer and truly do know how the software affects the hardware on the iPhone. I don't have any reception issues, so whatever they do isn't really going to affect me one way or the other, but there have been several RF engineers who have posted here, with pretty convincing (in my not too technically knowlegeable mind) posts that the issues can and likely will be resolved with firmware updates.

So, to the OP. In my opinion the phone is great. Much better than my 3G in every respect.

The iPhone 4 is not production ready. Even consumer reports does not recommend it.

I got my iphone on launch day at the store and it works perfectly. We've since ordered two more and they both work perfectly as well... One has bumpers and the two others do not.... we tried like crazy to reproduce the "falling bars" issue, but could not - I was dropping 3-5 calls a day on my 3GS and I've only dropped 2 since 6/24 with the new phone...

Regarding consumer reports - they did not put a BUY recommendation on the phone... turns out they have no BUY recommendations on any phone (you need to pay their subscription fee to see the whole report)... and they've EER put a BUY recommendation on a phone! So much for their headline hunting!

In fact, despite the antenna problem which they were able to duplicate, they still ranked the iPhone #1 of all the phones they've tested - various Blackberrys rank #2 thru #5

rbrylawski wrote:
So, to the OP. In my opinion the phone is great. Much better than my 3G in every respect.

That's my experience too. It absolutely blows my 3G out of the water, and the 3G was a very good device.

I received the Iphone4 the first week in July and have had numerous dropped calls. I purchased a case and still had the issue with the dropped calls. Yesterday I did somoe research and noticed that the phone with the case and without would drasticly loss the signal and go from 5 3G bars down to none while I was holding the phone. When i set it down on my desk the signal would return.
I spoke with Apple and went to the closet store, about 2 hours away, last night, the rep was awesome and explained alot about the phone and the problems. The antenna runs along the out side, there are 3 one is 3G, the other is Wifi and the last is bluetooth. The small bands along the outside of the phone separate each antenna. Well when you hold the phone it creates a contact between them and causes the signal to drop.
He explained that Apples process for this is as follows, reset your network, replace the SIM card, then restore the software (start from scratch). After all this they will replace the phone. He mentioned the the bumped helps but the number one reason is the signal strength.
At the store they have a tower on the roof, the phone would not loss the signal at all and would not.
So while researching the phone history I had almost half of my calls dropped, not failed, dropped. So the Appple rep, doing the right thing, replaced my phone.
Well, I am back at work and it is doing the same thing again!!!

I dont know what a software patch will do as the tech says its not software related!!

This is a frustrating thing, I do beleive that most people that are not experiancing the problem have a great signal strength so the phone is not effected. As for us not located in bigger cities you will have to deal with the problem for now.

I hope this helped anyone looking to go to apple, I know the store I was at had about 40 people there dealing with this same problem!!

I've had one since launch day and I've had zero problems. It's far superior to any Android device, both in software and hardware. You can't come close to the iPhone 4, especially for the money.

Or you can do what I did: buy an iPhone 2g off craigslist for $150 and hack it for T-Mobile service. Works great! You get the iPhone experience and better reception. You don't have the fancy new screen or GPS, but I the original screen works just fine, and I know where I am already.

Also, t-mobile is cheaper and NO CONTRACT.

m60dude you own windows 7 that's more "pathetic" than the iphone 4 will ever be

trolling? your comments are nothing more than JUVENILE Apple-fanboism at it's worst. grow up, clown.

Listen...I've owned every model of the iPhone since it's inception, as several others have as well, and the iPhone 4 without a doubt is the most amazing iPhone yet! I read these discussions and mostly just laugh at what I'm reading. I can only say this in response. The masses these days seem to be lacking COMMON SENSE! From the individuals complaining about their screens being scratched from storing the phone in their pockets (without screen protectors or protective cases) and wonder how something as "insignificant" as a business card rubbing against the screen could actually scratch it? Are you kidding me? What rock did these individuals just crawl out from under? I've had mine since June 23rd and I have had not one iota of a problem with it to date and this includes no problems with phone reception and the proximity sensor issues that others are whining about, as several of my friends and family as well are reporting no problems. However, we use common sense and protect our investments and take exceptional care of these beautiful devices. I suggest you get yours as soon as you can get your hands on it and do yourself a favor and treat it with respect. Invest in a nice protective case. We all use the Marware C.E.O. Flip-Vue leather case designed especially for the iPhone 4 that provides "total protection" for the device and allows total access to everything without the need to ever remove the device from the case, unless you just want to "show it off" to someone. The cheapest place I've found these cases is at MacMall.com for $21.99 (usually they are $34.99) and they truly are the most beautiful and functional cases I've found and used for every model of my iPhone's. Maybe the case we stow ours in is the reason we don't encounter these issues others are complaining about, but it sure beats the **** out of the "cheesy" rubber bumpers that have been talked about to reduce the reception concerns. I highly recommend this device to anyone, including those skeptics that think Sprint's HTC Evo is the answer to today's smartphone device.

My advice? Take everything you read or hear about the iPhone 4 problems with a big grain of salt. Especially don't listen to the strident posts, both positive and negative. These people have agendas. Be very suspicious of the one-post-wonders. These are people who joined yesterday or today and drive by post. There are already a few in this thread. They are irrelevant.

If possible, go to an Apple or at&t store and see for yourself. See if you can reproduce the issues yourself. Decide for yourself. Listening to the madding crowd will only confuse you. The uninformed opinions stated as fact are useless.

It's funny that you are whining about the whining.People Have real issues here and need help. Not some great story about how magical your phone has been for you and all your lucky friends and family.Common sense would dictate that this phone has problems and putting a nice case on it is not always what people want.But feel free to enjoy your phone to the fullest and keep your none helpful comments to minimum.This is one reason many people choose to not post here for fear they will be called stupid or talked down to and not receive constructive help or support.