Issue with Proximity Sensor during calls - Continued.

Hey anyone who doesn't want their iPhone 4. I will trade you your iPhone 4 for my old iPhone 3GS I used before I bought the new iPhone 4 that I love.

Hardware exchanges will probably not work unless they change the internal proximity sensor component somehow until they come out with a firmware or software update. I doubt they will change the internal hardware right now.

This problem does not affect all users but it IS how the sensor is currently set up on all phones as of today. Depending on how you use your phone it may affect you. If you are a person that holds your phone a certain way or allows it to touch your face or does not use a headset or has certain characteristics to your ears, it may affect you.

If it does not affect you, consider yourself lucky. I have no doubt that Apple will fix this, my question is when? In a day, in a week, in 30 days, 3 months, or in the next version of the phone? Nobody really knows. That is what I am worried about.

Once upon a time, everybody thought the antenna "might" be fixed with a software update, but that is not possible. I hope they "can" fix the sensor. I probably should not even use the word "fix" anymore. Maybe "adjust" is a better word to use. I know it will not be easy. If it was, why did they add an additional sensor on the 3GS? Why didn't they just adjust the software or firmware? Now they have "one" sensor doing the job of three. (ambient light and two proximity sensors)

I really hope they can fix this because the phone is incredible and I would like to repurchase it. I hope it is not a "design limitation" that will affect a small number of users.

Apple just announced record earnings and revenue so the company is doing the best that it has ever done despite of this problem. I hope it is a priority for them to fix this issue for everybody that has the problem that IS keeping their phone. Good luck to all!

stevessvt wrote:
I called Apple care and made an appointment with my local store to get a replacement tonight. But Im torn,.....it only flickers once out of maybe 5 calls, and I have never hung up on anyone....yet. I called the store itself and asked what their experience is with these,...if the replacements are better than the originals. He said no,...not really. He said just hold on until 4.1 arrives which should take care of it.
I believe him. Mine is a release day phone, and if 4.1 doesnt take care of it, then I will ask for a new one. Until then I have better things to do then drive 45 minutes to the store, spend who knows how long at the store, and an hour or two restoring the phone.

My sensor was so bad that I actually called Applecare. After about five minutes, he said, "Go get a new phone", and made anappointment at the Apple store. The store didn't want to give me the phone, but did because I had an incident number. After 10-15 calls & 20-30 minutes - NO ISSUES!!!

If I did truly get a good phone, I would have to say that I believe the sensor is a hardware quality control issue. (Which doesn't mean they won't try to "fix it" with software.) I think my phones are both week 27 phones, but different factories.

Old: 86027DXPA
New: 81027ZQZA

Can you check these serial numbers again? Seems like you are missing 2 digits from each one. Both of my iP4s had 11 digit serial numbers.

x986 wrote:
My sensor was so bad that I actually called Applecare. After about five minutes, he said, "Go get a new phone", and made anappointment at the Apple store. The store didn't want to give me the phone, but did because I had an incident number. After 10-15 calls & 20-30 minutes - NO ISSUES!!!

If I did truly get a good phone, I would have to say that I believe the sensor is a hardware quality control issue. (Which doesn't mean they won't try to "fix it" with software.) I think my phones are both week 27 phones, but different factories.

Old: 86027DXPA
New: 81027ZQZA

This might give us some insight. Although his proximity sensor seems to be far worse off than mine...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnbXtGm2bGg

This is not good. I don't think it is possible for that to be a software defect. Hopefully firmware could fix that but I think that would be pushing it. Maybe TrentP or MichaelEmpire could shed some light on this. I am not an engineer but this does not look good.

LorangeJuice wrote:
This might give us some insight. Although his proximity sensor seems to be far worse off than mine...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnbXtGm2bGg

Well...I don't know a thing about software, or much about electrical circuitry, but it looks like the comic book thing he was using had a glossy, reflective surface. This should reflect more IR radiation right back at the sensor than any human hand could. With that said, it might be hardware related in that the black glass is not transparent enough to the IR to send all of it back to the detector (we know it is at least transparent enough to send out enough IR to be detected by at least glossy surfaces).

However, if it is possible, a soft/firmware fix can lower the threshold amount of IR needed to turn the screen off and/or amp up the amount of IR sent out.

I know there are also different layers besides the glass itself under there, but I don't know what they are.

Is anyone else's phone acting as bad as the one in that video?

Message was edited by: LorangeJuice

Message was edited by: LorangeJuice

Yes, there are two more characters which I omitted.

I'm having this same problem with my new iphone 4...i can't make it thru a call without it placing the call on hold or dialing another number..arg!!! this is so frustrating...i hear there is a software fix but when is this fix coming out???? i'm really considering returning my phone..HELP!!!

iPhoneFanSince2G wrote:
This is not good. I don't think it is possible for that to be a software defect. Hopefully firmware could fix that but I think that would be pushing it. Maybe TrentP or MichaelEmpire could shed some light on this. I am not an engineer but this does not look good.

LorangeJuice wrote:
This might give us some insight. Although his proximity sensor seems to be far worse off than mine...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnbXtGm2bGg

Will Gladly comment . It is not what we have in reality. We all know that the sensor does react on Human Body objects as well as on the other objects. It is very tricky video made from the top and you can not see the real height between the Hand and the phone ( sensor ) .

If the proximity sensor working and react on all objects including human hand ? YES.

If it works as we used to in 3G and 3GS ? NO.

Can anybody really use the iphone 4 for some time and not to be afraid to have the sensor malfunctioning and as a result Muting calls , pushing end bottom and etc. ? NO.

If this is a software problem ? NO .

Can it be corrected by Software change ? Nobody knows it !

Can it be exactly as iphone 3G and 3GS if it is corrected by software ?
25 % Yes. %75 NO. ( Because it is NOT a software problem to begin with )

Message was edited by: MichaelEmpire

Steverino says that 4.1 (not 4.0.1) will fix it. Time frame ???. Will it fix it, or will it be a bandaid partial fix because the real problem is hardware? Or firmware? A few posts ago I told you what I did.

I have the same issue. I'll be conversing on my phone, and suddenly I'll hear touch-tone beeping in my ear. I've also accidentally disconnected calls with my cheek. The screen intermittently lights up and becomes active if I don't keep the face of the phone pressed firmly and flatly against the side of my head. Then my cheek touches buttons and it results in beeping/disconnecting/toggling speaker phone, etc... Never had an issue like this with my 3GS, and it's really annoying.

Someone previously said it best: It seems to work, but it's just not sensitive enough. When I cover that spot with my thumb, it works fine. When I consciously keep the phone plastered to the side of my head, it works fine. When I'm not 100% focused on it and am in the course of a conversation, looking around, walking, etc, it becomes an issue. ANOTHER issue in addition to the now (in)famous flaw with the antenna.

I sincerely hope this is something Apple techies can adjust and include in a (near) future update to the iphone software...

you guys need to check this out...

http://www.brightsideofnews.com/news/2010/7/20/hard-numbers-apple-has-400x-highe r-complaint-rate-than-htc.aspx

I had my first face-induced hang up tonight. It was a glorious moment...

I hope so because the beta version does not.