Issue with Proximity Sensor during calls - Continued v2

It's ironic that the one thing the iPhone has the most trouble being is... a phone.

I bought my factory unlocked Iphone 4 in HK. The serial number shows it was made on week 47 and yet I still have that proximity sensor issue. I tried upgrading to 4.2, resetting the network settings and the problem still persists. I downloaded call guard for 99 cents as a last resort, and it seems to work ok.

Well, that's not good news. We haven't had many reports of post week 42 phones and I think yours is the first from week 47.

There was some hope they had made a change in later phones. Maybe they have, but either yours is a fluke or any hardware change still is less than perfect.

We just don't have enough reports to tell much yet.

The iPhone 4 I got on release day had tons of problems with the sensor. Just got a week 48 and it has no problems.

I went to an Apple store today and, as usual, checked the week on their phones and if they were week 40 or later, tested them (EVERY phone I ever tested up to week 37 failed my test #3. You can find all my tests at:

http://picturehawaii.blogspot.com/201009_01archive.html

Anyway, I test a week 40 phone and it passed. Then I tested two week 46 phones and both passed. I had previously tested a week 46 phone which passed, but it may have been the same one - or may have been at the other store I go to. I can't remember.

Anyway, with three successes, I decide I better test one of the older phones again. I tried a week 23 phone and it still failed.

So, not much, but definitely more than I had to go on before. Every phone from week 40 and later has passed. But it's just 3 or maybe 4 phones. We can add a few more that folks have reported worked on the newer models and, so far, ONE newer one that had problems.

Wish more people would give reports, but at least things look more positive than before.

So, I'm on IOS 4.2 and my proximity sensor is not even working at all. The screen doesn't go dark and remains lit, no matter what I do (i.e holding it close to my face, running my palm over the phone). Since there is no apple store in my country, I can't replace the defective unit. Is there any hardware parts that I could buy online that would fix this problem for me? I'm willing to part with a few bucks to have this issue fixed. Please let me know if this is a feasible thing to do. Thanks.

Wish I could help more, but other than getting the "Call Guard" app which will at least make the phone usable, though a bit of a pain (besides, of course, using speaker phone or bluetooth headset), the only other question is why you can't contact Apple support and have it handled through the mail.

Oh, you could also try a couple other things - like restoring the phone as "new". Some people, months ago, said that helped.

Same issue for me with 4.2.1. I keep putting calls on mute then hold. Eventually the other party hangs up cause they think I dropped the call. FAIL.

As an anecdote, we have two iPhone 4s in our home. My wife had zero problems but I face dialed once or twice (Hold button, too). Annoying but I narrowed it down to holding the phone too low over my ear. My wife's ears are a lot more "petite" than mine so I'm guessing that may have something to do with it (depth of the ear canal).

We switched phones for a day and tried it, same thing--she had no issues with my phone and I had the same problem with her iPhone 4.

4.1 seemed to fix it for me because I stopped "face dialing" after it was released. Running 4.2.1 now and still no issues with the proximity sensor.

That all fits with my tests.

People that had no problems using their phone still would fail my tests, but those I checked also seemed to have shallower ears than me.

And the update to 4.1 made some improvements.

just exchange your phone is the conclusion of this thread

no point to this thread anymore

Hey Bob.....I haven't been on this thread in some time. As you know we have 2 launch phones which don't have PS issues. I thought I'd comment on something that happened recently. I finally decided to put screen protectors on the phones. I'm a fan of Power Support and they now have them at the Apple store. Anyway, to my comment. The first call I made with the screen protector on and my screen for the very first time ever didn't shut off. But, that was a one time event and every single call since has been as before, PS issue-free. I'm convinced the software had to reset as the amount of light the PS saw post screen protector was reduced. Again, after the reset, it's been flawless since.....

Interesting.

But I'm not clear on something. You think the phone reset for the change after the initial problem or did you actually do a reset of the phone?

Could be what you say either way. Some people have reported progress back when the sensor issues were bigger by taking off protectors, but I never saw a pattern to it. Just like some people said taking off their case solved the problem while others had problems without ever having a case.

I'm really curious about what changes they've made over time. We absolutely know 4.1 changed things (increased the power to start, apparently).

I think we know that 4.21 made a change too since not a single phone I've tested since them fails test #6 with that upgrade while all did before. But that is unlikely a power change, but more likely telling the software to act differently. And I THINK it made my test number three take more effort to get it really low, but I'm not sure.

Meanwhile, it seems likely something else was changed since one phone from week 40 and 2-3 phones from week 46 pass test #3, which is most important.

Not much to base things on, but it is 100% compared to zero percent on phones before 40.

Looking forward to doing some tests when the verizon versions come out. I'm expecting them to pass easily.

Bob, I didn't reset the phone. I believe the PS reset itself. Whatever happened, I had my first and only PS malfunction on the first call after putting the screen protector on, but then never again

Maybe - but hard to really know if it reset. Well, at least it is working for you, but something to keep an eye on.

Curious - did you, in between the failed call and the others, turn the phone off?