My new iPhone 4 doesn't work at all
You are definitely not alone with your issues. I'm on my second iPhone 4 unit, and am still having the same problems. I've had proximity sensor insanity, battery draining after 8 hours of stand-by (NO USE, just sleeping) to the point that my phone goes into a coma and has to be plugged in to be revived, the grip of death dropping calls....
But the single most irritating and infuriating problem is the signal strength/reception fluctuation. I share a house with two iPhone 3Gs users, and I had an original silverback iphone until July 2010. They all work fantastically well with no issues when I'm at home (where I am just about 24/7, since I work from home). *_My new iPhone 4 doesn't work at all.*_. Signal strength is all over the place. I did a test where I sat watching the bars showing signal strength for five minutes. In that time, I saw it switch from E (edge?) with full bars to 3G with full bars to 3G with 1 bar to 2 bars to 4 bars to 1 bar to "Searching." Then back to 3G, with degradation of bars from 3 to none, then E network appears again, this time with full strength. This all with the phone sitting on a table, not being touched by human hands.
It seems that my iPhone is constantly switching actual physical networks, and as a result signal strength is all over the place from one 30 second period of time to the next. This drains the battery like crazy, and means that all incoming calls go to voicemail--usually without my phone ever ringing.
The 3G phones in my house work great. The 1st G iPhone I have had since the week it came out worked great (though its battery doesn't hold much of a charge anymore, after three years). On my new IP4, games are awesome. The videos and photos are amazingly clear and high quality, and editing on the phone is out of sight. iPhone Apps rule. MobileMe syncs my contacts quickly and easy. The only thing I love more than the iP4 features is my iPad--it rocks.
Everything works on my IP4 at home BUT THE ACTUAL TELEPHONE FUNCTIONS. This is unacceptable. In late August, after two weeks in which I had 4 minutes of phone use, the nice folks at the Apple store switched me to a new phone, no questions asked. The phone worked so much better, I could send texts and place calls most of the time (this was now the first part of September)...except that now that I was using my IP4 to make phone calls, I started having a problem with the proximity sensor during those calls. I'd be talking and my cheek would mute the phone, turn on speaker, open contacts and edit info (with gobbledygook), and of course, hang up on people.
So around Sept. 18 I was told by Apple phone support to update to iOS 4.2, restore as new, and do two complete power up and drain down cycles. This would fix the proximity sensor and any other issues.
Well, I would love to see if iOS 4.2 actually did fix the PS, but I can't get the signal strength to stabilize long enough to have an actual phone conversation. I'm back to watching the signal strength go up and down at random (with me touching/holding it carefully to avoid grip of death, and also when I leave phone on the table with screen lock off --no touching). It is back to switching between E network and 3G and varying strengths of wi-fi from my home network. This eats up battery from 100% to low enough to turn off in under 10 hours of standby (usually 6-7). Essentially, my IP4 is back to being unusable as a phone.
So I did another long, involved call to Apple tech support on 9/18. They tell me that I have to turn off wi-fi, turn off 3G, turn off push/fetch and notifications, shut all apps (no multi-tasking) and do everything but switch my phone to airplane mode--and see if the battery holds up for 24 hours in standby. If that didn't work, I should restore from new, but not load any contacts or network or data or anything--just leave it as it would be out of the box new.
As a test, I turned everything off as advised: 3G, wi-fi, push, etc. Now my battery life is back to normal, where I can have the IP4 on stand-by for up to two full days before needing a recharge. Fabulous. BUT IT'S NOT A SMART PHONE if I have to turn off 3G, turn off wireless, and not use email push and so forth.
I'm so frustrated I could scream. I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that there is a significant flaw in the new iPhone. Or perhaps it is just an issue for iPhone 4 users in areas where the signal strength is marginal, or where there are two types of overlapping network coverage (E and 3G in my case). I know that the networks themselves are in good condition--though I'm in a semi-rural area, the state capital is 4 miles away, and I know they have a new tower and good coverage for the politicians and power brokers around town. The phone coverage area I live in has Edge network in the south part of the network area and 3G in the north part, which is the state capital. I'm right in between. Could this be the problem? AT&T says no, it's Apple's fault.
Message was edited by: HighSierra
But the single most irritating and infuriating problem is the signal strength/reception fluctuation. I share a house with two iPhone 3Gs users, and I had an original silverback iphone until July 2010. They all work fantastically well with no issues when I'm at home (where I am just about 24/7, since I work from home). *_My new iPhone 4 doesn't work at all.*_. Signal strength is all over the place. I did a test where I sat watching the bars showing signal strength for five minutes. In that time, I saw it switch from E (edge?) with full bars to 3G with full bars to 3G with 1 bar to 2 bars to 4 bars to 1 bar to "Searching." Then back to 3G, with degradation of bars from 3 to none, then E network appears again, this time with full strength. This all with the phone sitting on a table, not being touched by human hands.
It seems that my iPhone is constantly switching actual physical networks, and as a result signal strength is all over the place from one 30 second period of time to the next. This drains the battery like crazy, and means that all incoming calls go to voicemail--usually without my phone ever ringing.
The 3G phones in my house work great. The 1st G iPhone I have had since the week it came out worked great (though its battery doesn't hold much of a charge anymore, after three years). On my new IP4, games are awesome. The videos and photos are amazingly clear and high quality, and editing on the phone is out of sight. iPhone Apps rule. MobileMe syncs my contacts quickly and easy. The only thing I love more than the iP4 features is my iPad--it rocks.
Everything works on my IP4 at home BUT THE ACTUAL TELEPHONE FUNCTIONS. This is unacceptable. In late August, after two weeks in which I had 4 minutes of phone use, the nice folks at the Apple store switched me to a new phone, no questions asked. The phone worked so much better, I could send texts and place calls most of the time (this was now the first part of September)...except that now that I was using my IP4 to make phone calls, I started having a problem with the proximity sensor during those calls. I'd be talking and my cheek would mute the phone, turn on speaker, open contacts and edit info (with gobbledygook), and of course, hang up on people.
So around Sept. 18 I was told by Apple phone support to update to iOS 4.2, restore as new, and do two complete power up and drain down cycles. This would fix the proximity sensor and any other issues.
Well, I would love to see if iOS 4.2 actually did fix the PS, but I can't get the signal strength to stabilize long enough to have an actual phone conversation. I'm back to watching the signal strength go up and down at random (with me touching/holding it carefully to avoid grip of death, and also when I leave phone on the table with screen lock off --no touching). It is back to switching between E network and 3G and varying strengths of wi-fi from my home network. This eats up battery from 100% to low enough to turn off in under 10 hours of standby (usually 6-7). Essentially, my IP4 is back to being unusable as a phone.
So I did another long, involved call to Apple tech support on 9/18. They tell me that I have to turn off wi-fi, turn off 3G, turn off push/fetch and notifications, shut all apps (no multi-tasking) and do everything but switch my phone to airplane mode--and see if the battery holds up for 24 hours in standby. If that didn't work, I should restore from new, but not load any contacts or network or data or anything--just leave it as it would be out of the box new.
As a test, I turned everything off as advised: 3G, wi-fi, push, etc. Now my battery life is back to normal, where I can have the IP4 on stand-by for up to two full days before needing a recharge. Fabulous. BUT IT'S NOT A SMART PHONE if I have to turn off 3G, turn off wireless, and not use email push and so forth.
I'm so frustrated I could scream. I'm quickly coming to the conclusion that there is a significant flaw in the new iPhone. Or perhaps it is just an issue for iPhone 4 users in areas where the signal strength is marginal, or where there are two types of overlapping network coverage (E and 3G in my case). I know that the networks themselves are in good condition--though I'm in a semi-rural area, the state capital is 4 miles away, and I know they have a new tower and good coverage for the politicians and power brokers around town. The phone coverage area I live in has Edge network in the south part of the network area and 3G in the north part, which is the state capital. I'm right in between. Could this be the problem? AT&T says no, it's Apple's fault.
Message was edited by: HighSierra
MacBook Pro, iOS 4