The iPhone 4 “antennagate” issue might have been exaggerated by the media according to Steve Jobs, during the press conference the data provided by Apple suggested that very few customers were experiencing any reception or antenna issues.
When you hold the iPhone 4 in a way which grips the antenna then you might lose signal strength but many users have certainly reported lesser call drops even in areas with low reception.
Today iPhone 4 was finally launched in 17 new countries which include Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The demand for the new iPhone internationally seems to be very strong as the media has reported long queues outside the Apple Store in Canada and Hong Kong.
Stephen French, technology writer for Australia’s The Daily Telegraph gave Apple’s iPhone 4 a glowing review. The review highlights the new features and tries to address the highly discussed antenna issues.
Is the antenna an issue? No it’s not. Have I dropped calls? No, I have not.
Have I noticed an impact on the device’s performance? No.
The writer tested the iPhone on four networks (Telstra, Optus, Vodafone and 3) in different parts of Sydney while trying to attempt “death grip” on the device.
I found the “death grip” – the tight hold of the bottom of the phone to be quite unnatural. I find I fold my phone on my fingers rather than in my hand – but that’s me.
I tried the “death grip” on the bottom left while making test calls in areas I knew to have weaker reception and the times I did manage to reduce the signal bars but my calls were still not affected
French concluded his review saying:
The iPhone 4 is not just a slight improvement over the iPhone 3GS, it is a massive jump.
There are so many enhancements across the board it will be hard for existing iPhone owners to resist and a great place to start for users who are new to the smartphone market.
As iPhone 4 is sold internationally and more customers buy the device it will be interesting to see if users in those countries also report antenna issues.
[AppleInsider]