The flip side of a great antenna architecture: iPhone 4

The tech world is on a roller-coaster ride these days. Right from the huge pre-order for the iPhone 4 to the firmware / unlock releases and now the actual hands-on along with the long lines outside Apple store. After a number of problems being reported on the iPhone 4 (note, we heard them after every iPhone launch) it seems that the network issue is the most buzzing one of the lot. Apparently if you hold the iPhone 4 the wrong way (as in by the side, with the metal band) the network drops. Now this is really puzzling as if you are holing a phone, you are definitely going to hold it by the side and in case of the iPhone 4 if you hold it at the wrong place (as we hear at the lower left side) – boom – the network drops.

Now to be honest this is a silly issue and shouldn’t be there. Makes us feel that this is a design flaw. Apple could have use a rubber band or something to help the situation or may be something else. Here is what the official response from Apple reads:

‘Gripping any phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your Phone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases.’

Steve jobs replied to an user email and reaffirmed the same mantra – hold the iPhone 4 correctly. Sounds weird, but then its Apple!

Via Gadget Avenue