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iPhone 4 Antenna Not An Issue In Canada?
I was fortunate enough to get my hands on an iPhone 4 of my very own today and so far I’m pretty impressed.
Over the past month I’ve had the opportunity to test an iPhone 4 on the Fido network, which was purchased in UK. I was amazed that everyone was freaking about reception issues and the so called “death grip”. Judging from the few hours I had spent with the iPhone 4 over the past month I saw no signal drop at all.
I waited patiently for it all to blow over, however, the situation took a pretty terrible turn after Consumer Reports noted the “antenna issue” and Apple attempted to appease the general public.
Personally, I believe that the real issue lies with AT&T not having enough juice to transmit properly. It’s no secret that AT&T has been struggling with dropped call issues for ever. Is it possible that their service just isn’t able to support the number of users?
Here in Canada, Toronto specifically, the number of users is tremendously low by comparison to most major US cities and after playing with 3 iPhone 4s, including my own, I have come to a pretty solid conclusion. There is no issue with the antenna on the iPhone 4. Well, maybe there is a small issue, however, I can’t seem to recreate it on any of the 3 devices I have played with.
I have tested all three using various “grip” techniques, including placing the phone under my armpit. Guess what. No signal loss. No decrease in bars.
Maybe it’s Rogers? Is their network far superior to AT&T? Or maybe it’s our tiny Canadian hands? Or, maybe I’m just really lucky and Rogers has so much coverage in Toronto that the signal is at 5 almost all the time?
In the end, the iPhone 4 is performing great. Actually, it’s out performing any other device I have used recently including my 3GS, the Xperia and the Nexus One.
If you purchased an iPhone 4 today, run some tests of your own and share your results with us.
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Ok so I got my factory unlocked i4 from apple store and they gave me a Rogers sim card. Can I just transfer my sim online? How long does it take?
Either my body is an incredible electrical insulator (unlikely given the amount of static shocks I get) or the death grip really is an AT&T problem. Got my iPhone 4 today on Telus and I can't reproduce it at all. I've also had absolutely zero troubles with the proximity sensor.
I am able to replicate it in Montreal on Fido, but I can't drop a call or lose signal unless I'm in a basement with bad coverage (really bad coverage!) to begin with.
Also, you should update your phone to 4.0.1 for a more accurate signal reading.
I'm with Fido in T.O. and I was lucky enough to get one today too. At first it looked like the death grip wasn't an issue. If there were 5 bars there was no problem. If it was down to 3 bars or less I gripped the bottom of the phone the signal bars slowly disappeared, and then it said searching . . . I couldn`t bring myself to put the bumper on the phone. The phone is nice and snappy though!
Good to know 🙂
Thank you Chris.
Hi.
I am with vergin, in montreal. And yes, when I grip my new Iphone it will lose around 4 bars.
Also, sometimes I lose my entire 3g connection enterly, wich is awefull when Tethering.
same here just got the iphone 4 rogers and no problem at all
I replicated the “issue” and I am in Toronto.
Put your finger at the “spot” for about 20 seconds or longer. It dropped from 5 bars down to 3 bars and won't go down any further.
I am with Rogers BTW.
Off topic though, iPhone 4 screens look very sturdy, other than the bumper, is a screen protector actually “recommended”? My past experience with 3G and 3GS has been very meh – as much as the screen protector gave me peace of mind, I never fully enjoyed the experience because it degraded the images on the screen.
How did you specify the SIM card? I ordered early morning and I didn't see anything related to SIM cards.
For me, instantly at about 1 hour ago.
I can death grip my 3GS from 5 bars to 3 no problem, you can with most phones. Curious if people holding the phone normally have an issue.
I just got the iPhone 4 for Fido and living in the Okanagan (Kelowna) reception has been PERFECT! 5 bars everywhere I have gone! Actually… where I lived my 3GS and my wife's 3GS are getting 3/4 bars where as my new device has 5! TOTALLY worth the 4 hour line-up headache! I've done everything and nothing will reduce reception! Looks like we have a far better network in the great white north! Also the battery life is AWESOME. I started off at 51% @ 10AM and after playing with it like mad its 9PM and i've just hit 30%! LOVE IT!
He picked up in person at the Apple Store…
I lined up since 5AM and due to Rogers server issue, I didn't finish my “upgrade” until 4PM.
My girlfriend picked up the unlocked phone for me though at around 10AM. So yeah… 6 hours additional wait time (including 2 hours in the store) getting the “locked” phone activated.
The apple store employee asked me when I got the unlocked iPhone what carrier I am with and I told him Rogers so he just gave me a Rogers microsim so I can switch my phone number to the new sim. I'm just not sure how
im using a telus non-sim card phone right now. If i were to buy the iphone 4 how would i be able to transfer my plan over to the iphone?
I'm in Brampton, got my iPhone 4s today (12 hours start to finish, woohoo! And by that I mean 'Oh christ my aching feet/back/legs!') and after getting home, activating and restoring, I can confirm that the death grip just doesn't do much. On one phone, naked, I can get it to drop 1 bar, max. After applying a full body shield on my wife's phone, I can't get it to drop a single bar. Solid signal. Speed tests confirm.
Waited in line for 10 hours to get my 32GB and i couldn't be happier. At first when i tested it in store with 5 bars, wrapping my hand around the zone did nothing at all. but once i got home where the reception is not as good it went down a couple of bars. but no drop calls.
i wanted a case anyways but wanted to test it out. i got the barely there case and its impossible to make it go down even 1 bar now. great case btw. its barely there just like the name says.
This isn't an upgrade tho. It's an unlocked one from apple. They gave me a Rogers microsim. I just need to switch my number over to this sim card. It's not going to lock it to Rogers like unsubsidized ones from carrier stores
Hello, I've a question. If I get an factory unlocked IPhone 4 (contract free of course), will I be able to add a data plan whenever I wish without going under any contract? I mean I might need to have data plan for some months in a year but not for the whole year.
With the iPhone 4 I am going to go without the screen protector. The new screen is certainly stronger than it's predecessors and realistically, if you drop your phone, with or without the protector, the screen will get damaged if the fall is just right.
I love the design of the iPhone 4 and this time around I'm opting for no screen protector and the thinnest case possible. Probably the Incipio Feather case. I have one on my iPad and had one on my 3GS. 1mm thick… It's barely noticeable.
While bored in line, I decided to go talk to the Rogers rep and he and a few others said they had no problems and could not replicate the reception issue. I for a second thought they had fixed it, so i went to the store demo and got the signal to drop to No service in around 40 seconds by putting finger on the problem areas. Then soon after, when my buddy got his (I'm waiting on a white), I once again was able to immediatlely get the signal to drop and this is not with “death grip”, but merely placing my one finger on the problem area. This is in fact a hardware issue. To anyone that says its not, I guarantee that I would be able to replicate the issre in seconds on your device.
You can but you won't be getting the best deal ($30/6GB). You could get something like $25 for 250/500 or something like that.
Just want to say how grateful I am about all the hard work you put into this site. Its helped me a lot 🙂
Well, I got my iPhone 4 this morning and I must say that I am really impressed. I haven't had any death grip problems so far (I'm with Telus in Vancouver). The whole process was actually quite painless. I went into a Telus store yesterday and mentioned that I was interested in getting an iPhone 4. They took my number down, and then called me this morning. After calling the Loyalty and Retentions department for the $30-6GB plan, I just popped in to pick it up. I had the phone activated and in my hands within about 10 minutes. What a great piece of hardware. This is my first iPhone, and I am really pleased.
Hey i heard something today
apparently there has been suttle changed to the hardware for models made after week 27….
if this if true maybe apple did correct the antenna issue
Thanks for the reply. I think 500M is gonna be enough for me. I'm not really a heavy user of IPhone.
they can transfer it on there end, the sim have a # associated to the accounts
The display one at Fido at Yorkdale Mall, has screen problem. LOL
it's got those yellow vertical lines on the screen! and one bright “spot” on the centre of the screen.
is it just that one, or do other people have the same problem?
I'm in Montreal on Rogers, and I can replicate the problem. I can go from full signal down to one bar if I cover the strip at the bottom, left-hand corner, even lightly with a finger. Is it a big deal for me? No.
It makes sense that the conductive properties of human skin would vary from person to person. It probably also depends on what you have on your hands.
I lined up at the Eaton Centre in Toronto and got my iPhone this morning. I can replicate the issue depending on where I am. I was able to drop 3 bars in the Apple store but that may have been exaggerated as these iPhones were installed with iOS 4.0 not 4.0.1 with the signal correction so I may not have had 5 bars. Although I have been able to replicate it i never really see myself actually making a phone call hold the phone that way or doing any other function the phone offers. It all comes down to how you hold it and where you live. I live in London and it doesn't give me a problem with dropped bars as far as I have noticed since I got it this morning
Bars…. bars… bars.
You guys keep talking about how many bars you can keep or drop. Who cares! Let's hear some of you put your finger on the problem spot and then do some speed tests! No finger vs. finger. Does the data rate decrease? That's the really question here. Who cares if you go down from 5 bars to 3… your call is most likely not going to get dropped.
I was so into playing with my new phone that I almost forgot about the death grip. I don't think I hold the phone in a way to cause any problems.. Time will tell. When testing the death grip I've either seen more bars or no change. I'm on Rogers near Toronto. So far, the phone is enjoyable — I watched a TV show just now and the quality difference was really nice.
Same story in Montreal, Canada.
I was able to recreate the problem easily. Managed to drop a few calls in a poor reception area in Calgary on Rogers. Seems to be more of an issue in areas with poor reception. So it seems like if I'm I an area where I have only 2 bars and I hold my the wrong way I can drop the call. The issue is real. And the thing that worries me the most is resale value. What happens to the value of my phone when they apply a hardware fix to a later model.
i hate rogers, but in the end i was satisfied.
1)waited in line and got my iphone 4
2) came home called to activate my micro sim ( they said it was already used)
3) found a store 40km away
4) paid $12 for a new one
5) called rogers told about my problem with them and they activated my phone
6) yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i got unlimited texting for 6 months plus unlimited incoming calls for 3 months because i told them i might give it back and got to another carrier.
7) NO antenna problems but i did have to wait 3 hours for it to get activated ( computers were busy at rogers took them 3 hours to find my phone, usually takes 3 seconds)
8) i got a great deal and a iphone 4
It might not be an issue in strong areas but it's the exact same antenna as the AT&T models, no coating.
I just tested it with a multimeter and the reading is 00.8ohms.
I also had the issue recreated, where I could cut out the voice in my conversation at will with my friend. It was unfortunate, but only occurred in a very poor signal area and has not diminished my love of this device.
Speeds test with finger on the problem spot vs no hand at all please… I think most people won't have a clue what 00.8ohms means… is that low? average? good. speed tests!
speed tests results please!
first upgrade to 4.0.1 then check to see if signal drops. Since we have strong reception in Toronto and the threshold for a drop from 5 bars to 4 bars is high, that's maybe why u didn't see a drop.
yes ur right
i am on fido in vancouver and i did the death grip test 3 times not a single bar dropped
its the crappy AT&T service that caused all the problems
IM IN TORONTO AND I CAN MAKE 5 BARS GO TO 2 BARS. THERE IS STILL A PROBLEM WITH THE HARDWARE! Just because it hasn't happened to you doesn't mean that you got one that ain't broke. Their all “broken” they all have the same issues. Get the fuck over it! It's FACT that there is a problem when you touch that spot.. This is no longer up for debate. Creating blog posts like this only make matters worse. Especially because you were on the news when all the hype was going on saying that there IS an issue with the iPhone 4 antenna. You flip flopping attention hungry douche
ios 4.0.1 was preinstalled on the phone I picked up from the Apple store today.
I've kept a close eye on it since I got it home, changed the sim and then waited an hour for the Rogers computer to finally get around to me. From my desk, I get 4 bars. I've moved it around, turned it 90 degress, I really get 4 bars. When I hold it in my bare hand, I do drop to 2 bars, occasionally 1. Since my fancy free case won't get here until mid September (WTF?) I grabbed a bit of plastic and wrapped it around the back and sides. I drop from 4 to 3 bars.
Upgrade to 4.0.1 dum dum. That's not re actual amount of bars remember! Apple made a calculation error
Hey Gary, thank you so much for all your hard work finding the latest scoop for all of us iPhone4 obsessed fanatics. I got my new phone today after my beloved 3gs was stolen 2 weeks ago. I am awestruck by it's beautiful retina display and blown away by the 5 megapixel camera. I thought that the 3gs was a beautiful design but the 4 blows it out of the water. After two weeks being held captive on my computer, I was finally able to release the angry birds so that they could get back to work ridding the earth of the slothful pigs. All is right with the world again…..
Purchased mine today after waiting in line for 11 hours at square one…anyone else was at apple store there?
When I do the “death grip” I DO drop few bars if I wait long enough but the exact same thing happened on my blackberry bold 9700 (previous phone) so its not like this issue is exclusive to iPhone's.
im with fido in london ontario, lined up at 7 am to get one, and i have not been able to recreate this problem. i was always confident that this would be a non-issue for me because of our very strong signal, but i thot i would atleast be able to make it lose a bar, maybe two. but hey now we get to gloat to america and all those who didnt get the phone because of this
I can replicate it in my home (Vancouver) but I don't care. It is not serious and that is not the way I hold my phone.
why you buy it then you god damn prick. even better why you comment dumb ass