Is Apple lying about its reception glitch?
Not only did Consumer Reports magazine announce today that it can’t recommend Apple’s iPhone 4 because of faulty reception, the report also calls into question Apple’s recent explanation of the problem as a calculating problem. “When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone’s lower left side—an easy thing, especially for lefties—the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you’re in an area with a weak signal. Due to this problem, we can’t recommend the iPhone 4,” read the post to the magazine’s Electronics blog.
(More on Techland: The Next iPod Should Just Be An AT&T-Less iPhone 4)
The magazine claims it tested three different iPhone 4s, all bought at separate stores, inside a radio frequency isolation chamber. (Meaning: no outside signal interference.) The tests confirm what users have been fuming about for weeks, that placing a finger over the bottom left of the phone can reduce the phone’s signal, or even drop the call entirely, but things get even more disturbing when CR claims that AT&T may not be the weakest link when it comes to spotty iPhone reception. (Though the problem can be fixed with Scotch tape.)
Aside from its disastrous reception issues, CR went on to rate the phone highly due to its improved battery life and sharp display, but the magazine claims it won’t recommend the iPhone 4 until “a permanent – and free – fix for the antenna problem.”
More on Techland:
Leaked Apple Docs Explain How To Handle iPhone 4 Reception Complaints
