First iPhone 4 glitches sighted Apple says signal dropout a "fact of life" Lifestyle Tech | 25 Jun 2010 :
Apple has played down dissent surrounding reception problems on the iPhone 4, telling buyers of the new handset that signal loss is normal in mobile phones and to hold it differently if they experience signal loss.
The reception issue emerged on launch day for the iPhone 4, with users reporting that holding the phone - particularly in the left hand - caused signal strength to drop, sometimes drastically.
But according to Apple, signal loss is perfectly normal in handsets.
"Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas," said Apple in a statement.
"This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band."
The casing of the iPhone is made from stainless steel, which Apple says also acts as the antenna for picking up wireless signals.
When Apple boss Steve Jobs first showed off the iPhone 4 at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, he described the integrated antenna as "really cool engineering".
However, it appears naked flesh on the metal around the antenna can either cause a bridge between different sections of the aerial that disrupts the antenna or simply masks the signal.
It is unclear whether the problem affects all phones or is a random production issue, but Apple did suggest one solution to the problem - pay for an accessory.
"Simply use one of many available cases," the company said.
This is not the first criticism levelled at the fourth generation iPhone, reports are emerging of discolouration at the edges of the much-hyped 'retina display'.
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