Some iPhone 4 models dropping calls when held left-handed, including ours (video)

Some iPhone 4 models dropping calls when held left-handed, including ours (video)

What's more annoying than spending hours lining up for a shiny new gadget? Learning that your precious phone can't actually connect to the network. Well, depending on how you hold it -- word has it that the iPhone 4's bottom-left corner isn't playing nice with your skin. If you recall from the keynote, that's where the Bluetooth / WiFi / GPS antenna meets its GSM / UMTS counterpart. So we decided to test on two brand new iPhone 4 handsets purchased today in the UK.

One iPhone 4 demonstrated the issue everytime it was held in our left hand (as a right-handed person is apt to do) so that our palm was essentially bridging the two antennas. You can see that in the video after the break. Bridging the two with a finger tip, however, didn't cause any issues with the reported reception. If we had to guess, we'd say that our conductive skin was acting to detune the antenna -- in fact, we've already managed to slowly kill two calls that way so it's not just an issue with the software erroneously reporting an incorrect signal strength. That said, we had no issues when Apple's $29 rubber bumper accessory (given to us free for standing in line) was attached, creating a buffer between our palm and the antennas. See the video evidence after the break including Insanely Great Mac's version which got us to worrying in the first place.

From: [email protected]

Change your hand... it's not that big of a deal

Sent from my iPhone, held in my right hand

Ivan Dimkovic: Mora da iz QA odeljenja nisu otkrili ovaj problem zato sto im je SJ naredio da drze svetinju iskljucivo u rukavicama HAHAHHAAH :)

That said, we had no issues when Apple's $29 rubber bumper accessory (given to us free for standing in line) was attached, creating a buffer between our palm and the antennas.

Ivan Dimkovic: Sta hocete, $29 za parce gume je odlican dodatak na vec impresivnu profitnu marginu Apple proizvoda :-))))

Ni Durex nije u stanju da toliko zaradi na parcetu gume... mozda bi trebali da se utale sa Stevom da lupe Apple logo na qrtone - isli bi k'o alva :-))