iSay
Engineers for Consumer Reports, a non-profit US site which positions itself as impartial, have confirmed there is a hardware problem with Apple's iPhone 4, despite the manufacturer's claim the signal bars on the screen are simply wrong.
The firm put the best selling phone through its paces in lab tests, concluding the reception problem occurs when a user covers or grips a spot on the phone's lower left side.
It said touching the spot can degrade the signal enough to lose connection completely and consequently did not feel it could recommend the iPhone 4.
The engineers tested three iPhone 4s in a controlled chamber impervious to outside radio signals, connecting the phones to a base-station emulator which mimics carrier cell towers. Interestingly, they also tested other AT&T phones: the iPhone 3GS and Palm Pres and found none of the handsets had signal-loss problems like the iPhone 4.
This revelation contradicts Apple's recent open letter, which claimed the iPhone 4's signal strength issues are nothing more serious than the wrong number of signal bars being displayed on the screen, conning users into thinking they have stronger reception than they really do.
Apple said when users suddenly lose reception it is not because of a faulty antenna but, "because their high bars were never real in the first place." It also said the same problem was present on its previous iPhone models, which again, Consumer Reports' tests seem to question.
Just like many ingenious bloggers and iPhone fans, Consumer Reports also found the reception problem can be rectified using an albeit unsightly piece of duct tape to cover the antenna gap, or a case.
Due to the signal problem, Consumer Reports said it could not ‘recommend' the iPhone 4 despite it topping other criteria in its smartphone tests such as the sharpest display and best video camera on any phone.
While the report also praised its improved battery life, video chat feature and responsive game controller, it said: "Apple needs to come up with a permanent-and free-fix for the antenna problem."
Unofficial Apple blog Tuaw reported Apple's forum moderators have removed the message thread relating to Consumer Reports' tests on Apple's support forums, but the thread can be seen as it was cached by Bing.
Some commentators believe the thread was removed numerous times and have previously criticised Apple for taking down negative sentiments on its discussion board. The move may be a mistake for the Apple PR team as it has now spawned more negative reports, yet no doubt Apple fans will still clamour for the new phone, which sold out its pre-orders and is still tricky to get hold of without queuing.
