
The iPhone 4 is great (but there's a giant asterisk) - aaronbrethorst
http://www.marco.org/804442562
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invisible
The iPhone 4 reminds me of the Macbook Air. It has been squashed to an amazing
size and filled with a huge battery, but it just kind of isn't their best
product engineering-wise. (Air was riddled with requirements like only having
2GB of memory, 1 USB, 0 NICs, and 80GB HDD due to its "ground breaking" thin
size.)

Maybe I'm being naive - but I think this will be bad in the long-term for
Apple as new Android based phones flood the market with quality products.

~~~
jsz0
A lot of the popular Android handsets out there have their share of problems
too. When the N1 came out people were demanding recalls over the 3G switching
problem and multi-touch problems. The EVO has that weird 30FPS cap and battery
issues, the Droid _still_ has a battery cover problem 8 months later, The
Eris/Incredible have the "silent call bug" Seems like the pressures to produce
new models every 6-12 months with major software updates over the same time
period is starting to catch up with everyone these days. I think if we're
going to keep demanding lower prices, more frequent releases and keep up the
_OMG I need it on launch day or I'll just die!_ attitudes we're going to keep
getting shoddy products.

~~~
philwelch
"the Droid still has a battery cover problem 8 months later"

Given the entire controversy over Apple's tendency to have non-removable
batteries, this problem in particular amuses me.

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eel
This is basically an echo of the news that been going around.

Yet still, everyone _loves_ it. Why should Apple do a recall?

~~~
tptacek
Pretty much. My hands reliably short out the antenna. I like the phone so much
that I'm happy to change the way I hold the phone.

Marco is right, though: Apple's damage control strategy is backfiring. For the
time being, though, it might not matter. It's a really, really, really nice
phone.

~~~
blueben
It's a really, really, really nice _device_. Not so much a nice telephone.

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pclark
the proximity sensor bug is x10 more annoying than the antennae issue. i hope
it can be fixed with software.

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yogsototh
About the antenna problem. I always read that it is a bar number problem. But
is there _real_ reception problem? I mean, has someone experienced that the
Phone reception was bad when held in the _bad_ manner?

~~~
leviathant
Aside from the anecdotes of plenty of people with YouTube and Twitter
accounts, the antenna problem has been thoroughly tested by Consumer Reports,
according to a blog post that made the rounds yesterday:
[http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2010/07/apple-i...](http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2010/07/apple-
iphone-4-antenna-issue-iphone4-problems-dropped-calls-lab-test-confirmed-
problem-issues-signal-strength-att-network-gsm.html)

Engadget is reporting that Apple has been deleting references to the Consumer
Reports blog on their support forums.

The antenna problem affects actual people, who really do experience dropped
calls when they're in an area with weaker coverage and they bridge the two
antennae. I'm continually surprised at this notion amongst many iPhone4 users
that if it doesn't happen to them, then it must not exist, despite plenty of
evidence that it does exist.

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po
What makes him think the proximity sensor issue can't be fixed with a software
update? Seems like making it less sensitive or mapping it to a different
sensitivity curve would do it.

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arron61
Or maybe the AT&T network does not suck that much and the Iphone has always
been the device terrible at making and keeping calls. AT&T has just gotten the
bad rep from the apple fanboys all along.

~~~
derefr
Nope. I (a customer of Rogers Canada) have never experienced a single dropped
call, or any static, or even anything less than three bars of service, in my
last two years of iPhone ownership. I never hear any stories from anyone
around here about such things, either; only read them online. I do believe
it's your shitty cell infrastructure. :)

~~~
heresy
I've had dropped calls on my iPhones (3G & 3GS).

Inside an elevator or while walking through a tunnel surrounded by 2 metres of
concrete in an underground carpark...Never at any other time.

This is from using it in 3 different countries (none of which was the US).

I think I concur with your conclusion.

