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Jason D. O'Grady & David Morgenstern
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Testing iPhone 4’s antenna performance

By | August 3, 2010, 8:52am PDT

Summary: PA Consulting Group conducted tests that indicate that Apple’s iPhone 4 suffers from more connectivity problems compared to other smartphones. In the majority of its tests the iPhone 4’s performance was in the same range as the other smartphones tested (Blackberry 9700, HTC HD2), but it was consistently at the lower end of that range. And, [...]

PA Consulting Group conducted tests that indicate that Apple’s iPhone 4 suffers from more connectivity problems compared to other smartphones.

In the majority of its tests the iPhone 4’s performance was in the same range as the other smartphones tested (Blackberry 9700, HTC HD2), but it was consistently at the lower end of that range. And, as found by other testers, when used in the “death grip”, the iPhone 4’s performance was significantly worse than other smartphones.

In addition to its results, PA has also posted a video on YouTube of its tests.

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Topics

Apple iPhone, Performance, Smart Phone, Test, PA Consulting Group, Smart Phones, Performance Management, Cellular Phones, Handhelds, Human Capital Management, Consumer Electronics, Personal Technology, Hardware, Human Resources, Workforce Management, Jason D. O'Grady

Jason O'Grady is a journalist and author specializing in mobile technology. He has published six books on Apple and mobile gadgets and his PowerPage blog has been publishing for over 15 years.

Disclosure

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady is the creator and editor of O'Grady's PowerPage, which has been publishing mobile technology news since 1995. He maintains an advertising relationship with the following legacy advertisers on the PowerPage:

  • Amazon Associates
  • Google Adsense
  • Tekserve

    • Advertising on the PowerPage is brokered by a third-party agency (BackBeat Media) and he recuses himself from these negotiations.

Biography

Jason D. O'Grady

Jason D. O'Grady developed an affinity for Apple computers after using the original Lisa, and this affinity turned into a bona-fide obsession when he got the original 128 KB Macintosh in 1984.

He started writing one of the first Web sites about Apple (O'Grady's PowerPage) in 1995 and is considered to be one of the fathers of blogging. He has been a frequent speaker at the Macworld Expo conference and a member of the conference faculty. He also co-founded the first dedicated PowerBook User Group (PPUG) in the United States.

After winning a major legal battle with Apple in 2006, he set the precedent that independent journalists are entitled to the same protections under the First Amendment as members of the mainstream media.

O'Grady is the author of The Nexus One Pocket Guide, The Droid Pocket Guide, The Google Phone Pocket Guide, and The Garmin nuvi Pocket Guide (Peachpit Press), the author of Corporations That Changed the World: Apple Inc. (Greenwood Press), and a contributor to The Mac Bible (Peachpit Press). In addition, he has contributed to numerous Mac publications over the years, including MacWEEK, Macworld, and MacPower (Japan).

When he's not writing about Apple for ZDNet at The Apple Core, he enjoys spending time with his family in New Jersey.

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RE: Testing iPhone 4's antenna performance
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 11th Oct
Hey, i feel you visited my via the internet web-site so i arrived to "return the favour".I am hoping to find items to boost my website!I suppose its okay to make the most of a football jersey few of your suggestions!!
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0 Votes
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Whoopdee Friggin' Doo
itguy08 3rd Aug 2010
It's a non-issue.

Stop beating the dead horse.
0 Votes
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RE: Testing iPhone 4's antenna performance
drphysx 3rd Aug 2010
It's 'death-touch, not 'death-grip'.

The iPhone 4 is the only phone that can be 'death-touched'.

And yes, it is an issue, quite a big one even.
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a huge issue solved by moving you hand 1 mm or putting on a FREE case..
doctorSpoc Updated - 3rd Aug 2010
@drphysx - do you hear how stupid that sounds? seriously now.. such a huge issue... that only half a percent of owners complain about it and at most 1.7% of buyers return it (not all will return because of this).. me thinks thou doth protest too much dear sir.. me thinks thou art an Apple hater.. and a desperate one at that..
0 Votes
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Funny, I played with an iPhone 4
itguy08 3rd Aug 2010
At an AT&T store and tried the "Death Grip" and..... Nothing.... Maybe 1-2 bars of lost signal but I can do that on my Droid X.
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Wow, that's scientific.
Lester Young 3rd Aug 2010
@itguy08

Those chumps at the testing labs are incompetent. They should hire you.
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RE:Funny, I played with an iPhone 4
richdave 4th Aug 2010
@itguy08 Denial is not a river in Africa
0 Votes
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My experience with my iPhone 4
NonZealot 3rd Aug 2010
Before installing the 4.0.1 patch that "fixes" the bars display:
- At work I got 5 bars and nothing I could do would cause me drop any bars.
- At home I got 5 bars and simply touching the "gap" would result in me losing all bars and being unable to place a call.

After installing the 4.0.1 patch:
- At work I get 5 bars and nothing I can do would cause me drop any bars.
- At home I get 2-3 bars and simply touching the "gap" would result in me losing all bars and being unable to place a call.

So it is obvious that this issue is highly sensitive to your real signal strength.

A few extra things to note:
- Using a case fixes the problem. It is obvious that signal attenuation is not the real issue, as much as Steve Jobs would like that to be the case. The real problem is the exposed antenna, something unique to the iPhone 4.
- Simply touching the gap would not always result in me losing all bars. Yesterday morning I touched the gap and didn't lose a single bar. I think those who were talking about skin chemistry were probably onto something.
- The very first call I tried to make failed. Oh the irony.
- I'm not on AT&T, I'm in Canada on Telus. This has nothing to do with AT&T although, as I mentioned above, the death touch only works if you have a weak signal. If AT&T's signal is weaker on average than other providers, you would expect this to affect AT&T more than others.

To conclude: The iPhone 4 is a great phone that has a weakness. Signal handling is simply not one of its strengths. That shouldn't be hard to admit but for those of you who have an unhealthy attachment to a multi-national, multi-billion $$$/year mega-corporation, you simply can't admit that an Apple product isn't perfect. The iPhone is not perfect. I can deal with it. Why can't you?
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RE: Testing iPhone 4's antenna performance
rhonin Updated - 3rd Aug 2010
@NonZealot
Have to agree - sensitive to the overall signal strenth.

I turned mine in.
Other killer issues:
- proximity sensor issue
- inconsistent camera issues

Overall a great device.
As a phone it has very serious problems.

and why can't I deal with it?
Since switching to a non-iDevice I have had no call issues.
Did not realize how nice that is.
and yes, I am on AT&T...
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Very well said
use_what_works_4_U 4th Aug 2010
@NonZealot
nt
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Very Clever
yobtaf 4th Aug 2010
That was fun, but enough already.

The fact is, the iPhone4 has an appeal that none of the copy cats can match.

Hold your breath till your face turns blue, throw a tantrum, spew hate. There's just something about the iPhone4 that nobody else has. (Not to mention face time, which I'm sure the next droid will have)

Now have your fun.
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RE: Testing iPhone 4's antenna performance
Belligerent Nerd 4th Aug 2010
@robertmro

And that 'something' is...
An excellent marketing campaign and an audience willing to blindly consume whatever is given to them. Even if the hardware is faulty. But who cares? It's pretty; and that's the most important thing someone should consider when buying a PHONE (remember that word, 'phone'? It comes after the 'i' on the device we're talking about).

I liked Apple a lot better when I could say, "it just works," instead of, "it might work, if I hold it like Steve Jobs tells me to."
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RE: Testing iPhone 4's antenna performance
nfeasey@... 5th Aug 2010
FYI: In Toronto, Ontario, Canada we received our first iPhone. Performed the death grip test as indicated and nothing happened at all.

Held it for 5 minutes. Made a few phone calls. The phone worked perfectly.
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RE: Testing iPhone 4's antenna performance
non-biased 10th Aug 2010
As I recall from more than a couple of other blogs hyping this story that PA Consulting is just that, a business consulting firm and not a testing firm. They also could not get the iPhone to drop a call when not in the test chamber. Both of these items were conveniently left out of this post.
0 Votes
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RE: Testing iPhone 4's antenna performance
jackson1984-24316069205748857739440257893812 11th Oct
Hey, i feel you visited my via the internet web-site so i arrived to "return the favour".I am hoping to find items to boost my website!I suppose its okay to make the most of a football jersey few of your suggestions!!

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