iPhone 4 death grip reaches Australia
Summary
Topics
Before the iPhone 4's midnight launch in Sydney, Australia a few weeks back, we asked the folks lined up around Optus and Telstra what they thought of the iPhone 4 "death grip" issue. The answers we got were strikingly consistent: that this is a problem with the AT&T network in the US and not something we need to worry about in Australia.
By this time we had already finished our preliminary testing of the iPhone 4's network reception and we had seen first hand the death grip in action, but given the controversy around this issue CNET Australia decided to take another look. Here are the results.

As you can see, in all cases except one, the death grip had a significant effect on the signal as displayed by the phone itself, but in two of the test sites out of the three it was impossible to fully kill the signal altogether.
For more on this story, read iPhone 'death grip' down under on CNET Australia.
Talkback Most Recent of 10 Talkback(s)
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There is nothing wrong with the iPhone4
There is nothing wrong with the iPhone4 (waving hand) . There is nothing wrong with the iPhone4; it works just fine (waving hand again).
Now please return to the RDF.
honeymonster12th Aug 2010 -
RE: iPhone 4 death grip reaches Australia
It seems that AT&T's network is SO bad, it affects the iPhone even in Australia!
bmgoodman12th Aug 2010 -
yes, if you hold the iPhone 4 until you knuckles turn white..
.. you will lose bars.. how many of those resulted in dropped calls.. that's what really matters right not bar.
where are the tests of other popular phones using the same death grip and see how they performed? no where to be found...
the Apple smear campaign, plain and simple.. and yet iPhone 4's keep on flying off the shelves.. you can't even buy one in Canada right now.. the entire Country was totally sold out by noon of the 1st day.. nice try guys but .. no one holds the phone like that and no one really cares... .55% complaints and 1.7% return rates compared to dubble digit returns for many other popular phones.. time to move on guys..
doctorSpoc12th Aug 2010 -
RE: iPhone 4 death grip reaches Australia
@doctorSpoc the Apple smear campaign, plain and simple..
I'm sure you're right... but then why did Steve get on stage again? Oh nevermind....
Badgered12th Aug 2010 -
You are factually wrong about 2 things
@doctorSpoc
yes, if you hold the iPhone 4 until you knuckles turn white..
Before installing the 4.0.1 patch, I was able to go from 5 bars to no service by simply touching the gap with my finger. No white knuckles, just the tip of my finger on the gap. After installing the 4.0.1 patch, it turns out that I wasn't getting 5 bars of service in my home, I was actually only getting 1-2.
the entire Country was totally sold out by noon of the 1st day
This is utterly wrong. I bought my phone at 2pm on the first day in a Future Shop with absolutely no line. The Apple store in my city was still selling iPhones 5 days later. Please don't lie about things, it doesn't help your point.
I seriously don't understand why you Apple zealots simply can't admit that the iPhone antenna design isn't ideal but that you don't care. Why do you feel the need to first say there is no problem (yes, if you hold the iPhone 4 until you knuckles turn white..), then say that everyone else has the same problem (where are the tests of other popular phones using the same death grip), then say that it can't be a problem because the product is still selling well. NEWSFLASH: products with problems can still sell well! It DOESN'T mean the problem doesn't exist. It DOESN'T mean that the problem shouldn't be examined and fixed in the next iteration.
You Apple zealots drone on and one about how you don't believe that Apple products are perfect yet if anyone dare mention an imperfection, you freak out and end up saying that it can't be imperfect or it wouldn't sell. XBoxes sell extremely well. Does that mean that the RROD issue never existed? Of course not, it just meant that the XBox was (and continues to be) so good in most areas that millions of people are willing to accept the flaws that are there.
The iPhone 4 is flawed and it is selling well. The 2 aren't mutually exclusive. Deal with it.
NonZealot12th Aug 2010 -
iDrones are funny...
@doctorSpoc
iDrones are funny...
I tried completely covering my Nokia N900 with both hands, and guess what... No loss of signal! It must be magic!
Apple is the one trying to make others look bad to cover their mistake of choosing a prettier design over antenna/signal performance.
They even posted videos (most if not all now removed) showing phones from other brands losing bars when using the death grip. It was all BS!
For example they showed a Nokia phone (can't remember the model) losing bars with the death grip.
The battery was almost dead, so that means that the phone was in power saving mode, which means that when the antenna signal is attenuated for example by the user's body, the phone boosts the power to the antenna compensating for the signal attenuation. Duh!
H3llb0und15th Aug 2010 -
LOL
Imagine being stuck somewhere in the outback with nothing but an iPhone to make that crucial life-saving phone call...
Grip it wrong and you die...LOL!
eMJayy12th Aug 2010 -
Now I know what dropped calls are
They appear to occur on any carrier that isn't Telstra. As a Telstra user I often wondered what people were talking about.
As to that overhyped, occasionally connecting, fingerpainting iToy with the overloaded desktop icon interface - it really is looking old isn't it?
tonymcs@...12th Aug 2010 -
Wait a minute ......
You are telling me that there are people stupid enough to think that a design bug on a product distributed world wide is going to show up in one country and one carrier only??
You have to be more than a moron to believe that the issue is not going to show up on the same model when sold somewhere else.
wackoae12th Aug 2010 -
RE: iPhone 4 death grip reaches Australia
iBand Aid fixes iPhone4 antenna problems.
iBand Aid Antenn-aid for iPhone 4 is a custom sized vinyl sticker for your iPhone 4. When placed over the lower left corner of the antenna it may improve signal performance.
http://iband-aid.com
axelcr12th Aug 2010
Talkback - Tell Us What You Think
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