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Originally Posted by photon
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So, back to the original conversation...
Looks like Apple has responded, but I''m not sure what to make of it. Apparently, as their statement alludes to, and as other tech sites are starting to corroborate... this is a fairly common issue with a lot of wireless phones.
Is it, though? I've never heard of it before. I've also never paid much attention to it before, either. All I can really say is that the logic seems to make sense...
Anyway. Here's some snippets. I'm not commenting one way or the other, since I simply do not know enough about how this stuff works. I'm merely adding this to the existing discussion.
Apple Responds to iPhone 4 "Death Grip" Reports (
http://www.gearlog.com/2010/06/apple...hone_4_dea.php)
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The "iPhone Death Grip" is somewhat real, but it's more subtle than a lot of people have been putting on. It's not a deal-breaker and it's not a reason - by itself - not to buy the iPhone. But the nearly hysterical online reaction to the death-grip news reveals what people are really thinking.
First, here's Apple's official statement, with which I completely agree.
"Gripping any phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your Phone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases."
If I hold the phone in a slightly sweaty left hand, with my fingers covering the three black lines on the phone's edge and the bottom left corner in my palm, signal strength is somewhat reduced. If I had to pick a number out of the air, I'd say it's by -3 to -5 dBm. Feel free to correct me if you have the appropriate lab equipment. The hand involved has to be a little sweaty to encourage conductivity, or the trick might not work.
This doesn't have any effect on connecting voice calls in areas with strong signal, but it can make the difference between connecting and not if you're already in a fringe signal area.
The death grip makes more of a difference for data. I started a speed test using the Speedtest.net app with the phone sitting on a table. When I picked it up with the Death Grip, download speeds were often reduced by 50% or more. Putting the phone down again restored the download speeds.
I couldn't duplicate the same effect with the same grip on an iPhone 3GS or an HTC phone, although editor Dan Costa has a cool (and different) death grip which can knock two signal bars off his Palm Pre. Using one of Apple's $29 bumper cases negated the iPhone 4 death grip, which means to me that it clearly has something to do with conductivity.
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Other phones with similar problems (
http://www.macrumors.com/2010/06/24/...al-loss-issues)
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Several readers have pointed out that, as per Steve Jobs statement, other mobile phones also suffer from similar signal degradation while being held tightly. In fact, a support thread for Google's Nexus One described a very similar issue back in February:
If you go to Settings -> About Phone -> Status you will see a display for "Signal strength". When my phone is sitting on the desk, the signal stays consistent. However, the second I touch my phone, the signal drops up to as much as -20 dBm. I am able to replicate this test every single time, whether the signal is incredibly strong or weak.
Another user filmed this video of his Nokia 6230 showing the same phenomenon:
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