Even as throngs lined up around the world to buy Apple’s iPhone 4, reviews are coming in — mostly positive, but some users reported problems. The most prominent issue is an apparent drop in signal strength when the device is held, which could be related to the fact that the iPhone 4’s stainless-steel casing serves as the antenna.
Some users reported that holding the device causes the signal bars to fade into no signal at all.
Drying Adhesive?
In videos posted on YouTube, some users demonstrated that the signal falloff happens when the device is held by either hand, while others posted that it only happens when held with the left hand. Some have speculated that a user’s hand acts as a conductor between the antenna section that provides mobile reception and the section that picks up Wi-Fi, thus bridging the two and sapping the signal strength.
Apple hasn’t officially commented on this complaint, and details have yet to emerge as to whether other conditions impact the signal strength. But according to Walt Mossberg of The Wall Street Journal, Apple is saying the signal-strength issue is not related to actually being able to make a call, but to how the signal bars are presented, and a fix is on its way.
But signal strength isn’t the only complaint about this newest member of Apple’s hit smartphone line. Some iPhone 4 users said a yellow coloration appears in the bottom-right corner of the display, or along the lower edge.
Some sites are suggesting that the yellow disappears after a day or so of use, and that it’s because the devices, which are in heavy demand, are shipping so quickly that the display-glass adhesive is not completely dry.
‘A Major Leap’
However, these are also reports online that some users who have complained to Apple about the discoloration…