Remember the Antennagate problems with Apple’s iPhone 4 for AT&T? According to reports popping up on the web, the Verizon Wireless CDMA iPhone may have similar problems.
Some user reports and analyses by testing sites indicate the newest iPhone can drop signal strength when it’s held in certain ways. A one-handed position reportedly affects cellular signal strength, while a Wi-Fi problem is reported when the smartphone is held with both hands in landscape view.
‘Doesn’t Seem To Matter’
There have been reviews of the Verizon iPhone that said the antenna problem was fixed. Antennas in the Verizon model are different from those in the AT&T iPhone. Because of this, device cases that work for the AT&T iPhone may not work for the Verizon iPhone because several control buttons are in different places. Some manufacturers, such as Paul Frank, say their covers fit both models.
However, some reviewers have noted that they’ve attempted, without success, to replicate the antenna problem. Observers have also noted that these reports are not hurting Verizon’s sales, which are expected to hit at least one million in the first week.
Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, said that, even if the reports are true, “Apple doesn’t feel like it was a problem on the AT&T phone.” He said a certain hand grip on the AT&T phone can affect the signal, but “a case solves it.” In addition, he said, Apple feels the antenna design on the first iPhone 4 offered “better reception.”
In short, Greengart said, Apple’s view is that “they’ve sold, and are selling, so many iPhone 4s that it doesn’t seem to matter.”
‘Company’s Responsibility’
The reports of signal-strength issues with the original iPhone 4 began piling up shortly after its release. At first, Apple suggested the signal issue, which occurred when a user…