Sad like Keanu about the iPhone 4 Death Grip? Hang in there buddy, it’s possible a software solution is on the way. A few iPhone 4 owners were experiencing reception problems when holding their new baby the wrong way, which we presumed had something to do with the antennae around the outside. According to some iPhone 3G and 3GS owners who had installed iOS 4 the other day however, they’re having the same drop-off. Here are a few videos showing the signal die under the same circumstances on the iPhone 3G and 3GS.
Just to recap, the iPhone 4 is Apple’s new magical wondercookie of a smartphone, featuring a bar-setting 960 x 640 touchscreen, 5 megapixel camera with HD video recording, and a new operating system with multitasking. It just came out today on AT&T, if you’re thinking of getting one.
Since it’s apparently just a software problem, then everyone should get an update at some point to fix the reception, but it’s still a pretty major glitch. If you’re having problems, be sure to weigh in on our poll – we’re trying to get an idea if this is a really bad situation, or just a few scattered reports, so even if everything’s hunky-dory, let us know!
[Update]
AT&T issued a statement to GearLog about the alleged reception issues. Their “fix” is apparently to stop holding the phone in “certain places” or to use one of the “many available [iPhone 4] cases.” Full statement:
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.