Don't buy Apple iPhone 4: Consumer Reports

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Lord Nemesis

Lord Nemesis

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Don't buy Apple iPhone 4: Consumer Reports - Telecom - News - Tech - The Times of India

SAN FRANCISCO: Consumer Reports said it cannot recommend Apple's iPhone 4 to buyers after tests confirmed the device's well-publicised reception glitches.

It added that that AT&T Inc, the exclusive mobile phone carrier for the iPhone 4, was not necessarily the main culprit.

The influential nonprofit organisation, which publishes guides on everything from cars to TVs, said in a report that it also tested other phones -- including the iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre -- and found none had the signal-loss problems of Apple's latest iPhone.

The report was the latest blow to the iPhone 4, which sold 1.7 million units in its first three days on the market but has been plagued by complaints of poor reception. Many of the complaints involve a wraparound antenna whose signal strength is said to be affected if touched in a certain way.

Kaufman Bros analyst Shaw Wu said he was surprised by the stance that Consumer Reports took on the new iPhone. Wu noted that the group's recommendations are used as a guide by many consumers.

"Consumer reports is a respected publication. This could have an impact on iPhone sales," Wu said. Apple shares were down 1 per cent at $257.06 on Monday afternoon on the Nasdaq.

The company has been sued by iPhone customers in at least three complaints related to antenna problems. "When your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone's lower left side -- an easy thing, especially for lefties -- the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether if you're in an area with a weak signal," contributor Mike Gikas said in a report on the Consumer Reports website.

"Our findings call into question the recent claim by Apple that the iPhone 4's signal-strength issues were largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software that 'mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength,'" Gikas said.

Apple did not respond to a request for comment. Gikas recommended covering the gap in the wraparound antenna with duct tape or some other non-conductive material. Apple has said almost any cellphone will suffer a loss of signal if held in certain ways. It said later it had discovered a software glitch that overstates signal strength, though it did not directly address concerns about the antenna with that admission.

On the flip side, Consumer Reports said the iPhone scored high on other testing grounds such as battery life, sharp display and high-quality video camera.

However, Gikas said the signal problem was the reason the iPhone 4 would not be classified as a "recommended" device in its smartphone ratings.

"Apple needs to come out with a permanent -- and free -- fix to the antenna problem before we can recommend the iPhone4," said Gikas in his blog post on ConsumerReports.org.
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Looks like Apple is paying the price for over hyping their products. Since they have hyped their products as magical or flawless or perfect, even the smallest things will be nitpicked upon now. Although I have to say their fan following will not allow them to be affected financially in any case which IMO is what really matters to Apple or any other commercial entity.

--- Updated Post - Automerged ---

Looks like Apple doesn't like it..

Apple deleting mentions of Consumer Reports' iPhone 4 piece on forums, can't delete your thoughts -- Engadget
 
haha.

Apple - deleting any mention of the report in their forums

iphone 4 users/wanna-be-owners - i don't care

:)

The thing is even after all these issues, the sales of iphone 4 is really strong, which shows how dumb the buyers are :)
 
^^ Not all people buy iPhones blindly. There are also informed people who buy iPhone because they like certain aspects of it and their own specific requirements allows them to ignore any defects/limitations in the Phone. Defects/limitations are something you have to live with what ever you buy. There is no such thing as a perfect product that appeals to every one. Yes iPhone 4 has flaws, do you think that one of the best Android phones like Galaxy S does not have flaws? There are many both small and big. There are many reports that Galaxy S has erratic GPS locking and you would not know about them unless you search for them. Would any for one whom GPS is a priority buy one after knowing about GPS issues? No. Would others buy? Yes.

Whats really different with Apple is that they over hype their products and present them as something that's magical or perfect. So flaws will always attract more attention than in other products. What's also different is that a majority of users apple attracted don't actually need a smart phone. Compared to the people who bought iPhone as a smartphone, the number of people who bought a piece of apple seems to be a vast majority. They don't understand the iPhone, they don't understand the flaws, they don't use it for any thing other than making calls. However they will keep buying one and they have to justify their purchase at all costs. One of the Auto wala's that drive me to office every day uses an iPhone. Do you think he is going to do anything with it other than making calls. I see shop keepers use them for making calls. Even for the iPhone users at my office, except for one guy, I have not known any of them to use the phone past making calls. While many of these people talk about what's supposedly the most important strength of iPhone, the apps and they brag about how their are a zillion of them, I have yet to see someone install and use any of them. These people bought it for the same reason why anyone would buy something like the Nokia Vertu. They have not bought a smart phone, but rather they have bought something akin to a status symbol. For these sort of people iPhone is cool just because it is made by Apple and costs an arm and a leg and anyone who don't own them is either too dumb or some poor bast**d from a third world country who cannot afford one. Regardless of what ever flaws there are they will keep buying. When someone put an up an app that does nothing for $999 there were at least a few people who bought it the first day before the app was removed. That in itself is a major indicator of the kind of consumer base Apple has. Even if a few real users abandon them because of any flaws affecting them, there are still the vast majority of users who don't care about the flaws. This is the reason why apple can be arrogant and get away with it.
 
A bunch of my friends actually own the iPhone 4 in the US and none of them are having issue with the reception unless you intentionally cover the antennae causing the attenuation. Add to that the bumpers completely solve the problem.

Now if only Apple could increase availability.. Sigh.
 
Anish said:
A bunch of my friends actually own the iPhone 4 in the US and none of them are having issue with the reception unless you intentionally cover the antennae causing the attenuation. Add to that the bumpers completely solve the problem.

Now if only Apple could increase availability.. Sigh.
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Anecdotal evidence is never good evidence. I can add that I had dropped calls on my sister's iPhone 4 when I was using it. Didn't face the issue on a colleague's phone.
 
Sigh... just another day, just another iPhone 4 thread... :bleh:

Anyway, I do agree with LN that many people just buy it for status symbol. I've seen many iPhone users who don't know jackshit about it's capability, but still has it cause they can afford it. Why, I know couple of relatives who bought it just cause it's cool and eat my head up for couple of days asking about how to do this or that. Some of the queries were so dumb that even child could figure out, but those who have never seen any other phone than Nokia couldn't. One of my friend, who bought it was surprised when he saw the apps and stuff on my iPhone and asked if can share it with him (let me add, via bluetooth). The fascination never ends.

However, as LN said, when it comes to Apple, every little flaw it over-scrutinized and over-blown by media. Everyone wants a bite at Apple, because it's a trend. It gives you good publicity, page views, eyeballs and it's just cool to hate Apple in general these days.

Still, there are people who are well-informed buyers and still buy an iPhone (OMG, so shocking right?). Because there are certain aspects of the device which appeals to them, certain features which suits their need. I may not be the smartest guy around, but I know the pros and cons of iPhone (I own 1st gen iPhone) and still would buy the iPhone 4. Now if someone wanna call me fanboi, blind, iDiot or dumb... do you think I would really give two bits about it? :P
 
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well I haven't had a single call drop till now on my iphone. Just to test the reception quality, I went to -2 parking and had a full 15 mins uninterrupted call with my friend. So far so good, let's see how it behaves going forward.
 
Dropped calls problem gets amplified only in low signal strength situations. And most of you might be in full signal areas.
 
I saw an unlocked Iphone 4G's rate on some Indian Shopping site. Its was some Rs 78,000/-

Who is gonna buy at that rate ?
 
^^ A lot of people. That's who. Also the prices are more like 68~70k. Gray market sellers know that iPhones will sell regardless of the price. So while they can import the iPhone or any other similar priced phone for 30~35k comfortably, they sell iPhone for 60~70k while other phones are sold for 40k. In any case I know at least one shop keeper here who bought a iPhone 3G for 60k odd before Airtel and vodaphone started selling them.

Dhanan said:
Dropped calls problem gets amplified only in low signal strength situations. And most of you might be in full signal areas.
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Exactly. All iPhones released so far have poor reception issues noticeable in low signal areas. Its well known problem and you can see it documented all over the internet. I have personally seen it myself when iPhones (1st Gen and 3G) stopped working in a hill resort that we went to and all other phones were at least usable. While iPhone 4 seems to have better reception overall than the previous models as tested by reviewers like AnandTech, the antenna issue results in a fair amount of signal attenuation. While it is not much of an issue if you live in an area with good signal, the issue will show itself in areas where the signal is poor be it in US, Europe, India or any other place. If you don't get the problem it does not mean that there is no problem.

iGo said:
When it comes to Apple, every little flaw it over-scrutinized and over-blown by media. Everyone wants a bite at Apple, because it's a trend. It gives you good publicity, page views, eyeballs and it's just cool to hate Apple in general these days.
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I think Apple itself is responsible for this trend. iPhone is an imperfect product like any other iPhone. If it has some strengths, it has a lot of weaknesses as well. The thing is that Apple/Stetve Jobs marketed it has the perfect and flawless product. So its quite natural that flaws are found and publicized. Jobs made sure that iPhone has too much hype and media attention, so its quite natural that it would have too much hype and media attention for the wrong reasons as well. Both go hand in hand. Had Apple not overhyped it as the prefect or magical device, we woundn't be seeing this bad press now? Obviously not.
 
iGo said:
Sigh... just another day, just another iPhone 4 thread... :bleh:

Anyway, I do agree with LN that many people just buy it for status symbol. I've seen many iPhone users who don't know jackshit about it's capability, but still has it cause they can afford it. Why, I know couple of relatives who bought it just cause it's cool and eat my head up for couple of days asking about how to do this or that. Some of the queries were so dumb that even child could figure out, but those who have never seen any other phone than Nokia couldn't. One of my friend, who bought it was surprised when he saw the apps and stuff on my iPhone and asked if can share it with him (let me add, via bluetooth). The fascination never ends.

However, as LN said, when it comes to Apple, every little flaw it over-scrutinized and over-blown by media. Everyone wants a bite at Apple, because it's a trend. It gives you good publicity, page views, eyeballs and it's just cool to hate Apple in general these days.

Still, there are people who are well-informed buyers and still buy an iPhone (OMG, so shocking right?). Because there are certain aspects of the device which appeals to them, certain features which suits their need. I may not be the smartest guy around, but I know the pros and cons of iPhone (I own 1st gen iPhone) and still would buy the iPhone 4. Now if someone wanna call me fanboi, blind, iDiot or dumb... do you think I would really give two bits about it? :P
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Exactly. There are many people who are too quick to call others Apple fanbois or idiots even when they have solid reasons for buying an iPhone.
 
ashr said:
Exactly. There are many people who are too quick to call others Apple fanbois or idiots even when they have solid reasons for buying an iPhone.
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its not a problem with its media player or something even important as GPS, the problem is with making phone calls which is the primary use of a phone !!

It's is not a PMP or a portable gaming device which if fails does not hold as much importance as a phone does in our daily life (which ranges from using it to just be connected to friends/family to a device that can be your only aid in state of emergency).

So yeah, whoever buys it blindly knowing this major flaw is either misinformed or clearly a fanboy. Apple should admit the hardware flaw and provide users at-least with free covers/bands or whatever that fixes the real problem, instead of a software update which will alter the number of signal bars shown on GUI while the real problem remains the same.

Supporting any company in covering its flaw is just pathetic. That's what iSheep do.
 
Lord Nemesis said:
^^ Not all people buy iPhones blindly. There are also informed people who buy iPhone because they like certain aspects of it and their own specific requirements allows them to ignore any defects/limitations in the Phone. Defects/limitations are something you have to live with what ever you buy. There is no such thing as a perfect product that appeals to every one. Yes iPhone 4 has flaws, do you think that one of the best Android phones like Galaxy S does not have flaws? There are many both small and big. There are many reports that Galaxy S has erratic GPS locking and you would not know about them unless you search for them. Would any for one whom GPS is a priority buy one after knowing about GPS issues? No. Would others buy? Yes.
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For once, I approve of your post wholly. Sigh, who's left to fight with now :(

What I really dislike about the whole signal reception debacle is Steve's reply to a user saying that he was "holding it the wrong way" or something to that effect. I think Apple rushed the entire launch because of the drunken employee scandal (if I can call it that) and consequent Gizmodo leak that occurred earlier this year. Manufacturing defects can and do occur, and it's Apple at the receiving end this time. Apple simply needs to own up and offer suggestions to alleviate the issue, and/or a subsuequent replacement as soon as the company gets the issue fixed in its next batch of phones. That's all Apple has to do really. And they can. I'm just surprised why they won't.
 
What ever be it . My cousin is getting me an iphone 4 from UK when he is coming back in August . Woot Woot . And since it is gonna be shielded by Zagg so there wont be the so called antenna issue .
 
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