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Consumer Reports Can't Recommend iPhone 4
jbezorg was one among many readers to send word that Consumer Reports has concluded that they cannot recommend the iPhone 4. (They still enthusiastically recommend the 3G S.) "It's official. Consumer Reports' engineers have just completed testing the iPhone 4, and have confirmed that there is a problem with its reception. 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. Due to this problem, we can't recommend the iPhone 4. ... 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.'" The comments on the article don't display any of the vitriol the Apple faithful have been known to unleash upon anyone daring to question the Cupertino way. Perhaps they are moderated.
...there will be plenty of vitriol here to make up for the lack of it on Consumer Reports website.
Apple really dropped the ball this time. All they had to do was say 'oops, our bad, we messed up but here is a free case' and the problem would have been effectively solved, and they would have saved face.
Such a cheap solution to a potential marketing disaster.. I just don't understand it. ( and ill be keeping my 3Gs and not upgrading, but that is beacuse i don't like cases... Perhaps the model 4Gs.. )
---- Booth was a patriot ----
From TFS "The comments on the article don't display any of the vitriol the Apple faithful have been known to unleash upon anyone daring to question the Cupertino way. Perhaps they are moderated."
Really? I didn't know the mods were flamebaiting these days.
Cars are probably their primary claim to fame, but appliances and consumer electronics would likely be #2 and #3. The most newsworthy part of this is that an independent source that is beyond reproach (to the extent that such a thing is possible) has confirmed that this is a legitimate problem that shows up in normal use.
They do testing on pretty much everything. They are non-profit, and have a reputation for accurate reporting. They were the ones who made the world realize that air ionizers are essentially useless (like Ionic Breeze from sharper image).
Generally they break stuff into categories, and the 'recommend' 'do not recommend' is not particularly useful, since it might still be good in the categories you care about. But one thing you can be sure about, if they say a product is not good in a certain category, they have the research to back it up (and from time to time have defended the evidence in court).
Qxe4
According to who?
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
MoveOn.org is a nonprofit organization as well; there's no reason to assume nonprofit means unbiased.
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
And here we go with the Apple fanbois. Come on, pal. Everyone knows the iPhone 4 has a huge goddamned problem. Blaming the messengers is ludicrous. Apple screwed the pooch big time, and it's going to cost them money and reputation to fix it, so rather than dicking around bitching at consumer magazines and critics, Steve Jobs should be ordering the company to begin immediate recalls...
Unless of course, they don't have an easy fix. In which case Apple has a really big problem on their hands.
The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
So you dont mind buying something that is broken? And then pay to fix it? You must be the wet dream for any manufacturer.
The real crime here in my opinion is that Apple charges $30 for the "bumper case" which amounts to a glorified rubber band. There's no way the total cost on the part is more than $.50.
Sometimes they don't know what they're talking about, though.
I know digital photography pretty well, and a lot of the stuff they say in their digital camera reviews is just plain wrong.
Does anyone really trust Consumer Report's opinion on technology?
I trust them way more than Slashdot or Gizmodo.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Because as released, it's freaking broken.
TPJ - Founder, The Amazon Basin
If you want to argue that Consumer Reports is engaging in sensationalism, then make that point. But to imply that a magazine in inherently "impartial" (did you mean sensational?) is stupid.
Consumer Reports depends on subscribers who would pick up on any whiff of sensationalism and flood the editors' desks with complaints. They're about as impartial and fair as they get.
The earlier models already sucked when it comes to signal reception ... any worse and it becomes useless as a phone.
According to who?
Anyone who's not an Apple apologist.
by Mike Buddha -- Someday the mountain might get him, but the law never will.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to test the antenna problem. But it does take an impartial organization, that has nothing to gain or lose from the report.
Too often CR reviews of articles are superficial, and dismissive of dramatic improvements in technology products. They often seem to be rating complex technical items on the same scale as a can of beans or a drip coffee maker.
They have always been in Apple's corner on the vast majority of their reviews, approaching fanboy status.
Having said that, I give them kudos for going into the lab and testing this antenna problem. (Even Duct Tape was involves in the testing, without a rocket part in sight.)
Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
Unless of course, they don't have an easy fix.
There's always an easy fix: duct tape.
Actually, in this case, it'd be electrical tape. And since electrical tape is black, people wouldn't even notice!
"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."
MoveOn.org is a nonprofit organization as well; there's no reason to assume nonprofit means unbiased.
Yeah but MoveOn deals with politics... Consumer Reports is only interested in figuring out which products are the best. They pay for all products out of pocket and don't accept money or free products.
MoveOn uses donations to run political ads smearing politicians. Consumer Reports uses donations (and subscription fees) to pay engineers (employees) and to buy the products they test.
I'm Conservative and typically oppose MoveOn, however I do think it serves a purpose. But still, that being said, they are hardly the same
Dude, RTFA! They clearly state that the iPhone 4 excels in several areas. It just sucks in its primary function as a cellphone and thus they can't recommend it. I don't think Consumer Reports has any vested interest in seeing the iPhone fail or succeed.
iPhone vs HTC http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7yD-0pqZg
The ONLY website I have ever paid to subscribe to is Consumer reports and it's worth every penny. Are their reviews perfect? By no means. But they are the most accurate and most unbiased product review organization there is. Find me something better or shut up. In my opinion they have saved me tens of thousands of dollars over the past 15 years.
I trust Consumer Reports when they are not missing the point (as often happens with cars), pulling things out their ass (as sometimes happens with cars), and are dealing with actual test data (which usually happens with everything). This is the kind of specific test of a feature that actually matters that, combined with their reputation for impartiality, justifies the existence of Consumer Reports.
CR has been wrong on so many things before when it comes to computers. Not to mention Apple knows there's a problem and they are trying to fix the issue. Like they have said get a case looks nicer then duck tape and protects the phone better. If you spent that much money on an Iphone you should have the few extra dollars buy the case. At least until Apple fixes the issue.
I'd actually agree with you here a bit, but: This is not the only problem. The proximity sensor on the 4 seems to work only randomly, with many people reporting dialing numbers or enabling the speakerphone with their ears while talking. No reaction from Apple. Nobody knows if this a hardware problem (they have put the sensor in a different place compared to the 3GS) or a calibration problem and if it is, if it can be corrected with a software update.
And then there is the fact that the fully exposed glass edges on both front and back are extremely fragile if they hit the ground when you drop the thing. The glass itself is tough, no doubt. The edges aren't, if they have to absorb the full impact the thing *will* shatter. Even without the antenna problem this means that this thing is actually very much unusable without a case. Drop it once or hit with it against a desk lamp or whatever when picking it up in a hurry and you don't have a nice mark in the bezel as with the 3GS, you have a shattered display or back cover.
Add to that the fact that you have no idea which side is front and which is back without looking at the thing and it gets more and more silly. Really, you feel so stupid when you pull the thing out of your pocket or out of a bag and have no idea which side the screen is on before you look at it.
Basically it's a really pretty but incredibly stupid design. It's something to lay on a soft cushion and to look at, not something to carry with you all day long and to actually use.
Yeah, I know, for some geeks this is all what Apple is about anyway. I don't think so, Apple has some really nice and usable hardware. But this design is overstretching it in plain sight.
Provided they get the sensor problem fixed, you can wrap a silly case around it and it's still a (then dull looking) great smartphone. The whole design is still a glaring mistake, though. Even more since it clearly says "Yes, all the Apple haters are right, we are just putting out beautiful but useless hardware to catch the money of clueless idiots".
No, until now I tended to hate Apple, but loved many of the products they sold. Now with that iPhone (and the stupidly expensive new Mac mini with its machined alu case and the iPad with only 256MB of RAM and no camera) there's not much left to love. They may manage to get it straight again with the next product cycle but until then they're dropping good will of their customers left and right every single day.
If you happen to have any bad opinions about Apple, their business practices or their products, they will march in. Apple stories are the only ones I need to read at -1 because of the modpoint abuse.
Yes, because that modpoint abuse only goes one way, after all. It's not like there's an army of people modding any positive comment into oblivion by people who rage and loathe all things Apple.
The amount of stupidity by Apple users (and their fellow applefags moderating them up) is outstanding.
Oh. Wait. It appears you're a card-carrying member of the Apple Hating Army (tm).
Seriously, there are few topics that bring out the worst in Slashdot like Apple... It's virtually impossible to read balanced opinions because people on both sides abuse their modpoints.
But you knew that already, didn't you.
Reality Distortion Field: Company sells defective product, then sells accessory to fix defect. On Slashdot this is okay as long as said company is Apple.
I'm an Apple fanboy.
I won't touch a iPhone 4 till they get this crap fixed. Jesus they blew the goat on this one.
I am speaking of high technology credibility in general...
But this isn't a "general" point, it's quite specific; can they test whether the iPhone has that antenna flaw, or not? The answer; yes, they can, they did, and the fucking phone has a major design flaw in it.
You can piss and moan about CR not having "the mental savvy" (this from a guy who says he doesn't take their technology "advise"), but Consumer Reports is right about this.
You're mad about something - unfortunately, you're mad about facts, cold facts. Tough shit.
Don't take it personally, but I'm not going to read your pithy response to my post.
I've been using cell phones heavily since the bricks of the early 90's. We used to have exposed antennas. Then retracted antennas that we could extend. Then the manufacturers decided phones would look cooler (and in some cases be cheaper) if the antennas were internal. I definitely noticed a decrease in signal quality when this move happened. As a heavy cell phone user, I also have always noticed that phones with internal antennas can have big changes in reception performance based on how you hold the phone. I've been re-learning the "optimal holding position" for every Nokia, Motorolla, and Samsung I've owned. It's just basic RF. Move your hands around your HDTV antenna and see how reception changes.
Apple did something really innovative by using a structural component of the case as an antenna. They went a step further by using that component for multiple antennas to allow for better reception and transmission of Wifi and GPS. So finally we have external antennas again, and ones that are much larger than other phone's internal antennas. The reception improvement in my experience is significant. I can walk around on a long call in areas where I would regularly get dropped calls due to AT&T's poor coverage; and not drop. Yes, I hold my iPhone 4 differently than my previous phone; but this is nothing new. When I talk to my friends and co-workers who also have an iPhone 4, they report the same. Every review I've seen has said the iPhone 4 has better reception than any iPhone before. My guess is that it has better reception than most other AT&T phones.
It's fun to have controversy to talk about, and I guess that's why everyone is spamming the internet with this issue. I'm certain the article on Consumers Reports is getting a lot of hits, and they are probably getting new subscribers. But why is this a huge deal? The whole thing just makes no sense to me. I think it's illogical to not buy a phone that takes such leaps forward in so many ways because of an issue that is a fact of life for every RF device ever made. The fact that so many of my fellow geeks are getting so revved up about this makes me wonder what they are thinking.
The amount of stupidity by Apple users (and their fellow applefags moderating them up)
Ye have spoken well.
Really?
You have to admit it's some indication of the fervor of Apple fandom when Consumer Report withholds a recommendation on an iPhone for a well-documented problem and the discussion ends up centering on a criticism of Consumer Reports.\
I'm surprised that we're not hearing that the iPhones connectivity problems are due to a flaw in the laws of Physics. Maybe Ohm's Law has an inherent anti-Apple bias or something.
An even easier fix would just be to ostentatiously pretend to make calls and then exclaim "Wow, what excellent reception on my new iPhone 4!"
This way, the core function of the iPhone remains intact. Tape is tacky, after all.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Buying a competitor product in spite of another company product... yeah that is so much better than fanboyism.
despite your intense personal feelings about all things Apple, the iPhone and iPad devices happen to best fit the workflows and needs of many users that have in fact also tried competitors' products? Why is it so hard for people to imagine that some people actually use their iPhones rather a lot?
Mine is the central data manager in my personal and work lives, I don't just wear it on a necklace like Flava Flav. Frankly it's a bit insulting to hear this kind of bullshit all the time. I'm not a member of any Apple club, I don't own a Mac or an iPad or an iPod or any other apple device. In fact, I'm a Linux user with Thinkpads. But I'm a Linux user with Thinkpads and an iPhone, and this immediately requires fifty percent of posters on this and other technology boards to speak to my critical thinking skills.
Perhaps confront your own before you shatter glass with flying debris.
STOP . AMERICA . NOW
"Only people over 58 use consumer reports"
maybe. People who know about tech naturally wouldn't need CR for an iPhone. These are also the people who know how to, uh, hold it right. Now, imagine someone who doesn't understand the nature of the problem. They'd go out, get a new iPhone, and hate it. CR is saving them from that experience, and that's better for everyone.
CR is one of the more objective reviewers out there. If I had to shop for something about which I knew nothing (a new dryer, for example) I'd check out what CR has to say. It's better than reading reviews online. Where else are you gonna go? If you know of something better than CR for general consumer goods, I'd like to know.
blah blah blah
How this rates as 5 insightful and not outright troll just goes to show how bad Apple bashing has become on Slashdot lately. Tell me, exactly how do you justify your moral superiority by calling people you disagree with "fags"? Speaking of modpoint abuse.
"Give a man fire, and he'll be warm for a day; set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life
I don't think ANYBODY is claiming that it's not a fuckup. I don't think ANYBODY is claiming that Jobs' ridiculous emails weren't...well, ridiculous. Apple over the last year has caused some really interesting cognitive dissonance in people. Who knew that Slashdot had legions of people who viewed Flash as a killer feature and couldn't wait to get it on their iphones? In any case...
GP has a point--it's a fuckup with a really easy solution--buy a case. If you don't want to buy a case, return the phone. You get 30 days, and I really doubt Apple/AT&T would refuse returns past 30 days right now. As he points out, almost everybody already does buy a case. If you read the really in depth reviews such as Anandtech's review, iphone4 actually does a better job than iphone 3gs at maintaining a call with low signal.
Again, nobody is denying that it was a stupid design and that bridging the gap drastically lowers the signal.
The question is, does it matter?
Oh if only they were here too. The amount of stupidity by Apple users (and their fellow applefags moderating them up) is outstanding.
Yeah! Seriously!
*looks down at macbook pro*
*looks over at the itouch and ihome on dresser*
*looks at the apple sticker on the bulletin*
Aw... awww shit.
Hey! I can say FAG too! Mod me insightful motherfuckers!
Then why doesn't it happen when the aerial is not being touched.
Sorry but using some basic detective skill means that this is a hardware error. Changing the software to ignore the drop in signal will not make the problem go away.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
For the most part, those "open source projects" are self-serving and scarcely used by anybody else. The only project from Apple that has much use beyond Apple is WebKit, but they probably released that only because they were forced to by the license. You can see Jobs's attitude towards open source in the way he tried to weasel out of the GPL on gcc. And even to this day, Apple has not release an actually useful version of Objective-C.
If you weigh Apple's self-serving and useless contributions to open source against the harm they continue to do to open source, Linux, and programming freedom with their rhetoric, advertising, and outright lies, Apple is arguably a big net minus for open source.
Dude, most people are not depending on Apple to find out about problems with Apple's products. The illusion is already shattered (or in the process of shattering). Continuing to deny the problem at this point makes them look both clueless and evil, and is going to cause more problems than it solves.