Apple Missed iPhone 4 Reception Issues Due to Cleanliness? [Easy Fix]

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Posted July 6, 2010 at 4:34pm by iClarified

A post-doctoral biochemistry fellow at a leading American university has told Wired that Apple likely missed the iPhone 4's reception issues due to cleanliness.

Take a look at this email sent to Steve Jobs and a couple other Apple employees. The biochemist suggests that when engineers washed their hands before touching devices they stripped off their natural hand electrolytes and therefore didn't experience the reception issues now widely reported.

Apparently Apple can fix these issues at minimal cost by placing an electrically insulating organic hydrophobic layer atop the bare metal. This could even be performed at the Apple Store or via a simple self application kit sent to customers.

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Subject: HowToFix for minimal cost — hydrophobic organic thin film layer

Hi,

In truth, Apple’s explanation for iPhone 4 signal reception problem is inaccurate at best and disingenuous at worst. iPhone users are in some of the hottest and most humid parts of the country this summer and have salty, damp hands especially at events such as baseball games, barbecues, or other outdoor activities. having bare metal antennae purposely handled will absolutely short the signal. This problem will be difficult to reproduce in Apple’s labs because the engineers are required to wash their hands before touching devices, which also strips off the natural hand electrolytes that are ever-present in the field on a hot day.

Anyway, the solution is not a redesign of the phone, but rather an electrically insulating organic hydrophobic layer atop the bare metal. a variety of plastics will work, such as polyethers, polystyrenes, or nylons. you could even use the plastic labels ever-present on aluminum soda cans, which likewise have an electrically insulating effect when holding said cans. these plastic coatings can be very very thin films which do not ruin the aesthetics of the device, and would require a minimal change of your production line. More importantly, this coating in no way affects the ability to recycle the aluminum — the organic thin film layer will burn away cleanly during the aluminum remelt process. Phones that have already shipped could easily be coated with this new layer at any Apple retail store or with a simple kit you could send to your customers.

In summary, this is a problem of electrochemistry, and certainly NOT a problem of software design, nor one that can possibly be solved by a software update.

Apple needs to hire some chemists.

Best regards,
XXXXXXXXXX, Ph.D.
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Apple Missed iPhone 4 Reception Issues Due to Cleanliness? [Easy Fix]

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SteveMagin - July 30, 2010 at 10:22am

I can understand why Apple engineers may wear gloves, as the email suggests but I'm not buying the whole electrolyte angle. Check out this youtube video showing an iphone 4 drop 4 bars within seconds; after it had been coated with a third party thin surface protector. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCxTDyxVVho&feature=related. I think this theory is well and truely busted! Its more a pressure related issue with the hands on the anntena, as mentioned in other posts. I can't help but think Apple knew about this well before retail release. But hey didn't stop me from buying one!

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yves - July 7, 2010 at 5:24am

I have an Iphone 4, I do cook, do many things which get my hands ditry and I've never experienced any losse signal issues till now. A friend of mine aalso has an iphone4 and also no issue could it be a fabrication issue

Mike - July 6, 2010 at 11:12pm

Do you even have the iPhone 4? The issue isn't that u can block the signal with your entire hand. The problem is that one finger lightly covering the black strip between antennas causes the phone to lose all signal. This is what the shielding is for.

jazze - July 6, 2010 at 6:40pm

i think its a good idea to coat it and i think the best job can be done by colorware they coat the phones and do a good job without making it bulky... here is the link http://www.colorwarepc.com/default.aspx

Noman - July 6, 2010 at 6:10pm

It wouldn't surprize me if Apple engineers had to wear gloves whilst in their labs. We also know from the Iphone 4 leak earlier this year that the Iphone 4's being tested in the field were being used within cases to make them look like Iphone 3gs, so it's very likely that this is something that was completely missed in the testing stage. I too, doubt the ability of a software update to fix this issue. It really does look like a bit of poor design. So Mr. PhD, where can I pick up some of this organic stuff eh?

Eduardo - July 6, 2010 at 6:15pm

Honestly I would listen the the TWiT show, this has nothing to do with shorting a circuit. It has to do with creating enough distance between the antennae and the hand to allow a signal to pass through. So an organic coating will do nothing, It would need to have some thickness to it. I think the covers that masked the iPhone 4 to make it look like a 3g are probably the real culprit here. They made the distance from the phone to the hand even further than what apples 'bumpers' do. But note also that if you live in an area with a good connection that you cannot recreate this, at last people living outside the US have the upper hand here. I live in South Africa and I never get dropped calls on my iPhone, our 3G network is one of the best in the world.

rockne1865 - July 7, 2010 at 2:43am

Get an Outterbox case! Protects the phone and fixes the problem

Eduardo - July 6, 2010 at 6:05pm

This is total BS. I'd suggest this person listens to TWiT episode 255. Where an RF designer explains the antenna issue in depth. The hand isn't shorting anything, its the actual hand obstructing the signal. Tests done covering the phone in electrical insulation tape had no effect at all.

Andrew - July 7, 2010 at 9:34am

Couldn't agree more with the Prof. Having experimented with iPhone 4 in a poor signal area I can replicate the problem simply by placing a finger over the insulation strip bridging the antenna band gap. (salt and other electrolytes still intact!) this has little or no effect in strong signal areas. So while Apple may have a software issue there is clearly a physical issue with at least a few of the 1.7 million v4s sold so far. A thin polymer coating would probably do the job very nicely. Clear nail polish would do it, but is too thick for my taste. Do wonder I'd this is a batch problem or every early device? Bet those leaving manufacturing plans now or in near future will have a coating :)

drkztan - July 11, 2010 at 5:28pm

it IS the hand that's shorting the antennae. you actually bridge both antennae with your hand, that's where the signal drops. i have a "GoD" (gap of death) iphone 4, because i live in a goddamm at&t low signal area (read: when i head over to a city close by that has good signal, i never get the reception issues even when covering the gap with my arm...). it is easily fixed by putting a livestron rubberband in bumper mode in the phone ;)