Infineon Chip Causing iPhone to Fumble Handoffs?

Lonnie Lazar ()

With AT&T claiming a 1% dropped call rate, in general, on its cellular network, a reported 2% – 3% dropped call rate for iPhone 3G traffic would indicate something of a problem. It’s a problem neither Apple nor AT&T are willing to acknowledge or comment on presently, but reports indicate Apple is hurrying to push a software upgrade to one of the chips inside the iPhone made by Infineon, some say in hopes of staving off a potential product recall.

Have you experienced difficulty with getting on AT&T’s 3G network in places where it’s available? Have you had problems with dropped connections when moving between high-speed and slower-speed networks during calls and Web sessions?

Let us know in comments below and we’ll keep you posted with further news about the chip upgrade.

Via Business Week

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About the author

Lonnie Lazar

Lonnie Lazar is a writer-musician-web designer-attorney. He writes about Apple for Cult of Mac and Mac|Life, and about VoIP and telecommunications for Voxilla. Follow Lonnie on Twitter @LonnieLazar, join the Cult of Mac on Facebook, and find Lonnie's photos on Flickr.

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Posted in Apple, iPhone 3G, Rumors |

  • SanFran3G

    At first the dropped calls were ridiculous. I’ve been wanting an iPhone forever, waited in line on opening day for 4 hours, and broke my contract with Sprint to get one. But I almost returned it.

    For some reason the first software update helped out my dropped calls. But I still have issues when I’m transitioning between 3G/Edge/GSM coverage. It’s quite painful actually.

  • Fred Huss

    I spoke with an ATT tech agent regarding this problem. She acknowledged that she has taken many calls concerning this situation here in the Midwest.

  • firesign

    i’ve only had one dropped call ever here in cincinnati on at&t, and that was on my old v3 razr when it was still cingular. since then i’ve had a v3xx razr, a samsung blackjack II, and now an 8gig iphone 3g. no call or data problems at all. lucky i guess. i don’t want to make it sound like others can’t be having problems because i’m not so far.

  • bszaronos

    I use to have the at&t first gen razr. I never really had dropped calls. With the iphone 3g i have a lot more dropped calls. So much so that I have started leaving the 3g turned off. I turn it on when i am using the web or app store.

    Hopefully they will fix the problem.

  • James

    Cell coverage in New York City has always had its dead zones (I’ve had Cingular, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile), and AT&T 3G is no exception. I try to use 3G only when necessary in order to preserve battery. I have noticed that the iPhone definitely goes to no bars while transitioning between 3G and EDGE, but I have not experienced a dropped call because of it, and I wasn’t aware that this was not normal. So if this is a problem and it is ‘fixed’ by Apple/AT&T/Infineon sometime in the near future, that is a bonus as far as I’m concerned.

  • Sam

    I have one spot in a populated area that will always drop an AT&T call but I don’t know how to report it. It’s definitely a hand-off problem, because I count down from five to four to three to two to one bar as I enter the area, then the call drops, and I get five bars.

    Hey AT&T, the spot is 36°12’0.38″N 86°34’56.11″W and it will drop every call as you drive through east bound.

  • Lee Hassler

    Both my son and I have the problem where 3G drops calls and the signal goes up and down randomly in strong signal areas. We are in Tampa. If you are on Edge and turn on 3G in a non 3G area it is supposed to default back to Edge. Our phones do not and the signal drops to one bar and then after about a minute goes to “No Service”. We understand the world is not perfect, but I didn’t upgrade the phone to 3G to be on Edge (literally) so Apple & AT&T let’s get it fixed in a reasonable amount of time before we have another PR mess like MobileMe…………

  • Harry

    In New York City on the 10th floor, at my desk up against the window, my 3G iPhone switches between Edge, 3G and “no signal”. It drops calls, takes forever to download email — even when it claims to be in G3 mode. I’ve had an AT&T tech out to my office twice, they wanted me to exchange the phone, which Apple did. Apple can read out the diagnostics to see how badly your phone has behaved. Together with the 2.0.1 upgrade not much, if anything has changed with my replacement iPhone, unfortunately.

  • Scott

    I’ve been having this problem with my iPhone 3G on the Optus network in Australia. Whenever I’m on the train swapping between towers I experience frequent dropouts, and it takes a long time to reconnect to the 3g service even though 100% of the route is covered with 3G.

  • Nick

    I have been having problems with dropped calls on O2 in the UK and definite issues with 3G signal strength and pick-up. Can be sitting beside someone with full 3G signal and I am being pinned to EDGE.

  • MikeN

    Original iPhone after a few firmware upgrades worked great. But the dropped calls are back on the 3G. I am dropping 10% of all calls. I have one to two bars on 3G at my home in the Atlanta market. On Edge I have three or four bars, and it appears to be the arbitrary switching between the two that is causing the drops. With no change in my location, the iPhone still seems to vacillate between the two networks. Help us Apple.

  • jb

    I have had my 3g for a week now, and while I have had only a couple of dropped calls, I rarely have a 3g connection even though it is operational in my town. Overall the speed of the phone, in all applications, has been poor.

  • MINI VANILLI

    this is why im sticking with the original iphone for the time being. well… this and the cool aluminum back.

  • MINI VANILLI

    this is why im sticking with the original iphone for the time being. well… this and the cool aluminum back.

  • RM

    It is terrible, yesterday every one of my calls (approx 5) dropped at some point.