Is iPhone 4 Death Grip a Non-Issue? [Poll]

Leander Kahney ()

Consumer Reports‘ conclusion that the iPhone 4 Death Grip is hardware-related is a huge blow for Apple. This isn’t something Apple can ignore — or brush off as a software problem that is easily fixed. Consumer Reportsis too big and important. Apple must respond.

But is the Death Grip a fuss about nothing? Given all the complexities of cell-phone networks, is the Death Grip something that doesn’t have much effect in day-to-day use?

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About the author

Leander Kahney

is the editor and publisher of Cult of Mac, and author of three books about technology culture: Inside Steve’s Brain, the New York Times bestseller about Steve Jobs; Cult of Mac; and Cult of iPod. Leander has written for Wired, MacWeek, Scientific American, and The Guardian in London. Follow Leander on Twitter @lkahney and Facebook.

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Posted in Apple, iPhone, Top stories |

  • Chris

    I don’t have the issue where I live, because we get REALLY good cell service from AT&T, but if the antenna placement is as Consumer Reports says then they have a problem. I love Apple and all their products but they clearly have an issue if the antenna placement is screwing up reception. They can’t expect customers just to get by with holding it different. No sane company would do that.

  • Don Pope

    I pick the third option:

    It’s not a huge issue, but it is real and a defect that Apple should at least acknowledge and try to fix.

  • http://www.applebitch.com applebitch

    I think that by the very way that Apple are handling this, it IS an issue but the stone faced Apple response is not helping consumers.

  • firesign3000

    I also choose option 3. Not an issue for me, but there is clearly a problem that needs to be addressed properly.

  • Shawn Pero

    I simply haven’t had any of the problems that others are with this. I actually had to have someone show me how to do the Death Grip before I could reproduce it myself, and I still can’t do it a lot of the time.

  • Brian

    Agreed with some of the other people. Not an issue at all for me, as I don’t hold my phone like a caveman or squeeze the crap out of it, in addition to living in a good cell service area. However, for those who ARE having problems, Apple should do something. Either way, the whole thing has been blown completely out of proportion.

  • gdylan

    Apple has a huge problems on their end. They need address the problem and fix it not just tell ppl to hold THEIR phone different, if Steve jobs was so arrogant he would realize this and not blame it on a miscalculation of service bars. On top of that you have all these fanboys that think jobs is a god maybe Apple should have just stuck to making computers and not veal phones. Remember you don’t buy Apple products you only rent them.

  • gdylan

    Crappy*

  • http://TheBORG.me The_BORG

    I was planning on buying a case any way for it. Just had to do it locally & for more $ than I wanted to spend since none of my discount sites didn’t update with any iPhone 4 cases yet because manufacturers didn’t release them at the same time as the iPhone 4.

  • Crusader

    Option 3 – not a huge issue but large enough that it shouldn’t be ignored. I for one would be hesitant to think o buying the iPhone 4 unless I could be assured that a skin would prevent any issues.

  • progr

    “Remember you don’t buy Apple products you only rent them.”

    Mmh. I need to go to the Apple Store and tell them that they can’t sell their products. And I also need to close store.apple.com.

  • Joseph

    A recall? LOL. A recall is for products that are dangerous and need to be removed from use. If your iPhone isn’t working for you, take it back, get your money back, and go buy a different phone. Problem solved for everyone except those with hyper-entitlement complexes.

  • gdylan

    Yea u rent then…when I buy something I’m under the impression that I can make it look run and by MINE not someone telling me that I’m not allowed to to this or that. Come on it took till 2010 for the iPhone to multitask apps other then native apps, finally get a 5 mp camera, and able to set pics as wallpaper me on ppl. Then on top of that telling devs that can’t use Adobe in THEIR apps seriously y would u wanr a probe that’s already behind the curve when Apple claims to “reinvent” “revolutionize” and make everything “magical” but they can’t even get a simple antenna to work proberally, and everyone is holding THEIR phone wrong and if u want it to work either move YOUR hand or spend 30 dollars for a case or bumper, f that buy a real smartphone.

  • gdylan

    Properly*

  • Gilbert Wormac

    If ‘You’ have a issue personally, ‘you’ should return the phone. Plain and simple. Nothing would motivate Apple to fix a problem more than 1.7 million returned phones.

    However, not everyone is experiencing this problem, even if Consumer Reports say’s it’s real. People should just return the phone. The number of returns would illustrate if this is a defect, or a Class Action money-grab.

  • Chuck

    I love it! Now everyone is making fun of the fanboys and fangirls who took steve’s coolaid. Apple knew of the flaw prior to launch and didn’t bother to tell any of us. Everyone should return their iphone4 for a refund or risk being the laughingstock of their friends, colleagues and strangers.

    Don’t let Apple get away with lying by omission to you, and steve jobs telling you to hold your phone correctly. Lol, that just confirms that he thinks you are all idiots! Don’t prove him correct.

  • Charles

    Bought a case for it that I was going to buy anyway….had a case on my older iPhone too! Gotta have a case on the thing no doubt about it and the case is a necessity in my opinion…case makes this a non issue.

  • http://www.kylesmithphotography.com Kyle

    Unless you are trying to physically crush your phone or hold your phone like an ape then there really is no issue. All cell phones have antennas that come in contact with your hand, it’s gonna happen. I’ve only been able to recreate the issue once and I literally was squeezing the phone with all my strenghth. There’s nothing wrong with the phone so they’re just searching for something. I mean what other cell phone have you seen yahoo do a story on for why not to use it? It’s Apple so of course more will scrutinize it than some POS nokia or lg phone.

  • Nathan

    While I’m not sure how this wasn’t found before being released and I think it should definitely be fixed, I rarely use my phone for making phone calls and always have a case so I don’t think this would be much of a problem for me.

  • http://www.latestipodreviews.com ipod nano

    Hi
    i have got an ipod nano and don`t have its case. can you please advise me the right place / portal where from i can get it easily and quickly and am staying at england…!

  • yet another steve

    Consumer Reports was able to fix it with a piece of tape. So worst case, you get a case.

    Apple probably does need to offer free bumpers. They can certainly afford it.

    Personally, full awareness of this has not damped my lust for the device. Mine is on order and I can’t wait. Too many good things in that phone.

    I also note that the back order delay hasn’t budged despite all the bad buzz.

  • http://www.howiesweb.com Howie Isaacks

    It’s a total non-issue. Show me a cell phone that gets perfect reception all the time, and I’ll show you some wonderful ocean front property in West Texas. The REAL issue is that there are a lot of people who want the iPhone to fail, and this mock controversy was designed to get that to happen.

  • Mikal

    I have not had a dropped call yet. Of course I live in a city with a very good 3g network. It is true, if I hold my fingers over the two slots I get a decrease in signal. I love the phone, but Apple should fix this issue.

  • Ben

    I used to be able to attend conference calls on my blackberry with Verizon virtually anywhere I wanted and then I made the dreadful mistake of buying an iPhone4. Now I have to use a land line and therefore am tied to a location by wire.

    I don’t dare host or attend conf calls with my iPhone4 on AT&T. Between the piss poor AT&T 3G service AND the poor antenna design on the iPhone4 I would be probably be fired after dropping every call. Every day I call my wife and my call is dropped on the way home, in an area AT&T says has impeccable 3G service.

    I’m going to have to break this contract and go back to Verizon or another carrier soon, this is effin ridiculous.

  • Narg

    I’ve been able to re-create the issue on my iPhone 4. But I bought the Bumper and now I don’t have the issue any more. Personally, I think Apple should give all iPhone 4 owners free Bumpers (or re-imburse those who already bought one). That would fix everything. I also think the iPhone 4 looks a LOT better with the bumper.

  • http://alsvik.dk alsvik

    I’m speachless … Apple launches a product that have a major flaw. It’s a phone first of all, and it fails as a phone. They try to “getaway” with a stupid pressrelease blaming their own software – but offcourse it cant be! The signalstrength shown is just a graphical representation – and it is not the graphical representation that causes the phone to loose its connection/signal … big fail Apple.

    Now the most surprising (well, not really – just google “iphone+stockholm syndrome”) is the ridiculous iphone-fanbois refusing to admit the problem:
    “No i don’t se anything, no no, it supposed to be like that. Same stuff happens to Nokia 3210 if i put it inside a microwave!”

    It’s like old times when iphone users postulated that MMS and Video on a cellphone was totally obsolete and that noone used it anyway …. :o)

    Amazing! Hear no evil, see no evil …

  • IcyFog

    It’s been a non-issue for me so far, but then I’ve only had my iPhone 4 for a few days.