Does The CDMA iPhone 4 Bring Anything But A Chance For New Carrier Compatibility?
January 12, 2011
As with any big announcement, the technology community is buzzing with excitement and curiosity. One of the notable pieces of the CDMA iPhone energy wave is the slightly modified antenna setup. Surrounding this detail comes questions involving protective case compatibility, performance, and even reputation.
The topic began with leaks of an updated primary frame for the iPhone 4. This modified frame, which includes the iPhone 4's external antenna setup, offered a look at an antenna design with different separation points. This new design also forced a slight repositioning of the mute switch.
Even though the mute switch only moved down several millimeters, it's enough to cause problems when using a protective case that was designed with precise button guards. The big question here is, will third-party case manufacturers quickly follow suit in releasing CDMA specific cases? I'd imagine it'd be more likely to attempt a GSM and CDMA iPhone 4 universal version.
Once we heard about the new antenna, we knew that the iPhone 4 attenuation gossip would resurface, and indeed it has. SlashGear, Ars Technica, and PCMag all got a chance to get actual hands-on with the CDMA iPhone 4. All three were eager to test the infamous "death grip," where they described the new iPhone as supposedly resolving the issue.
Even though I don't feel it's impossible that Apple found a way to lessen attenuation this time around, these tests are hardly anything to put stock in. I'm glad to see at least PCMag admitting that such actions mean extremely little.
But the demo room has excellent signal, and attenuation problems really show themselves in fringe signal areas. It'll take a real lab test to see how much Apple has improved the antenna here.That seems to be a "duh" response from me. Why would anyone make an actual claim yet? I feel the comment by Pete Austin in regards to SlashGear's post brought back some very good points from the original argument. Pete posted a link to ""What do cell phone reception bars mean?" from Ask Metafilter. The post is a bit dated but déjà vu of the original "AtennaGate" fiasco. If this new design somehow were to be proven to be a better performer, we may see Steve and company invite the press to yet another "And nearly every smartphone can lose signal strength if you hold it in a certain way." focused event. Although, it didn't end up hurting them too much last time, so, who's to say they won't be able to successfully ride the rapids yet again? Unfortunately, just like Verizon's silence about data plan pricing, this is all just speculation and won't get resolved likely anytime too soon. Interested or not, it's time to brace for "Back to AnnteGate", "AnnteGate part 2", or whatever silly name they'll come up with. [Image credit: Engadget]
