iPhone 4

Weak signal strength issues seem to be increasing from a few isolated incidents, with the associated software fix, to a full-blown design issue. If, as it is looking increasingly likely, that the antenna design means that the signal can be attenuated by shorting the two antennas out, then a redesign or some fix is going to become necessary. The Telegraph has estimated the cost of a recall and or fix in their article.

Apple originally claimed that the issue was down to an incorrect signal strength algorithm, thereby showing the users an incorrect number of signal strength bars. That's now be shown to be a tiny part of the problem, with the issue being in hardware, not software. Nevertheless, it is another example of where more comprehensive testing would have revealed the problem. One news article identifies that only a very small number of altered prototype phones were available for testing in the network.

Apple now claim that all phones suffer attenuation when held in a particular fashion and the iPhone 4 issues are just a demonstration of that. However, not all phones place the antenna without insulation on the outside of the phone, so this explanation seems a little weak, considering the analysis this article goes into explaining the design flaw. This made me consider the possibility that somehow, accidentally, the entire phone could be destroyed by an electric charge touching the antenna. I'm surprised the whole thing is exposed as any grounding or connection to another electrical source could damage the phone. Most phone antennas are internal but when phone antennas were external (think Ericsson GH337) the antenna was housed in rubber.

Regardless of any internal circuit protection, the fact you can change the length of the GSM/UMTS antenna by shorting it with the WIFI antenna, thereby changing the resonant frequency, is more than just an issue of your fat fingered hand phone holding style; its bad design. Sadly it seems the aesthetics were more important than the functionality according to another story.