Putting hard numbers to the iPhone 4 antenna issue

The discovery that gripping the iPhone 4 in a way that bridges the left and bottom antennas can cause serious signal problems has resulted in—to say the least—a lot of controversy. However, most of the data that either “proves” or “refutes” that existence of said problem has been anecdotal at best. 

So AnandTech used a clever hack to get an iPhone 4 to report actual signal strength instead of “bars,” giving some quantitative data about how bridging the antennas can negatively affect signal strength. The analysis explains why not all users are affected by the problem, and further investigation also shows that the antenna design does in fact improve reception as long as the left-bottom area isn’t bridged when holding the device.

Other mobile handsets definitely have antenna attenuation problems—when cupping an iPhone 3GS or Google Nexus One in the manner that causes problems with the iPhone 4, AnandTech measured 14dB and 18dB drops, respectively. However, the problem with the iPhone 4′s external antenna is worse; bridging the antennas detunes 3G reception by a full 24dB.

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