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iPhone 3G Issues Persist Despite Latest Firmware

My first gen iPhone works much better than my 3G. I get CONSTANT dropped calls even with 4 bars and there are frequent freezes/bugs in contacts and texting. There is also
some distortion in the earpiece which didn't happen on the original. I have turned off 3G on this new one and just wish I hadn't left my first iPhone on a plane!! :rolleyes:

ps. I love MobileMe, however, and have had no problems with it, knock on wood!
 
While I haven't experienced any dropped calls yet with my 3G here in the Columbus, Ohio area, I did have the issue with none of my downloaded apps working just 2 days after I got the phone. The solution for me that has worked for about a week so far, was to downgrade to iTunes 7.7.0 and resync my apps. (See the link in my sig below for the steps.)
 
Still more issues....

This one's not getting much press, but it's affecting quite a few people:

We can't download *any* apps or updates directly to our iPhones. The only way to do so is via iTunes -- and if it's an update to an existing app, we first have to delete the original app from the iPhone, or more errors persist, like this:

error (0xE8000001)
error (0xE800002E)
Application installation error (0xE8000013)

There are various permutations of this bug -- some users see all of the symptoms; others see one or two of the symptoms. But it's nasty and needs to be fixed....

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1649032

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1646859

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1596982
 
vilasgn said:
All these stupid news about any small issue from Apple products is overblown by the moronic media and not-so-smart users. One thing I don't understand is, how come all these kind of issues (?) never reported about any other phone? Why Apple is the only company has a hangin sword on its head?

Just because you people got the platform (so many forums) to whine and somebody is reading, that does not mean people should start jumping and bringing any minor Apple product issue and start whining. This is more publicity stunt than anyting else.

I accept there are issues but come on guys. Give Apple some break!

Now everyone will say, 3G reception is a big issue. Personally I don't think there is anything wrong with iPhone 3G reception. What you are getting is what it is. I have been using iPhone for the past 1 month and I don't have any problem with 3G.

Let me ask you this. How many of you really bothered or gave that much importance to "3G" before iPhone 3G came out. I am sure you people accepted your 3G reception quality as it was on your earlier 3G phones. It's about the network or the location at that point or any other signal obstructing electronic/metallic items nearby.

Seriously, I am all convinced that all this media coverage to all "Apple Issues" is some serious plot from all the competitors who cannot see Apple's success. There are many forces behind this and they don't want apple to succeed but trust me Apple is going to keep on kicking their a**.

Talk about cracked iPhones, dead pixels, guy with overheating iPhone (that burned his a**)...what is going on? I mean do these blog sites have to report anything crap that come out? Most of the things are so fake. Tomorrow I will hit a hammer on my iPhone and tell everybody that I just dropped my phone and it completely disintegrated.

Since iPhone is largely a consumer product and many of the consumers don't even know ABCD of the technology, they start complaining about the iPhone (my iPhone does not cut vegetables, does not do laundry etc. you know what I mean) and those complains are published by these moronic blog sites and idiotic media.

Summary is, try to relax and calm down. iPhone is one of the best gadget I have seen in my entire life. I know it will have issues similar to any technology. Give it its time and stop whining!
Click to expand...


I completely agree, we need to be patient and let apple do there thing. i dont think half of people know anything about the iphone itself. everyone needs to relax
 
Let's take a step back and think about this

There's a lot of noise out there -- let's look at the 3G quality issue objectively. First, some facts:

  • A lack of 3G signal, or signal stability has been reported all around the world on the iPhone 3G.
  • There are lots of anecdotal reports of poor-quality signals (myself included), but there are also lots of reports about good-quality signals.
  • There is no conclusive shift in quality between 2.0 and 2.0.1, or 2.0.1 and 2.0.2 software/firmware. Some have reported improved quality; some have reported degraded.
  • Many people have reported that they live in an area of the U.S. where other 3G phones receive a strong 3G signal, yet their iPhone 3G does not.

Assuming that Apple has not substantially changed the hardware components or assembly of the phone in the time it has been building the iPhone, here are some very logical conclusions:

Firstly, it is highly unlikely that this is solely a network issue--AT&T in the US or otherwise--especially since there are many reports of other 3G phones working much better than the iPhone in the same regions.

Therefore, reasonable assumption is that the iPhone 3G itself is responsible for the signal quality problems: either a hardware or software issue. Given that we've heard multiple accounts of planned software fixes, it's safe to assume that either a) this is fundamentally a low-level driver or firmware problem in controlling the 3G modem, or b) it is a 3G modem hardware issue that the Apple engineers believe they can patch/hack/fix using a low-level driver or firmware change.

Given that we've heard reports that the 2.0.2 software was to include at least some 3G modifications (reported here, at Ars Technica, and elsewhere) and that the update has generally affected users--positively or negatively--it's pretty safe to say that Apple has tried at least some 3G firmware or driver modifications so far.

So what does this data mean? Well, given that we haven't seen a "magic bullet" software fix, it's becoming increasingly clear that Apple is attempting small tweaks, which may or may not affect users. And when they do affect them, it's unclear whether it will be an improvement or not. To me, this isn't particularly reassuring. There could certainly be some fundamental driver change in the future, but for now, all the facts point to a fault somewhere in the iPhone, and the first attempt to address the issue appears to have been something of a hack.

We'll see.
 
FullGaz said:
Apple products are still perceived as exclusive luxury products: expensive but high quality. As of late, Apple has mainly delivered on the first part, leaving the quality aspects of their products for subsequent revisions. That goes for the iPhone, for the MBP and for OS X. In fact, in these very forums, there are more than 300 threads complaining about serious quality control issues.

Apple are trying to expend their markets but it is to the detriment of their image. The new iPhone is cheaper therefore allowing more people to get exposure to even more Apple products. That's a good thing in theory, but not if users are being served second grade devices and buggy software.
Click to expand...

FullGaz, this is EXACTLY why I am mad with Apple. iPhone has been a massive distraction from their Pro Apps and they have been late in refreshing their Mac Pro line. In fact, Leopard was delayed so they could focus more engineers on the iPhone. They rushed it out the door and it is a crap product. Very cool, but QA sucks. They need to SLOOOOW down on the iPhone and bring things back to their core competency quickly.

Adobe saw this window and put Premiere back on the Mac. I don't blame them. FCP is the best, but not if it cannot keep up.
 
Now I have problems

I had no problems with my 3g iphone... until this last update and now I'm perpetually re-setting the thing just to get it to connect and retrieve email..

Actually - today I turned 3g off - and it has been much better since then...
 
Well all I know is, until this week, I had never ever gotten the 3G logo on my phone at home. I live on the outskirts of the 3G coverage map in Tampa. Now all of a sudden this week, presumably after the update although I can't prove it (maybe AT&T enabled another tower, who knows), the 3G logo shows up, and it's showing 5 bars as well. And I did the download test at test my iphone dawt com, and received 2Mbps, lol. Did it a second time and got 1.8 Mbps. So something has definitely happened here. Here is the screenshot I took on the iphone.....hope this comes through, I haven't done a picture in this forum before.

photo1219446614090
 
blur35mm said:
FullGaz, this is EXACTLY why I am mad with Apple. iPhone has been a massive distraction from their Pro Apps and they have been late in refreshing their Mac Pro line. In fact, Leopard was delayed so they could focus more engineers on the iPhone. They rushed it out the door and it is a crap product. Very cool, but QA sucks. They need to SLOOOOW down on the iPhone and bring things back to their core competency quickly.

Adobe saw this window and put Premiere back on the Mac. I don't blame them. FCP is the best, but not if it cannot keep up.
Click to expand...

Why should refresh the Pro APPS and Mac Pro, there is nothing wrong with the machines or software, so why update them??

The iPhone isnt a crap product, your just whiny cause you dont know how to use it. Mine is fine, and works great.

Adobe i Premiere used to be a decent product until FCP came and blew them out of the water. Premiere is clunky and hard to work with.

Everyone needs to realize that you are not going to get 3G in every single part of the country and just be happy that you can afford such a great product.
 
"the beige toaster"

If the original Macintosh 128k was known as "the beige toaster" due to overheating because of Steve Jobs' marketing idea of not using a fan, what nickname do you call a 3G iPhone plagued w/ problems?? Ideas, people! ;)
 
freezing up constantly with the new firmware and nothing helps short of a hard reboot...

also constant lag when typing text in safari and other apps. (worse than before)

heyzeuss... this update was horrible for me.
 
fix for appcrash bug

i've had that app crash/no media bug, and i don't know if this fix will work for anyone else, but i didn't have to downgrade itunes or reset, all i have to do is delete the apps by unchecking the sync apps box and letting the phone sync. then i check the box again, sync again to put the apps back on, and everything works.
still a pain but better than the other solutions.

and actually i don't have to wait for all the apps to be gone, at some point i can stop the synching, check the box, sync to add the apps back, and they work. might be good after one apps deletes, which would be just a few short minutes.

i get this bug when i allow updates of applications on the phone. if i upgrade using itunes, there is no problem.
 
now i have not a level of computer know how, and i seriously have been looking at the newer MBP/s and especially the iPhone line with AT&T...and I know AT&T is crappy and has a permanent bug up their a#%...but I have been really disappointed with so many who ran out like lemmings to get the latest Apple this and that only to find out either the quality is poor to crappy and the product doesn't work right--and yes there are many who aren't having problems and have a level of computer know how they can fix things but it seems that after the last of the PB's and Tiger things quality and electronically have been going down hill....so many have said Intel chips have been so great for Mac's...yet I just have to wonder had Apple stayed with AMD would things have ended up like this? Certainly I could be wrong I am just daydreaming....take that Magpower magnet on my MBP15 almost everytime now the slightest pressure unhooks it...why the hell didnt Jobs leave that alone...and the same with the mechanical latch's on the MBP etc replaced by magnets just as stupid--and cheap to put in rather than 100% working latches!
 
ra noodle said:
now i have not a level of computer know how, and i seriously have been looking at the newer MBP/s and especially the iPhone line with AT&T...and I know AT&T is crappy and has a permanent bug up their a#%...but I have been really disappointed with so many who ran out like lemmings to get the latest Apple this and that only to find out either the quality is poor to crappy and the product doesn't work right--and yes there are many who aren't having problems and have a level of computer know how they can fix things but it seems that after the last of the PB's and Tiger things quality and electronically have been going down hill....so many have said Intel chips have been so great for Mac's...yet I just have to wonder had Apple stayed with AMD would things have ended up like this? Certainly I could be wrong I am just daydreaming....take that Magpower magnet on my MBP15 almost everytime now the slightest pressure unhooks it...why the hell didnt Jobs leave that alone...and the same with the mechanical latch's on the MBP etc replaced by magnets just as stupid--and cheap to put in rather than 100% working latches!
Click to expand...

Since you do not have the computer know how, you need to be quiet and not question something you know nothing about.

I believe that Apple switching over to intel chips was one of the smartest moves they could have ever made. It helped them speed up the computers, they run cooler, have more power than the powerpc chips would ever have.

I like the Magsafe feature, i have seen a lot of broken computers cause they got yanked off the table, with magsafe, it has been a lifesaver

im tired of reading posts from people that know nothing of apple computers, I think there quality has improved.
 
Fix for 3rd party apps

So I don't know if this has been covered already but I wanted to throw my experience in there to see if maybe it can help somebody.

My apps were crashing on launch and the only thing that fixed them was waiting for just one update to come through the App Store and download and install that. After one minor update to a single app all the rest sprang to life and are working again.

Hopefully this helps you, let me know if you've got any more questions about what I did.
 
Rybold said:
3G reception works fine for me. I think the people filing that lawsuit need to actually take a look at the coverage maps before they walk into court. I'm sure AT&T will be quick to show up with coverage maps and plenty of amo. Look at all the fine print on the brochures and contracts. Pages and pages of fine print. AT&T definitely knows what they are doing when it comes to legal issues.
Click to expand...

Actually I would be inclined to think that AT&T wont show up with any coverage maps, that would be akin to shooting themselves in the foot, if they show 3G coverage maps in more detail than on their website and it shows potentially less coverage then they open themselves up to a true class action lawsuit for themselves and potentially other carriers as well.


bigmc6000 said:
I know it sucks to "go back to the stone-age" but if the call drop problem bugs you that much just turn the 3G off.

Also, I wonder if someone sues Apple can Apple then just pass the buck to Infineon since it's their POS that's causing the problem?
Click to expand...

Maybe they could just be more open to all of their customers as opposed to pretending no such issues existed as they have been doing for the most part.

By not saying anything (or saying very little) and continuing to sell the devices they leave themselves open to all sorts of potential messes and lawsuits. I would not be surprised if more of these lawsuits pop up, justified or not, the 3G part of the device seems to be problematic at best.

My biggest concern for Apple is if there is no magic software fix and they do need to recall/replace all devices so far with ones that have had the hardware upgraded to correct the issue. That would be a massive worldwide embarassment for a company that freely advertises that their stuff just works. Would also make their mac/pc ads pretty useless as well. In many ways if Apple did errr on the side of caution and place a pause on selling the device they would be more likely to get applauded for stopping than continuing to sell a problematic product.

Something of interest, the mobileme issues affected only 1 or 2% of users, and strangely enough the iPhone3G issues per Apple only affect the same % of users. Wont say they are lying, just find it interesting that both issues only affect such a small number of users.
 
macshill said:
If the original Macintosh 128k was known as "the beige toaster" due to overheating because of Steve Jobs' marketing idea of not using a fan, what nickname do you call a 3G iPhone plagued w/ problems?? Ideas, people! ;)
Click to expand...

Half Burnt toast ?


(the black back cover)
 
dcdttu said:
How does the coverage in downtown Austin work for you? Is that 3G enough on AT&T's map? I get 1 bar there, if not on 2G because my phone can't find a signal. My friend's Samsung had full 3G next to my phone just last night. Same spot.

This is not a coverage issue. Ask people in downtown Chicago, San Francisco, Manhattan and Austin.
Click to expand...

I know what you mean...I'm in chicago. Best signal, but dropped call rate is about 80%. People can't even call me. It just goes straight to voicemail.
 
Let's see, my experience with the iPhone 3G:

I had my first iPhone with absolutely no problem--3G was fast, worked well, a few crashed applications and Contacts and SMS was slow as hell, but no biggies. Until 2.0.1. After that, I lost all sound capability with no explanation.

The next day, I bring it to Apple, they replace it without a question. I re-update it to 2.0.1, and it's working fine. Except for the 3G and crashed applications. Again. Since I'm currently up in an area for an extended period of time without 3G, I'm fine with the bad 3G, but when I was back on Long Island (new 3G area), the EDGE was 10x faster than the 3G on this new phone, which was radically different than the first iPhone.

I'll go up to Rochester later next week to see if I can get it to work well there. If not...I'll bring it back to Apple and perhaps join that class-action lawsuit.

I just downloaded 2.0.2 now. I hope it works better than before.

Apple, methinks, really dropped the ball on this one. It upsets me.
 
I have solved my poor reception and dropped calls issues on 3G, and it was't because the just released update. I just droped the leather case I had and started using my iPhone with nothing over :), For tree days now my experience has been completely wonderful. Hope this helps some one else.
 
supmango said:
Turn off 3G unless you are browsing the internet or downloading an application. Edge works fine for phone calls.
Click to expand...

Sigh. And what do you do if the country you are in doesn't have the Edge option? In Japan, it's 3G or nothing with the iPhone.
 
Some fixes...

Some folks probably need to do a clean install not a restore.
That would clean up some problems.

Others are no doubt having real problems with the Infineon chipset and the 3G network in their area, or a weak one.
 
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