AnandTech on the iPhone 4’s Antenna and Reception

Detailed analysis by Brian Klug and Anand Lal Shimpi at AnandTech. They show a decided drop in signal strength when “holding it wrong”, but conclude that the antenna is significantly improved overall:

From my day of testing, I’ve determined that the iPhone 4 performs much better than the 3GS in situations where signal is very low, at -113 dBm (1 bar). Previously, dropping this low all but guaranteed that calls would drop, fail to be placed, and data would no longer be transacted at all. I can honestly say that I’ve never held onto so many calls and data simultaneously on 1 bar at -113 dBm as I have with the iPhone 4, so it’s readily apparent that the new baseband hardware is much more sensitive compared to what was in the 3GS. The difference is that reception is massively better on the iPhone 4 in actual use.

★ Thursday, 1 July 2010