Oncast Tech · Tech Tonight

A guy just rediscovered Antennagate

· Fact-checked before it aired. Unconfirmed claims from this segment are not shown.

When the iPhone 4 launched in 2010, gripping it in a way that covered the lower-left antenna gap could significantly reduce signal; the issue became known as “Antennagate” and Apple later offered free bumpers. The Samsung Galaxy S, released the same year, did not have that specific antenna design flaw.

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When the iPhone 4 launched in 2010, gripping it in a way that covered the lower-left antenna gap could significantly reduce signal; the issue became known as “Antennagate” and Apple later offered free bumpers. The Samsung Galaxy S, released the same year, did not have that specific antenna design flaw.

Just got the iPhone 4. Retina display is crazy but it loses signal when I hold it a certain way. Did I make a mistake not getting the Galaxy S? https://t.co/S0WiCIWd0L

Original post · Aditya (@AdityaKTech)

Consumer Reports (2010)

Sources

What the hosts said

CTech Tonight, and the biggest phone scandal of 2010 is back. A guy on X just got an iPhone 4.
MHe's fourteen years late, and the phone still won't make calls if he holds it wrong.
CAditya posted that the Retina display is crazy, but it loses signal when he holds it a certain way. Classic Antennagate.
MApple spent months denying it, then handed out free bumpers. "Every phone does this," they said.
CExcept the Galaxy S sitting next to it didn't do that. Consumer Reports hammered Apple over it.
MBut the free bumper fixed it, so Apple made it right. Eventually.
CAfter telling customers they were holding it wrong. That was the official line.
MOkay, that's still a masterclass in gaslighting. But it did push antenna design forward.
CThe fix was a rubber band around a metal phone. And it sold millions anyway.
MFair, that Retina display was a leap. Just don't hold it.
CDifferent world now: Hunter Harris on X is building multiplayer experiences where your iPhone talks to a Vision Pro. Big update coming.
MWho's wearing the Vision Pro? The few people who spent thirty-five hundred dollars?
CSomeone has to build the apps before it gets cheap. That's how the App Store started.
MCross-device multiplayer only matters if the headset is in the room. Until then, it's a demo.
CDemos are how every platform starts. I'd rather see that than another camera bump video.
MDavid Deco on X has a whole timeline. Ten years of camera bumps, Samsung versus Apple.
CThe real innovation would be a phone that lies flat on a table. But sure, celebrate the hump.

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