Consumer Reports said on 12 July it cannot endorse the new Apple iPhone 4, citing the poor reception issues on the unit, all of which have been confirmed through tests.

Engineers at the influential buying guide have tested the popular smartphone and found that “when your finger or hand touches a spot on the phone’s lower left side -- an easy thing, especially for lefties -- the signal can significantly degrade enough to cause you to lose your connection altogether”.

Consumer Reports also tested other AT&T phones, including the iPhone 3GS and the Palm Pre, and found none of them had the same signal-loss problems of the new iPhone 4.

This “calls into question” Apple’s claim that the source of the iPhone 4 woes are due to its software that displays the wrong signal strength, according to Consumer Reports’ Mike Gikas.

Despite this, the iPhone 4 scored high marks on Consumer Reports’ test scores for its display and video camera.

Gikas wrote in a blog post that before Consumer Reports can recommend the iPhone 4, “Apple needs to come up with a permanent -- and free -- fix for the antenna problem”.

With all the bad press about the iPhone 4’s reception issues, would you still buy it for its other features? What do you think of Apple’s PR ‘damage control’ strategy?


Want to see what 24 hours of creative awesomeness look like? Click here.



This news message is supported by The Creative Finder, an online platform for photographers, illustrators, designers, and art directors to promote their portfolios towards new clients and collaborators. Creatives who wish to sign up for an account can save 10% off annual fees with promo code 'designtaxi'.