One of those questions that seem to linger around the launch of the new iPhone 4S is the spectre of ‘Antennagate,’ which pretty much tarnished the first few months of the iPhone 4. Apple managed to mitigate the disaster with a free bumper case program and it was spared further humiliation by the fact that the iPhone 4 outclassed virtually every other smart phone at the time. This time, however, Apple cannot risk a similar scenario because its rivals have already released high-powered devices that actually outclass the iPhone 4S in terms of hardware specs. However, fortunately for Apple this time Antennagate may well and truly be not an issue for the iPhone 4S.
According to engineers who worked with Apple on the new antenna design, the new iPhone 4S will feature two antennas (one at the bottom and the other on the top) to receive and transmit data. This virtually eliminates the chances of something happening like Antennagate, where phone calls would be dropped when a person’s hand gripped the bottom part of the phone (where both antennas were integrated into the back of the phone). The problem was triggered only when someone touched that particular area because the antennas would get short-circuited. The problem was effectively eliminated when the bumper was installed because it prevented the hand from acting as a form conductor. However, despite Apple’s efforts it was a Public Relations disaster because Apple initially denied all knowledge, then tried pretending everything was normal and only finally did it actually acknowledge a problem.
While the “death-grip” that plagued the iPhone 4 may not affect the iPhone 4S, analysts still say that if you hold the phone horizontally with both hands to text or communicate, the signal could be affected. However, this problem is not isolated to the iPhone, it is something that affects virtually every other smart phone on the market and is primarily due to technological limitations and not shoddy designs.
