iPhone 4

Yes, the Dev Team is Still Working on an iPhone 4 Unlock

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 29, 2016

For those of you wondering, yes, the Dev Team is still working on an iPhone 4 unlock. These 2 tweets from MuscleNerd and PlanetBeing just confirmed that they are actively working on the unlock, which doesn't seem to be an easy task.

.bbpBox17712248759 {background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1277748195/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #9ae4e8;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}

Having fun on iPhone4 baseband with @planetbeing...step 1: arbitrary code exec...done. (LOTS of steps left tho!)less than a minute ago via webMuscleNerdMuscleNerd

Even though Apple has been working hard on patching the holes, it's good to see that PlanetBeing has a whole "bag of tricks".

.bbpBox17712320810 {background:url(http://s.twimg.com/a/1278188204/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #9ae4e8;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block}

Apple added an anti-blacksn0w trick this time around. ;) i have an ever-growing bag of tricks though, wrapped in a nice python script.less than a minute ago via webplanetbeingplanetbeing

There is no ETA for an iPhone 4 unlock, or even a jailbreak, which seems to be the priority.

Read More

Twelve New Ways To Hold Your iPhone 4

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated November 25, 2016

Until Apple figures out a way to fix the antenna issue, NPR came up with 12 new ways to hold your iPhone 4 to make sure you get the best signal without having to buy a case.

Check out NPR for 12 interesting ways to hold your iPhone 4.

Read More

Not Satisfied With Your iPhone 4? You Can Return It For Free

Sébastien Page ∙ July 2, 2010

Not satisfied with your iPhone? Apple's phoney fix for the antenna issue won't do it for you? Then you can return your iPhone at no cost as Apple dropped the 10% restocking fee in a move aimed at calming down angry iPhone customers, and possibly to try to avoid lawsuits.

Me? I don't want to return my iPhone 4. I just want it to work. Sneakily incriminating AT&T and taking a cocky stance while telling me I can return my iPhone 4 if I'm not satisfied is not what I expect from a company like Apple.

What do you think?

[via Computer World]

Read More

Apple Finally Acknowledges iPhone 4 Antenna Issue, Offers Phoney Explanation

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated March 5, 2018

Apple hadn't officially talked about the iPhone antenna issue until today. Steve Jobs had had a few email exchanges with angry customer, but the company's position on the matter hadn't been made official, until this open letter was published on Apple's website  this morning.

While I read this open letter for the first time, I couldn't help thinking an intern had written it. It's indeed poorly written and gives an explanation of the issue that is barely believable:

We have discovered the cause of this dramatic drop in bars, and it is both simple and surprising. Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong.

Dude, the formula was "totally wrong"! That sure sounds like some surf bro from the North Shore typed this is. Besides, Apple seemed to have the formula totally right in the past, so why this sudden change?

The rest of the open letter reads:

Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display 4 bars when we should be displaying as few as 2 bars. Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don’t know it because we are erroneously displaying 4 or 5 bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.

To fix this, we are adopting AT&T’s recently recommended formula for calculating how many bars to display for a given signal strength. The real signal strength remains the same, but the iPhone’s bars will report it far more accurately, providing users a much better indication of the reception they will get in a given area. We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see.

We will issue a free software update within a few weeks that incorporates the corrected formula. Since this mistake has been present since the original iPhone, this software update will also be available for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G.

So let me decipher this for you. Apple is going to release a software update that will display the accurate number of bars on your iPhone. You might have never had any issue with the old iPhones (3GS, 3G amd 2G), but now, you will have even less problems.

When you do performance tests after the update, results will be the same, but at least your iPhone will display the correct amount of bars.

Like I foresaw last week, Apple will not fix the antenna issue, it will just hide it with a software update.

Read More

10 Things I Love About the iPhone 4 (and 4 I Hate)

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated November 12, 2019

I've had my iPhone 4 for just about a week now. The Engadget and other BGR have had access to the phone before all of us and they gave pretty extensive reviews of the iPhone 4 so I won't go too much into the details. I just want to tell you what I think sucks on the iPhone 4, and what I think should make you want to buy one.

What I Like About the iPhone 4 It's beautiful It's cool The screen resolution is amazing It's fast The camera is great The LED flash The front-facing camera FaceTime The battery Fast app switching What I Don't Like About the iPhone 4 The battery Fast app switching The same old UI The antenna issue

As you can see there are more pros than cons. You will also notice that the battery and the app switching appear in both pros and cons.

On my first iPhone 4, the battery was crap. I could barely go through one day on a full charge. I exchanged my iPhone 4 last weekend for these reasons and the battery on this new iPhone is much better. Same usage, same phone, but all iPhones are definitely not equal when it comes to battery.

As for app switching, I love how it works. It's just great to be able to quickly switch between apps without having to wait for them to load again (that is for apps optimized for iOS 4). However, it can get very messy really quick in the app switcher, often showing over 20 apps in the background for me. Sure Steve-o says not to worry about them, but I still like to be in control of my apps, just like I am with ProSwitcher. With Apple's app switching, I'm not, unless I manually kill those running in the background.

As for the UI, I think Apple could have done a little spring cleaning in there. The iPhone UI is great and simple, but after 3 years seeing the same stuff, I really get tired of it.

What do you think about your iPhone 4? What do you like about it? What do you dislike about it?

Read More

How to Export iPhone 4 Videos in Full Resolution

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

The iPhone 4 video camera can shoot movies in full HD at a resolution of 720p, but the problem is these videos are scaled down to a maximum resolution of 568 x 320 anytime you try to export them to YouTube or via email or MMS.

So far, the only way to get your video exported in full res is to transfer them off to your computer. Not very convenient for a mobile device...

Fortunately, there's an app for that.

Pixelpipe, a free application in the App Store, will export your mobile videos in full HD 720p up to 200 MB to YouTube, Flickr, Facebook, MobileMe, Viddler, Posterous and a bunch of other sites. You can also email or upload those videos via FTP.

Additionally, Pixelpipe has been updated for iOS 4 and allows full multitasking for background uploading, which might come in handy if you upload a 190 MB video over 3G.

[via TUAW]

Read More

First Action-Class Lawsuit Filed Against Apple and AT&T Over iPhone 4 Antenna Issue

Sébastien Page ∙ July 1, 2010

It was only a matter of time until this happened. The lawsuit that obviously focuses on the iPhone 4 antenna issue, makes several claims:

General Negligence (APPLE and AT&T) Defect in Design, Manufacture, and Assembly (APPLE) Breach of Express Warranty (APPLE) Breach of Implied Warranty for Merchantability (APPLE and AT&T) Breach of Implied Warranty of Fitness for a Particular Purpose (APPLE and AT&T) Deceptive Trade Practices (APPLE and AT&T) Intentional Misrepresentation (APPLE and AT&T) Negligent Misrepresentation (APPLE and AT&T) Fraud by Concealment (APPLE and AT&T)

I don't like lawsuits as they usually don't solve the issue, they just compensate it. In this case however, Apple's audacity and lack of action is such that I can understand why a few people would want to sue the company.

Thank god MacGyver has a fix for this antenna issue.

[via Gizmodo]

Read More

Should You Get An Insurance For Your iPhone 4?

Sébastien Page ∙ Updated January 23, 2016

With twice the amount of glass surface on your iPhone 4, your chances of shattering any side of your device are twice as high. Insurance company Asurion figured this out and decided to offer protection plans for the iPhone 4.

For $12/month this company will insure your spanking new iPhone against every possible event: theft, loss, hurricane, oil spill, broken screen, screen cancer, you name it.

That sounds great, doesn't it? Wait to read the fine prints then because there is a $200 deductible on this plan and replacing a phone can be costly. Although the iPhone 4 costs $199 or $299 with a two-year contract with AT&T, customers would need to pay the full retail price of $599 or $699 to replace a phone in the middle of the contract.

An insured owner who loses a phone after a year of use would have paid $144 in fees on top of the $199 deductible. That would be a total of $343, about half the price of a new phone. But the chances of losing or breaking a phone are far below 50 percent, making the price for the policy too high for the risk. And according to Asurion, the replacement phone might be a refurbished model.

Unless you drop your iPhone every other day, I think such a plan is useless and will cost you more in the end. If you break your iPhone in the first year, simply have it fixed by a repair shop, not by Apple as their prices are usually much higher than independent repair shops.

If you lose or get your iPhone stolen, simply look for an unlocked one on eBay or Craigslist. In the end, it will most likely cost you less than if you purchased this insurance plan.

That's my 2 cents. What do you think?

[via Yahoo via Todd]

Read More

If MacGyver Had An iPhone 4, This Is How He Would Fix The Antenna Issue

Sébastien Page ∙ June 30, 2010

Welcome to episode #649 of the iPhone 4 antenna issue program. Since Apple doesn't seem to be doing anything to fix this annoying issue, we have to be inventive and figure out our own way to get things to work as they should.

A discussion in the Mac Rumors forums suggests that the issue could actually be from the SIM card itself.

I just tried this. My sim contacts were under the edge of the tray too. I cut a piece of electrical tape to exactly cover only where the gold contacts of the sim touched the tray. I went back to the exact location in my house where I had 1 signal bar. I now have 3 signal bars. Unreal, I can't believe this did anything. Tested before and after with a bumper on the phone. I'll keep an eye on the performance outside the house tomorrow. I don't want to jump to conclusions that this helped my iPhone reception without more data. Looks promising so far though!

What seems to work for this guy didn't work for others, me included. Hey Apple, we're still waiting for an official statement from you about the issue!

Read More

Apple’s iPhone 4 Antenna Troubleshooting Procedures Leaked

Sébastien Page ∙ June 30, 2010

By now you must have heard about the whole iPhone 4 antenna debacle. In case you don't know about it, let me give you a short recap. Basically, when held with the left hand, connecting the two antennas, the signal drops significantly, often cutting off cell signal. Steve Jobs' official statement on the issue: hold it different!

I personally think Steve-o is full of it on that one and apparently, Apple might be working on a software update that will hopefully fix the issue.

Now you might have called Apple or even visited an Apple Store about this issue. According to an internal document leaked to BGR, this is the answers you probably received:

1. Keep all of the positioning statements in the BN handy – your tone when delivering this information is important.

a. The iPhone 4’s wireless performance is the best we have ever shipped. Our testing shows that iPhone 4’s overall antenna performance is better than iPhone 3GS.

b. Gripping almost any mobile phone in certain places will reduce its reception. This is true of the iPhone 4, the iPhone 3GS, and many other phones we have tested. It is a fact of life in the wireless world.

c. If you are experiencing this on your iPhone 3GS, avoid covering the bottom-right side with your hand.

d. If you are experiencing this on your iPhone 4, avoid covering the black strip in the lower-left corner of the metal band.

e. The use of a case or Bumper that is made out of rubber or plastic may improve wireless performance by keeping your hand from directly covering these areas.

2. Do not perform warranty service. Use the positioning above for any customer questions or concerns.

3. Don’t forget YOU STILL NEED to probe and troubleshoot. If a customer calls about their reception while the phone is sitting on a table (not being held) it is not the metal band.

4. ONLY escalate if the issue exists when the phone is not held AND you cannot resolve it.

5. We ARE NOT appeasing customers with free bumpers – DON’T promise a free bumper to customers.

When I exchanged my iPhone last weekend, I asked the "genius" if she could give me a Bumper for the antenna issue. She said she would have given me one but there were all sold out. I guess she hadn't had the memo yet...

Now you'd better come with a software fix for this antenna issue, Apple, because buying a case or holding my iPhone differently won't cut it for me.

What's your take on it?

Read More