The Real iPhone 4 Antenna Design Flaw
The real iPhone 4 antenna problem?
Users can see and feel what’s on the exterior of a phone.
Duh, you say, but hear me out. Take a look at Apple’s own photographs comparing antennas and attenuation from their new antenna response page:
Apple’s own method of highlighting the antenna makes the problem clear. You see the iPhone antenna. It’s right there. The exact spot where the arrow points. You see the Bold’s antenna? No, you don’t. It’s somewhere in the bottom of the phone, in that yellow oval area.
Ask your average Bold user where their antenna is and you’ll probably hear:
- “I don’t know.”
- “I don’t have one.”
- “Somewhere on the inside.”
Ask your iPhone 4 user and they’ll say:
- “Right fucking here.”
Even assuming the antenna strength is the same if not better than the other phones, Apple has created what amounts to a button to decrease signal. A tactile, visible section of the phone that, when touched, gives immediate feedback in the form of less bars. Other phones don’t provide the same “user experience” in their attenuation.
The iPhone 4 antenna design is not flawed as an antenna. It’s flawed as part of the user experience. It gives the user a concrete interactive element, increasing their awareness and perception of attenuation. There’s a big difference in a user’s brain between seeing and touching one spot, and placing your hand in a general area on the back of a case.
I’m sure there are smarter words that psychologists or user experience designers can use to describe what I’m getting at. I’d bet Apple employs a few themselves. I find it hard to believe that the company that has single-handedly revolutionized touch interface experiences over the last 3 years didn’t think about this aspect of externalizing the antenna.
