Ah, the joys of first-batch Apple hardware. In addition to the hardware issues we’ve been seeing reported, there is now a group of users claiming that their rear-facing cameras are refusing to work at all. Apparently the shutter graphic just stays closed, and none of the buttons work. This occurs in the camera app or any app that calls in the picture-taking function, like Facebook.
Rebooting and restoring are doing nothing, so I’m guessing this is an issue with the code shipping inside the iPhone 4, since we haven’t heard reports of any other handsets freezing up. If this happens to you, you can of course reset your phone by holding the home and power buttons down for a few seconds, but if it continues, feel free to return it for a new unit. I’ll update this post if a solution is found.
Pretty borked rollout, Apple! Although to be fair, I played with one last night and it had none of the launch issues. So there’s one more data point, I guess. [Thanks, Brook]
Of course theirs problems. Apple was afraid that Android would get a bigger lead so they brought out a glitchy product. Sony did the same with Bluray. When lesser companies are scared because they know better products (or comparable) are out there they get scared and bring out beta products. This will probably take 1-4 months to fix and if they would have waited and fixed the problems then more Android phones would come out, the next Android update would come out and Apple would loose more customers than they have.
Sure.
Jobs should better be careful to call out other software for their bugs ;)
You make a good point, what I disagree with however is that you said that Sony did it with the Blu-Ray, I take it you’re talking about the PS3?
Remember the 360 came out before the PS3 and if anything the PS3 has been better in the long term when compared to the 360, not that the 360 is a bad console, I’ve had two of them in fact both RROD’s, had the PS3 now for just over a year so far so good
(touch wood), and I can tell you having the BluRay player is a big plus as well.
I believe he was talking about Sony putting out Bluray to compete with HD DVD
LC is right. Sony heard about HD-DVD and they have Bluray. Well Bluray wasn’t ready and Sony knew it but they figured if they didn’t bring something out Toshiba and Microsoft would win the standard war by the time Bluray was actually ready. So Sony brings out the version 1 (which is actually probably beta .80) knowing that the people who buy the first blurays are going to have problems when the second gen ones come out (and it was similar with the people who bought the second gen when the 3rd gen came out). Now Bluray is upgradable and everything is fine but look how long it took to get to this point. If Sony would have waited they would have lost. Bluray does have some better qualities than HD-DVD but who knows maybe with a few firmware updates that could have been changed. Sony fought, I think gave perks to the studios (because the codec that Bluray uses costs money while the HD-DVD one was open source and free to use). I think they paid retailers to push Bluray harder than HD-DVD and Toshiba wouldn’t play dirty so they lost.
It looks like the same thing might be happening with 3D. Sony is pushing their standard into the PS3 in hopes that enough people will buy it and it will become the standard. Thing I’m hoping is that either Nintendo, Sharp, or Hitachi will be able to make cheap big screen 3D TV’s that you don’t need glasses…Even Microsoft is working on this but they don’t have a working model out yet. If this can be done then Sony is toast because I really don’t think people want to watch 3D with glasses, plus we don’t know how good it’ll be for the eyes for people who watch 3-4 hours a TV a day…not to mention kids with their maturing eyes and they tend to watch even more. If Sonys tech becomes standard and years later people are having eye problems this could be a major blow with law suites for Sony. I don’t think they care though, its all about $$$$ to them.
@Robert: I disagree with the notion of an intentional rushed release in order to compete. While they definitely didn’t spend enough time testing the phone, they always release their new iPhone in late June. They knew they had to be ready since last year.
Yes but a good company will say “its not ready, lets make sure its ready before we bring it out”. Companies do it all the time, they push back product because its not ready. Its bad business practice. Why else would they insist on bringing it out if it wasn’t to try and slow down the sale of Android (and other) phones?
I don’t believe the BS that we should have to resort to beta testing. Beta testing is when you get to try something for free and you help the company by telling them what the bugs are with everyday use. Beta testing isn’t spending money on phone that you may have to wait weeks if not months for them to fix the major problems. When Palm did this with the Pre people were pissed but since its Apple you fanboys say “oh well its just something we should live with”.
Wrong. Worked in this industry…
QC is VITAL to both honesty and future success..no major company does what you allege…it only appears that way to you. Our industry puts out marvelous, operative, capable devices and our consumers have come to expect exellence every time…well…yes, we do have to resort to the betas once in a while..but by and large…your gadgets are superior to those in any other country on planet earth! (and always will be)
SEM
Works fine for me.
There will always be some with issues, no matter who makes it.
I have this problem and nothing works to fix it. Glad to know i’m not the only one!
Maybe you should be a little less linkbaity in your first sentence and be honest by changing it to Ah, the joys of first-batch consumer electronics hardware.
Because, despite their inexplicable reputation for making only the highest quality products, with the most attention to detail, Apple is pretty much the only major consumer electronics company in the market who routinely has multiple problems with the first batch of almost every single one of their new products.
Sure, HTC might have an issue with a single model of phone, and Sony might have a problem with a specific notebook, but Apple is the only company I can think of, who almost always has problems with the first batch of any new product.
@Lee Lloyd
Oh please give me a brake all consumer electronics companies have these kind of problems with first run products. They just don’t get the scrutiny from the windows fanboys and linkbaiters like apple does.
No, really, they don’t. Every company has the occasional bad product with multiple fatal flaws (the Xbox 360 comes to mind), I literally can’t think of a single company that so consistently has issues with their first batch of products as Apple. Even the most ardent Apple fan just shrugs and says “that’s what you get for buying a first-generation Apple product.” It is as consistent as the fact that it takes Microsoft 3 releases to get usable software.
It is all well and good to claim it isn’t so, but if that is the case, then prove it. Show me all the 1st-batch problems of new Sony, Samsung, LG, Motorola, HTC, RIM or Nokia products.
Well then tell Apple not to make such a huge fuss when they bring out a new product, then everyone won’t be looking at it so much as to find fault with it. Telling people to turn off their wifi because Jobs couldn’t get HIS signal, I mean, was everyone else having the same problem and asking for people to turn them off? Or was it just for the iFoney4?
Oh, and every product gets looked an now since everyone now has the internet, it happens everywhere, with almost every product, I do it with everything I intend to go out and buy.
Actually you are quite wrong. Apple just happens to be expected to produce perfect devices every time. Any other company will produce a product with flaws, it’ll be negatively reviewed on C-Net, and people will chalk it up to a lose for that company. No one cares as much about the flaws of Nokias, HTCs, Motorolas, Sonys, etc. Especially because those companies roll out new phones a dime a dozen.
On the contrary, Apple is one of the only companies who ends up fixing most if not all of the problems their devices have, usually through a software update or even a replacement.
Yes, of course you are right. It only SEEMS like Apple has problems with their products, because they are so PERFECT! Who but a nitpicky type A personality, would be such a perfectionist that they would expect their phone to make a call while holding it in their hand?
Man, talk about Orwellian doublethink! Step back from your apologizing for Apple’s mistakes for a second, and roll the concept of a glass phone with an untouchable antenna that runs the entire perimeter of the device, and get back to me about how perfect Apple’s designs are, because I can spot quite a few less than perfect aspects of that design.
@Lee Lloyd
No one here is saying apple’s products are perfect you condescending bastard were just saying that they get judged more harshly from the haters (guess what you are) so try reading the comments before you go making yourself look dumber.
Nobody’s saying you’re adding anything to the conversation gianpo.
Probably because you’re not.
@Lee Lloyd
Can’t agree with you there mate, if you work in an engineering field like I do you’ll notice how pretty much any first gen product released from firms has problems, no matter how big or how small it will have problems I gurantee you.
You think Microsoft didn’t have problems when releasing there first gen software? Those problems were in immense amounts.
Apple has a wide variety of hardware problems not because they can’t make products, simply because they have to make such a huge number of them in such a short time, you think a multi-billion dollar making company would care if a few of their phones had problems? No, they’d still make a huge amount amount of money.
If you expect a company to make a fantastic fully working product straight off first gen why would they waste more money in designing and manufacturing more products? No product is perfect, simple fact, all first gen products have hardware issues.
There is a vast gulf between a little technical problem, like requiring a firmware update to improve battery life, and a critical design flaw, like a phone that can’t make calls if you hold in in your hand, and shatters if you drop it.
Just because nothing is perfect, doesn’t mean there isn’t a difference between needing a little tweak, and fatally flawed, to the point of being unusable without modification. When a product is specifically marketed as being better looking, more durable, and getting better reception than its predecessor, and neither of the latter two things are true until you buy a second product to cover the first advantage, that is not a little problem, that is a completely failed design.
Oh, and by the way, I call total bullshit on “Apple has a wide variety of hardware problems not because they can’t make products, simply because they have to make such a huge number of them in such a short time.” Nokia, RIM, Sony, Samsung, LG and Motorola all churn out product at a much higher rate, on much tighter schedules than Apple, and I can’t really remember the last time I heard that a Sony TV looked great as long as you didn’t watch it, or a Motorola phone got great reception as long as you weren’t holding it in your hand. Let’s remember, Apple has put out exactly one model of phone this year, and had a whole year to get the manufacturing process down. This isn’t some company like HTC kicking out 20 models a year.
I really can’t believe the excuses people make. Are you actually saying that we shouldn’t expect Apple’s $700 (the price without subsidy) phone to function properly, because they sell so many of them that of course they aren’t going to work 100%? Well gee, that is a FANTASTIC value proposition there! I can’t wait to go out and buy some of that!
@Lee Lloyd
The part your not understanding is that all those companies you named do have the same manufacturing issues you just don’t hear about them because they don’t get the scrutiny that apple gets.
these 1st gen issues only really started as of 2007, actually. Before that apple did a good job of making their products complete as well as beautiful. The real trouble started when they started getting money and Steve Jobs started acting like a real owner of a multi-million dollar company.. Greedy.
He’d make obsolete products so he could sell another one once people started getting sick of their incomplete packages. We have some fanboys here, on both apple and pc, but we don’t have enough mediums. Just look at this for a second: for you pc fans out there, where has apple actually really made that incomplete of a product other than the iphone and the occasional ipod touch bug (which sort of comes along with the iphone). Sure, these phones are buggy as hell, but everything else is golden, if you prefer the apple operating system over pc.
Now, Mac lovers, yeah, every little phone has it’s glitch, but you should be able to hold your phone however you want, not in some awkward way in fear of it not working properly, also their response emails about “holding it wrong” is ridiculous, there should be no “wrong way”. Also, by fixing an issue that could’ve easily been fixed with the slightest design change by selling you an overpriced “bumper” is quite preposterous.
Apple’s starting to go a little over the edge here. But just look at this from both perspectives. Basically yes, the iphone has it’s issues, but so do most phones. YES, the issues on this phone are particularly bad, but if you can find it in yourself to ignore something as DEVASTATING as a drop of signal, or a temporary yellow spot of adhesive, then you have a pretty snazzy thing right there.
Mine wont let me make a call unless i hold it just rite.!!! Booo
I had the issue with the camera not working on my wife’s phone and took it back to the store and they did what Apple is typical for and that is taking care of the consumer.
And here are all the Apple fans who say that only when Apple does it, features work as they should. Just sad.
Mine is doing this EXACT thing. Any fix yet? SO annoying.
any fix? yes there is, buy another band of phone…
Just received mine and same here with the reception problem. Why didn’t. Apple test for this? If you don’t cover the side it works ok.
They did test for it, and told you to hold it a certain way, why fix the problem when they can just ask the Apple fans to do as they are told?
first of all, in all fairness most of the “hardware issues” are likely the fault of the manufacturing plant in china and durectly related to their quality control policies. hat said, the onus is on apple to hire the best quality manufacturer theycan find to reduce/minimize these issues.
secondly, i’d like to see some statistics comparing the number of defective/flawed phones vs. the number sold to date for an accurate representation of exactly how many problems they are having.
in regards to the reception and shatter issues… well, simply put, get a case for your phone! every cell phone ive owned for the past ten years has been in a protective case. why? because i realize that i i want my phone to last, it’s up to me to protect it. name one durable/rugged phone that can take a beating and be scratch/shatter proof, let alone a smart phone with a 3.5″ screen.
if keeping the iphone 4 in a case also happens to improve reception, bonus. i was goig to be getting a case anyways because i’m not a loron and i realize that glass is glass is glass no matter how you slice it, it’s delicate!
that said, t’s both interesting, and logical that if your hand is touching multiple antennas it’s essentially linking them together and causing issues, surprising they didn’t think of this. i look forward to experimenting with it when the phone is available in canada.
for the record, i’m in canada and with rogers and i’ve never had any reception issues with either the 3g or 3gs. i have had dropped calls occasionally and service in elevators/steel frame buildings is the shits but i had the same problems with other phones through rogers, neither of which were an issue when i had a cellular plan on the mts/allstream network. i was also able to “recycle” my iphone 3g not long ago for nearly 200 dollars in best by credit due to the immaculate condition i kelt it in. BECAUSE I USED A CASE.
You want a reason for not buying an iphone, read through the above post, was typed on one!!! I mean really, don’t they make a big fuss about their on screen keyboard???
upon reading that back to myself, i’m realising i need to find a way to reduce my typo’s when typing on my 3gs lol. i’ve got auto correct off because it’s proven to turn a lot of my sentences into utter rubbish… too bad that also disables the new spell check.
also, i’m sure they’ll resolve the camera issue wth a firmware update or something. anyone tried a hard restore from factory settings by grabbing the latest firmware through itunes?
This just happened to me right after using a 3rd party app that uses the camera. Now the stupid virtual shutter won’t open at all. I just did a full DFU restore and it still won’t work, so I’m going to go gry at the Genius Bar.
This happened to my husband’s phone. We turned it off and on several times with no luck. Then he turned it off for several minutes (around 10) and voila it worked! Hope this helps!
I wondered if that might work. Maybe there’s a heat issue?
My Video teacher said that I should get this phone. Like thats going to happen
Update: I took it to the Apple Store and they replaced it with a new one, even though it was an AT&T preorder. They don’t have any refurbs yet.
anyone have problems with the front camera? when i hit the swap camera button in Camera App, the screen freezes.
I installed IOS4 on my 3GS and viewing the photo roll does not work. Firstly the photos will only display in portrait mode and secondly some photos are only partially displayed i.e. the lower right hand corner.
Note to Apple:
Instead of “Just avoid holding it that way” – how about “Just test it properly”?
well I have had mine for 24hrs now and there have been no problems with it at all :)
sure Kurt. Lemming.
ha ha, well said.
Seriously? Yellow spots. Bermuda Triangles on reception? Screen is destroyed when dropped from 3 feet…and now the camera doesn’t work? i guess to make a call you’ll have to sacrifice a chicken and do a voodoo two step.
What the fanboys don’t understand is that when Steve gets on stage and smuggishly derides everything not Apple and this wunder-Phone can’t even do basic phone functions reliably, people are gonna call him out on it and its not gonna be pretty.
Typical replies from the crApple lemmings. This phone is not what Herr Jobs said it would be. It was rushed to beat the competition. So many bugs in the software and the manufacturing process.
Yellow splotches on a cracked screen along with dropped calls and cameras that don’t work. Sounds like a wonder phone to me.
Whatever happened to the 4G for this phone?
@Realist
Typical reply from the anti-Apple gestapo.
He’s one of the few making sense in here!!
Anyone tried restoring the phone on ITunes???
If you hold it wrong, you blew it
Mine’s largely fine. If I block the bottom left it loses bars. But, holding the phone normally, no issues.
Apple knocked it outta the park. The screen is gorgeous. OS has been rock solid. Rear camera is really good. Etc etc etc.
“knocked out of the park” and “rock solid” are the wrong metaphors for a delicate objet d’art. And “holding the phone normally” didn’t use to mean “holding the phone so you don’t interfere with an overly clever antenna design.”
I almost got sucked in on this one, despite having been burned by Apple before. So while I sympathize with people currently getting screwed by Jobs’ arrogance (“just don’t hold it that way.” WTF???) the current quality control fiasco (and what looks like obvious stupidity in design — I mean really, a glass back????) is actually saving me some money: my old Nokia, which I could toss around like a golf ball if I wanted to, is working fine. Give me a smart phone half as durable as that, and I’ll get one. Obviously will never be an iPhone.
To all those people out there saying that all other companies have the same problems consistently let’s just review for a second…
Apple releases a single phone in a year and it’s faulty, so 100% of their first batch products for that year are faulty.
Another company releases; lets say 10 phones in a year and there’s an issue with the first batch of 1 particular model, so 10% of their first batch products are faulty for that year.
Apple is famous for revving up hype regarding the release of it’s products, simply put; Apple deserves to get slammed for releasing a faulty product with so much hype.
To those Apple fans out there with the “you’re just a typical Windows fan boy” view, please come up with a valid argument. From my experience there are a lot of people who use Windows and Microsoft products who won’t hesitate to jump on faults in Microsoft products even though they’re a consistent user of the products themselves.
The die hard Apple fans need to shift themselves away from the view that Apple products are the best thing since sliced bread. While Apple’s first release of the iPhone may have been great, let’s face it; they haven’t produced anything revolutionary since then. When Apple produces so much hype for their new “Revolutionary Phone” that comes bundled with faults they deserve all the criticism they get. Quite personally, I’d be pissed if I went out and bought a new car, only to find out I can’t wear shoes while driving otherwise the accelerator wont work. (Especially if it was from a well known and highly reputable company)
Apple took a major risk introducing so many new structural and mechanical features with this phone, features not just new to Apple products but to mobile devices in general. Of course when such a device is released to millions at once, the shit is going to hit the fan.
To be fair, most other phones being released are minor tweak to already proven technology – slightly faster processors, better screens, different cases – but really the same phones.
It’s the same with cars – manufacturers really only pump out a completely new version of a car model once every 5 or so years; all other models are basically the same with different panels, upgraded sound systems, different paint options – maybe different bumpers ;)
I’ma a fan of the iPhone purely for the reason that it’s re-defined the way that people interact with mobile devices; and by people I mean non-techie types who aren’t really interested in turning their phone into a BSD box.
The iPhone genius is in the interface, not the hardware – you can slag off at the physical aspects of the iPhone forever and you’ll generally be not far from wrong.
Phone manufacturers have traditionally given the ir phone’s OS only secondary thought, focusing on sellable features like bigger cameras, multiple band reception and music playing. Apple have succeeded because they looked beyond that.
I’m facing the same issue. Have done all sorts of resets as adviced by Apple Care. Will let them know tomorrow that this was of no help. Hoping to get the device replaced quickly.
Did you try leaving it off for several minutes? My husband’s phone did the same exact thing. He couldn’t use either camera and resets didn’t work either, but after leaving it off for several minutes (maybe 10) it worked! I don’t know why, but it’s been running great for a week now. Hope you get it fixed one way or another.
My phone did the same thing to me last night. I was quite annoyed because i had a hot chick over and was trying to snap a few “shots”. The other thing it was doing, when it would open up, if i moved the camera a little fast the screen would split up into 2 or 3 segmented freeze frames. As much as i loved my last iPhone and all of the other Apple products I own, Im a little disappointed right now. There are so many kick ass features on this phone, front and back cameras being one of them, but they can only be kick ass if they work properly.
Same problem here in germany… both cams wont open after a few, quite perfect pics. No help from hardware reset and restore…
Cam probs on monday, replaced with a new one on tuesday… everything’s perfect now. Bought an ipad 64 GB today… hey, no camera inside and i love it :-)
For a company which just updates their one and only phone once a year and not being able to roll out something good is worthless.
Let’s not compare to other companies, because they are rolling out more than 15 models a year. Yes you will find a problem in 1-2 of their models.
Also thinking that what Iphone is adding in their new generations is nothing new as compared to other companies. They are way behind actually. Remember Cut Copy Paste, No Voice Dialing, No Video recording….. when even the smallest handset could do all that.
I had the same camera problem right out of the box. The camera on my iPhone 4 would do the following.
1. Stutter and freeze on a frame for a few seconds and resume.
2. Freeze altogether on a frame.
3. Freeze when taking a shot (where the virtual aperture graphic is in the closed position)
4. In video mode, the camera would exhibit all of these symptoms, too. I shot a 5 minute video and it stuttered several times, including an occasional freeze of magenta (purple-pink) lines going across the screen.
I brought my iPhone to the local Apple Store. The Genius told me it could be a software issue, so she did a factory restore. Afterwards, I played around with the camera at the store and the exact same problems manifested. When I showed her, she gladly replaced my iPhone with a new one and the camera works just fine. And I must say, I’m really enjoying the 4.
My total investment in time (including driving to and from the Apple Store) was 1.5 hours. That’s less time than watching two episodes of ‘Dexter’ or jumping on a message board and trying to justify your smartphone choice to a total stranger.
Although I sympathize with anyone who purchased a dud, your time is better spent getting your faulty iphone exchanged than going onto a message board and bashing or defending Apple.
I had the same problem with my brand new iphone 4 I preordered and picked up at a local AT&T store yesterday. Without knowing anything about this posting, I found out that there was something wrong with the rear camera midnight. I brought the iphone to the AT&T this morning but they tossed me to an Apple store. The Genius simply was not aware of this issue. He recommended on restoring to the factory setting at home. I insisted on doing so at the store, so he did it and the camera still didn’t work. Finally I got a replacement with a new phone.
Got my iphone 4 from apple (pre order) on July 15th, sent it back on July 17th. very poor. Its my third iphone. I only wanted it for the HD Video, and couldnt get passed the locked shutter (even after complete restore, with updated iOS).
Thanks for letting me tell someone.
I found a fix that worked for me. I asked my friend to call me using facetime. The camera shutter opened up after I hung up.
To all of the people who say that the iPhone 4 sucks because of the bad reports on the internet, let’s think about things for a second.
First, let’s start with the volume buttons and yellow problems. As far as I can tell, these are problems with individual iPhones, not a problem in every iPhone. These sorts of problems happen with every piece of electronics on the planet. Let’s look at the Motorola Droid for a second (it is one of the few phones with a large number of reviews on Amazon). Out of 189 reviews, there are three 1-star reviews mentioning successfully sending the phone back (which means that Motorola agreed that there was a serious problem). Judging from this, 1.6% of Droids had problems (if I use the Droid Incredible, I end up with a 4% problem rate). Multiply this by 3 million iPhones sold, and you get 47,619 iPhones with problems. If 1% of these people complain on the internet, you would see 476 complaints on the internet. Moral of the story? A few complaints on the internet does not equal fatal flaw with product.
Now, for the antenna and glass back. These are design flaws. That said, these are fixable by using the free case that Apple will give you. The problems with other phones are not so easily fixed. If you want to use a phone with an amoled in the sunlight, there is no solution. If you think Motorola’s enhancements to Android in the Droid X suck, there is also no solution (for other phones, you are stuck with finding a third party rom and installing it – solvable, but not easy). If you have a HTC Evo 4g and don’t want to charge it multiple times per day, there is again no solution. Against that, I’ll take keeping my iPhone in a case. Moral of the story? There is no such thing as a perfect phone. Live with it.
No, the iPhone is not perfect. That does not mean that it is not one of the best smartphones available.
First time iPhone user; I thought it was just me doing wrong, but I could get the front camera to work.
The best/only success I have had with the back camera is when it is plugged in and charging. Some of the situations I’ve hit:
- Picture mode: can take a single picture. Shutter then stays closed. Only exit is to hit the home (?) button on the bottom of the Iphone4. Picture is not stored.
- Picture mode: takes a very very dark picture. Only a few pixels where a glare or light is will show up. 99% of the time the shutter stays closed.
- Picture mode: camera is grayed out. Sometimes after ~2+ minutes, it activates and I can take a picture… sometimes. Often the shutter stays closed and the only escape is the “home key”
- Movie mode: red record dot is greyed out. When it finally activates after 2+ minutes, I can’t really take a picture.
- If I want to move it into movie mode, I often have to wait 2+ minutes for the camera mode to become active (can’t do anything while it is lost…)
This is a brand new phone. Only thing that I have activated on it is my company VPN and my email. No apps running. No music or anything loaded on it.
S/w version: 4.0.1
Serial Number: 81030JMNA4S