iPhone reception problem? Hold it differently, Apple says

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

A day after users discovered that cradling Apple’s new iPhone in your hand may interfere with its antenna and cause it to lose its signal, the company has suggested a solution:

Don’t hold it that way.

Apple said that some loss of signal from gripping a handset is ‘a fact of life for every wireless phone,’ and that if it happens on the new iPhone, users should ‘avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band.’

Or if you prefer, the company suggested, ‘simply use one of many available cases.’

Apple redesigned the phone so the steel frame ringing the handset doubles as its antenna. The left side of the frame is used to broadcast a cellular signal; the right side is for other bands, such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.

As a result, righties** may find themselves plagued by the signal problems more than the rest of the population.

Though Apple says every mobile phone has similar issues, it’s not a phenomenon the gadget experts at iSuppli have seen before. That’s because nearly all smart phones -- including earlier iPhone models -- have the cell antenna packaged inside the case, along with the circuitry.

But Apple’s plan for wrapping the antenna around the phone was to boost its cellular performance, according to comments from Jobs during the phone’s unveiling this month.

Gripping the lower part of the phone may interfere with a piece called a radio frequency ground plane, which helps amplify the phone’s cell connection. That piece, said iSuppli hardware analyst Kevin Keller, is susceptible to electrical currents -- even those from contact with human skin.

Online jokesters quickly ridiculed Apple’s response by assembling dozens of images from Apple promotional video showing actors holding the phone in a way that appeared to be different than what Apple suggested.

‘Apple, you’re holding it wrong,’ read a caption on the images.

-- David Sarno and Mark Milian

** As in, those who hold the phone in their left hand, and dial with the right.