Woz's iPhone 4 Antenna Solution: Double Fisting

At this point, we've seen all sorts of crazy ideas for fixing the iPhone 4's antenna problems, from strapping it with a rubberband to covering it with nail polish. Steve Wozniak's solution: just carry another phone.

In an interview with a Dutch reporter, Woz described his own iPhone 4 antenna woes at length:

Henk van Ess: How did you find out about the antenna problems?

Steve Wozniak: The first time I tried I was able to duplicate the problem. My wife was driving me to the airport and as soon as I got a short distance from my home, and no longer on wifi, I tried it by accessing a web page (using Safari on my iPhone 4) and observing the progress bar.

As the bar started to proceed I lightly (‘lightly') touched a couple of fingers to the trouble area and the progress bar froze. When I lifted my fingers the progress bar continued it's (sic) rapid progress. Putting my finger[s] back down halted the progress bar again. Lifting my fingers another time allowed the web page to finish loading.

I tried it again with one more web page I was in a moving car in the hills near my home. Currently I maintain cell phone calls fine there with my iPhones and with other cell phones, although this exact area used to drop AT&T calls reliably, a few years ago.

I was in a moving car in the hills near my home. Currently I maintain cell phone calls fine there with my iPhones and with other cell phones, although this exact area used to drop AT&T calls reliably, a few years ago.

I tried to repeat this experiment somewhere else a second time, I think in a San Jose restaurant, and I only had partial success. That time I could only slow the progress bar a little and only if I squeezed my iPhone 4 tightly. I concluded that the effect only occurs in some places. It's like the AT&T dead zone has been extended with this new phone.

If you can afford it, carry a second Verizon phone for backup. Another option is to carry a Verizon mifi and rely on Skype on your iPhone.

I'm not sure he quite gets it—it's not just about the money, Woz, it's about the pockets.