iphone antenna

[Joel Goodman]

Any engineers out there? For various reasons I can upgrade to the iphone4 (from a 3Gs) for $20 if I go ahead now but I'm a little freaked out by the antenna on the outside where I hold the phone. Is this a good idea? The radiation (SAR) readings for the phone held to the ear are the same as the 3Gs; about double when it's against the body. What to do?

[Steve knight]

wrap the phone in aluminum foil to protect yourself. use wirless or wired headphones problem solved.

[Eric DeSilva]

Any engineers out there? For various reasons I can upgrade to the iphone4 (from a 3Gs) for $20 if I go ahead now but I'm a little freaked out by the antenna on the outside where I hold the phone. Is this a good idea? The radiation (SAR) readings for the phone held to the ear are the same as the 3Gs; about double when it's against the body. What to do?

Were you afraid of walkie talkies with the stub antennas?

There should be no difference between an external antenna and an internal antenna shielded only by RF-permeable plastic. I'll assume Steve was speaking in jest, but anything covering or obscuring the antenna merely causes the signal detection systems in the phone to register a low signal level, and adjust the transmit power upwards. That said, if you are worried about RF heating and thermal effects, a bluetooth headset will allow you to operate the phone further away from your body.

We're talking about heating here. If your phone feels hot, move it away from your ear.

[Steve knight]

had to have a little fun with this.

[Jim Koepke]

I use tin cans and a string.

No radiation problem here.

The problem must be at your end.

jim

[Joel Goodman]

Jim I miss the tin can and string of my childhood!
What I'm worried about is that my hand will be in contact with the antenna, which forms the sides of the stainless steel case . The stub antenna I'm familiar with were not in contact with flesh and/or were covered in some form of plastic.

[Jim Koepke]

Jim I miss the tin can and string of my childhood!
What I'm worried about is that my hand will be in contact with the antenna, which forms the sides of the stainless steel case . The stub antenna I'm familiar with were not in contact with flesh and/or were covered in some form of plastic.

I would suspect that this was a considered placement. Steve Jobs is a bit of a perfectionist about health along with many other things.

The supposed danger from cell phones is the RF emission. My thought is this will be the same with a thin layer of plastic as it will be with the outside metal being the active part. Then there is always clear tape that could be put on the metal if your concern is still not assuaged.

My phone has little slices of foam ear plugs glued on to the case in strategic places. This keeps it from sliding out of my shirt pocket every time I reach for something in a low place.

jim

[Steve knight]

Steve Jobs Announces the new Ican. only 199.00 with a 2 year contract. no long distance to text messaging included.

[Mitchell Andrus]

Steve Jobs Announces the new Ican. only 199.00 with a 2 year contract. no long distance to text messaging included.

There are four new covers for the iCan. Beef Stew, Mixed Vegetable, Tropical Fruit and Cranberry Sauce.
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[Eric DeSilva]

There are four new covers for the iCan. Beef Stew, Mixed Vegetable, Tropical Fruit and Cranberry Sauce.
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This is Apple we are talking about. You get your choice of the black can or the white can. And people will wait in line for it.

[Craig D Peltier]

I want to know how you got $20 only for an upgrade. I have the original, I have been out of contract with At&T for a long time now so im very eligible for an upgrade and my upgrade to the I4 was $199 for the 16gig.

[Kent A Bathurst]

There are four new covers for the iCan. Beef Stew, Mixed Vegetable, Tropical Fruit and Cranberry Sauce.
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Glad I got mine all set up while the Spaghetti-O's covers were still available.

[John Schreiber]

. . . The supposed danger from cell phones is the RF emission. . . .
Despite a lot of media coverage, there is no danger from cell phone radiation. There are two different ways to look at the problem - both say there's no danger.

First, theoretical - the signal from a cell phone is at a frequency which is non-ionizing. That means that it does not have the capability to cause chemical or other changes. It can cause heat, which can be a bit uncomfortable, but blood flow constantly moves any excess heat around the body so it is not localized. X-rays, gamma rays, and even ultraviolet can cause tissue damage, but radio signals do not.

Second, experience - we have gone from zero cell phone use to huge cell phone use and we have not seen any increase in brain or other cancer which can be associated with it. This can be seen generally by counting the raw number of cancers and specifically in numerous formal epidemiological studies which try to find a consistent relationship between a very common behavior - cell phone use and a very rare diagnosis - brain cancer.

The danger from cell phones comes from being distracted and getting into accidents, not from radiation.

[Brian Elfert]

Have they really had enough time to determine if cell phones really cause cancer or other diseases? Don't a lot of these things need to monitored over longer periods like 20 years? We really probably couldn't go back more than 5 or 10 years to do a study. Cell phones 20 years ago were analog bricks that hardly anyone had.

I really don't think we'll find that cell phone RF radiation causes cancer or other dieases. This biggest killer from cell phones will probably be traffic and other accidents caused by inattention from use of cell phones.

[Joel Goodman]

I want to know how you got $20 only for an upgrade. I have the original, I have been out of contract with At&T for a long time now so im very eligible for an upgrade and my upgrade to the I4 was $199 for the 16gig.

I upgraded to the 3GS just before the announcement of the new phone-- I was told that within 30 days you can exchange for another model for a restocking fee-- in this case the new 4.

[Mitchell Andrus]

Glad I got mine all set up while the Spaghetti-O's covers were still available.

Ebay-it and make a fortune.
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[Kent A Bathurst]

http://thaicrisis.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/tinfoil_hat_antenna.jpg

[John Schreiber]

Have they really had enough time to determine if cell phones really cause cancer or other diseases? . . .
The good news is that we've been studying radio waves for over 100 years and haven't found that they cause any problems. When we first started studying x-rays, no one knew there would be a problem, but people started getting sick and dying pretty quickly. So we've known what kind of radiation causes health problems for a good long time.

[Jim Becker]

There is effectively no difference between utilizing the bezel as with the iPhone4 and using an "internal" antenna when it comes to "you". It should result in better sensitivity when you are in weak signal areas, however. Note that wireless phones vary the transmit power based on signal strength, too, so a better antenna could actually lower transmit power.

And as an aside...much jealousy here on that upgrade deal! I have to wait until next year to get a fully discounted upgrade from my 3GS. :o

[Scott T Smith]

Despite a lot of media coverage, there is no danger from cell phone radiation. There are two different ways to look at the problem - both say there's no danger.

First, theoretical - the signal from a cell phone is at a frequency which is non-ionizing. That means that it does not have the capability to cause chemical or other changes. It can cause heat, which can be a bit uncomfortable, but blood flow constantly moves any excess heat around the body so it is not localized. X-rays, gamma rays, and even ultraviolet can cause tissue damage, but radio signals do not.

Second, experience - we have gone from zero cell phone use to huge cell phone use and we have not seen any increase in brain or other cancer which can be associated with it. This can be seen generally by counting the raw number of cancers and specifically in numerous formal epidemiological studies which try to find a consistent relationship between a very common behavior - cell phone use and a very rare diagnosis - brain cancer.

The danger from cell phones comes from being distracted and getting into accidents, not from radiation.


Very well stated. Let me add a third reason - ERP (effective radiated power). Modern cell phones output approximate .5 watt; the bag phone's of yesteryear were 3 - 5 watts and some of the original handsets were over 1 watt. If cell phones caused brain cancer, there should have been a huge spike in cancer 10 - 15 years ago amongst heavy users of the 1 - 3 watt phones. Additionally, the older phones had much higher gain antennas, thereby increasing the ERP even more.

[Eric DeSilva]

Very well stated. Let me add a third reason - ERP (effective radiated power). Modern cell phones output approximate .5 watt; the bag phone's of yesteryear were 3 - 5 watts and some of the original handsets were over 1 watt. If cell phones caused brain cancer, there should have been a huge spike in cancer 10 - 15 years ago amongst heavy users of the 1 - 3 watt phones. Additionally, the older phones had much higher gain antennas, thereby increasing the ERP even more.

Add to that the fact that most systems are digital now, which means they are transmitting only a small percentage of the time even when you are talking (and thermal RF effects are time-averaged), so the effective energy absorption is even lower.

[Dan Mages]

Your average professional 2-way radio broadcasts at approx 3 watts. Police and fireman wear these things on their waist 8+ hours per day. You don't see an epidemic of police and fireman with kidney, liver, or other GI cancers.

2 bits

Dan