Apple: 30% dropped calls is normal

posted by Brian K.

Sep 29, 2009, 10:25 PM

A reader over at Gizmodo brought his iPhone into the SoHo Apple store due to excessive dropped calls. After talking to the carrier, who said everything was OK on their end, he figured it may be the hardware. After the Geniuses ran some tests it was determined that he was actually dropping 22% of his calls...and that this was below average for the iPhone. According to the Genius the iPhone, on average, drops 30% of calls in NYC. We've heard stories for years now that the iPhone is breaking AT&T's network, but instead of fixing the problem they're now deeming this normal. A bit ridiculous if you ask us.

Source: Gizmodo

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22 Comments

20. dasanman69

Posts: 14; Member since: Sep 11, 2009

You see fanboy the problem is that many apps can only run on wifi and it sucks as i phone. I have many friends with iPhones and at close to 80% of calls drop. That's not that big of a deal between friends but try being on hold with whomever for an extended preriod of time only to start over because the call was dropped. Not good. I'll live without the fancy schmancy apps and stick with a phone and a carrier that can make and hold my calls.

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 4:55 PM 0

12. MadProfessor

Posts: 18; Member since: Jun 12, 2009

Wow. That is beyond unacceptable. Over the past 3 years I can count my # of dropped calls on one hand (T-Mobile Daytona Beach) Screw all that.

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 11:06 AM 0

10. secondcor517

Posts: 94; Member since: Oct 06, 2008

i had a rep tell me once that the industry standard was 5%.... amazing that it's normal to have 30%...

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 9:35 AM 0

8. mulda71

Posts: 42; Member since: Jun 25, 2009

i'm on verizon and i have 0% dropped calls... in MA

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 6:40 AM 0

9. anarkie

Posts: 48; Member since: Jan 28, 2009

0% here in CT with VZW as well.

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 8:12 AM 0

14. vzw fanman

Posts: 1977; Member since: Dec 11, 2008

i have dropped calls all the time at my house. i have bad reception :-(.

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 11:30 AM 0

16. Fanboys Suck

Posts: 609; Member since: Dec 12, 2008

Maybe your Storm???...

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 1:00 PM 0

19. vzw fanman

Posts: 1977; Member since: Dec 11, 2008

no no. its every carrier, verizon, tmo, sprint, gayt&t.

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 3:14 PM 0

7. lolipopjones

Posts: 51; Member since: Jun 21, 2009

Its the phone. The Genius Bar Tech has noway of validating whether or not the drop call is happening outside of the device saying the call dropped. Any tech with Verizon Wireless will tell you that a phone can be the cause of the drop calls. The problem is Apple has there ass covered on this issue for one reason. AT&T cannot replace the phone... So if AT&T looks to validate your claims that you are having dropped calls they can actually see it... They can even tell what time and what tower dropped the call. Problem is when they validate that it is not their fault they have to send you to Apple to seek a fix... Apple then can look at you and say the following... You need to clear your flash memory so the phone will not drop calls or what you are experiencing is normal its the carriers fault. The iPhone is a fantastic phone but people are forgetting this issue has been present in the phone since the 2G....

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 1:41 AM 0

6. Doakie

Posts: 2478; Member since: May 06, 2009

What i thought was funny was how many dropped calls I had with an Instinct S30. I know the Instinct line was supposed to be Sprints "iphone killer" last year. It looks like they decided to fight them on all fronts, even on the magnatude of dropped calls. But I never reached 22% of my calls dropped. The iphone wins at sucking again.

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 1:05 AM 0

5. DonLouie

Posts: 594; Member since: Dec 22, 2008

I know nothing of IDEN having issues now, maybe in the past but not now, because data wasn't thier forte it was nowhere near the extent of ATT

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 12:30 AM 0

11. knuckleballer34

Posts: 119; Member since: Jul 27, 2009

There are still issues with iDEN, they just aren't well documented anymore because it is commonplace. I have a Nextel Blackberry 8350i, and every now and then, messages will be delayed for an hour or two. The issue with not being able to place calls has not shown up yet with my device, but there are still some messaging questions with the iDEN network.

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 10:44 AM 0

4. knuckleballer34

Posts: 119; Member since: Jul 27, 2009

How people can defend a network that is having so many problems is blind loyalty. Why would anyone stay on a carrier, or use a device, that drops an abnormal amount of calls? I'm not sold on the percentages, statistics can blatantly lie at times. Yet knowing the network has issues, people continue to buy this device. Like I mentioned in another post: At&t's 3G network is having the same performance issues as Nextel's iDEN, which is never good.

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 12:23 AM 0

2. Trobes05

Posts: 106; Member since: Aug 01, 2009

Why do we talk about this out of date phone anymore?

posted on Sep 29, 2009, 11:24 PM 0

3. E.N.

Posts: 2610; Member since: Jan 25, 2009

Maybe because its getting nowhere close to being out of date. Go to CNN and one of their headlining articles is CNN launches iphone app. I don't think CNN thinks the phone is out of date either. But anyways, I don't know why the reader still has an iphone or still has AT&T if it gets 30% dropped calls.

posted on Sep 29, 2009, 11:48 PM 0

13. vzw fanman

Posts: 1977; Member since: Dec 11, 2008

apps , apps, apps. enough with the apps, what else can this phone do. they need new marketing people for their commercials.

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 11:29 AM 0

15. Fanboys Suck

Posts: 609; Member since: Dec 12, 2008

Dude... apps are what people use. If you have a device that runs apps that you need and functions as a phone, you are right, what else do you need? That super sucks that people are getting 30% dropped calls... get a new phone or new network... lol! Honestly, if I were experiencing anything like that, I would drop the carrier and the phone. What do you use your phone for?? Applications and as a phone. Think about it.

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 12:52 PM 0

17. Fanboys Suck

Posts: 609; Member since: Dec 12, 2008

Funny... My wife just called me and said that she has been trying to call me for the past hour and couldn't get ahold of me and that it would just say there are too many subscribers or something... Just dropped 2 calls with my wife just now, even after reseting my iPhone... *Fanboys Suck eats his own words...* I've got nothing.

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 1:05 PM 0

18. vzw fanman

Posts: 1977; Member since: Dec 11, 2008

i don't use many third party apps.

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 3:14 PM 0

21. Fanboys Suck

Posts: 609; Member since: Dec 12, 2008

OK, third party apps or not, you are still using applications on the phone (texting, email, etc). I apologize for not specifying third party or not, but regardless, the phone has lots of applications, and people use it. But Apple has the App Market hands down right now, for now...

posted on Sep 30, 2009, 6:25 PM 0

22. vzw fanman

Posts: 1977; Member since: Dec 11, 2008

i dont consider sms text and my email icon an app bro. and there is great software from the bb app world and crackberry, so i'm not sure apple is ahead of blackberry. i'm just saying the iphone commercials suck. we know there are apps to do what every worthless thing you want. but advertise some new things that are on it.