There are concerns that the new Apple iPad is afflicted by a new “death grip” issue after users took to internet forums and media channels complaining of the poor Wi-Fi reception when using the new fondle slab.
The issue came to light after users used Apple’s official support forum to talk about their new iPad experiences with Wi-Fi reception and discuss possible fixes.
Some are speculating that the new tablet seems to be affected by another ‘death grip’ and ‘antennagate’ issue.
The first death grip issue caused Apple no end of problems for its iPhone 4, and resulted in the iPhone maker offering users a free bumper case to solve the antenna problem.
And now the problem seems to have returned but this time on the new iPad, after some users reported that when the new iPad is held at the bottom corners, the Wi-Fi reception gets even worse. Others simply complained about the poor Wi-Fi reception on the tablet.
“I am in a hotel with my laptop and new ipad3. The laptop wifi reception is as strong as it gets, but the iPad only registers a weak signal,” wrote a user by the name of stlsteve.
“I am seeing this too,” wrote a user called grubbii. “I am currently writing this from mymipad 1 because my new iPad RIGHT BESIDE ME doesn’t pick up my wifi signal.”
“Same here! Will not hold WIFI for more than a few minutes. Two MacBooks and iPhone working fine from same router. Ready to return iPad!!!!!” wrote Sully2003.
“I’ve done some measuring on range iPad2 out to about 75ft before dropping to 2 bars and out to 100ft and still get 1 to 2 bars,” wrote It_caveman “iPad3 out to 35ft before dropping to two bars and at 45 to 50 ft you’re down to one bar. Past that you can forget it. What a rip off this new device has turned out to be. Come on Apple, you can’t keep customers doing things like this.”
Many believe the problem to be hardware related, but others suggest that dual-band routers are to blame, or that there is a software issue. It is worth noting that the problem does not seem to happen when the tablet is using mobile network connectivity, only Wi-Fi.
The good news is that there does seem to be some software-driven solutions to the problem. For example a video of possible fixes has been posted on Youtube by one concerned user, after Osxdaily.com revealed possible solutions to the problem.
Of course there is no official word yet on the problem from Apple, although this is hardly surprising. The company took months to address the antenna issues with the iPhone 4, despite being on the receiving end of lawsuits over the matter.
Indeed, Steve Jobs famously told one user to avoid holding the iPhone 4 in a particular way to resolve the issue. That problem occurred when users held the device in the left hand with their palm covering the lower left part of the stainless steel band – that housed some of the antennae. This resulted in them either either losing signal altogether, or experience a much weaker signal strength.
Apple will be hoping that this problem does not blow up like the ‘iPhone 4 death grip’ issue, but the new iPad is already facing other criticism over the heat it generates.
Earlier this week review specialist Consumer Reports warned that Apple’s new iPad operates at higher temperatures than the iPad 2 when running a processor-intensive game. The watchdog group aimed a thermal imaging camera at a new iPad playing Infinity Blade II, and recorded temperatures “as high as 116°F (45°C)”, while ambient temperature in the room was 72°F (22°C).
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I was very happy when I got my hands on the new iPad. I didn't notice this at first, but when I took the tablet into my backyard, and my iPhone was able to pick up my router signal without a hassle; the iPad didn't pick up the network at all. This became a nightmare for me. After spending ages looking for a solution for this issue, I was just about to give up because all of the step by step guides which I found didn't solve my problem with the wifi reception. Finally I landed on a review of a case from Pong Research. They produce these really interesting cases that have an antenna in between layers of the back cover, which redirects and boost the wifi signals into/from the antenna built-in the iPad, this fixes the new iPad 3 wifi range issues . Besides that, this also comes with an improved version of the Apple Smart Cover which asides from retaining the sleep/wake function, because of its origami design, you can fold it and stand it in 5 different positions - very cool in my opinion!