[gigafemtonano]

I suspect Apple never caught this call dropping issue due to the fact that everyone who had one of these new 4G iPhones was required to keep it in a case when they were field testing them. Wasn't the phone that Gizmodo got their hands on in a big case that made it look like a 3GS? How can anyone but the people who insist on this secrecy be responsible for the fact that the field testing seemed like everything was working fine?

[mattparcher]

This is a common misunderstanding. In fact, Apple showed members of the press specially-equipped vans that they use to systematically test reception in the field under a variety of scenarios, in addition to the dozen or so anechoic black rooms they have indoors. [1]

[1] http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/16/inside-apples-black-lab-w... (among others)

[gigafemtonano]

Simulated and real world are two different ball games. In the real world tests with sh- er um crappy AT&T signal strength, they were testing in privacy cases. Ideal tests in the anechoic chambers or iVans were just that - ideal.