I first grasped this disparity when my wife, Abbe, and I bought seemingly identical 3G iPhones three years back. Both units worked equally well at home on wi-fi. But when we were moving around in the real world, connecting on the "nation's most reviled 3G network," her phone was always first to bring up a website we were both racing to visit. And there were some locations where she enjoyed reception and I, standing two feet away, couldn't make or take a call.
DEJA VU (ALL OVER AGAIN): This situation cropped up recently after we each brought home an identical new iPhone 4S. Only this time, the shoe was on the other foot.
My new communicator operated as expected, with that "just OK" call fidelity we all tolerate, but otherwise chock-full of fun.
Every time I called Abbe on her iPhone 4S, though, I'd hear an echo of my voice repeating what I'd just said. Didn't matter if I was making the call on a landline or a mobile, if she was in the car or walking.
Through user forums, I found other iPhone 4S owners grousing about echo problems. Some concluded their problem was connected to the plugged-in Apple earphones/microphone, which we weren't using!
Also spotted were complaints from users initiating calls that couldn't be heard on the other end or were plagued with static.
MUM'S THE WORD: The logical conclusion here is that Apple isn't doing enough quality-control testing as new iPhones are flying off the line. QC costs money and slows down production. And if some poor factory worker was to discover that an inspected phone wasn't up to spec due to corrupted software, a faulty resistor or a run of bad microphones, then duty might require that the line be shut down.
