Apple is a communist company, Steve Job's is the dictator & what crApple says is the truth, you dont need to think about it cause they do it for you & You need to do as they say or else your life will be full of strife having to gain knowledge about how things actually work. Just put on your thick framed glasses & tight trendy knitted clothing & you will be apart of the "progessive" movement to communism where you don't need to think, just do as you are told. Don't listen to those radical people who think & gain knowledge for themselves, it's much easier just to do because you really aren't good enough & we like you just the way you are.
Being an EE, I knew this would be an issue. Hmm, an IRON Based Antenna that has contact with the body... solid Iron based materials make poor antenna's cause of their magnetic characteristics (they dont like to change magnetic fields too easily & quickly which is needed for Radio Frequency) & when an antenna is in contact with the body, you effectively ground the antenna... Hmm, logic would say that this would be a poor antenna! Ever notice ANY & EVERY phone gets better reception when your own fat ass isnt near it? Your body absorbs the RF that the antenna is supposed to get & your body radiates an EMI ground hum from the power grid that we are surrounded by. It does not make it better to be in direct metal contact with the antenna & an iron based antenna is downright stooped.
& to make it even mores betters, your hand is connecting a relatively LOW impedance connection to every antenna your skin contacts in the iPhone (low impedance compared to air). Antennas dont really like connections to differently tuned antenna's... This is why cheapass UHF & VHF over the air antennas for your TV are sometimes completely electrically isolated & at least impedance isolated as well as different geometry from each other & also why they MUST be spaced at least a meter apart on an antenna mast like back in the good ole days.
EDIT: & I am actually suprised that crApple didn't do or listen to real world in hand testing of the antenna. I'm sure it performed great in a RFI shileded anechoic chamber when no hands or external EMI & RFI could interrupt, but man. Any experienced Electronics Technician with only an associates degree worth their pay would know that having skin contact with an antenna will shunt the RF to ground & induce EMI 60hz hum thus pooping the signal out. & bridging antennas with skin will have a similar effect... Looks like Stevo lost his A-Game on this one