I have been trying to think about this thing logically - once of I got over the fact that my new "superphone" was dropping nearly every call I made from home - and I have a theory about whats going on (maybe just wishful thinking!)
First I figure there are at least three truths that I think we can all agree upon:
1) All cellphones suffer some sort of signal loss when held - the nature of antennas is simple - block it and reception becomes weaker. Although, not all cellphones may show a drop in bars and this could be based upon location and also upon the software the phone uses in determine the bars - my understanding is that signal strength is measured in -dB and the closer to 0 the stronger the signal, however, there is no set rule that says -50 dB equals 5 bars, what measurement equals what number of bars displayed is determined by the cellphone maker. In other words, an LG phone may not show any loss of bars when held but may still be receiving a weaker signal.
2) Apple designed the iPhone 4 to have part of the case act as the antenna thereby putting the antenna in direct contact with a human being when the phone is held. Logically speaking this would result in an exaggeration of the problem listed in 1 above - of course I would defer to an electrical engineers opinion on this.
3) It has been stated, and probably is true, that Apple redesigned the modem software in iOS 4 such that the phone favors connection with less noise over a connection that may have a stronger signal. (Walt Mossberg's review discusses this)
When considering the the three things above - I really begin to think we have both a hardware and software problem. Hardware wise, the antenna is placed in a less than preferable location for left handed holding resulting in a stronger than normal signal loss when holding the phone in the left hand but second Apple designed the phone to favor less congested towers meaning that if there are two towers in range of your phone, towers A and B. If Tower A is 100 feet away with a very strong signal close to 0dB but is 50% more congested than Tower B which is 1000 feet but offers a weaker signal - the iPhone will choose Tower B. So if the phone is already choosing a weaker signal to connect too than holding the phone will only make it more difficult to receive that weaker signal, resulting in signal loss and drop calls/call quality/data performance.
I feel that when considering the software element, it also explain why the truth explained in 1 above is not nearly as noticeable in other brands of phones (or even some iPhone before iOS4) since those phones likely favor strong signals vs. less congested. In addition, it also explains why in some areas, less congested areas with more towers or more congested areas with even more towers, the phone performs the same if not better than previous models - at least in my experience. It also explains how in testing the problem either wasn't noticed or didn't seem to be a big issue since Apple likely only tested the phone in one region.
Of course this is not meant to excuse Apple for a problematic design, nor excuse Jobs arrogance, but simply stated if software does come into play with the problem - the extent that the hardware is flawed can only be determined once the software is fixed - then we need to demand a recall, redesign, or some sort of retribution.
First I figure there are at least three truths that I think we can all agree upon:
1) All cellphones suffer some sort of signal loss when held - the nature of antennas is simple - block it and reception becomes weaker. Although, not all cellphones may show a drop in bars and this could be based upon location and also upon the software the phone uses in determine the bars - my understanding is that signal strength is measured in -dB and the closer to 0 the stronger the signal, however, there is no set rule that says -50 dB equals 5 bars, what measurement equals what number of bars displayed is determined by the cellphone maker. In other words, an LG phone may not show any loss of bars when held but may still be receiving a weaker signal.
2) Apple designed the iPhone 4 to have part of the case act as the antenna thereby putting the antenna in direct contact with a human being when the phone is held. Logically speaking this would result in an exaggeration of the problem listed in 1 above - of course I would defer to an electrical engineers opinion on this.
3) It has been stated, and probably is true, that Apple redesigned the modem software in iOS 4 such that the phone favors connection with less noise over a connection that may have a stronger signal. (Walt Mossberg's review discusses this)
When considering the the three things above - I really begin to think we have both a hardware and software problem. Hardware wise, the antenna is placed in a less than preferable location for left handed holding resulting in a stronger than normal signal loss when holding the phone in the left hand but second Apple designed the phone to favor less congested towers meaning that if there are two towers in range of your phone, towers A and B. If Tower A is 100 feet away with a very strong signal close to 0dB but is 50% more congested than Tower B which is 1000 feet but offers a weaker signal - the iPhone will choose Tower B. So if the phone is already choosing a weaker signal to connect too than holding the phone will only make it more difficult to receive that weaker signal, resulting in signal loss and drop calls/call quality/data performance.
I feel that when considering the software element, it also explain why the truth explained in 1 above is not nearly as noticeable in other brands of phones (or even some iPhone before iOS4) since those phones likely favor strong signals vs. less congested. In addition, it also explains why in some areas, less congested areas with more towers or more congested areas with even more towers, the phone performs the same if not better than previous models - at least in my experience. It also explains how in testing the problem either wasn't noticed or didn't seem to be a big issue since Apple likely only tested the phone in one region.
Of course this is not meant to excuse Apple for a problematic design, nor excuse Jobs arrogance, but simply stated if software does come into play with the problem - the extent that the hardware is flawed can only be determined once the software is fixed - then we need to demand a recall, redesign, or some sort of retribution.
