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Apple developing software 'fix' for iPhone, officialy

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smiddlehurst

macrumors 65816
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Jun 5, 2007
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Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display 4 bars when we should be displaying as few as 2 bars. Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don't know it because we are erroneously displaying 4 or 5 bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.

To fix this, we are adopting AT&T's recently recommended formula for calculating how many bars to display for a given signal strength. The real signal strength remains the same, but the iPhone's bars will report it far more accurately, providing users a much better indication of the reception they will get in a given area. We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see.

We will issue a free software update within a few weeks that incorporates the corrected formula. Since this mistake has been present since the original iPhone, this software update will also be available for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G.
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Oops, sorry, forgot the source: http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/02/apple-iphone-4-reception-problems-a-software-issue-fix-coming/

And the official letter from Apple: http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/07/02appleletter.html

Well... that suggest Anand was pretty much bang on with what's happening and Apple's signal strength reporting is way off because they've allocated way too big a range for 5 bars.

Not that that fixes the problem of course, the iPhone is still dropping a fair old chunk of signal when held 'wrongly' and it really shouldn't, or at least it shouldn't drop as much as it is, (will be interesting to see if Apple makes changes to new iPhone 4's) but at least people will see a more accurate representation of their signal now, giving a better idea of when they're really in a strong signal area. I suppose that's a plus...
 
Hahahaha, sorry I can't stop laughing hysterically. So according to this, we should be happy because our carrier's network is even worse than we thought it was?? Awesome!
 
smiddlehurst said:
Well... that suggest Anand was pretty much bang on with what's happening and Apple's signal strength reporting is way off because they've basically got it wrong.

Not that that fixes the problem of course, the iPhone is still dropping a fair old chunk of signal when held 'wrongly' and it really shouldn't (will be interesting to see if Apple makes changes to new iPhone 4's) but at least people will see a more accurate representation of their signal now, giving a better idea of when they're really in a strong signal area. I suppose that's a plus...
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Not really a fix.
 
There's a problem with the concept there. It mentions ATT.

This isn't just happening in the states.
 
This isn't a fix, I got my anserw. Time to return my phone and wait it out :/
 
Makes sense to me. I can cause dropped signal when at home where 3G is mediocre but not at places with good 3G. Better reporting of strength in bars should help reflect this.
 
This makes no sense and doesn't explain why my calls drop and I cannot make calls while my older iPhones can if my signal has been weak this whole time....
 
Its probably a stop gap to head off the lawsuits, etc. They clearly said you can return the phone within 30 days for a full refund. Everyone is clearly in this return window so if the problem still impacts you, you are entitled to 100% of your money back.

Thats my take on the situation even though I think there is more to this problem than just a calculated ratio.
 
This was not the case originally. When the first iPhone came out lots of users were reporting low signal strength in areas where they used to have 4-5 bars with AT&T. Apple "fixed" this soon after the iPhone was launched in a software update by artificially inflating the reported signal strength (as evidenced by Anandtech's discovery of a ridiculously broad dbm range for 5 bars). It didn't fix anything except the complaints.

The fact is the iPhone has always had poorer reception than other phones (a trade off many of us don't mind to make, me included). All this does is shift the blame onto AT&T now. So people having the issue with the iPhone 4 will now go to AT&T and say "What happened? I only have 2 bars of 3G in my house now when I used to have 5. Why is my service worse now?"
 
As I said - Apple has great marketing and PR spin.

I don't believe (sorry) that the computation was in error. I believe that since the first iPhone - they came up with a formula (and probably despite ATT's "suggestion") to make it appear that the iPhone had the very best reception than any other cell phone.

Now that they are under scrutiny for what could be a "bad" design, they are taking "blame." for a bad logarithm. In short - what they're doing is shifting the blame back to the carriers (not just ATT) by saying - oh wait - yes - we were wrong with our display - but it's really a carrier issue - not ours.

Nice one.
 
Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength.
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How "stunned" could they really be? Mossberg pointed this out in his video review before the official iPhone launch. He also said a fix was coming.

I don't have the reception problem, or at least have yet to have encountered any unpleasantness in this area (proximity sensor, yes), but seems to me Apple is trying to pull a fast one here trying to merge Issue A into Issue B then saying it's one in the same. That is not my understanding of the reality from the various user posts.

Am I misunderstanding?
 
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