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Apple on iPhone 4 Reception: Signal Strength Display Issue Only, Software Update Coming

I am sorry to insist but PLEASE someone (because there are a few) beleiving in this theory explain to me how the fix would work?
Today 4 bars + death grip = 0 bars within 30 sec
Tomorrow (with sw fix) 2 bars + death grip = ???? how could it be different than no signal?
What is that fix fixing at the end of the day?
 
This is a pretty silly press release.

But there is an awful lot of panic over having to move ONE finger ONE millimeter.

People on here bitching about dropped calls.... It's an IPHONE people. They've been dropping calls for years.

At least this time there is a simple and effective fix (which we've never had before)... MOVE YOUR FREAKING PINKY FINGER A TINY BIT.

I agree apple is treating this oddly... But geez, this is the biggest non-issue I can think of.

But at least people are reacting in a calm, rational manner. Wait, what? They're acting like crazed, spoiled babies running around waving their hands in the air over nothing?

Ok, that sounds about right.
 
What about the issue with the bars going down then to "Searching" resulting in no connection? Is that a misrepresentation of the signal strength also? I can't make any phone call or browse the web when it shows "Searching". Does this go back to one article that said something about not switching channels sooner when the signal strength gets too low.
 
juan370Z said:
This is complete bull**** I have 3 iPhone 4 and two of them suffer problems and the otherone dosent so it can't be signal issues. Is hardware issues. Wtf
Click to expand...


You have 3 iphone4's!!
And you're moaning!!
Tad greedy, don't you think considering all those people still waiting?
So, if your not entirely satisfied give one out to someone who can show it some love....https://forums.macrumors.com/images/icons/icon12.gif
 
Jasonhenley said:
So if it is a software fault, and they fix this to show the correct signal strength, does this mean that we have phones that will only be able to get three bars worth of signal?
Click to expand...

Yes, but those bars will now be taller, so the signal strength will appear stronger in the weaker zones than it did before. It's a smokescreen.

But instead of dropping to zero, the phone might actually stay at 1 bar, for example. It may be that the software is dropping the calls when it *thinks* there's no signal, so by calculating the signal strength more accurately, the phone won't drop calls.

Only Apple engineers will know for sure what's going on inside their phone. Let's hope that the software fix does indeed address the underlying issues.
 
This thing is still blown way out of proportion. I love the end of the statement from apple where it says that you can return your non-damaged iPhone if your not happy with it and get a full refund! That simple, don't know what's so hard about it in the first place. Take it back and move on. Geez
 
Tundraboy said:
Apple can't be serious, talk about insulting our intelligence LMAO!!!!!! That doesn't explain people loosing reception by merely shorting the area in question with ones finger. This is a design problem and they know it.
Everyone will hold their breath waiting for the software fix which by the way will come after most everyones 30 day return window and you'll all be stuck with a great gadget but lousy phone!!!!!!!!
I'm still using my 3GS and I don't have reception problems when I hold my phone normally and naturally.

This is not over for Apple people!!!!!! They won't get away by masking the problem and Steve Jobs reality distortion field will not work this time!!!!!!
:mad:
Click to expand...

Why do you think they are hiding anything????

They just admitted in writing that that it IS going to continue to drop. Just they are displaying the bars linearly after the update.

The only people not connected to reality are the fools on this board that think the patch is going to improve their ability to maintain a signal. The letter clearly states you are going to continue to see the same drops.

Take the phone back if it drops for you now. That is not going to change.
 
locust76 said:
This software update doesn't fix the 24dbm attenuation you get from holding the phone "wrong," it only changes the way bars are shown on the screen so that it shows a more realistic visualization of your signal strength rather than lying to you and saying you have 5 bars when your signal is actually quite weak.

No patch can change the laws of physics in such a way that if you hold the iPhone 4 "wrong" you will not lose significant signal strength.

BTW, it's spelled "whining."
Click to expand...

Ok hold the phone differently if you have this problem. If you have a problem with that, RETURN IT. I don't, I can hold it anyway I want. I can afford the 24dbm attenuation you get from holding the phone "wrong". This isn't the only phone that does this.

BTW, Nice run-on sentence.
 
Mark Booth said:
"As a reminder, if you are not fully satisfied, you can return your undamaged iPhone to any Apple Retail Store or the online Apple Store within 30 days of purchase for a full refund."

^^^^^^^^^
Please do that!

Thank you!

Mark
Click to expand...

oh really, how will I get $5k to $10k i already spend on Apple eco system?

oh please shut up this "I know everything" attitude
 
has anyone checked back at the iP4 keynote, where he has trouble getting data on the iP4 but the 3Gs next to it is fine?
is he holding it 'in the bottom left hand corner' ? they then quickly bumble on about how it's al because of MiFi zones and too many users etc. were they really using wiFi for that bit? or was that just when they did the face-time demo?
i think it was when they were looking as 3g data stuff that the iP4 was having trouble... but i guess it was a non issue, and it was just the display showing no bars that convinced the rest of the phone not to download any data!?
 
Gullable

I cannot believe some of the Followers on this site. They would easily follow Steve Jobs right off a cliff. What a bunch of sheep! This is a complete joke on Apple's part. I have owned all four iPhones and never had reception issues at my house until the very day I opened my iphone 4 and activated it. And I am expected to just believe it's all in my head. There is WAY too much information here from too many people across America to say it is just a software issue. Anyone who upgraded will see the difference, Why is that? Simple answer people, IT'S THE DESIGN OF THE NEW PHONE! It is right there in front of your face! And with Apple's statement, they are worse then a politician lying about how they will make everything better with BS statements. It's unbelievable how easy it is to deceive American people, unbelievable. The final statement of telling people to return the device if you're not happy, is admitting they made a mistake. Apple knows there are some investigations coming their way and their lawyers and preparing them for that with these explanations. When I read Apples statement it had LAWYER written all over it. They will use lies in an attempt to squirm their way out of this predicament they are in, that's what good lawyers are paid lots of money to do for these large corporations. Wake up people! I'm returning mine, you better believe it!
 
I'm glad they finally said something. I wonder if the "fix" actually corrects something else that they're not copping to. Given that it will be a few weeks, I bet they'll also include anything else that is problematic like the proximity issue. Giving everyone a full refund is the right thing to do. Now maybe everyone can relax until the fix ix out. If it does not correct your problem, let them know with you money - return the phone. If there is a hardware issue, they will never admit it. They will fix it and the issue will go away IMO.
 
This makes sense

This actually makes sense, NOT what is actually going on but WHAT they are going to do about it.

They are TELLING us essentially that the BARS are being "over reported" as in HIGHER than they actually are. this is in the press release.

What that MEANS is, is that AFTER the fix we are going to SEE fewer bars. What that MEANS is, is that they are going to DISCONNECT the external antenna via software - nulling any impact that touching it could cause and only rely on the INTERNAL antenna which is going to make the reception SUCK and show less bars.

since they cannot fix the physical hardware problem remotely or without a recall of the defective devices, they are going to remote KILL the hardware and the signal will just get worse.

But, at least touching it won't have any effect on performance anymore.
 
So, Apple behaved like jerks on this one, and are also getting unfairly screwed.

It's obvious that they altered their bar display to make it appear that the signal reception is stronger than it actually is in comparison with other phones. They'd have likely gotten away with it too, if they hadn't shot themselves in the foot by putting the antenna on the outside of the phone.

And while many will complain that this was a terrible design choice, the fact of the matter is, most people are going to use a case with their phone, and the ones who don't are very rarely going to notice an issue if they aren't looking at the number of bars they're getting. That, combined with the fact that this phone does get measurably better reception than previous models makes it ironic that people are screaming about how crappy things are, just at the moment they've gotten better.

Say it was a bad choice if you want to, but I love my phone, haven't had any reception issues at all so far, and would much rather have this sleek design than something bigger and bulkier that made room for an antenna on the inside, just so people wouldn't notice that holding this phone, just like every other phone made, affects reception.
 
The Anandtech article says exactly the same thing as Apple.

1) Apple has taken the unusual step of moving the antenna onto the case of the phone.
2) The iPhone 4 has significantly better reception than its predecessors.
3) All phones lose some signal strength when held.

But there is one more issue. Which Apple did not address and the Anandtech article does.

4) The external antenna means the iPhone4 is more sensitive to being held than other phones. It can cause a 24db drop. That's 7db worse than the Nexus. 10db worse than the iPhone3GS. That's a big jump. Because 10 decibels is a tenfold reduction! 24 decibels is more than 100 fold. So no wonder than in weak signal areas, it causes the call to fail.

The sensitivity is probably due to a detuning effect caused when touching the antenna - or bridging it with the other antenna.

The Anandtech article also shows that inside a case. The iPhone4 performs better than the Nexus.

So the conclusion is pretty clear.
In a case - or using the headset, the iPhone 4 should have *better* reception than your previous iPhones. If you are not seeing this, perhaps you have a bad one.

But clenched in a sweaty palm, the iPhone 4 is worse than your current phone. So if gripping a naked phone is your thing... Return this device now! Don't wait for a software update, it will not improve the reception. The update wil the improve the accuracy of the bar display.

My guess is that Apple will be silently updating its manufacturing procedures to apply an invisible insulating coating to the stainless steel band. And mitigate the problem with hardware.

Perhaps that's why the white iPhone is late.

C.
 
MacGiver said:
I am sorry to insist but PLEASE someone (because there are a few) beleiving in this theory explain to me how the fix would work?
Today 4 bars + death grip = 0 bars within 30 sec
Tomorrow (with sw fix) 2 bars + death grip = ???? how could it be different than no signal?
What is that fix fixing at the end of the day?
Click to expand...

It will still be no signal.

Apple just wants the whiners to quit saying "it goes from 4-5 bars to 0 in 30 seconds". Because that sounds ridiculous.

But everyone is used to 1-2 bars go to 0 in 30 seconds. They are just trying to more accurately reflect what is occurring. And it's worth pointing out that Anandtech independently and measured and reported exactly this 3 days ago.
 
Hmmm... "within a few weeks" is out of most people's 30 day window. Coincidence?
 
People are not complaining because they're seeing bars drop only. They're complaining because they're seeing calls and data DROP COMPLETELY. How is changing a status indicator going to fix that? I think they do think we're kind of stupid.
 
Steve wrote me that is was a non-issue and that I should hold my phone differently.

So Apple miscalculating the signal strength for a few years isn't an issue? And how is holding my phone differently going to change dropped calls and data? It's not. His wise words of wisdom, like this press release, do not compute.
 
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