One question - why are some people with 3g & 3gs having the same problem once they upgraded to ios 4?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple on iPhone 4 Reception: Signal Strength Display Issue Only, Software Update Coming
- Thread starter fruitbat04
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
One question - why are some people with 3g & 3gs having the same problem once they upgraded to ios 4?
Or maybe just buy a case. I mean, you weren't going to get a case anyway? It's a 600$ Phone. If you had no intention of buying a case for it, then that means you care more about it being a fashion accessory than it being actually useful.
...so isn't it easy to determine then that if it is a carrier issue, which now gets displayed correctly after the "fix", that people from countries with better carriers than AT&T should have fewer or no issues?
Read a lot of: i have this issue, i have not....... can this be differentiated by country carriers?
Read a lot of: i have this issue, i have not....... can this be differentiated by country carriers?
Shhh you are showing a sense of intellect which isn't welcome in this thread. People are choosing to complain instead of using logic.
The death grip issue is relative to location. Simple as that. If the calibration for the signal is incorrect then the number of bars will be incorrect. If your death grip is causing your phone to lose bars then this could be the hand phenomenon exaggerated by the lack of calibration for the signal. Not rocket science. The people complaining are not using verifiable facts to support why they don't think its a software issue. I have watched my old 3GS experience the same phenomenon however it was somewhat exaggerated since updating to iOS4. Wait for the update and make your ruling then. Complaining doesn't increase signal.
Dropped Call Rate
AT&Ts dropped call rate was around 4.5% as of March. I wonder how many were due to just the iPhones? It would be interesting to see that breakout (iPhone versus RIM drop rates).
AT&Ts dropped call rate was around 4.5% as of March. I wonder how many were due to just the iPhones? It would be interesting to see that breakout (iPhone versus RIM drop rates).
Apple got caught with their THUMB ON THE SCALE!
Okay, this is PR spin. Apple got caught with their thumb on the scale, so to speak.
They must have known, early on, that AT&T was scoring low-bars in most coverage areas... this over-calculating the number of bars to display was likely on PURPOSE to inflate AT&T's capabilities, so people wouldn't complain as much about the iPhone and its choice of carrier.
Sooooo, when a new phone design comes along that betrays this smoke screen...because of a design flaw (yes, I went there)... then they have to spin the situation, "admit" they were displaying the bars incorrectly (but act like it was an innocent mistake). But that's a stop-gap solution. It doesn't solve the problem.
What to do, what to do???
Okay, this is PR spin. Apple got caught with their thumb on the scale, so to speak.
They must have known, early on, that AT&T was scoring low-bars in most coverage areas... this over-calculating the number of bars to display was likely on PURPOSE to inflate AT&T's capabilities, so people wouldn't complain as much about the iPhone and its choice of carrier.
Sooooo, when a new phone design comes along that betrays this smoke screen...because of a design flaw (yes, I went there)... then they have to spin the situation, "admit" they were displaying the bars incorrectly (but act like it was an innocent mistake). But that's a stop-gap solution. It doesn't solve the problem.
What to do, what to do???
I don't have my iPhone 4 yet, but I will, and I know this problem won't affect me, as I hold my phone with my fingers anyways instead of cupping it like an ape. That being said, it's still a massive design failure on the part of Apple, and this software "fix" won't fix the problem at all.
BTW, that wasn't a run-on sentence, it was just long. But since you want to discuss grammar, punctuation goes within "quotation marks."
Long time reader, first post
Haven't had a chance to read the whole thread, but Apple's Software fix is hogwash.
I took my phone to the local Apple Store Wednesday at their request because of the signal issue and prox sensor issue (after calling in two document the two issues). I demonstrated to the Genius that I could take my phone from a full 3G signal to dropping to a Edge signal. That is way more than a two bar miscalculation.
I love the phone over my old 3G, but both issues are really affecting me.
Haven't had a chance to read the whole thread, but Apple's Software fix is hogwash.
I took my phone to the local Apple Store Wednesday at their request because of the signal issue and prox sensor issue (after calling in two document the two issues). I demonstrated to the Genius that I could take my phone from a full 3G signal to dropping to a Edge signal. That is way more than a two bar miscalculation.
I love the phone over my old 3G, but both issues are really affecting me.
You already did Iphone 4 has better reception then either the 3G or 3GS and it also has more attenuation when held.
That has been my experience as well Iphone 4 allows me to make and hold calls in areas my 3G did not. The signal also does appear to drop off when I use the left hand death grip, so I do not use that grip.
Then why did I drop three out of four calls before I got a case and haven't dropped any since? That seems to me to be more than a "miscalculation"!
I suspect these bunch of cowboys that call themselves Apple will just fix some algorithm and band it up as a visual fix.
That or they'll just continue to dig themselves a deeper grave.
That or they'll just continue to dig themselves a deeper grave.
Ahhhh so the "fix" will be out right after our return window is closed huh?
Mine goes back today. More for the lack of customer concern and how this is being handled than the issue on it's own.
Apple, too bad for you, I spend a lot of money on tech crap, guess others will be getting it now. Sad.
Mine goes back today. More for the lack of customer concern and how this is being handled than the issue on it's own.
Apple, too bad for you, I spend a lot of money on tech crap, guess others will be getting it now. Sad.
A software fix isn't going to solve this issue then. All it will do is reduce the number of bars shown on my phone when it's not held in the death grip.
It isn't going to stop people dropping calls and losing signals when they hold the phone in a perfectly normal manner. This is pretty ridiculous.
The fact this miscalculation has existed since day one of the iPhone only illustrates how much more susceptible iPhone 4s are to the problem.
It isn't going to stop people dropping calls and losing signals when they hold the phone in a perfectly normal manner. This is pretty ridiculous.
The fact this miscalculation has existed since day one of the iPhone only illustrates how much more susceptible iPhone 4s are to the problem.
Stevo, oil is coming out of the bloody phone!
What I meant there was that this statement DOES NOT address the issue with dropping calls. If Apple turns the attention to the signal bars, it is obvious that the fix will be to cut the bars or the power usage to boost reception. One will be detrimental to the overall reception (it doesn't go to 11, it goes to 3) or the battery life. Where you saw three bars, you might experience only one or two in the future.
This could be the biggest product recall in recent corporate history. That's what Apple Inc is terrified of and that's why they don't admit the dropping calls linked to the design flaw.
The free bumper is a complete misdirection. If your car came with three wheels, the solution is not to ask for a shiny stand.
What I meant there was that this statement DOES NOT address the issue with dropping calls. If Apple turns the attention to the signal bars, it is obvious that the fix will be to cut the bars or the power usage to boost reception. One will be detrimental to the overall reception (it doesn't go to 11, it goes to 3) or the battery life. Where you saw three bars, you might experience only one or two in the future.
This could be the biggest product recall in recent corporate history. That's what Apple Inc is terrified of and that's why they don't admit the dropping calls linked to the design flaw.
The free bumper is a complete misdirection. If your car came with three wheels, the solution is not to ask for a shiny stand.
Attachments
This is BS and I call it here:
http://allthingstarun.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/holding-is-irrelevant/
Basically, why would holding it trigger anything then? It seems to me that bar display shouldn't depend on human interaction.
http://allthingstarun.wordpress.com/2010/07/02/holding-is-irrelevant/
Basically, why would holding it trigger anything then? It seems to me that bar display shouldn't depend on human interaction.
Umm.... sort of .....
As I alluded to in an earlier post though, the *other* way to take this statement from Apple is that they're pushing the problem off on AT&T by essentially saying "Your signal is pretty weak in a lot of places you're trying to use your new phone, and unfortunately, we were erroneously displaying it as looking a lot stronger than it really was. Therefore, it makes it look like you lose a LOT of signal when you hold our phone in a manner that weakens the internal antenna's reception, but REALLY, your signal was just marginal to begin with."
Judging by my experiences using AT&T around the St. Louis, MO metro area for several years? I believe there's a LOT of truth to that, actually.
Bottom line? If you're on a cellular plan with AT&T, you better have a phone with really good reception (not an iPhone), because their signal strength sucks!
As I alluded to in an earlier post though, the *other* way to take this statement from Apple is that they're pushing the problem off on AT&T by essentially saying "Your signal is pretty weak in a lot of places you're trying to use your new phone, and unfortunately, we were erroneously displaying it as looking a lot stronger than it really was. Therefore, it makes it look like you lose a LOT of signal when you hold our phone in a manner that weakens the internal antenna's reception, but REALLY, your signal was just marginal to begin with."
Judging by my experiences using AT&T around the St. Louis, MO metro area for several years? I believe there's a LOT of truth to that, actually.
Bottom line? If you're on a cellular plan with AT&T, you better have a phone with really good reception (not an iPhone), because their signal strength sucks!
I have a BB on the ATT network, and an iPhone 4. At home, when I place them side by side on a desk, I see 4 (sometimes 5) bars of 3G signal from the iPhone, and 4 bars (-80 dBm) 3G signal from the BB.When I pick the BB up, I still have the -80 dBm. When I pick the iPhone up in my left hand, I get disconnected. When I pick the iPhone up in my right hand, I lose at least 3 bars of the signal, but am not disconnected. I am not squeezing the iPhone. I am just holding it the way I normally hold a phone. To those of you with the engineering expertise, what, if anything, can I conclude from this about engineering of the iPhone?
Agree
Agree
Totally disagree. A phone which attenuates to the degree that the IP4 does is flawed. All phones attenuate but if a phone attenuates so much that it becomes unusable in many areas, then there is a fundamental design problem. Unfortunately "stronger signals" are not something us users have any control over.
What about my Mobile Me costs?
What about my iApp costs?
They add up to nearly £200 for me and I would have to write that cost off after only 1 week of use.
Could all the the people saying "just return the phone" please explain to me how I can do that without being £200 down?. Or do you think it is right that I should suffer such financial loss due to a company releasing a flawed product?
So, could the software malfunction be causing the drop calls? Think about it as a safety kill switch. If the phones signal calculator drops all the way it shuts the connection down? Not hardware related at all?
The only way to express your dissatisfaction with an billion dollar company AND get results is to hit them in the pocket book. If people would spend less time whining futiley on a message board and more time returning defect products, they'd get the result they claim they want.
This is a fair position, even if we don't like it. It's also what we hear from some of the more exasperated members around here. "Take it back or ST_U." What else can they say?
Even though I don't totally buy their explanation (deathgrip kills speedtest reported bandwitch instantly), I'm not returning my iP4. I'm getting a gelaskin and that should be the end of it.
i'm not sure which is more embarrassing for apple. the allegedly fake email from steve jobs, or this terribly weak attempt to cover their ass in an official press release.
guess what else is totally wrong...
guess what else is totally wrong...