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

iRobertM said:
Dropped calls are a fact of life, all the cell phones I have owned dropped calls at some point. The bad news now is any dropped call will automatically be "Apple's" fault. Its a shame.
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Only in the US. Elsewhere I get dropped calls if I get into an elevator (acting as Faraday cage) and go to the basement without cell coverage.
 
"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"

This is a bunch of crap. This does not explain why people are able to drop calls or slow data transmission to a halt when touching the lower left corner of the phone. Nice spin Apple.
 
kirchnrd said:
This is *******, what about all of us who tweaked our SIM cards and it made drastic improvements? It isn't placebo effect, it really did make a difference. The "shock" of the bad formula, and a "few weeks" to send an update tell me they are buying time to find the real problem and place the blame. I guess when Steve was out sick, he let a bunch of idiots run the joint...

I love the iPhone 4, it is the best, and I have no issues after adjusting my SIM. I am keeping the phone, and will remain a fan. Just curious to see what my bars look like after the update :confused:
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You screwed up and have to live with it. No one from Apple told you to cut up your sim card. Apple is a good company, I bet they would overlook your ill-advised sim card alterations, but they certainly should not be expected to.

In other news, the story has been translated for those that are having a hard time:

http://daringfireball.net/2010/07/translation_iphone_4
 
Evilution said:
People wouldn't have to worry bout poor signal based on location if apple just went with verizon. Nobody would have noticed their flaw.
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Verizon doesn't work everywhere. I am sure there are plenty of board members here who can attest to Verizon not working or being reliable in their neck of the woods. I know Sprint doesn't work where I live, nor does T-Mobile.
 
Reason for drop calls.

So since the iPhone displayed the wrong amount of signal bars, would that explain why most people would drop calls when they had 5 full bars of service?
 
tales123 said:
I have held off buying the iphone4 until this issue is fixed, if everyone with the signal problem returned their phones then apple would have to do something about it.

So why doesn't everyone return their faulty phones?
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Because A) Everything else about the phone compensates for the signal issue
Or B) They don't have the death grip problems
 
Evilution said:
People wouldn't have to worry bout poor signal based on location if apple just went with verizon. Nobody would have noticed their flaw.
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I don't think that's necessarily true (not an apology for Apple or ATT, becuse I think Apple is very short-sighted in their response). Where I live and use the phone on a daily basis, the VZ signal is worse than ATT (-100 dBm). But my DROID doesn't disconnect when I pick it up.
 
dijisurf said:
from nokia to htc to droid, they all lose signal once you cover the phones. GET THAT TO YOU HEADS.
there are many paid blogers in the media at work by nokia, goggle, rim, etc....
How else you will steal ip4 demand....
So this is how great tech companies play once they start losing market share.
SAD....
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Come on, use your mind OK? Face the truth and think independengtly .
 
andrew8404 said:
I love all the so called experts on here commenting that it's hardware not software. Like they know anything! If you don't like your phone return it and shut up! I'm sick of hearing all of you complain like a bunch of babies! I haven't ran into one person who has had reception issues.
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LOL- thanks for your empirical data. No one you have run into has had reception issues. Wow - thanks. I guess none exist
 
eddy64 said:
Are you kidding me? You're on a forum about iPhones and you clicked on a thread concerning an iphone problem that many are experiencing, and you're annoyed to read about people's problems??? THEN DON'T READ IT. CLICK SOMEWHERE ELSE.
Honestly, you piss me off way more than anyone else
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+1
 
I HATE FANBOYS. I have had every singe iphone up until this point and havent had an issue. I do NOT doubt that phones have certain issues like this but it's a flaw IN the design....not all phones do this.



Whats the point of apple going on and on about how beautiful it is if you have to cover it up?????
 
dmelgar said:
I'm sure this will finally make all the Apple apologists feel embarrassed. (ya right, like anything would).

Apple says they will not do a fix for the reception problem.

They will change the pretty picture of the number of bars shown by LOWERING the number of bars shown.

If you don't like it, Apple advises you to return the phone. They don't need your business. There are plenty of fools who will buy the phone based on Apples PAST reputation for having the BEST products and great CUSTOMER SERVICE..

As I've said and Anandtech said, this is a basic hardware design problem. I thought Apple would try to compensate their customers for their brain dead design, but instead they flip them the finger and tell them we don't need your business, more fools behind you willing to pay us money money money.

Sad
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What else do you want.? A personal apology and a $1,000 check? Just return the phone and switch to Verizon or Sprint etc it the AT&T signal in your location is too weak!. That's the solution to this nonsense.
 
01grander said:
Speak english and there is something wrong with the phone......Att does not charge a fee when there is something wrong except Apple won't admit there is an issue.
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Read the friggin letter, there is no reason for people to keep bringing this up. There is no fee..
 
The fix doesn't solve anything - it's just a visual "trick"

It would be like changing a speedometer on the car to indicate you weren't speeding anymore (or that your car could go faster when it cant). Your car is still operating 100 percent the same.
 
i.mac said:
Are you a scientist with expertise in rf reception?

Are you an engineer with intimate knowledge of the inwards of iPhone os?

Not worth the time answering to the likes of you...
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Does one need to be an engineer to understand that it either works or doesn't work?

If you touch the black line and the phone completely stops working, it stops working.

Unless you are grabbing the phone from th top (which I am right now), I can't imagine typing on this thing without it losing signal completely. I missed 5 phone calls in 30 minutes while checking e-mail.

What if one of those calls had been an emergency? That's why this phone is going back. I'll eat the restocking fee, and go from there.

I consider myself a fanboi, but I can't believe how many 'kool-aid' drinkers there are on this forum. Apple can do wrong. I suppose some people walk through life with blinders on for more important issues than this, so why not a phone. :confused:
 
stadlin said:
copy + paste

I think they'll change a bit more than just that formula... once there was a rumor about frequency?
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I bet your right.

br0adband said:
Returning the phone is not enough.

Apple will simply sell it to someone else as a refurb and make a profit - that's make yet another level of profit - from the second selling of the same device, and some other poor schmuck (or rich one, who knows) will end up with exactly the same situation you did before returning the phone.

It's not enough.
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And you know this how?

eye.surgeon said:
All that means is you use your phone in a high signal area. EVERY iPhone4 has the same antenna design, kinda makes me laugh that you think yours is somehow different than everyone elses...you think maybe Jobs touched it on the assembly line? Every I4 shows poor data and phone performance in marginal signal areas when touched on the gap, much worse than the attenuation in the previous phones, and I had them all.
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I'm just telling you my experience. It seems to also be many other peoples experience. I know the problem exists. I've seen it on several friends phones. But standing in the exact same spot when we all restarted our phones, we could reproduce it on theirs and not on mine. Go figure. I never said my phone is "different" but it does seem to behave differently than some I've seen. PS - I live in San Francisco which is said to have really bad signal. I have dropped calls on my 3g & 3gs before, but so far I have not with my i4.
 
Show me another phone where one touch can drop a call.

Design flaw.

Prediction: By Oct/Nov, iPhone 4.1 will be out and it will include a clear plastic covering over the external antennas.
 
I'd imagine 90% of these comments are totally braindead... something along the lines of "blah it is the antenna system's fault i go from 5 bars to no bars while making calls from this one cave in this one mountain while in heavy fog, nothing to do with the fact that i actually have 2 bars, not the 5 that the iphone is incorrectly displaying, blah"


INCONCEIVABLE!!!
 
BTW - do you think the battery actually lasts longer - or did Apple just "fix" the formula which figured out how much juice you had left? ;)
 
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