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

[aforty]

I don't yet have an iPhone but two of my friends do and while I can reproduce a slight drop on their phone by holding it tightly, I can reproduce that kind of drop on many other phones as well depending on where I hold it.

It's was a design decision. Albeit a stupid one.

Apple decided to put form over function and personally I don't have a problem with it. The phone would be been thicker and maybe wider if the outside band hadn't been used as an antenna because the antenna would then be on the inside. I feel terrible for people who are affected by this in such a way that makes the phone unusable. What it comes down to, though, is that you, as a consumer, can vote with your wallet. If you believe Apple made a wrong decision putting form over function then don't buy the phone! If you have already bought it then go return it and get your money back. If enough people do you can bet that Apple will never make this mistake again.

If you're just here because you like bashing Apple but you have not real vested interest in this issue then please get a life.

 

[BeyondtheTech]

Aaaaaand, now we're back to cursing at AT&T for their network. LOL

 

[Aadhil]

It's awesome how suddenly everyone has turned into cellphone antenna reception experts

 

[vertigo235]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A293 Safari/6531.22.7)

Someone please explain then, all the videos of calls dropping when holding it that way, but not when on a table?

Well, it can be explained that when it is on the table it has enough signal to work (it is incorrectly displaying full signal, when it should display 1 or 2 bars), then when you pick it up, your hand is sheilding the antenna and the call is disconnected...

 

[IndustrialSpace]

Hoodwinked

So, we've been hoodwinked all along by Apple and AT&T.

FALSE BARS.....

...giving the impression the signal strength is stronger than it really is. Looks like Apple had no choice but to come clean on this admission.

Innnnnncredible!

 

[pinwanger]

TOTAL BS!!! I bet non iPhone phones will get more bars in the same area.

 

[uberamd]

How does this fix the problem where my 3G data completely stops the second I touch the corner (as seen in my sig vid)? Oh right, it doesn't.

 

[falconeight]

Return it

 

[rhinosrcool]

Look, my iPhone 4 is a great phone. Since I use a case, this really is a non- issue, for me. However, without a case this is a real issue. Obviously, it's not only a software issue (if that?) but a hardware issue, as well.

Since they remind people that they can return the phone for a full refund (no restocking fee?), they are, probably, covered legally. Unfortunately, this really could be a PR DISASTER!

 

[OneMike]

Still doesn't answer why holding it makes the bars go down.

exatly

 

[fishmoose]

It's awesome how suddenly everyone has turned into cellphone antenna reception experts

Haha yeah! Will be easy for manufactures to find people to hire for antenna design, just look at MR.

 

[wirelessmacuser]

Stupid ******** PR that they believe will con the majority of their sheepish fanboys.

Ah yes, poor lost Apple. They put so much spin on this they've lost their way. Lucky for them their devoted fanboys will come to their rescue.

 

[MarkPB15]

I love my iPhone 4 and haven't experienced any dropped calls but this is complete BS. The tests show that this thing gets better reception with a case on and worse reception with the death grip. I live in an area with very good coverage so it doesn't affect me, but I guess people experiencing dropped calls should get a case or return the phone.

 

[dagomike]

Re-posting from another thread:

So no...if this is taking weeks it's not JUST the bar change. They'll be doing other things...things they don't want to talk about in public. I'm betting that 3rd party reviews will find the updated iPhone 4 will perform better even when NOT looking at the bars.

What if they're taking a "few weeks" so that those waiting won't be able to return it when it doesn't work?

 

[VTMac]

First, they seem to say that the baseline display of the bars is incorrect. Ok, but how does that answer the question that the iPhone 4 bars go down, while none of the other iPhone bars go down, since they are all using the same wrong formula? It doesn't, the iPhone 4 still is losing more signal than the other phones, no matter how its 'displayed'? This has been verified with actual speed tests, having no relation to any bars.

This is not new. Anandtech proved empirically this was the case in their report earlier this week.

Apple won't be "fixing" anything. There is no "defect". All phone attenuate. Some more. Some less. The iPhone falls into the more category. Doesn't mean it's broke. It does mean it requires a stronger signal.

Your option is clear and completely fair. Return the phone for a full refund.

 

[Lord Vader]

One word: Whitewash

No, it's WHITECAP VS THE BLACKDOG

 

[Aadhil]

So, we've been hoodwinked all along by Apple and AT&T.

FALSE BARS.....

...giving the impression the signal strength is stronger than it really is. Looks like Apple had no choice but to come clean on this admission.

Innnnnncredible!

Apple has said the false bar issue from the beginning. You're free to return the iPhone if you want...oh wait you probably do not have one...nvm...

 

[fuwafuwa]

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

Many thinks that your having 3 iPhone 4s is BS.

 

[CrAkD]

I think people like to complain just to hear themselves talk. No matter what apple did you guys would still complain.

 

[za9ra22]

This doesn't explain why an iPhone 4 drops the call while the 3GS doesn't.

The difference between the two is that the 3GS doesn't have antennas on the surface. It's contact with the skin directly on the antenna, and the affect that has, which causes the iPhone 4 to be more sensitive to the problem.

 

[Small White Car]

What if they're taking a "few weeks" so that those waiting won't be able to return it when it doesn't work?

I'm guessing that they'll extend the return period until after the fix comes.

They're getting enough bad press, they won't want to add more on top of that. Companies tend to get extra friendly at times like these.

I'd be surprised if that doesn't happen.

 

[kirchnrd]

MY GUESS:

Apple will "fix" this signal indicator issue AND they'll keep looking for a way to solve the REAL issue. Their press release basically gives them a few weeks to get this resolved.

When the update is released, my guess is that there will be other "fixes" in that release.

Maybe there will also be a recommendation from Apple that says, "To further enhance your already strong iPhone 4 signal, please remove your SIM card and..."

Agreed.

 

[jayducharme]

When I hold my 3G, bars start dropping off -- though not nearly as severely as what's reported with the iPhone 4. So I can see how, though software, Apple can force the device to hold a signal better when the antenna is bridged. I assume it will come at a cost of battery life when the phone is held that way.

I do think it's perversely humorous that the phone has been reporting a better signal than what's actually there. (Amazing! It's now AT&T's problem!) That would explain the dropped calls when bridging the antenna -- the iPhone didn't really have as many bars as it thought it did and it moderates the signal enough to lose it. But still, I agree with others: simply holding the phone should not cause such a serious issue. The only way I can see Apple's testers missing this is that they all tested the iPhone under ideal conditions.

 

[Nieval]

While I'm sure that's true, it's completely irrelevant. Every phone is a series of tradeoffs between style, weight, antenna design, etc. etc.

An old brick of a Nokia is skewed heavily towards reception. More modern phones such as iPhone and Driod are skewed towards style.

At the end of the day either the antenna design is "good enough" for your particular locale, or it's not. If it's not, then you option is to buy a phone with a different antenna design.

I disagree, I think it is relevant. Apple are saying that they are going to modify the phone to better represent the network coverage and in doing so deny that there is a hardware flaw that causes the signal drop. In their statement they're shifting unfair blame on the networks, which shouldn't have to suffer because Apple made a bad call favouring design over functionality.

You're right though, in that the ultimate decision falls on the consumers shoulders and because of that they bear some of the responsibility if they decide to keep their phone.

 

[NewGenAdam]

my take


1) it claims to be solely a software issue
2) they're making the bars taller...

So the problem is twofold:
1) the iPhone displays more bars than it has
2) the antenna causes some signal degradation: http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/2
of up to ~24dB

So, if you are on the actual threshold where a decrease of 24dB would lead to very poor signal, the iPhone will initially display deceptively high reception before apparently plummeting further than is actually true.

Yes it is a software issue, yes the iPhone does suffer degradation when held, and more than other phones, but not so much for it to be considered defective.

It's easy to speculate that the reason the bars were anomalously high before is that Apple were trying to trick people into believing their signal to be higher than it actually was, thus making the phone seem better than others.

Ars wrote an article about the bar to reception correlation two years ago:
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2008/09/cell-bars-reception.ars