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

firewood said:
Nowhere can I find it written anywhere that Apple was offering a phone that would always connect and not drop calls if the network coverage provided a signal strength worse than -85 dBm, or any other number for that matter, no matter how the phone was positioned or handled in the RF field.

Unless you can find such a statement, you got the phone you were promised (caveat emptor). If you wanted something else that actually exists, then please return the i4 and buy that other product instead. If you want something that doesn't exist, please look for a unicorn for me there as well.

On average, given all possible ways of holding and positioning the thing, I find I get a better connection with the i4 compared to my 3GS, on average.
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its phone and it's 2010 ffs stop being an apple apologist and admit apple has ****ed up big time. Jesus Christ apple fans annoy me, you people are going to be the downfall of this company if you keep on accepting every mistake apple makes . In the end they won't give a **** if they keep making **** ups and the quality will just get worse. Just look at the iMac, they are still giving out defective screens and they dint give a crap.
 
I don't believe that this is the software problem!!!! It's clearly the design of "advanced antenna" problem, so that's why apple's beefing up the antenna engineering staffs!. They come to fix the hardware not the software.

I guess that Apple will quietly change the antenna part with the new one in the next release of their iPhone 4. So, don't forget to check the model number of the iPhone 4 before you purchase it.

Why doesn't it tell us the truth?
 
12 hours after I started, I finally made it all the way through this thread.

The good news is I was talking on my iPhone 4 the entire time with my pinky on the soft spot, and never dropped the connection!

The bad news is, well there is no bad news.
 
Now, I'm a LONG time Apple Fanboy, but this response to me isn't exactly what is happening. I hold my iPhone in my left hand when using it because I use my right hand to touch. If I hold it in my left hand, 3G goes away, and I go down to 1 bar on EDGE. (and it really does go to EDGE, or my data stops completely, same with calls) If I hold it in my right hand, my 3G instantly returns, so I find it hard to see that any of this is due to the signal bar formula.

Now, I'll still wait to see what they'll be doing with the software release and see if that fixes the issue, who knows, maybe Apple does know what they're doing and will fix the issue......if not, then I'll be expecting either a recall or a swap out as it does get quite annoying, and I'm getting ridiculed by people that own Droids. :D
 
Apple admits iPhones' signal bars give incorrect readings for 3 years!

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-apple-iphone-20100703,0,7116906.story

Problem goes back to the earliest iPhone, the firm says. In many cases, phones displayed two more bars than they should have.
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"We were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong,” Apple said in an open letter to its iPhone users. (Robert Gauthier, Los Angeles Times / July 3, 2010)
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Apple revealed the embarrassing flaw, which it said has been a problem since the original iPhone was launched three years ago, as it was addressing an uproar over dropped signals on its new iPhone 4, which came out last week.
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This is either a monumental fleecing of the world at the hands of Apple (that knew of the problem and purposely sequestered it and only when discovered by an outsider, cops a claim of: "whoopsie!" accidental oversight), OR it's a monumental f-up that PROVES Apple's an over-inflated reputation that actually puts out crap! Either way, this has egg on the face fo Apple that can NEVER be forgotten.
 
So, I guess since the places I live are usually 2 bars or less, I've should've been getting zero or negative bars? And my call quality is still perfect?
 
I could care less about the "phone" feature of the iPhone 4.

I only use my iPhone 5% of the time for actual phone calls. Also if I have bad reception, I just use my bluetooth headset and electrical tape my iPhone on an 8' piece of PVC pipe and hold it up in the air so it gets better reception.

iphone-pvc.jpg


Some people are such Whiners when they complain that simply holding their phone gives them bad reception.

Come on Guys! Think Different! Hold it different! Be proud of your iPhone 4!
 
Lies, more Lies and statistics

I have never been more insulted in my product-buying life than when I read that completely bizarre explanation from Apple.

I have five iPhones in my house, (3) GS, (2) Iphone 4

Guess which ones suck a$$ for reception and dropped calls.

You guessed it, the iPhone 4 blows when you are holding the phone. We dangle the phones by two fingers to make calls without dropping the call all together.

I don't even buy their explanation even considering the potential that both the antenna has problems and potentially the signal display software doesn't work that well either. My 3 GSs have full strength, never drop calls and never lose signal display bars.

Someone is lying or delusional. I seriously hope for Apple that my wife, kids and I are the ones living in delusion, cuz i know we aren't lying.
 
Oh, c'mon. If this were ANY other company other than Apple, you KNOW (know to the bitter end), you'd be calling for an FTC investigation, a massive class action lawsuit and probably wouldn't be satsified until the company was outright shut down! :rolleyes:
 
sammich said:
So, I guess since the places I live are usually 2 bars or less, I've should've been getting zero or negative bars? And my call quality is still perfect?
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Nope. First, the article said "In many places" and second, it's more than likely a percent change. Like if each bar represents 20% signal (which it doesn't, but that doesn't matter), at 60% (3 bars) it showed 100% (5 bars) then it's two bars off. That's about 66.7% off. 66.7% off from 1 bar (theoretically 20% signal) would be about 33% signal. That's about two bars. So if your iPhone shows two bars, you may actually have like 1 bar.

BUT, these percent changes would be much more subtle in practice, because anything less than 5 bars is <5% signal.
 
stevensr123 said:
you people are going to be the downfall of this company if you keep on accepting every mistake apple makes
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The downfall of Apple will be if the complainers and lawyers drive them to always make safe boring choices, like Dell (and not the companies that Dell buys), instead of taking innovative risks. Do we really need another Dell, except with a fruity logo?

Dell does sell cell phones? Any interest here?

And home run hitters also strike out a lot. Doesn't keep them from swinging for the fences when that fits the team's/manager's strategy.
 
Doesn't this bode equally bad for monopoly provider AT&T? If there's 2 extra bars than reality, when you see "2 bars", you actually have zero (0). lol
 
captain kaos said:
This is apples way of getting out of a big pile of mess. All that will happen now is that people will still have calls dropping, but you pretty much can't complain to apple now as they will look at it and say "well, your signal strength is low so thats why its dropping out". Doesn't matter if you had signals in the same place with a 3GS model, at that point its your word against theirs. All this statement is doing is giving them an upper hand in the argument.

Nothing has changed, its still a hardware issue.
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exactly. They've made a cost analysis and figured that they need to ride it out until Rev A. And ride-it-out means to BS about it and dodging what appears to be a hardware issue. They must've found the problem late in the manufacturing process and couldn't stop the shipment without losing extreme amounts of money. So they made bumpers and the held their mouths waiting for the first wave of people complaining about dropped calls.

there will be a lull for a few weeks where people try to live with the problem, thinking that it's their own fault or that it's overblown....then the next wave of frustration happens when people start to get annoyed again. as if wishful thinking alone could solve the problem.

I used to be an early adopter......first gen ipod. first gen bondi blue imac. etc...

rev A will be all black with plastic covering the aluminum. just wait.
 
CalebF said:
Doesn't this bode equally bad for monopoly provider AT&T? If there's 2 extra bars than reality, when you see "2 bars", you actually have zero (0). lol
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Well, I've never had an iPhone on AT&T, but my iPhone 3G worked fine on T-Mobile with two bars (which should be the same on AT&T because it's the iPhone's fault not AT&T's). And see my post above...
 
people keep complaining about the XBOX's red ring of death. complainers are haters....


..../sarcasm
 
CalebF said:
Doesn't this bode equally bad for monopoly provider AT&T? If there's 2 extra bars than reality, when you see "2 bars", you actually have zero (0). lol
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No because the other AT&T phones actually work as phones :D
 
stevensr123 said:
apple fans annoy me, you people are going to be the downfall of this company if you keep on accepting every mistake apple makes.
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Do you think anything customers are saying will be worse than what jobs is shouting at his engineers?

Seriously.

Does apple sound like a "Good enough" culture?

When you push boundaries - sometimes you get unintended results.
But that's no reason to stop.


Yr Blues said:
exactly. They've made a cost analysis and figured that they need to ride it out until Rev A. And ride-it-out means to BS about it and dodging what appears to be a hardware issue.
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Its a business decision. Wonder if they are planning a bumper offer - but are waiting til they have enough in stock to announce it.
Would be a double embarassment if a million people asked for a complimentary bumper and they ran out...
 
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