Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

I Truely Think This Is a Software Issue

M

myfoneisdank

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 28, 2009
166
45
To get it out of the way to avoid stupid posts, I am not an expert or claim to know anything significant about hardware or technology.

I like many others CAN replicate this antenna issue. I also can attest to the fact that when the bars drop to 1 or none, the signal is completely lost.

But, after doing extensive testing on the issue I really think in my heart of hearts that this is a software issue and can be fixed without a full recall and here's why:

I have a full five bars in my house. When laying flat on a table, my speed tests are an average of 2800 kpbs down, 1400 up. I have done this a multitude of times throughout the day and am consistently getting these numbers. When I take it in my left hand, palm pressing into the bottom left antenna sensor, the bars usually go down to 2, sometimes just three and I clearly have a good 3g signal where I am located. Doing many speed tests from this position, I am getting a consistent 2500-2800 kpbs down, 1200-1500 up. This is all with 2-3 bars.

Outside of my house (in a CVS store where there is less reception) I have conducted the same tests. The numbers were lower obviously, but consistent when cycling between 2-4 bars.

Like I said, I can attest to the fact that when the bars go down to 1 or none, there is NO service and data is completely cut off. Again I am no expert but I believe a software fix would alleviate the problem due to the fact that currently the phone isn't connecting to the different bands of network fast enough which is causing this problem.

Let me know what you all think.
 
But doesn't the fact that using a Bumper alleviates the problem indicate that the problem is hardware-related?
 
chrisk1250 said:
But doesn't the fact that using a Bumper alleviates the problem indicate that the problem is hardware-related?
Click to expand...
Well the rumored software bug is that the iPhone isn't switching between the bands correctly. The issue with the hardware remains the same. The bug doesn't show itself because the phone never has to switch bands, BECAUSE nothing is blocking the current one.

Does that make sense?
 
I'm pretty much convinced that apple knew of the problem before release, but also knew that it was not a hardware failure, but rather one that needed to be further tweaked with an update. If they thought their hardware was garbage, they would've been giving them out or charging $5 dollars.

They knew full well that this was an issue, and that putting any type of case would make it a lot less noticeable. I'm sure they were trying to test the waters to see if the backlash would hold any significance which it obviously has. If they had made the bumpers extremely cheap, it would look A LOT more fishy from a consumer perspective in terms of putting a band-aid on a huge hardware problem. They just were hoping nobody would notice which isn't the case.

If nobody had noticed, I'm convinced the next software update would still fix the problem, although now they need to come out with it much faster than they had envisioned.
 
myfoneisdank said:
But, after doing extensive testing on the issue I really think in my heart of hearts that this is a software issue and can be fixed without a full recall and here's why:
Click to expand...

Well, as long as it's in your heart of hearts... :rolleyes:

Sorry, but not sure I believe in your extensive testing and your seemingly unsupported conclusion that it is not hardware related. No offense, because otherwise I respect your intentions. :)
 
Figbash Acrobat said:
Well, as long as it's in your heart of hearts... :rolleyes:

Sorry, but not sure I believe in your extensive testing and your seemingly unsupported conclusion that it is not hardware related. No offense, because otherwise I respect your intentions. :)
Click to expand...

i guess we'll see on monday. i'm confident you'll be pleasantly surprised.
 
Surely said:
wtf happens monday?
Click to expand...

4.0.1 software update. its speculation at this point but more than likely it will be available at the beginning of the week. people a lot smarter than me are working around the clock on it
 
Why Monday? Why not Tuesday or Wednesday or Sunday if it's so important?

Speculation? Link? I see nothing of this on any rumor site. Are you talking about forum speculation? Okay then.....:rolleyes:
 
myfoneisdank said:
i guess we'll see on monday. i'm confident you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Click to expand...

Just curious where this confidence comes from? You work for apple support? (who wouldn't necessarily know anyway) Maybe Steve Jobs' cousin? :p

I'm rarely pleasantly surprised. You are aware you're on the MacRumors forums, no? :D
 
Surely said:
Gizmodo? :rolleyes:

Hopefully a fix to the reception issue is on the way though.

I still don't see how it's not a hardware issue.
Click to expand...

do you need the White House to put out a statement to confirm a rumor or something? a rumor is a rumor is rumor, doesnt matter where its from :)

i trust apple will get this all squared away very soon.
 
myfoneisdank said:
do you need the White House to put out a statement to confirm a rumor or something? a rumor is a rumor is rumor, doesnt matter where its from :)

i trust apple will get this all squared away very soon.
Click to expand...

Yes, but when you say things like I believe in "my heart of hearts" and "I'm confident" it implies more than rumor and speculation. As the boys on ATH would say... extra points for inside information!
 
Surely said:
Gizmodo? :rolleyes:

Hopefully a fix to the reception issue is on the way though.

I still don't see how it's not a hardware issue.
Click to expand...

According to the gizmo do post, it is a hardware issue but also a software issue. Normal operation is when something interferes with the signal, the software compensates by switching bands. It doesn't matter what the cause of the interference is, in this case it's the hand.
 
Surely said:
Yes. I need the White House to confirm this.
Click to expand...

White House would be a bonus, but I'd rather they focus on the oil spill and international affairs...

...though I suppose you could consider this the latter. ;)

I'm somewhat optimistic there will be an update soon, but not necessarily a "fix" to what many still believe to be a hardware issue, or worse, design flaw. Only time will tell. Apple Inc. truly are the masters of spin, so i know something is coming sooner or later.

(I just know it in my heart of hearts!)
 
Slip Jigs said:
According to the gizmo do post, it is a hardware issue but also a software issue. Normal operation is when something interferes with the signal, the software compensates by switching bands. It doesn't matter what the cause of the interference is, in this case it's the hand.
Click to expand...

Who would have thought that someone's hand would be anywhere near this new iPhone?:eek:;)
 
Figbash Acrobat said:
Yes, but when you say things like I believe in "my heart of hearts" and "I'm confident" it implies more than rumor and speculation. As the boys would on ATH would say... extra points for inside information!
Click to expand...

regardless, the people of apple are not amateurs. they're proud of the products they work on and put so much effort into them (even though they certainly charge the consumer enough for that work). Do you really think they want hundreds of thousands of iphone users to be upset at the quality of the product? absolutely not. the software fix should do the job, but if not, action will take place by any means necessary to repair the public relations damage. this goes much deeper than the guy down the street being upset about his iphone antenna, this is business and PR damage correlates to future products and services.
 
myfoneisdank said:
regardless, the people of apple are not amateurs. they're proud of the products they work on and put so much effort into them (even though they certainly charge the consumer enough for that work). Do you really think they want hundreds of thousands of iphone users to be upset at the quality of the product? absolutely not. the software fix should do the job, but if not, action will take place by any means necessary to repair the public relations damage. this goes much deeper than the guy down the street being upset about his iphone antenna, this is business and PR damage correlates to future products and services.
Click to expand...

Agreed.
 
myfoneisdank said:
...this is a software issue and can be fixed without a full recall
Click to expand...

Why does anyone think that this hardware defect (and it is hardware) would result in a recall? That's just silly, it's not a situation that warrants a recall.
 
Eso said:
Why does anyone think that this hardware defect (and it is hardware) would result in a recall? That's just silly, it's not a situation that warrants a recall.
Click to expand...

if it came down to the fact that it was a proven hardware defect and could not be fixed via software, apple would have no choice but to recall the product. this isn't the same as a toy recall for instance where the product is dangerous to a consumer. they would have to accept all iphones bought before a certain date/batch and switch them for a new, tested model.

if they do not take this action under the worst case scenario, there would be major major problems for the company. they have a share price and image to worry about. there is no way the higher ups at apple would ever let this happen. it would be done very swiftly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back