iOS 4.0.1 Being Released Today?

[spazzcat]

So you think a HARDWARE defect in the phone can be fixed by a SOFTWARE update?

It seems his level of intelligence if becoming the norm on here.

Its not only a hardware issue. It takes software to make hardware work. As I have said a few times now, the new software has helped my phone. It will not make the issue go away 100%, but I am guessing the people that were having dropped call will see a big reduction...

 

[Pez555]

What would a modem update do to fix a hardware error?

If I hold my hands tightly around a 3GS I can replicate the signal issue because I am blocking the signal. Of course almost no one does that which is why there is no 3GS signal issue.

The problem with the iP4 is when you touch the antenna where it connects to the ~receiver (death spot) you (fill in the blank) thus causing it to lose signal strength. A software update isn't going to fix that hardware issue.

actually i can replicate the same issue the iPhone 4's are having by holding my 3GS exactly the same way, so you fail there.

there are also a few stories circulating with the dev release saying they no longer have any dropped calls in places they did before, so you fail again.

Unless you have your hands on the 4.0.1 release then just be quiet please .

 

[haravikk]

Hmm, seems likely that if they do release it right before the press release, then they may be confident that it will resolve the signal strength issue and want to make sure the press report on it, to try and reduce the negative press they've been getting due to the issue so far.

 

[doctor-don]

Define "somewhat curious."

Why is it curious that a software / OS update would come at this point in time?

It seems to me that Snow Leopard had an update fairly soon after it was released.

Following the decision by Consumer Reports to rate this iPhone a Don't Buy * when everything else was positive / above average, every news outlet is giving Apple an F. What they should be doing is giving an F to the Swiss decision to ignore the legal status of Roman Polanski in the U.S.

*I find it humorous the way CR states this –

the iPhone 4's signal-strength issues were largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software that "mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength."

optical illusion ?

And considering the discussion about the iPhone's antenna, why didn't CR test the reception / transmission with a case / bumper before releasing its non-recommendation?

 

[rols]

Not sure if this has been posted elsewhere, but it seems that the 4.1 beta doesn't require you to be a registered dev to use.

I am a registered dev but just installed it on my iPhone 4 and forgot to add my phone as a registered device first. Phone works just fine.

That's never mattered before. The registration for dev phones is just for you to get a certificate which will allow your development code to run on those phones. OS betas have always been able to run on any phone you like.

 

[tazdevl]

It is possible to increase the power to the antenna to increase signal, it comes at a battery cost though. I live in the butter zone where I can make the signal drop while doing nothing, but nothing I do will drop a phone call once initiated due to the increase in power.

Then you're getting exposed to more cell phone radiation. Raises the SAR. If they did this, it'd be interesting to see what it ends up being. San Francisco has a law stating that cell manufacturers have to disclose the SAR for their devices. It isn't exactly low in it's current form.

 

[epo]

It seems his level of intelligence if becoming the norm on here.

Seems poor proofreading is becoming the norm here.

 

[enoC]

That's never mattered before. The registration for dev phones is just for you to get a certificate which will allow your development code to run on those phones. OS betas have always been able to run on any phone you like.

No. That is absolutely incorrect.
You have to be registered on someones developer-account to activate your iPhone with the beta installed. This was how it worked with 3.0 and 4.0 betas.
I don't if this is the case with iOS 4.1 betas...

 

[Small White Car]

Define "somewhat curious."

"1 Day before the Apple press conference about the iPhone 4."

 

[doctor-don]

Yes. I gave my iPhone 3G to my sister (who is also on O2) and she's been happy with it. I on the other hand have had many dropped calls, awful reception and friends and family have told me that over the past two weeks they've tried to call me at times when it just goes straight to voicemail - but I don't get a missed call. That feels more like a network issue, yet I've never had so many issues with one phone on O2.

EDIT: As far as the actual antenna issues are concerned, it does happen on my iPhone but its not so bad. I would appreciate a fix, however.

Many different phones by various companies on various networks experience the same problem: no missed call showing up when calls had been made. I also have had e-mail that has been transmitted by certain IPs which shows up in my computer's inbox hours later ... as much as 12 hours recently.

 

[StuffOfInterest]

Fix memory leaks?

My one big hope for either 4.0.1 or 4.1 is that it will fix the memory leaks on the iPhone 3G. I'm having to restart my phone every couple of days now because I reach a point where even built-in apps are crashing (most likely due to running out of memory). With only 128MB of RAM, memory management is critical and it looks like iOS 4 has some issues with it.

 

[enoC]

My one big hope for either 4.0.1 or 4.1 is that it will fix the memory leaks on the iPhone 3G. I'm having to restart my phone every couple of days now because I reach a point where even built-in apps are crashing (most likely due to running out of memory). With only 128MB of RAM, memory management is critical and it looks like iOS 4 has some issues with it.

And this is with a clean install? No backup used?

 

[spazzcat]

That's never mattered before. The registration for dev phones is just for you to get a certificate which will allow your development code to run on those phones. OS betas have always been able to run on any phone you like.

iOS 4.1 does require your phone to be a development device. I didn't set up my new iPhone 4 as development device. After installing, 4.1 I got a message in iTunes saying it couldn't activate the phone because device was not registered.

 

[doctor-don]

Define "somewhat curious."

Why is it curious that a software / OS update would come at this point in time?

It seems to me that Snow Leopard had an update fairly soon after it was released.

Following the decision by Consumer Reports to rate this iPhone a Don't Buy * when everything else was positive / above average, every news outlet is giving Apple an F. What they should be doing is giving an F to the Swiss decision to ignore the legal status of Roman Polanski in the U.S.

*I find it humorous the way CR states this –

the iPhone 4's signal-strength issues were largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software that "mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength."

optical illusion ?

And considering the discussion about the iPhone's antenna, why didn't CR test the reception / transmission with a case / bumper before releasing its non-recommendation?

"1 Day before the Apple press conference about the iPhone 4."

Seems to me you cut out the reason I questioned this.

Why is it curious that a software / OS update would come at this point in time?

It seems to me that Snow Leopard had an update fairly soon after it was released. It is not that unusual.

 

[Small White Car]

Seems to me you cut out the reason I questioned this.

Why is it curious that a software / OS update would come at this point in time?

It seems to me that Snow Leopard had an update fairly soon after it was released. It is not that unusual.

And my answer answers THAT question too. What's the problem? I don't understand what you don't understand.

 

[StuffOfInterest]

And this is with a clean install? No backup used?

It used the standard Apple upgrade procedure. If that doesn't work, then it is one more thing Apple needs to fix with the 4.x.y update.

From what I've seen of the Apple update process it looks more like a complete reinstall with the software being reflashed, the apps being installed back in (you can actually see each app being installed by iTunes), and finally the data being restored. Heck, why else would it take 2-3 hours?

 

[Fabienne]

4.0.1.? Phffft, who cares? When are they coming out with the white phone?

 

[igazza]

No love for iPad

 

[samcraig]

And considering the discussion about the iPhone's antenna, why didn't CR test the reception / transmission with a case / bumper before releasing its non-recommendation?

Why? Because CR tested the phone "out of the box" which is exactly how they should test any product.

They also didn't test the iPhone 4 with an external battery and report on how long you could use the phone. And they didn't do that for the EVO I believe either and that device has a crappy battery life according to reports.

CR isn't obligated to test accessories with a device. If I'm buying a camera - I want to know how it functions out of the box. I can research accessories somewhere else.

If I'm buying a new car - I want to know how it performs driving it off the lot - not how it could work if I bought an aftermarket engine booster

And if I were to buy a cooking pan - I would want to know how well it cooks as a pan - now how adding some cooking spray or shield will increase performance.

 

[Roamerick]

Reality Check Please

I have three succinct points to make on the issue:

1 I can easily replicate the visual drop of signal bars in a weak signal area by putting a finger over the 'death spot' for long enough.

2 Said drop has never led to a 'No Signal' situation, or dropped a call. So, practically, it has not affected me beyond being able to visually manipulate how many bars are on my iPhone 4's screen.

3 The unprecedented hype does not represent an unprecedented issue. Here is a nice collection of videos of major smartphones doing the EXACT SAME THING as the iPhone 4. Where was the press outrage then?

Time for a reality check people. This is neither new nor critical.

 

[enoC]

It used the standard Apple upgrade procedure. If that doesn't work, then it is one more thing Apple needs to fix with the 4.x.y update.

From what I've seen of the Apple update process it looks more like a complete reinstall with the software being reflashed, the apps being installed back in (you can actually see each app being installed by iTunes), and finally the data being restored. Heck, why else would it take 2-3 hours?

You could try restoring it and setting it up as new. Just remember to save your contacts in Outlook or via Google Sync.
I'm not saying that it will fix your problem, but it's worth trying

 

[knightlie]

So you think a HARDWARE defect in the phone can be fixed by a SOFTWARE update?

It seems his level of intelligence if becoming the norm on here.

It may be possible to work around the hardware issue using software - if the update includes new modem firmware than this is quite likely. Fortunately Steve Jobs employs people smarter than you who can think these things through. Remember the Pentium processor that couldn't do floating point math properly? It was "fixed" in software.

I for one hope the update fixes Safaris incredible instability, I've had more crashes since iOS 4 than I ever had previously. At least Cookie Dozer runs okay...

 

[Goldfinger]

My one big hope for either 4.0.1 or 4.1 is that it will fix the memory leaks on the iPhone 3G. I'm having to restart my phone every couple of days now because I reach a point where even built-in apps are crashing (most likely due to running out of memory). With only 128MB of RAM, memory management is critical and it looks like iOS 4 has some issues with it.

Same here. iOS4 made the 3G unusable. Even after a "clean install".

 

[TheAppleGeek]

It'd be nice to have it release today, but I really doubt it will.

 

[Jimrod]

I have three succinct points to make on the issue:

1 I can easily replicate the visual drop of signal bars in a weak signal area by putting a finger over the 'death spot' for long enough.

2 Said drop has never led to a 'No Signal' situation, or dropped a call. So, practically, it has not affected me beyond being able to visually manipulate how many bars are on my iPhone 4's screen.

3 The unprecedented hype does not represent an unprecedented issue. Here is a nice collection of videos of major smartphones doing the EXACT SAME THING as the iPhone 4. Where was the press outrage then?

Time for a reality check people. This is neither new nor critical.

It is an issue - at home I got the results below (3rd time of posting so apologies to those that have seen it), if you look I had 5 bars of signal to start, phone on desk - second test was phone on desk (not moved) with one fingertip pressed lightly over the black band for about 10 seconds before starting test - this is less pressure than I put on the phone than when it's simply in my left hand for browsing internet with right index finger. So people can deny all they like because they don't experience an issue but it is definitely real for some of us.

(I would post a video but can't video the phone with the phone if you get my meaning)

I SINCERELY doubt this can be done with any other smart phone by simply touching (not death-crush-gorilla-gripping) the external case.