iOS 4.1 Beta Includes Apple's Planned Signal Bar Changes

[Tunster]

I know how to recreate the problem. Just using the term everyone else made up. I think this is all BS. The phone has never dropped a call for since I got it almost 3 weeks ago. Not 1 dropped call. Not even from a supermarket that I never could get a signal from before.

Try telling that to a couple of million people (minus you) that their phone isnt defective. Even with my iP4 in a very strong signal area can kill the service by holding it with my left hand. Most of the time is "okay", but I've had plenty of dropped calls from it.

Maybe you have a weaker resistance through your body and is having far less effect on your phone. Everyone is different. All this "signal bar" is a short ploy TBH. What's the point having the retina display and then Apple having to "enhance" the appearance of the first 3 bars? Let's wait patiently for the massive recall guys and gals. It will happen.

 

[RidleyGriff]

Sure, but not being able to browse the internet or make a call (by naturally holding it in my left hand) is unusable. These are real world scenario's

Texting, gaming, watching videos,facetime - alll work fine because i dont hold it in the same position.

But I didnt buy half a phone. I dont expect half a phone. I get your gist, i dont think you're getting mine.

I do get your gist, and if you run into the problem that regularly, I can only imagine how infuriating it would be. I think it's an intermittent problem not only because it's signal related but because of the different way people use their phones, but if it's getting you that often, that's clearly not an acceptable situation.

It does sound like the best way to get Apple's attention is to return the phone. I am most definitely NOT in the "return it and be quiet" camp; it just seems to me that the only way to get Apple's attention is for phones to start getting returned. Given how many people don't have issues in their day to day usage, everything else ends up being white noise.

Best of luck -- hope this gets resolved for you one way or another.

 

[choddo]

Or deal with customers who contact their customer support organization and address their issues. Ignoring mindless ranting on Internet forums and sensationalist news media does not mean they are not fixing problems.

Nearly dell PC ever released has had a manufacturing run with a defective piece of hardware. When users call in and the problem is identified they fix the problem.

Oh really?
Dell tried to hide bad capacitors problem

It wasn't "nearly all Dell PCs ever" by the way, just a certain product line.

 

[wol]

Cui bono?

and I have YET to have any problems with call reception!
What the hell is all of this about, and why has it become a nationwide issue?
so far as I can tell, a few cranks who probably work for Nokia are posting flames about their competition, and the rest of the world is eating it up.
I'll repeat, I've had my iPhone4 for almost a month now, and use it daily, with NO, ZERO, NADA, NILL, NOT ONE iOta of signal problems!

Same here - got an iPhone 4 on June 24, used it every day both here in Germany, and two weeks ago, when I was visiting New York City, and don't have any issues (though being locked to T-Mobile Germany, the iPhone 4 of course preferred to connect to the US T-Mobile network, hence I can't make any statement about ATT connectivity in NYC).
My iPhone4 has better reception than my trusty old Sony-Ericsson P910i, and still got a signal where a colleagues iPhone 3GS could not connect to any cell.

 

[MikePA]

I just can't wrap my head around the notion that after 3+ years........Apple still haven't figured out how to properly "calculate" and display signal strength? Not just apple, but also AT&T which has how many decades of experience?

WTF

Why does it matter what's displayed as long as it doesn't say NO SERVICE? If you have to make a call or send a file, would you not do either of them if there was 1 bar?

 

[choddo]

I wonder if people ever actual read what Apple said they were going to do, and are now wondering when they do it if they are just masking the issue with a GUI update?

Apple said they were going to adjust the signal bar display. They didn't say they were going to do anything else.

Including people inside Apple. I was just reading someone else's story on another forum about Apple Care staff who "guaranteed" the software fix would solve the problem. Luckily they also agreed to give him an extension on his 30 day return guarantee.

 

[choddo]

Why does it matter what's displayed as long as it doesn't say NO SERVICE? If you have to make a call or send a file, would you not do either of them if there was 1 bar?

1 bar of GPRS takes about 1000 times longer to send the same file as 3 bars of 3G. i.e. it's impossible to all intents and purposes. Calls still work of course.

I can go from 2Mb upload to practically 0 with the death grip.

 

[outz]

Why does it matter what's displayed as long as it doesn't say NO SERVICE?

because it's deceptive.

 

[Shin3r]

As far as I can tell, a few lucky people live somewhere with great reception and therefore have no problems with their iPhone 4s, and also have no compassion for those of us who do.

Not saying there isn't a problem with the phone. I mean, mine drops bars when I death grip it also, but haven't been in a situation where the phone just does not work. But I hear what you are saying above a lot. It just might be the key to the whole situation. This phone might just have worse reception, if so, take it back and get a different phone. The obvious thing we've figured out is that this problem occurs mostly in poor reception areas or in highly populated areas.

Not debating the whole antenna issue, but different phones have better or worse reception, vote with your dollars, not by wasting my tax dollars.

 

[RidleyGriff]

The problem is that if someone is talking on the phone for, say, 30 minutes, s/he will change the grip many times during such conversation. Are we supposed to monitor carefully how we hold the phone all the time? I'd categorize this as "phone-boarding" (i.e. mild form of torture not recognized as such by some people).

And here you are proving my point about too much hyperbole.

If you find yourself having to monitor your holding to avoid call droppage, don't put up with it. That's ridiculous. Vote with your dollars. That will get much more attention than MacRumors venting.

 

[pbrooks]

It's funny how their will always be people that bitch no matter what happens.

Couldn't have said it better myself! In the two weeks I've had my iPhone 4, I've used it at home in LA, in Boston, Germany, and Denmark. I have had zero issues with signal loss. It simply has worked.

 

[Fazzl]

Does iPhone 4 have to be registered under developer account for this beta?

 

[MikePA]

Try telling that to a couple of million people (minus you) that their phone isnt defective. Even with my iP4 in a very strong signal area can kill the service by holding it with my left hand. Most of the time is "okay", but I've had plenty of dropped calls from it.

Maybe you have a weaker resistance through your body and is having far less effect on your phone. Everyone is different. All this "signal bar" is a short ploy TBH. What's the point having the retina display and then Apple having to "enhance" the appearance of the first 3 bars? Let's wait patiently for the massive recall guys and gals. It will happen.

What's the point of keeping a phone that doesn't work and complain about it? Return it, and there will not be a recall. Apple is not going to spend that kind of money to placate a minority no matter how loud they whine.

 

[wovel]

Oh really?
Dell tried to hide bad capacitors problem

It wasn't "nearly all Dell PCs ever" by the way, just a certain product line.

Yes really. I perhaps could have been more clear by saying "nearly all Dell PC Product lines ever released". You are referring to a single incident, I am referring to different incident across different product lines.

I was not picking on Dell (in fact I cited an Apple problem as well). These types are problems to any complex manufacturing problems.

The point that you missed was, no one feels the need to make press releases about routine support issues. Doing so in this case would simply make it harder for people who need support now and in the future.

 

[Johnny82]

OK. But your first post? After joining today?

lansi
macrumors newbie
Join Date: Jul 2010

Why not? I've done similar things on other forums for both positive and negative things when I want to share my input. You are weird.

 

[Beast10101]

droid x comes out tomorrow just saying

 

[Beast10101]

pbrooks is really steve jobs haha

 

[choddo]

Yes really. I perhaps could have been more clear by saying "nearly all Dell PC Product lines ever released". You are referring to a single incident, I am referring to different incident across different product lines.

I was not picking on Dell (in fact I cited an Apple problem as well). These types are problems to any complex manufacturing problems.

The point that you missed was, no one feels the need to make press releases about routine support issues. Doing so in this case would simply make it harder for people who need support now and in the future.

You're right, I did sidestep that. And I agree. This particular issue seems more towards the "xbox red ring of death" end of the spectrum than a routine support issue though. The end of the spectrum where major brand damage is being done. Everyone I know who has seen my phone has jokingly asked if I can make calls on it.

 

[marksman]

Apple never ONCE said that this software update was a "fix" for the antenna issue. It was people on here to who made the assumption based on the timing of the announcement that there was an "issue" with the formula the iPhone had been using to calculate signal strength. It was never addressed as a fix for the physical touching of the device and the signal dropping.

People have set themselves up for a MASSIVE amount of disappointment that will subject the users of this forum to another month of moaning and "Apple are liars"! nonsense.

Exactly this. I don't know how so many people live in bubble worlds where they just ignore what is going on around them and just make up their own "truth" and world to live in. The worst part of these fantasy world's are they make themselves upset in them, which seems like a faulty design. Perhaps these people should recall their fantasy worlds. It is like West World when Yul Brynner goes rogue.

 

[MikePA]

because it's deceptive.

Not to anyone who has more important things to worry about.

 

[MikePA]

1 bar of GPRS takes about 1000 times longer to send the same file as 3 bars of 3G. i.e. it's impossible to all intents and purposes. Calls still work of course.

I can go from 2Mb upload to practically 0 with the death grip.

With or w/o a bumper? If with, why don't you return the phone?

 

[Jimrod]

Couldn't have said it better myself! In the two weeks I've had my iPhone 4, I've used it at home in LA, in Boston, Germany, and Denmark. I have had zero issues with signal loss. It simply has worked.

Neither of you have a problem so neither of you have a reason to bitch - that doesn't mean that other people don't have a problem. Get it? Am I using small enough words?

 

[outz]

Not to anyone who has more important things to worry about.

you fanboys make excuses about everything

it's obviously important to you because you're posting here

 

[Jimrod]

So, aside from bigger bars and alogarithm fix, what exactly is in this update we have to wait weeks for?

 

[marksman]

The "issue" was mentioned in the open letter in context to Apple's software glitch. It's called guilt by association. We mentioned it so we are implying we have a solution.... I'll stop now.

They SPECIFICALLY pointed out that this was not an issue that did not exist on any other cell phone in the world. So they specifically said it was NOT an issue, and was not going to be fixed. This is where the problem comes in. People make up their own Apple Press Release in their head and fill in between the lines instead of reading what Apple wrote.

Apple said there is not a problem, but they will issue a fix for a different issue, and that is how the bars represent the signal.

There is no illogical guilt by association, they flat out said it was not a problem, so why would you read into that, that they were going to fix it?