It's both a software AND hardware issue, people. Apple may be right that their algorithm for displaying bars may be inaccurate, but there's no denying that the iPhone 4 see more signal degradation when holding the phone in that certain spot. To summarize:
1) When you see 5 bars of signal strength, that doesn't necessarily mean your signal is strong. There is a very small breadth of actual signal between 1-5 bars, but a very wide breath at the 5 bar level. For example, if you have 5 bars, you may have a signal strength of 15-100%. When you have 4 bars of less, you are already down to 15% or less of signal strength.
2) Now it's quite clear that all phones will drop some signal strength when you hold them in certain ways. If you hold the iPhone 4 with a case or without touching that lower left corner, the signal strength will drop relatively in line with other phones. But when you hold it in that corner, the signal will drop more than other phones and that's why we are seeing a problem. If you are at 4 or less bars (or even the lower end of 5 bars), you could see a total drop in signal. On other phones, you may see a drop but most likely not as dramatic.
3) The real test is having an iPhone 4 and a 3G/3GS side by side in a low signal area and test for various conditions. For example, test both an iPhone 4 and 3GS with both in a case. Test both when holding them in the normal talk position. Test both when holding them by their antennas. Does the iPhone 4 drop significantly more than the 3GS, or they pretty much in line? I don't have an activated 3GS to test this, but my guess is that the iPhone 4 will perform equally or even better than the 3GS in most circumstances EXCEPT when you are holding it in that certain corner.
4) So even after Apple issues this update (which is going to be for ALL iPhone devices by the way), you will simply see less bars than you did before in areas where you signal strength is not high. And when you touch that corner, you'll still lose the same amount of signal but it won't look as dramatic because you won't be going from 5 bars to 0 bars. So really all they will have accomplished is pointing the finger at AT&T and showing you were already in a low signal area to begin with. Which may be true... but if your 3GS doesn't go to "searching" or drop a call in that low signal area but your iPhone 4 DOES when you hold it in that corner, then it will prove that there really is a problem with the antenna design and that you'll either need to use a case or avoid touching that area.
So you have several types of experiences with iPhone 4:
A) Those who are mainly in strong signal areas who may never even notice an antenna issue because the signal loss is not enough to greatly affect it.
B) Those who use a case or bumper who will most likely never even encounter the problem.
C) Those who rarely or never hold the phone by that corner, and thus will never have the dramatic signal drop off.
D) Those that routinely touch the phone in that corner and notice the dropoff quite regularly.
E) Those that touch the phone in that corner but only notice a problem in certain areas where signal is already low.
In other words, we should expect to continue seeing a vast disparity of user experiences depending on how you use the phone! Apple's software update is going to do nothing more than more accurately show you when you are in a low signal area. But it will do nothing to prevent you from totally dropping signal when you happen to touch the phone in the corner while in those areas.
