iPhone Reception Problem "Simple and Surprising"

[Jeff Campbell]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/02/apple-iphone-4-reception-problems-a-software-issue-fix-coming/' target='_blank'>http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/02/...sue-fix-coming/</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Whoa, Apple just admitted that there's an issue with the iPhone 4's reception, but it might not be what you think..."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/at/auto/1278075781.usr105634.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>According to the <a href="http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/07/02appleletter.html" target="_blank">Apple press release</a>, it has been a software problem since the release of the original iPhone. Basically the reception bars are reading "too high," giving you the impression your signal strength is stronger than it actually is. To correct this, they are adopting the recently released AT&amp;T formula to calculate the reception strength, which will require a software update. This will also make the image of the bars a little larger and easier to see. Since this was a problem since the original iPhone, they are also going to make the update available for the 3G and 3GS. No mention on holding the phone correctly though.&nbsp;</p>

[Jason Dunn]

Considering how detail-obsessed Apple is, it's quite surprising they "forgot" these little details. I don't buy it - I think they were hoping no one would notice.

[Dyvim]

The "bug" was that they were over-reporting the signal strength, which I'm sure they were doing on purpose to make both the iPhone and AT&T look good.

"Look I've got 4 bars of signal!"

Finally their signal-strength shenanigans have come back to haunt them. I wonder how much flack they're going to get when many of the people who currently get 4-5 bars, all of a sudden show 2-3 bars post-update. "This update made my reception worse! @&*#@&@*@ Apple!!!"

[Jeff Campbell]

Yea, I'm thinking this isn't some great epiphany they had on this topic, they just got caught :eek:

[Sven Johannsen]

I can believe their algorythm for number of bars to signal strength may have been misleading, but what has this to do with watching the bars go down and dropping an in progress call as you bridge the antenna gap with your hand? I keep hearing that the bands around the iPhone 4 are the antenna elements, but even the most novice antenna engineer wouldn't have put the radiating elements where folks are going to touch them. Not for safety reasons entirely either. The reason capacitive touch screens work is because of the capacitance displayed by the body. Tha same capacitance, and resistance, will de-tune an antenna element. Pretty basic stuff.

[eharris3745]

This sounds very odd to me. My trust in Apple just went down a few bars!

[encece]

I'm still unsure about the degree of the problem. I can definitely notice the bars drop when I cover the bottom left corner of the phone, even down to one bar...but I almost never drop calls.

My biggest problem is the sensitivity of the proximity sensor that turns the screen off when on a call. It's constantly turning the screen on and I'm hitting speakerphone with my cheek. Once I hung up on the caller and called my sister...all unintentionally. My #1 hope for a software update fix.