iPhone 4 reception problems? Apple says it's all in the bars.
Well, Apple has finally figured out what's behind the complaints of poor reception on the iPhone 4 – and guess what? It's partly just a matter of bars. In an open letter to iPhone 4 customers today, Apple said that the reception issues with the iPhone 4 had little to do with the actual antenna and almost everything to do with the formula used to calculate how many bars the iPhone displays.
Here's an excerpt from the letter:
"Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong. Our formula, in many instances, mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength. For example, we sometimes display 4 bars when we should be displaying as few as 2 bars."
Elsewhere, Apple reiterates previous claims that reception on all phones vary depending on how the phone is held. But Apple seems to be saying that much of the furor over the problems of the iPhone 4 is merely a matter of the formula Apple has employed to judge reception strength.
Perhaps predictably, Apple's explanation has drawn jeers from all over the blogosphere today. "On the face of it, Apple's letter.... appears ludicrous in the extreme," writes the tech site The Register.
It's interesting to note that Apple's explanation is exactly in line with a report issued this week by Apple Insider. Citing posts to a popular iPhone forum, Apple Insider identified the source of the death grip as an easily-remedied software problem, and estimated that Apple would soon release an upgrade to the iOS 4 operating system. And in fact, Apple is releasing a software update, which the company says will be available "within a few weeks."
Bravo to Apple Insider for nailing the scoop.
iPhone 4 reception issues, of course, have dominated coverage of the iPhone 4 since the handset was launched. Yesterday, several blogs began offering an innovative iPhone death grip panacea: A yellow LiveStrong bracelet. According to some blogers, when you stretch the bracelet around the iPhone, it works just as well as the expensive cases sold at Apple outlets, adding a layer of much-needed dampening to the iPhone 4s finicky external antenna.
Related links:
iPhone 4 vs. Droid X: How do they compare?
iPhone 'death grip' cripples iPhone 4. Could a patch help?
