Apple releases statement about iPhone reception, fix due in "a few weeks"

By on Jul 2, 2010 at 8:49 AM
Breaking July 2, 2010

iphone-4-low-signal

Apple has released a statement regarding reception issues with the iPhone 4. The statement, which is in letter format, cites the “formula” Apple uses “to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display” being “totally wrong,” and the fact that “gripping almost any mobile phone in certain ways will reduce its reception by 1 or more bars.” We’ve got the full release for you after the break. Apple said a free software update will be coming in “a few weeks” that will allegedly provide a fix. What do you think?

Dear iPhone 4 Users,

The iPhone 4 has been the most successful product launch in Apple’s history. It has been judged by reviewers around the world to be the best smartphone ever, and users have told us that they love it. So we were surprised when we read reports of reception problems, and we immediately began investigating them. Here is what we have learned.

To start with, gripping almost any mobile phone in certain ways will reduce its reception by 1 or more bars. This is true of iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, as well as many Droid, Nokia and RIM phones. But some users have reported that iPhone 4 can drop 4 or 5 bars when tightly held in a way which covers the black strip in the lower left corner of the metal band. This is a far bigger drop than normal, and as a result some have accused the iPhone 4 of having a faulty antenna design.

At the same time, we continue to read articles and receive hundreds of emails from users saying that iPhone 4 reception is better than the iPhone 3GS. They are delighted. This matches our own experience and testing. What can explain all of this?

We have discovered the cause of this dramatic drop in bars, and it is both simple and surprising.

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. Users observing a drop of several bars when they grip their iPhone in a certain way are most likely in an area with very weak signal strength, but they don’t know it because we are erroneously displaying 4 or 5 bars. Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.

To fix this, we are adopting AT&T’s recently recommended formula for calculating how many bars to display for a given signal strength. The real signal strength remains the same, but the iPhone’s bars will report it far more accurately, providing users a much better indication of the reception they will get in a given area. We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see.

We will issue a free software update within a few weeks that incorporates the corrected formula. Since this mistake has been present since the original iPhone, this software update will also be available for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G.

We have gone back to our labs and retested everything, and the results are the same- the iPhone 4′s wireless performance is the best we have ever shipped. For the vast majority of users who have not been troubled by this issue, this software update will only make your bars more accurate. For those who have had concerns, we apologize for any anxiety we may have caused.

As a reminder, if you are not fully satisfied, you can return your undamaged iPhone to any Apple Retail Store or the online Apple Store within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.

We hope you love the iPhone 4 as much as we do.

Thank you for your patience and support.

Apple

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  • Cold Dead Fingers

    It’s a lie, but meh, my phone gets better reception than a 3GS

  • John

    Time will tell….. if…IF we take them at their expertise, if it is still happening after “the fix”, then…. THEN they will have to take the hardware back…. and wouldn’t it be nice if the stores had no customers because of a boycott… that…THAT would wake up Stevie boy… How insulting is that official statement… iP4 went back, my iP3 is fine, so it is not all phones…

  • kiddo

    iPhone defenders: you Lose!
    This phone are and now we all know, always have been high-priced pieces of junk. with sales supported by a fawning media, and un-merited support from blogging sites.

    Apple hoodwinked you all!!!!!!! (and me too as I fell to owning this piece of shit for a year).

    The only value in an iPhone is apps, which are not made by apple. Think about it. Apple itself produced bad (iphone, mac air), OK (macbook) and good products (Macbook Pro, iMac) but markets them as transformational and high quality.

    In short the firm is full of liars with SJ being the king liar of all of them.

  • Veleje

    This is phatetic!

    Doesn’t matter how many bars you see. What matter is if you can get data or not. Can you use phone or not.

    I’ve read few hundreds of posts here, they can’t connect all the time.

    So now, they will see 1 bar instead of 3?!? And this is solution? What a joke!

    Sorry if I’m repeating other comments – didn’t read them :)

  • http://Coupleofweeks? WhoCares

    Like what? 3 or 4 weeks more? or simply enough weeks to make all the iphone un-returnable because the 30 days limit will expire JUST when they will release the update…
    And how are they going to solve a hardware problem with software? Unless they are planning on Flipping the graph of the bars so when you lose bars you actually get more!

  • Techchick

    wow so their fix is not giving better reception but changing the way signal bars indicate signal…what a joke. honestly i’m glad i didnt jump the gun and kept my 3g. “You can put a pretty bow on top of garbage, but it’s still garbage”.

  • Gregg

    As a 20+ year veteran of the wireless industry and most of that time was dealing with product quality and root cause/corrective action I can tell you that holding any phone will affect reception and that placing the actual antenna on a surface that can come in contact with human skin makes it that much worse. Add to that the ability to “connect” two different radio antennas by bridging them compounds the issue. This will not be corrected by software. The other issue is that Apple failed miserably at representing accurate signal strength makes a bad situation even worse. I wonder if there are studies being done on the potential higher RF exposure due to no buffer between human skin and the antennas? I know that a company I worked for made their factory pouches so the back/antenna would face away from the body to help signal and avoid excessive exposure.

  • Bob

    I have an I-phone 3G and was wanting to get a 4G phone. But now I think that I will get something else instead. If people are dropping calls costantly on the I-Phone 4G surely Apple will look into this problem and start by examaning the antenna, and then the software. If they have this problem now, who’s to say that they wont have the same problem with a Verizon I-phone too. If this problem is not resolved Apple could go out of business by people not wanting to buy their products.

  • jm

    So, in order for Apple to hide that they have been selling
    a pretty good media player coupled with a mediocre cell phone they had to jack up the signal bars for the phone.
    In other words, they lied to everyone of us. Why are they able to do that-because the fawning press allows them to and because that is their corporate culture. The tech blogosphere continues to allow the polished Apple pseudo-deco aesthetics and a very good media player confuse and hipnotize them into thinking that the device comes with a useable cell phone. Apple is an arrogant company and they think that we are all idiot. All that you have to do is listen to their explanation.

    • NickDSO

      Now…why would they think “we are all idiot” ??

  • http://alghienkad06.student.ipb.ac.id/ thea

    cool

  • peter pan

    I’ve noticed this problem from the get go, however I’ve still yet to drop any calls on my iPhone 4g, something that happened ALL THE TIME on my 3g which displayed (get this) FULL BARS!!

    Until this becomes an actual functionality issue with me, I could care less if it shows 8 bars or half of one.

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