Posted on 07/02/2010 7:03:12 AM PDT by Yo-Yo
July 2, 2010 Letter from Apple Regarding iPhone 4 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
driftdiver: "So the iPhone has a higher signal strength? Do you have anything showing its signal strength vs that of other devices?"
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Swordmaker, you might want to file this comment as a retort whenever driftdiver starts mouthing off. Yakking about a receiver's "signal strength"! Can one get more ignorant on technical issues?
“Swordmaker, you might want to file this comment as a retort whenever driftdiver starts mouthing off. Yakking about a receiver’s “signal strength”! Can one get more ignorant on technical issues?”
Ahh so you mean AT&T has a higher signal strength than Verizon? HA! Yet another insult from a silly macbot.
Considering I earned my amateur radio license at 17 I’d wager I know more about signal strength than you do.
Pathetic, keep trying and you might one day grow up.
And by the way, the “transmitter” strength used by wireless companies is dictated by the FCC. what a pathetic macbot attack
Not a problem, they’re fixing it,...by making the bars much taller in the display,...now stop complaining about not having enough bars.
And by the way, the “transmitter” strength used by wireless companies is dictated by the FCC. what a pathetic macbot attack
Driftdiver do you have a comparison between the reception of different devices from the same source to the different receivers at the same location? If you don't, this discussion is meaningless.
By the way, I don't have a dog in this fight. I don't even own a cell phone, except for a couple of disposables that might be lying around. Where I live, there is no cell phone reception.
I am an electrical engineer and know a little bit about electrical signals.
Could this wrong formula that “stunned” them have been created and planted in the phones during update 2.0.2 as a “solution” to this problem ?
http://www.roughlydrafted.com/2008/08/28/the-inside-deets-on-iphone-202-and-dropped-calls/
If so, you are looking at massive increases in dropped calls as this “fix” hits the streets.
Then you should know cell phones have a tx and a rx. The post I was responding to was claiming iPhones have strong signals.
Where is your data? If you are claiming that Iphones don't have strong signals what is your evidence?
In an attempt at CYA, you changed your dumb@$$ statement to:
"Ahh so you mean AT&T has a higher signal strength than Verizon?
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Before you try to "one-up" me, know this: I retired after a long, successful career in microelectronics R&D and engineering.
And, I got my Ham license in 1980 -- when even Techs had to r/s Morse @ 5 wpm -- and I designed and built a lot of my own gear.
So don't try to bull$#!+ me by switching from receiver (iPhone) to transmitters (AT&T & Verizon) to cover your dumb @$$.
This isn’t rocket science guys. This is very simple measurements.
Where are the measurements so that we can make comparisons?
If there are no measurements, this entire discussion is just silly.
“Where is your data? If you are claiming that Iphones don’t have strong signals what is your evidence?”
Hey IDIOTS, thats why I asked the question. The statement was made that iPhones have stronger signal strength. I asked for some kind of measurements. You liars try to turn it around once again attacking the messenger who threatens your precious little religion.
Cell phones have a receiver and a transmitter. The new iphone also has a external antenna which is affected by how you hold it. All the lies and twists of logic won’t turn that around.
Take you POS attitudes, personal attacks and hate and jump in a lake. Preferably one filled with run off from a pig farm.
“So don’t try to bull$#!+ me by switching from receiver (iPhone) to transmitters (AT&T & Verizon) to cover your dumb @$$. “
I bet you’re a good engineer if you think cell phones don’t have transmitters.
I bet you’re a good engineer if you think a cell phone's transmitter section has anything to do with its receiver's incoming signal strength indicator.
Keep on trying to CYA -- it's still hanging 'way out...
Never said it was, liar.
For clarification purposes -- in the above, were you specifically addressing and discussing the output signal strength from the iPhone's transmitter section or the received input rf signal strength to the iPhone's receiver section?
You are calling me an idiot and a liar? I have been the one asking for measurements not you. I don’t know if you are a smart man bluffing or an imbecile who means it. My money is on the latter.
Take you POS attitudes, personal attacks and hate and jump in a lake. Preferably one filled with run off from a pig farm.
Personal attacks? Why are you so angry? I have my guesses and none of them have anything to do with Apple.
“I have been the one asking for measurements not you.”
Look back in the thread, you’ll see I asked for measurements. But your dishonesty will prevent you from admitting to that.
You’re right it doesn’t have anything to do with apple. They are just another company. It has to do with the dishonest and hateful attacks by the macbots who feel their religion is threatened.
LeGrande, this is the attitude I've been putting up with from driftdiver. He will dance and weave, obfuscate, and insult you. No matter what you say, with him, you can carry no weight in a discussion because you chose an Apple product. Since you have so sinned against the orthodoxy, you are fair game for his pot shots.
Thats funny Mr Propaganda Minister
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