Apple finally released an official statement regarding the iPhone 4’s much talked-about signal problems. According to the statement, the new iPhone just shows the “wrong” amount of available signal. See? The iPhone 4 is still totally awesome. Apparently, the problem is with weak cell sites to begin with. Now that’s how you “think different.”
Here’s a snip from the PR:
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.
Did you get all that? Basically, they just said that the iPhone just shows the wrong amount of signal. It’s all a problem with the signal bars and how it calculates signal strength. So the fix is a software update that’ll show a more realistic representation of the available signal. Meaning, it’s a fix so you won’t see your signal drop from 5 bars to 1 bar if you hold it in your left hand. It might start with 1 bar to begin with.
We’re just a little confused… if it’s all in the bars, why are the calls being dropped in areas where other phones—say, an entry-level Nokia—get clear voice calls?
Maybe it’s just a ruse. Maybe they’re sending an update with a secret code that’ll magically fix the antenna issues without letting us know. You know, since the reception problems were said to be “nonexistent” after all. However they plan to fix it, we’ll just be glad that it gets fixed all the same. But really, while we’re pretty sure this issue won’t stop people from buying the new iPhone, we don’t think anyone will actually buy into this Jedi mind trick “fix.”
In any case, just get the bumpers. Apparently, they’re a pretty effective fix for the iPhone 4’s “totally wrong” signal bar calculations.
You can check out the full, um, “think different” letter from Apple here.
We’re going to add a couple of two-year-old Simpsons clips now. Just so you have something to smile about.
“Traitor! Your heart is as black as your turtleneck!” Classic.
Tags: Antennagate, Apple, iPhone, iPhone 4, Mobile Phones
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