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Apple To Issue a 'Fix' For iPhone 4 Reception Perception
Lisandro and several other readers let us know that Apple has just released a statement addressing the signal issues a lot of users are having with their iPhone 4. They claim to have discovered the cause for the drop in bars, which is "both simple and surprising" — a wrong formula used to calculate how many bars are displayed for a given signal strength. "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. ... 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. ... 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." Wired notes that there is still a signal drop when the iPhone 4 is gripped in particular ways.
if(bar_count3) barcount=3;
Please read my Canon EOS tech blog at http://www.everyothershot.com
Just force hold it next to your ear like the rest of us!
There are 10 kinds of people in the world; those that understand binary and those that do not.
So, instead of solving the problem, they just downgraded the problem??? Sorry iPhone fans, but it looks like your phone cannot event manage something so simple and base as signal strength!!!!!!
If my 3GS wireless bar is anything to go by I find this fairly easy to believe. It shows anything between full to almost empty reception (not affecting speed) in my home. I've never quite figured out what was causing it.
This isn't a fix for the attenuation caused by touching part of the antenna, it's a fix for a longstanding software issue that makes it harder to manage. The issue's still there, and if you're seeing lower signal or slower speeds on your iPhone 4 than your previous iPhone, the patch won't fix that.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
If it's just about the bars, why didn't earlier iPhone versions have the same problem, then, if it's just that, and not the antenna design?
Goatse man works at Apple.
I mean, they had to pull that out of somewhere.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
Uh, isn't this even worse? They were inflating the apparent signal strength all the time! I guess this is one of those perks a cellular carrier gets when they obtain exclusive rights to hardware.
So is Apple claiming it is also a superficial display problem when service is completely lost because of this hardware problem?
Better known as 318230.
The algorithm must change upon moving your finger
Seriously this whopper might be too big for even the Jobs' reality distortion force-field to overcome...
Well, AT&T does say "More bars in more places"
that Marketing fixed the bug!
An iPhone walks into a bar... oh wait it was a guy walks into a bar and leaves his iPhone
Did I just wake up in the future, because I can't stop myself from thinking of C.M. Kornbluth's The Marching Morons.
Fix it in software? It's supposed to correspond to antenna physics
Yeah...right....
I'm sorry, I had no idea the little meters had any effect on the signal. I though they were, you know, just for metering.
"Be prepared, son. That's my motto. Be prepared." --Joe Hallenbeck
But what about the "stop handling the iphone that way" issue ?
Come one, does apple think the users cannot figure if there is a problem with signal and a problem with a faulty antena ?
I'm positive, don't belive me look at my karma
There's a serious analysis here, with some extra commentary by OS News here.
"We need to do something QUICK! The media is raging on this issue! Even the general media!!! Even ads are mocking us!"
"We can design an isolation band to put on the phone, and market it as the next fashionable thing"
"people would rage it's not free and would cost too much to ship out to everyone.. any other idea's?"
"Recall! Redesign! WE HAVE NO CHOICE"
"TOO EXPENSIVE! and we just fired our antenna guys."
programmer: "I can write a tool to detect if they're lefties by usage stats..."
"... listening."
"And then adjust their reception display."
"What do you need?!"
"5 hookers, one masseuse, 2 days of coding and unlimited supply of skittles."
"GIVE THIS MAN WHAT HE NEEDS! Get to work! Good job."
I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
Apple is both right and wrong here. They're right in that the bar display has been misleading from the start. They're wrong in saying that was some accident. Of course they know about it. More bars makes your phone look good and to hell with giving the user a sane metric for phone reception.
They're right to say that the bare antenna in not a design flaw. They're wrong to conclude that this means it is not a problem. The only proper way out of this is free bumpers and dielectric coating over the antenna on future models. I know Apple likes to charge $30 for their $0.30 loop of rubber bumper case but this time, they could really be in trouble, so they need to suck it up and do what's right.
And if I see one single comment pimping the Android in this story, I'll have all you Android fans know that you have become what you hate. Why can't someone use a product they like for any reason at all? Is that not allowed anymore, or do we all have to care about the same things you care about and use the same phone that you use?
Apple is just trying to shift blame to AT&T for the disconnections.
Unless the phone intentionally drops calls on low signal, this will fix nothing.
*sigh*
First off I totally beleive this is possible. Very often my non-apple phones flicker between 4 bars and no bars.
But what is remarkable about this is that according to Pogue, apple designed the phone to find the "best" cell connection not the strongest. Apparently there is a difference. Naively I could appreciate that a tower that oscillates between 4 and 0 is worse than a steady 2.
Thus is it surprising that given they paid attention to that kind of detail they would get the actual formula wrong.
My guess is that the formula used to pick the cell tower is distinct from formula used to drive the display. Or they did something like add a variance bias to the mean to represent steady weak towers as having more bars.
In any event, assuming their explanation is correct, it does seem to jibe with their other public statements insisting that there is no actual problem, just a perceived one and that all cell phones do this to some extent.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
It's well known that the iPhone has never reported reception as it should. So what, they fix this software bug and it becomes apparent to everyone that their AT&T reception sucks. So, is Apple trying to place the blame on AT&Ts shoddy service instead of taking the blame for designing a defective antenna? This is ludicrous.
It's sad, if it was any other manufacturer, people would return these defective phones in droves and there would be a massive recall. Because it's an iPhone people are willing to ignore these issues that should honestly result in a class action lawsuit to extend the return period from 30 days to 60 or 90 days with a free optional rubber bumper. This whole situation is absurd.
Wise men say, "Forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza."
Bullshit. I have and iphone 4 (and am regretting it) and I have to move my hand from a comfortable position to a ridiculous one any time I want to load pages (apparently the way I hold it on most calls has been okay, not that at&t reception is great to begin with). This is not an issue of a poor signal area in my case, I'm in DC and its about as good as it can be 90% of the time. Stay classy Apple. I hope the lawsuits about this are successful.
Translation: Anyone with an original iPhone can FOAD.
Sent from my iPhone
This sounds like a fix BP would use to stop an oil leak
It seems to me that if the iPhone was over reporting the signal strength before it made AT&T look better than they were. Now people are really going to see how bad AT&T's network is. Maybe this is a plot to get people to switch to the Verizon iPhone rumored for January.
Looks like they are following Dell's buisness model for dealing with faulty hardware
Nah, it was probably a rookie mistake like this:
....
If(receptionBars.Count = 1) {
}
So...are they taking signal SNR into consideration now, instead of just raw rx power?
I wonder if it took Apple's Three New Antenna Guys to find out that they fail at logarithms.
It looks more like a clever way to disguise the problem and push the blame on the carrier by hiding behind poor coverage, nothing more.
It reminds me of Sony (I think it was them) who "fixed" one of their overheating laptop series by having users download a "patch" that would turn off the power management in Windows and make the fans go non-stop. It certainly stopped the overheating, but at the price of shortened fan life and a very noisy machine ...
"In fact, forget the coding"...
...the only way to compensate for a poorly designed antenna by software is increasing the broadcast power, which the battery won't be too happy about. Maybe they're really found an issue with the signal strength display, but given that you have two external microwave antennas which are really easy to short into one other, i'm still skeptical...
I spent nearly 30 seconds trying to come up with a humorous comment that incorporated the term "iDrop", perhaps as a "feature not a bug" concept, and then realized I didn't really give a crap. Should anyone else wish to pursue this, I release it under what ever license people wish to use, with the caveat that any revenues generated as a result should be split 50/50 with me. Thanks for listening.
Or a more accurate version.. “Upon investigation we discovered that we’d f—ked up the antenna design and were desperate to find a way out. So, ignoring the fact that the iPhone 4 actually drops calls and that covering the antenna with insulation such as a rubber bumper, tape or even nail varnish fixes the problem, we’ve come up with some guff about the displayed signal strength being wrong. So from now on, your iPhone 4 will only display 2 bars for signal strength no matter where you are, and if you have a problem with that I suggest you talk to your carrier. Hey, at least we didn’t have to shitcan our entire product line after only 42 days like Microsoft did with the KIN.. well, not yet”.
Never email donotemail@WeAreSpammers.com
how much ATT paid Apple to inflate their signal indcators..
Here we go.
So let me see if I'm following this correctly:
Public and Media: "OMFG! When I hold the iPhone in my left hand I lose half my bars!"
Apple: "No, no, no! It's not that at all! You shouldn't have had any bars to begin with! And in fact, NONE of the iPhones should have had bars!"
Anandtech posted a review of the iPhone 4 the other day and they have a break down of the signal strength in dBm compared to how many bars are displayed. The specific page is here.
Basically it looks like there is a huge range for what is considered five bars, and a small range for the remaining four bars.
So the truth is they have been lying all making you think you have better reception than you do to get more sales?!?! Oh thats much better than a minor design quirk that requires a 1 dollar protective case you needed anyway.
Anandtech did some testing by enabling the now disabled fieldtest mode in IOS4 that allows you to see the actual signal strength in dBm and they managed to get -25dBm signal drops when gripping the phone. iPhone 3GS only suffered -15dBm drop and generally had much less signal attenuation when holding the phone optimally.
- Raynet --> .
It's Defective by Design (TM)
For once, Apple copied Microsoft.
Check the consumer protection legislation in your area. It probably has something along the lines of products needing to be fit for the purpose for which they were purchased for a reasonable length of time, taking into account the price paid.
There are two types of warranties: Legal and Conventional.
Conventional Warranty (limit your rights): We warrant foo for 1 year (no warranty on batteries, screens, keyboards, accessories, etc).
Legal Warranty: Fitness for purpose for which it was purchased, taking into account price paid, etc. In other words, you paid $3k for that big-screen tv and it croaked 1 day after your conventional 1-year warranty expired? You can still use the legal warranty via small claims court. They can't hide behind the limitations of the conventional warranty - the conventional warranty is in addition to the legal warranty (which makes extended warranties stupid purchases).
"I love my iPhone (not a "4"), and I love Apple. But I must say, I would LOVE to have them apply this software patch to my bathroom scale as well, so that the difference between me not being on the scale, and me being on the scale, is not so great. I feel that that "nothingness" it was recording before I got onto it was never real in the first place, and so that's why it looks like it takes such a big jump when I get onto it." -- genius comment on WSJ.com
...I seem to remember something about Apple posting job openings for antenna engineers, coincidentally at the same time the antenna problems hit the media. I guess now, since Apple figured out it was a sensor problem instead, they can hire their old engies back. Right?
Aside from happy hour, shouldn't we discuss power delivered on the specific signal spectrum instead of "bars"?
I've always kind of smirked at folks discussing how many "bars" they have.
I also wondered at Cingular/AT&T's commercials "more bars in more places" - couldn't this just be redefining the space like Apple is doing?
Me and my co-workers who all have iPhones have performed a number of experiments, going way back to the original iPhone.
We concluded that the display of bars was complete BS, based on the crappy signal (and dropped calls) we were experiencing. It took me calling AT&T and getting to technical support to get them to assist, when finally they said we have less than optimal cellular coverage in our area. Umm... in a metro area like near Harvard University?? Rrrright.
Point being, and while I don't pretend to understand the logarithmic/mathematic calculations, I suspect as ANAL as Apple is about everything that this is probably not a mistake. Maybe it is, but I wonder if it was just some clever way to visually cover up what was painstakingly obvious: AT&T has some serious coverage and network problems.
To be fair, these are all growing pains... but AT&T should have been more prepared. And it seems like they still aren't.
Verizon iPhone? :-)
the real fix is to sell a new "must have" accessory: the iGlove
...but this phone's bars go to 11!
will this add the eye phone zombie mode?
"Perception fix" that is so awesome, very 1984 double plus good.
What's really getting fixed here?
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Has anybody actually considering looking at the dbm signal levels instead of some archaic bars formula?
If you aren't suspicious of your government's actions, you aren't doing your job as a responsible citizen.
It's an iFix for iSuckers!
If you are going to bring up the anandtech study, you may also want to mention that the article states when signal quality is low the iPhone 4 is much better at keeping calls alive:
From my day of testing, I've determined that the iPhone 4 performs much better than the 3GS in situations where signal is very low, at -113 dBm (1 bar). Previously, dropping this low all but guaranteed that calls would drop, fail to be placed, and data would no longer be transacted at all. I can honestly say that I've never held onto so many calls and data simultaneously on 1 bar at -113 dBm as I have with the iPhone 4...In reality, reporting based on SNR makes a lot more sense, since I couldn't make calls drop driving around an entire day cupping the phone, despite being at -113 dBm (1 bar) most of the time.
I've not had dropped call issues from the iPhone4. That's not to say you will never have a dropped call, this is after all AT&T we're talking about here. But I have had much better results in making and keeping calls compared to the older phone, so people who are holding off buying an iPhone worried about dropped calls are doing themselves a disservice.
For me, tightly gripping has more of an impact on data speed than calls - and even then, it doesn't always affect data speed. But it's again a worthwhile upgrade, because the phone has better latency and so network use feels more responsive as per DaringFireball.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
When the 3G came out, everyone complained about how bad the signal reception was and how you rarely got 5 bars of signal. Apple quickly came along and said "Oh sorry, we can fix your reception with a software patch!" and after that fix magically people started seeing many more bars of reception.
So what are the chances that the above fix was simply this deliberate exaggeration of the signal which has now been discovered?
Is it possible to revert a 3G to its original software version somehow and do some tests?
So there is a software bug, but it's fixed by gripping the phone in a certain way. Interesting.
Sometimes the difference between "spin" and "lies" is very difficult to tell. But in this case, this "spin" is a lot closer to simply being a lie. Apple will have a hard time avoiding a recall. I predict a recall will, in fact, happen.
Only 5? That alone shows how bad the economy is. Back in the glory days we would have asked for at least 10 AND 4 cases of Code Red. People just don't value IT like they used too.
ed duval the very last person
If (get_signal_strength() < NSOneBar) drop_call();
One of the first things I noticed on my 3GS was that the signal bars were wonky. Anyone with a 3GS in a fringe area knows the bars overstate signal strength tremendously and are essentially useless. -113 db on field test and its showing 4 or 5 bars. This speaks volumes about Apple's engineering, testing, and customer support processes.
I complained and was told that the field test app (*3001#12345#*) is not approved and reads wrong; the bars are correct and no one else has complained about this; its how I use the phone. Its my fault. Why don't I please go away?
I love my iPhone but I can't think of a company that pi**e* me off more than Apple.
I accepted the bogus readings because many phones have poor signal meters and it is what I have come to accept as the norm. I always thought that overstating signal strength was a deliberate ploy.
It does explain how Apple is calculating that I get 300 hrs of standby when all I can get are 36 (1.5 days). The phone's battery really isn't dead; it's how I hold it. It is a zen thing: the battery is and ..... is not.
I suspect the showing of more signal than is present was a way in wich Apple tried to make it appear Iphone had better reception than it really has. As this comes back and bites them hard when said reception totally disappears thanks to the faulty antenna they try to "fix" the problem by showing the correct signal strength.
One thing is clear, Apple will be much (i didnt thought it possible) worse than Microsoft if given the chance. These guys seems to have taken customer deception to a new low.
HTTP/1.1 400
AT&T's service is even worse than people thought, the extra bars masking poor or no signal areas.
The burning and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon platform was perfectly normal. This was a test of a new and much more efficient process to dispose of drilling platforms after they have served their intended purpose.
We did notice that in the disposal process, a small pipe was bent, allowing some seepage of some oil from the drill site. Such seepage is not unusual, and we will soon provide a mechanical fix to cure the problem.
In the meantime, we've deployed an army of PR personnel to address any immediate concerns, and a few others to help with containing the small quantity of oil which has escaped.
Our research has shown that the oil actually helps fish and surface vessels travel more easily due to the lubrication afforded by the oiled water.
We are confident our new techniques will become the standard for the industry.
Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one louder, isn't it? It's not ten. You see, most blokes, you know, will be playing at ten. You're on ten here, all the way up, all the way up, all the way up, you're on ten on your guitar. Where can you go from there? Where?
Marty DiBergi: I don't know.
Nigel Tufnel: Nowhere. Exactly. What we do is, if we need that extra push over the cliff, you know what we do?
Marty DiBergi: Put it up to eleven.
Nigel Tufnel: Eleven. Exactly. One louder.
I could have sworn that my hometown of Milwaukee had a copyright on "more bars in more places". Some blocks had a tavern on each corner. :p
Reply to That ||
5 hookers? No way that any programmer would ask for a hooker, especially the hugh nerds that work for apple. The guys that are needed to do that kind of work, wouldn't know what to do with a woman even if one jumped on top of them.
So, the 5 bar thing is just a gimmick. I'm sure all phone manufacturers do the same thing, but, are all of you fanboys still holding Steve (BJ) Jobs up on a mountain?
The signal strength calculation algorithm is flawed until I touch the phone in a certain way. Then it's magically correct.
Thanks, Steve, but I don't think I'll be buying one of these....
1 dollar protective case
The case is 30 dollars. No joke.
This is my signature. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
"Further to our previous announcement that we have identified, and will fix, a bug in our signal strength calculation routine, we have been asked to clarify the nature of the fix:
Put simply, our calculation involves a time-related sampling and averaging of signal strength based on the distance between the iPhone and the nearest cell base station. Because radio waves travel at the speed of light, our signal strength algorithm includes this value in its calculations. At a top-level meeting today, Mr Steve Jobs decided that the best way to factor in an adjustment into our signal strength calculation is to change the definition of the speed of light by reducing it by 14% with immediate effect; not only will this allow the signal strength algorithm to work with slower sampling periods (and thus be more accurate), but it will also have the effect of making all movement (eg: public transport) effectively closer to the speed of light, thus journeys will appear faster and the time taken to get home from work will be shorter.
A slight drawback will be that from today, all observations of distance based on the time taken for light to travel between two points are now wrong and this will mean that all current human knowledge of the universe and its scale will need to be 'fixed'. Mr Jobs will be writing to all National Governments and major scientific bodies in the morning to advise them to correct their now inaccurate data.
Mr Jobs acknowledges that this move will also mean that all current and past scientific, astronomic and geographic textbooks and scientific calculators will now need to be replaced and as a gesture of goodwill, the first 50 applicants will be entitled to a 10% reduction on the cost of the revised e-book copies when they download them to their iPad. In addition, a special, limited edition iPhone4 bumper, printed with the new constant: 'c = 257821513 m/s' " will be available in the Apple stores from Monday, priced at $39.99
AT&ROFLMAO
People have long known about AT&T's spotty/weak signal. Is it any wonder that the iPhone is programmed this way? The only reason it's a problem now is because they actually improved the ability to connect to the network. That and the whole antenna issue. The question still remains, at least in my mind, "Will this actually improve reception?" Form what I've seen it's not a matter of the displayed signal being wrong, but one of reception. Visually it may appear to have better signal, or at least an accurate signal, but it doesn't solve the dropped call issue. The people having problems making/keeping calls are still going to have these problems.
According to the story on BBC News, the only thing Apple are correcting is the algorithm that displays the bars for the signal strength, they are not fixing the reception problem.
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
As Apple says you can return it for a full refund as long as you're in the 30 day period. Too bad the fix is coming in a 'few weeks'. I guess they want as much people as possible not be able to return it by saying the (BS) fix is around the corner. Corporations these days seem to think they are always right and they are infallible.
Why do people put up with so much BS/lies?
There is a reference to it here:
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/06/28/nokia_pokes_at_iphone_4_death_grip_gets_called_on_it.html
Jumpstart the tartan drive.
I think some comments were left out: "Upon investigation, we were [not at all] stunned to find that the formula [if (bars=2) then DisplayBars(4)] we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong [and unethical since it unfairly makes our product seem as if it has better reception than the others]"
Fits with my experience actually. I live slightly outside AT&T's coverage area. My 1st-gen iPhone often displays 3 or 4 bars sitting on my desk, but drops to 1 or 2 when I pick it up and make a call.
Yeah, because that would make the phone accidentally show more bars...
BESIDES it doesn't matter - a dropped call is a dropped call. If the iPhone 4 drops calls in areas where other phones (like the iPhone 3) worked perfectly, then the problem...
The iPhone4 does not drop calls in areas where other phones work perfectly. Instead of relying on your vast Apple Hater Rage to inform your opinion, why not try reading a carefully done study instead:
From my day of testing, I've determined that the iPhone 4 performs much better than the 3GS in situations where signal is very low, at -113 dBm (1 bar). Previously, dropping this low all but guaranteed that calls would drop, fail to be placed, and data would no longer be transacted at all. I can honestly say that I've never held onto so many calls and data simultaneously on 1 bar at -113 dBm as I have with the iPhone 4...In reality, reporting based on SNR makes a lot more sense, since I couldn't make calls drop driving around an entire day cupping the phone, despite being at -113 dBm (1 bar) most of the time.
The reality is that the iPhone 4 is BETTER at making and receiving calls. This is my own experience, and of the other people I know who have the phone - and also borne out by actual testing.
As Apple said, if people think there is a problem they can just return the phones, no questions asked. But I don't think Apple will see many takers.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
I'm sure they'll adjust the formula for showing bars, but it does not take several weeks to do to that code change. I can do it in 10 minutes. Neither is significant testing necessary on that code change, so why does it take several weeks? The answer is they are trying to fix the issue via antenna reception software algorithm and it's going to take a few weeks to make changes, test, tweak changes, test, etc.
I'm an Apple fan, but this statement does not align with the known issues. I would prefer they admit a problem and fix it via software than lie about a problem and fix it via software, but as long as they fix it then I guess that's the desired outcome. Still, this has given them a big PR black eye and it's going to take time to recover from that beating.
How exactly do YOU hold your phone? I just naturally picked up my Droid and held it up to my ear and I pick it up with my left hand with my thumb extended along the length of the left-hand side of the phone and two or three fingers wrapped around the back holding the right hand side of the phone.
Yes, that's how I pick up my iPhone too. That causes no issues in everyday use. Yes, even though you are slightly touching the metal band it two places.
What does start to cause issues, is if you then squeeze REALLY hard and wrap your fingers around the front more. Then you are blocking the signal a lot more. Then you can sometimes (not all the time) create the bridge across the antennas that reduces signal quality.
Thus the term, death grip.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Can Slashdot users just fucking stop being parodies of themselves for even a little while?
I read through all the messages and came up with this: The Slashdot users complaining here about the iPhone 4 don't even fucking have one. You turds.
Same on other topics, not just the iPhone.
The worst of the bunch? The Slashdot users who write things like, "I'm offended and will never [x] for the rest of my life." As if.
To all the folks unhappy with both the performance of the new iPhone and Apple's response, please heed the advise in this portion of the press release:
"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."
Seriously. Please.
All this ridiculous, over-the-top, self-righteous indignation and emotional hand-wringing over a gadget not meeting your expectations is just pathetic.
Apple has taken a stand on this issue. They say it works as designed and claim the reception is better than their previous model. You think they're full of shit? Great. Quit posting whiney, indignant messages on the internet and return the goddam thing.
If the problem is half as bad as all the stories make it out to be, Apple will be flooded with returns and that will have a much greater effect that millions of lines of internet bitching.
Disclosure: I'm a satisfied owner of several Apple products. I don't own an iPhone and have no plans to purchase one. My wife and I have free-with-subscription LG phones on Verizon. Oh, and guess what? If I hold the phone by the bottom, signal degrades. If I hold it that way in an area with poor cell coverage, service is lost entirely. You think if I submit my sob story to Slashdot, Gizmodo, CNET, CNN, etc. they will make it front page news?
We have always had poor reception with Eurasia.
Steve Jobs's Fix: cut off users' hands. They are clearly defective.
"We reject your reality and substitute our own." -- Apple
So, what? Are they going to assign more bars to higher db levels? You cannot fix such a major hardware snafu with a simple software change. You, sure as shit, can cover one up, but not fix it.
Surely I'm not the only one that's fucking sick of hearing about this. If all of you sheeple hadn't stood in line for ZOMG0DAYPH0NEZ()R then you would be like me, and affected approximately zero by this.
It's a lot cheaper to invent a 'bug' that issue a recall.
boycott slashdot February 10th - 17th check out: altSlashdot.org
We will issue a free software update within a few weeks that incorporates the corrected formula.
This is implying that they offer software updates that they charge for in order to fix something that they didn't do right in the first place...
I understand and expect to be charged for large version changes especially when the content changes (iPhone3 -> iPhone4, xp -> win7, Super Mario Galaxy -> Super Mario Galaxy 2), but being charged for security updates and to fix "bugs"(?) in the software seems unreasonable.
Since this mistake has been present since the original iPhone, this software update will also be available for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G.
Ok, what about my 2G then you insensitive clod?
Or are those all in our imagination?
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
Okay, wait a second here Apple. You found a "bug" in your software that misrepresents signal strength, but does it in a way to make AT&T look like they have good coverage? I'm seeing this as it's own, separate issue than the antenna one. My first thought is, was that intentional? Really makes you wonder how the people in New York were feeling when they'd look at their iPhone and have 5 bars but just dropped a call. Now they'll see the truth of one bar, so does this make it some sort of "false advertisement" by either or both parties?
I also am not understanding this philosophy of everyone saying, "Well just return it" blah blah blah {insert kesha song here}. Yeah, sure you can return it. There is obviously something wrong with something you bought though, and you may really enjoy this product and you'd rather see the issue fixed rather than give up what you use daily. I am less inclined to believe you will get Apple to fix the issue by doing a recall of the phone by having a mass of people return it versus having that mass file class action lawsuits that end in forcing Apple to legally do so. I highly doubt Apple will do anything about the antenna problem without some sort of legal action, but I also believe it will have to be better than a class action lawsuit. It should be the FCC coming after them.
In the end, kinda makes me wonder if Steve made his cronies "fix" a iPhone 4 for him so he wont have the problems because I bet he's pissed for lookin like a fool with his pants on the ground!
Sometimes, the answer is to just destroy it all.
Since this "affects" all iPhones dating back to the original I would think this was a duplicitous attempt to make it seem as though Apple devices are simply superior in every way. In fact, everything Apple does anymore is especially suspect in my opinion. We all know that reducing the number of bars displayed will not improve call signal quality; it will only prove that Apple truly doesn't care for their customers.
They have been saying "More bars in more places" for so long. They are going to be rudely shocked when they discover after the software update that it isn't more bars and phone reports a lot less coverage than it used to.
been convinced that there was any real connection between "bars" and actual signal strength. The entire time I've been using cell phones I've observed many places where I have 5 bars but cant get a call to connect or 1 bar and get more clarity than almost anywhere else. I do live in a mountainous, rural area but I have serious doubts that bars mean anything at all. I love the ad campaign "more bars in more places" WTF?! you can make more bars in more places by changing the phone programming. I'm gonna start a phone company and just program all the phones to always show 20 bars.
Not all life is cyber. Extra Income
"These go to eleven."
IMDB
This is really hysterical... Apple announces a 'fix' for an issue that has supposedly been around since the original iphone, yet over 20 million iphones have been sold since 2007. Why was this not discovered earlier? Because it's a frigging LIE! Now they will be issuing a software update that does what? Show less bars than what is actually reported? How does this fix the problem of dropped calls when held in a certain way? Apple has proven that they can do no wrong and it is pure insanity that their over-hyped, over-priced devices actually sell as well as they do. Even experts have proven that while it is a great 'device', it is a pretty lousy phone. The really odd thing is that the more bad press Apple gets, the more their loyal fan base buys their products. Many will max out their credit cards to buy a product that Apple makes you think you need, but really don't - it's pretty sad...
First, the good: I've found the iPhone 4 does seem to have superior sensitivity compared to the 3GS. I have a very marginal signal at work. (I'm kind of not supposed to have any at all...) Once it locks onto 3G, it is solid enough to stream Pandora. At this point I'm showing anwhere from 1 to 3 bars.
The bad: Any phone will lose a marginal signal depending on how you hold it or what's near it. At work, in my pocket there's no signal. On my desk, laying flat or in a dock, it works. However, my 3GS would drop to EDGE or completely lose the signal if I touched the screen or even hovered over it for too long. I have yet to see the iPhone 4 be that touchy. I will only lose signal if I touch that lower-left spot. There's no question bridging the antennas degrades reception, but it only degrades enough to affect already marginal signals.
The ugly: Signal bars are meaningless. I've seen it work just as well at 1 bar as 5. I've seen dead spots where I'll have 4 or 5 bars but nothing works, and If I toggle airplane mode it does not get the signal back until I relocate.
Just thinking about the meeting where they came up with this: Steve>"but if it has no signal, show 4 bars anyway"-Everyone in meeting>"That sounds like a fantastic idea!"- I think Mr. Jobs needs to realize, or be told, that the world isn't Apple Inc. and we will actually see through the elegant smoke and mirrors (and brainwashing) - excluding fan boys, of course, and actually question his judgment.
"Computers are a lot like Air Conditioners" "They both work great until you start opening Windows"
Wow. Apple fanbois with shitload of modpoints? I have been serially downnmodded for saying exactly above for apple fanbois and this guy gets +1 fucking insightful???
FUCK Slashdot. Fuck this moderation system. And above all, fuck apple fag fanbois!
This is really hysterical... Apple announces a 'fix' for an issue that has supposedly been around since the original iphone, yet over 20 million iphones have been sold since 2007. Why was this not discovered earlier? Because it's a frigging LIE!
Now they will be issuing a software update that does what? Shows less bars than what is actually reported? How does this fix the problem of dropped calls when held in a certain way? Answer: It dosen’t!
Apple has proven that they can do no wrong and it is pure insanity that their over-hyped, over-priced devices actually sell as well as they do. Even experts have proven that while it is a great 'device', it is a pretty lousy phone.
The really odd thing is that the more bad press Apple gets, the more their loyal fan base buys their products. Many will max out their credit cards to buy a product that Apple makes you think you need, but really don't - it's pretty sad...
The next firmware update will deliver a painful shock if you hold the phone "wrong" - problem solved...
Q: "Its just another smart-phone, right?"
A: "No, no, no it is a revolutionary, virtually magical device that will defy every expectation of what mere smart-phone can be"
Q: "So how come I can't get an update a mere three years later?"
A: "Its just a phone. Why would you expect to be using it for more than two years?"
Would someone tell me how this happened? We were the fucking vanguard of phoning in this country. The iPhone 3G was the phone to own. Then the other guy came out with a Linux phone. Were we scared? Hell, no. Because we hit back with a little thing called the iPhone 4. That's two antennas and a new screen. For resolution. But you know what happened next? Shut up, I'm telling you what happened—the bastards went to Android. Now we're standing around with our cocks in our hands, selling two antennas and a screen. Resolution or no, suddenly we're the chumps. Well, fuck it. We're going to five bars.
Sure, we could go to four bars next, like the competition. That seems like the logical thing to do. After all, three worked out pretty well, and four is the next number after three. So let's play it safe. Let's make a rubber bumper and call it the iPhone 4 SuperTurbo. Why innovate when we can follow? Oh, I know why: Because we're a business, that's why!
You think it's crazy? It is crazy. But I don't give a shit. From now on, we're the ones who have the edge in the multi-antenna game. Are they the best a man can get? Fuck, no. Apple is the best a hipster can get.
What part of this don't you understand? If two bars is good, and three bars is better, obviously five bars would make us the best fucking phone that ever existed. Comprende? We didn't claw our way to the top of the phone game by clinging to the two-bar industry standard. We got here by taking chances. Well, five bars is the biggest chance of all.
Here's the report from Engineering. Someone put it in the bathroom: I want to wipe my ass with it. They don't tell me what to invent—I tell them. And I'm telling them to stick two more bars in there. I don't care how. Make the bars so thin they're invisible. Put some on the handle. I don't care if they have to cram the fifth bar in perpendicular to the other four, just do it!
You're taking the "smart" part of "smart phone" too literally, grandma. Cut the strings and soar. Let's hit it. Let's roll. This is our chance to make phone history. Let's dream big. All you have to do is say that five bars can happen, and it will happen. If you aren't on board, then fuck you. And if you're on the board, then fuck you and your father. Hey, if I'm the only one who'll take risks, I'm sure as hell happy to hog all the glory when the five-bar phone becomes the phone tool for the U.S. of "this is how we phone now" A.
People said we couldn't go to three. It'll cost a fortune to manufacture, they said. Well, we did it. Now some egghead in a lab is screaming "Five's crazy?" Well, perhaps he'd be more comfortable in the labs at Dell, working on fucking mini-towers. PCI Bus, my white ass!
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe we should just ride in Google's wake and make clouds. Ha! Not on your fucking life! The day I shadow a penny-ante outfit like Google is the day I leave the phone game for good, and that won't happen until the day I die!
The market? Listen, we make the market. All we have to do is put her out there with a little jingle. It's as easy as, "Hey, phoning with anything less than five bars is like searching with Alta Vista." Or "Your iPhone is going to be so friggin' receptive, someone's gonna walk up and goddamn impregnate it from 5 miles away."
I know what you're thinking now: What'll people say? Mew mew mew. Oh, no, what will people say?! Grow the fuck up. When you're on top, people talk. That's the price you pay for being on top. Which Apple is, always has been, and forever shall be, Amen, five bars, sweet Jesus in heaven.
Stop. I just had a stroke of genius. Are you ready? Open your mouth, baby birds, cause Mama's about to drop you one sweet, fat nightcrawler. Here she comes: Put another antenna on that fucker, too. That's right. Five bars, three antennas, and make the second one vibrate. You heard me—the second antenna vibrates. It's a whole new way to think about phoning. Don't question it. Don't say a word. Just key the music, and call the chorus girls, because we're on the edge—the phone's edge—and I feel like dancing.
... and then they built the supercollider.
I never said the un-coated eternal antenna was not a design flaw. I am just pointing out that even with said flaw, in actual use the phone fares better than the previous generations as far as reception.
The external antenna is obviously a good idea from a reception perspective, they just need to think of how to coat it.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
"See, most phones go 2,3,4,5 bars, where do you go from there ? This phone goes to 6 bars, its one bar more than any other bloke can do, when you need that extra 'push' over the top"
The hookers are to distract management when they ask for a status update.
I can't believe no one has commented on this yet: I know when they fubared the signal strenghth meter! Right after the 3G came out! Right when the 3g came out everyone was complaining that as soon as the phone switched to 3g mode their bars would drop from full to like 2 or 3. This was because at the time AT&T's 3G network sucked. And a lot of time it was on the 1900mhz band which has trouble penetrating walls whereas EDGE was on the better 800mhz band. So what did apple do? They came out with an update that "fixed" the issue by just changing the scale that bars use for 3G service. This was also the same update that changed the look of the "3g" logo.
Standing Wave Ratio is a measure of how much of the signal that you trying to fire out of an antenna is being reflected back.
A low SWR is an indication that most of your transmitting power is actually being delivered to your antenna.
I find it so hard to believe that anyone would have designed a hand held radio that lets the antenna come in contact with the human that's holding it.
Its bad enough to have capacitive coupling (Where the plastic casing is thin enough to allow the signal to be transfered to the user).
If you think about it most hand held radios (walky-talkies) have their antenna's in the end of a stick. Its only as phones have become small that this stick has become small too and as such produces concentrated RF emissions right next to your head. As a result manufacturers mostly place the gsm antenna at the bottom of the phone.
Most antennas have a hot end (usually the tip) its high voltage low current and a cold end (usually the base) low voltage high current.
Is it purely down to detuning or just a plane short circuit?
I've seen demo's on youtube that show an actual call being dropped, no amount of s-meter recalibration is going to fix that.
It would be interesting to see if the part of the side antenna that is (so say) shorting is the hot end or the cold end. If its the hot end then the problem may well be caused by the bluetooth or wifi radio actually swamping the gsm radio receiver. This could be fixed in software by detecting that the phone is being held (somehow) and turning off the wifi or bluetooth whilst in a call. This could be made to come into play only in a poor signal area.
(sorry to those of you in the know. Being a HTC user I'm not sure which side the wifi / bluetooth is on)
If its the cold end that is shorting then the best answer is a bumper. I'm sure it won't take long for these to be appearing very cheaply in ebay.
I believe in one thing: duct tape. Place it over the metal antenna on your phone, it'll also gives the phone a more stylish look of a thing that JUST WORKS dammit!
You can't handle the truth.
Wasn't it Obi Wan who first used this technique: "These are not the bars on your cell phone that you're looking for." --Obi Wan
...even when held the same way?
I thought not.
Yes, people with no direct experience who claim to offer understanding generally in fact are not thinking as you note in your own status.
Read 'em and weep, Apple Hater
Better data rates EVEN WHEN HELD.
Upload speed 4-10x faster, for example (which has really been nice posting photos and makes posting HD videos practical).
And as I (and anandtech) said, in every day use the phone DOES GET BETTER RECEPTION WHEN HELD NORMALLY. As in, better call quality and fewer dropped calls.
I figured I'd yell there since multiple posts making that very point seemed unable to breach your skull, either it's awfully thick or I'd take off the tinfoil hat if I were you (guess you can't do anything about the thick part, sorry).
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
RF designer: "Do not try to adjust the reception — that's impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth" ... "
Steve Jobs: "what truth"
RF designer: "there is no reception
Steve Jobs: "there is no reception?"
RF designer" Then you'll see, that it is not the reception that adjusts, it is only the bars on the user interface."
Does it matter if the parent might be wrong?
Every phone I've ever owned, from cheap-o flip phones, to multiple Blackberries, to multiple HTC/WinMo phones, has been able to accurately tell me the quality of my signal, in real time via the "bar" type display. Based on that I would surmise that programmatically translating raw signal into "bars" has long been a solved problem.
So....
a) Apple programmers can't even build a bike shed.
b) Apple programmers have been intentionally obfuscating signal strength from iPhone users.
I don't always use unix-like operating systems; but when I do, I prefer FreeBSD.
From the letter:
We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see.
And next week, they'll add go-faster stripes to help make those downloads go faster too. Maybe we'll even get an ultra-fast version with flames!
I totally predicted this was [part of] the issue. Ever since my upgrade to OS4 on my Ipod Touch 3g, the Wifi signal indicator started to be quite wonky, showing weak signal where it should be strong, and bouncing from weak to strong a lot for no reason, while it appeared quite normal and stable before with OS3.
Dear Mr Jobs,
You're holding "it" wrong.
Sincerely,
The Internet
I use a different brand of phone on AT&T's network. I am not an AT&T fanboy.
I have held my phone is every conceivable position to try and recreate this problem.
Nothing more than 1 bar lost.
I use a 3G smartphone.
If I sell you a pile a shit, it will smell like shit. If the solution only modifies your sense of smell, is it still shit? YEAH!! It's still shit!!
Comcast, Ford, Bank of America, et al, try the same tactic.
WAKE THE FUCK UP, AMERICA!!!
No wonder we're the laughing-stock of the planet.
This (and many other examples) makes me sad to be human.
-k
"Helping to keep you two steps ahead of the Thought Police!"
I need to talk to potential investors in a few months, can I hire you for the salespitching?
You'll overwhelm them, and all they'll remember is unrequitted ethousiasm.
Gee, what a coincidence. This "discovery" wouldn't be due to the Anandtech article would it?
This is an example of an unsuitable method of holding one's iPhone.
Come on, folks. Lets take our mobile phone use seriously.
Have gnu, will travel.
This is might be even not related, but I would like to see the track changes of the source to have a little bit of prove for this BS
Remember the AT&T slogan: More bars in more places. Well it is a complete sham. AT mandates phone manufacturers to fake the bars. Making it appear that their network has "four bars" almost everywhere, and then it drops to zero so quickly that the intermediate readings never occurs, and are useless except to say that you are at the very edge of coverage. (I know this by virtue of working for a company that had to do this sort of tweaking on an existing phone) - it seems the cows have finally come home to roost.
Didn't they come out and say that it was a problem with the antenna? Didn't they encourage everyone to buy the bumper thing to fix this problem?
Now its a software problem? Are they going to refund all the people who bought bumpers because Apple said its the way to fix the issue?
I'm not an iphone user, or Apple user, but I don't know how you can release two statements that describe two completely different versions of what is going on.
Oh dry your eyes princess,
Here's a tissue.
This is the same thing that happens to every story about Google, Microsoft, Dell, IBM, Apple or most companies. Some of it's true and some of it's FUD. You're just upset because it's happening to your beloved Apple.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
It suddenly dawns on Steve Jobs that the reason for poor Wifi during his presentation was not because of too many people with wifi around but because he wasnt holding it right, therefore shorting the wifi antenna with the 3G one... so this baby has bad reception in 3G and in wifi
The current iPhone 4 seems to work just fine no matter how you grip it in most AT&T markets and would most likely work just fine in other markets in other countries even without this "fix".
It just so happens that the majority of tech bloggers are located in San Francisco which is an area where the AT&T signal is over subscribed and probably has the highest concentration of other signals that can interfere with cell tower signals.
If tech bloggers were located in another city, this would be a non-story because other people in other markets have expressed having better reception than the 3G or 3GS with their new iPhone 4.
Jesus was a compassionate social conservative who called individuals to sin no more.
...move along.
the class action suites are going to eat Apple's shorts ... and the statements of Steven P. Jobs will lead to his Second Firing.