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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.

12 of 534 comments (clear)

  1. Formula change by jolyonr · · Score: 4, Funny

    if(bar_count3) barcount=3;

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    1. Re:Formula change by jolyonr · · Score: 4, Funny

      stupid slashdot html ruined that! That'll teach me not to use preview. if (bar_count LESS_THAN 3)....

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    2. Re:Formula change by NotBornYesterday · · Score: 4, Funny

      Well, I guess we now know how AT&T got the idea that they have "more bars in more places" ...

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      I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.
    3. Re:Formula change by omnichad · · Score: 4, Funny

      Apparently it's more iphones in more bars, if the missing prototype is any indication.

  2. These aren't the bars you're looking for... by ender1598 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Just force hold it next to your ear like the rest of us!

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    There are 10 kinds of people in the world; those that understand binary and those that do not.
  3. Breaking news by maxume · · Score: 4, Funny

    Goatse man works at Apple.

    I mean, they had to pull that out of somewhere.

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    Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
  4. bars by mark72005 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well, AT&T does say "More bars in more places"

  5. Programming is so easy by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 5, Funny

    that Marketing fixed the bug!

    short compute_bars(double signal_strengh_dB) {
      # Original approach. Not sufficiently diplomatic. -John from PR
      # return min(0, max(5, log(signal_strengh_dB));
     
      # Better approach. - John from PR.
      # Commenting this out. You're an idiot. Display only has 5 bars. -Dave from R&D.
      #return 11;
     
      # This makes me feel dirty. -Dave from R&D.
      # Wrong code. See correct fix at bottom of function. -Steve
      # return min(3, max(5, log(signal_strengh_dB));
     
      # Simple, elegant. You guys suck at programming. -Steve
      return reality_distortion_field( signal_strengh_dB );
    }

  6. Re:I wonder... by ZeroExistenZ · · Score: 5, Funny

    Does anyone get the impression they started looking for any excuse for their crap design and this was the best they could come up with?

    "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."

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    I think we can keep recursing like this until someone returns 1
  7. Re:Joke by Chrisq · · Score: 5, Funny

    An iPhone walks into a bar... oh wait it was a guy walks into a bar and leaves his iPhone

    He probably had a similar problem to the iPhone when he left .... seeing two bars when there should only be one.

  8. Re:Not so perfect iPhone? by JohnBailey · · Score: 4, Funny

    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!!!!!!

    Nonsense.. Apple has fixed the problem of the bars going down by recalculating the scale. This is perfectly acceptable. It's an elegant cost efficient and perfectly practical solution. I mean.. If a warning light is blinking, just take the bulb out. No more warning light, problem solved.. yes?

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  9. More accurate version.. by Dynamoo · · Score: 4, Funny

    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”.

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