Apple admits reception issues... their statement is a joke...

[ben dover]

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.

here's my thoughts:

Apple says they are adopting AT&T's "recently recommended" formula. I find it funny that it took three years and a design flaw to finally say we're listening to what AT&T says now... Apple and AT&T have been working to try to stop the dropped calls for quite a while now.

Which brings me to my next point. I think there is some truth in their statement about their "formula" for signal strength. I have a feeling apple and AT&T agreed to show more bars for less signal. Add in the design flaw and you have a big problem on your hands.

After 3 years apple was "stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong."
If that's the case, hire me on and pay me the big bucks and I'll tell you that in the first five minutes. Why is apple still hiring 3 antenna engineers then?

avoiding admitting to the issue and blame shifting (saying AT&T just now released a "correct formula" to work with) always makes for some good stories down the road!

 

[fifolo]

Shows you their opinion of their customers' ability to think critically. This is the kind of stuff that works on fish.

 

[Yourdogsdead]

Yeah, that does kind of piss me off a bit. Would have been fine if they admitted that they had a bad antennae design. Oh well.

 

[Lancer033]

....so if i'm reading this right, they aren't going to actually fix anything, just show more bars? Am i crazy?

 

[Insp_Gadget]

....so if i'm reading this right, they aren't going to actually fix anything, just show more bars? Am i crazy?

You mean show "fewer" bars. The problem is that they've currently got the iPhone lying about the signal. Currently, the phone reports a better signal than it actually has. Consequently, when people hold the phone the "wrong way" the signal drops even further and they get a dropped call (or can't make a call). It surprises users because when they look at the bars on the screen they think they've got a great signal and can't figure out why the phone drops the call.

The real issue is still the poor antenna design (and coverage in general). In effect, Apple isn't really fixing the antenna design problem. They are just fixing the iPhone's signal bar display so that it isn't as much of a surprise to users when the call drops.

 

[ben dover]

....so if i'm reading this right, they aren't going to actually fix anything, just show more bars? Am i crazy?

they are taking away bars! what they're saying is that they have been showing too many bars so when you start getting bad service it's because you have less signal than what the phone is telling you.

 

[Lancer033]

ah....it helps to actually get some sleep before you try to read something. In that case, it sounds like they're shifting blame to AT&T again.

I'm going to laugh if/when the iPhone finally makes it to Verizon and has the same issues.

 

[Duvi]

The bars just aren't being represented correctly,
but isn't going to change whether your service
gets better or worse.

I haven't read the article yet, but from what I
read from others, they will be working on the
reception issues as well. Some stated that:

Instead of defaulting to the strongest signal, it chooses the best signal.

From what I gather, they will address this,
may not cure all reception issues, but will
help.

 

[Droid800]

Just to clear something up; Nobody outside of Apple knows what the cause of the issue is. Some websites have claimed its a design flaw (Gizmodo seems to be banging the gong extra hard on this one), but the fact is that nobody knows. What the end user sees is likely a symptom of the problem and not the problem itself. Some in the know have hypothesized that the issue lies with how the phone handles disruptions and not the design of the antenna itself. Others have put forth the idea that the new software that Duvi mentioned is still too buggy enough to be worthwhile, causing the phone to drop signal when it shouldn't.

 

[Duvi]

Just to clear something up; Nobody outside of Apple knows what the cause of the issue is. Some websites have claimed its a design flaw (Gizmodo seems to be banging the gong extra hard on this one), but the fact is that nobody knows. What the end user sees is likely a symptom of the problem and not the problem itself. Some in the know have hypothesized that the issue lies with how the phone handles disruptions and not the design of the antenna itself. Others have put forth the idea that the new software that Duvi mentioned is still too buggy enough to be worthwhile, causing the phone to drop signal when it shouldn't.

I'm not gonna lie, I haven't had not one issue
with reception, dropped calls or even the death
grip making my phone lose any bars. Some say
it is because I have excellent coverage, but
whatever it is, I'm good. I do want my sim
converter to hurry and get here so I can get
back to my N1 again. I'll probably use the i4
on wifi only (using my N1 as a wireless hotspot)

 

[Kyle Gibb]

Gizmodo explains the reasons behind the iPhone4's issues

Why Apple's iPhone 4 Update Won't Fix Your Reception Problem

 

[darreno1]

^I just read that and it makes perfect sense. And the part that really stood out was:

By making the bars display the actual signal strength, Apple will avoid the bars going from five to zero. They will fix a perception problem. But if you have experienced it already, the data loss will still happen when you hold the phone. The only difference is that, after the update, touching the dead spot will make you go from three bars to one or zero. The jump in bars won't be as dramatic, but the signal attenuation will still happen.

 

[Droid800]

Gizmodo explains the reasons behind the iPhone4's issues

Why Apple's iPhone 4 Update Won't Fix Your Reception Problem

That doesn't explain anything. To put it simply, Gizmodo doesn't know jack **** about what they're posting because they're not engineers and they don't know the iPhone 4's systems well enough to say 'this is why its doing this'. At this point the only people on the planet that know exactly what is going on is Apple, and they haven't said anything. The 'fix' they're offering up has nothing to do with reception issues, and they've never claimed that it has. (Blogs like Gizmodo only assumed that it would) What it fixes is how many bars the phone is displaying, which should reflect available signal more accurately and prevent the precipitous drops in signal people have been noticing.