There has been much shouting and screaming around the blogosphere recently, as well as in the main stream media, about the iPhone 4 signal problems, and with the recent press release from Apple, things have only got worse.
Apple seem to be insisting that the issue is not a problem with the antenna design and is simply the way that they are displaying the signal strength. I think this is partly true, however there is more at play here and it's possible that Apple are trying to save face and avoid a costly recall.
As with all Apple stories, the anti-apple mob are out in force, with many of those shouting the loudest never having seen an iPhone 4 in the flesh, let alone used one. I will say now that I do own an iPhone 4 and have been pretty happy with it. I get a very slight drop in signal when cupping the bottom left corner, however I don't see how you can cover this area when making a call without holding the phone in a very weird and unnatural way. The only time I naturally cover this area is when surfing or checking email, but I still do not lose signal completely. I do however live in a strong signal area, so I may not be the best test case.
If someone has not actually used the phone, then perhaps they should read (and understand) the excellent analysis by Anandtech before commenting on the issue at hand.
Below is my understanding of the problem. I've tried to be as fair to both Apple and those with problems here. I know this is not the norm with Apple stories and it's traditional to place yourself firmly in either the Apple or anti-apple camp, but hear me out.
From what I read in the Anandtech review it seems that the bars are so heavily weighted towards one end that a small signal drop will display as a massive loss in 'bars'.
The scale goes from -113dB to -51dB, so it has a range of 62 units. The problem is that bar 5 is range -91 to -51 (40 units) and bars 1-4 are range -113 to -91 (22 units). This means that if you currently have a signal of -90dB (only just 5 bars) and you drop 20dB (roughly what is lost when using the 'death grip'), you may have lost around 1/3 of the possible range, but the bars will show a drop from 5 bars to 1 bar (bar 1 is range -113 to -107). That's a pretty big drop in 'bars' for only a 1/3 drop in the range. You would have a signal of -111dB which as Anandtech points out, is actually usable on the iPhone 4.
The problem is that the iPhone 4 is more susceptible to signal attenuation than most phones (as pointed out by Anandtech), so when you couple this with the weird 'bars' scale the problem appears far worse than it is.
Yes, there is a genuine problem with the iPhone 4 that at first glance could be easily fixed with a coating over the antenna. A lot of people online are complaining about dropped calls, which is a big issue, however I also think that a lot of people are making noise about lost 'bars', which may not be as bad as it seems. Add to this the general shouting from the anti-apple crew and it amounts to a lot of noise.
Are Apple maliciously trying to cover up the problem, or do they genuinely believe the issue is signal display and not strength? Personally I think it's a little of both. I'm sure they are aware that their antenna design is more susceptible to signal attenuation than most other phones, however I think they have made a rod for their own back with the dumb scale they used to display signal strength. I also think that with the more sensitive baseband hardware in the iPhone 4 (again, as attested by Anandtech) Apple may well believe that the phone can still outperform others in real world usage, even with lower signal numbers.
Perhaps the software update will weed out all those complaining about bars dropping rather than calls dropping. Although I'm sure they will just moan that they used to have a 5 bar signal when sat in Starbucks and now only have 4.
It will be interesting to see how Apple responds after this update is released and if someone undertakes some serious technical research into the issue. I will reserve my judgement of the company until then, although they are going to have to tread carefully. Personally I feel they should recall and replace with a version that has a coated antenna. Costly yes, but probably less pricey than the hit to their credibility for not doing it.
EDIT:
There's a very interesting chart here that displays the issue in a fairly clear way.
Apple seem to be insisting that the issue is not a problem with the antenna design and is simply the way that they are displaying the signal strength. I think this is partly true, however there is more at play here and it's possible that Apple are trying to save face and avoid a costly recall.
As with all Apple stories, the anti-apple mob are out in force, with many of those shouting the loudest never having seen an iPhone 4 in the flesh, let alone used one. I will say now that I do own an iPhone 4 and have been pretty happy with it. I get a very slight drop in signal when cupping the bottom left corner, however I don't see how you can cover this area when making a call without holding the phone in a very weird and unnatural way. The only time I naturally cover this area is when surfing or checking email, but I still do not lose signal completely. I do however live in a strong signal area, so I may not be the best test case.
If someone has not actually used the phone, then perhaps they should read (and understand) the excellent analysis by Anandtech before commenting on the issue at hand.
Below is my understanding of the problem. I've tried to be as fair to both Apple and those with problems here. I know this is not the norm with Apple stories and it's traditional to place yourself firmly in either the Apple or anti-apple camp, but hear me out.
From what I read in the Anandtech review it seems that the bars are so heavily weighted towards one end that a small signal drop will display as a massive loss in 'bars'.
The scale goes from -113dB to -51dB, so it has a range of 62 units. The problem is that bar 5 is range -91 to -51 (40 units) and bars 1-4 are range -113 to -91 (22 units). This means that if you currently have a signal of -90dB (only just 5 bars) and you drop 20dB (roughly what is lost when using the 'death grip'), you may have lost around 1/3 of the possible range, but the bars will show a drop from 5 bars to 1 bar (bar 1 is range -113 to -107). That's a pretty big drop in 'bars' for only a 1/3 drop in the range. You would have a signal of -111dB which as Anandtech points out, is actually usable on the iPhone 4.
The problem is that the iPhone 4 is more susceptible to signal attenuation than most phones (as pointed out by Anandtech), so when you couple this with the weird 'bars' scale the problem appears far worse than it is.
Yes, there is a genuine problem with the iPhone 4 that at first glance could be easily fixed with a coating over the antenna. A lot of people online are complaining about dropped calls, which is a big issue, however I also think that a lot of people are making noise about lost 'bars', which may not be as bad as it seems. Add to this the general shouting from the anti-apple crew and it amounts to a lot of noise.
Are Apple maliciously trying to cover up the problem, or do they genuinely believe the issue is signal display and not strength? Personally I think it's a little of both. I'm sure they are aware that their antenna design is more susceptible to signal attenuation than most other phones, however I think they have made a rod for their own back with the dumb scale they used to display signal strength. I also think that with the more sensitive baseband hardware in the iPhone 4 (again, as attested by Anandtech) Apple may well believe that the phone can still outperform others in real world usage, even with lower signal numbers.
Perhaps the software update will weed out all those complaining about bars dropping rather than calls dropping. Although I'm sure they will just moan that they used to have a 5 bar signal when sat in Starbucks and now only have 4.
It will be interesting to see how Apple responds after this update is released and if someone undertakes some serious technical research into the issue. I will reserve my judgement of the company until then, although they are going to have to tread carefully. Personally I feel they should recall and replace with a version that has a coated antenna. Costly yes, but probably less pricey than the hit to their credibility for not doing it.
EDIT:
There's a very interesting chart here that displays the issue in a fairly clear way.
fatal:
Yer I know bout drop box already and I back up to idisk too now lol. xx
casper:
Oh Apple....that is why I don't like to buy new items when they first arrive in stores, because really....the errors havent popped up yet.