In a letter released from Apple on July 2nd, Apple acknowledged the problem many, many people are finding with their iPhone 4′s antennas. Apple said they were “stunned.” Part of the statement is below:
We have discovered the cause of this dramatic drop in bars, and it is both simple and surprising.
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.
Apple says that other phones, including Droid, Nokia, and RIM phones, experienced similar problems. Although, to my knowledge, only the iPhone 4 has had many widespread complaints. The easiest fix for the problem is buying a case, something that I did. I need a case anyway because I am very clumsy with my technology, but that is besides the point. The case Apple is selling, called a Bumper, is being sold for a ridiculous price of $29.99. These cases seem like another way for Apple to make easy money. There have been rumors that Apple is going to cut the price in half or even give them out for free, but let’s be honest. Apple doesn’t give anything for free (except for those Apple logo stickers that come with all the products).
And so, after all the drama, Apple has admitted that something is really wrong with the iPhone 4 reception. This friday, Apple will hold a press conference on the matter at Apple’s Cupertino headquarters. No one really knows what will be announced at the conference, but I don’t get your hopes up for something too good. Check back after the conference for updates on the matter. In addition to this conference, Apple has released new software (4.1 beta) to developers, but sadly, early reports have stated that the software update does not fix the signal problem. For those of you with iPhone 4′s, I suggest buying a case to not only fix the problem but also protect your awesome phone. I bought a Belkin case at BestBuy that works great.
Possibly the funniest part about this whole antenna situation is the fact that Steve Jobs was so thrilled and excited about the new antenna when he revealed the new iPhone 4 at WWDC. Steve describes the antenna as: “It’s never been done before and it’s really cool engineering.” Nevertheless, the problem has not really hindered iPhone sales. Was this antenna problem just an elaborate scheme plotted by Apple to see how many people they could get to buy a broken phone? If so, Kudos Apple. You got me and millions of others.
Until next time,
GadgetGuy
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