So I can't help but wonder what the calibration for the 3GS was? Did they change the formula for the iPhone 4? If so, why? But if they were using the same calibration, then this software "fix" seems more of a coverup.
I'm in a wait-and-see mode before making any decision. Apple is correctly explaining the effect of attenuation when something (ie, your hand) blocks part of the signal. But that is a different effect than coming in direct contact with the antenna itself. Apple's explanations have so far completely ignored that issue.
We'll see...I'm in no hurry to run out and make a purchase. I'll let the rest of you be guinea pigs.
A software fix to only change the display behavior is a fail.
It does not fix the REAL PROBLEM of DROPPED SIGNAL!
I can reproduce the issue 100% of the time with my phone and it is truly insulting for Apple to refuse to accept this fact even after multiple independent studies.
My 3GS never dropped calls in my office or house. My 4G does ALL the time unless I hold it in some freakishly unnatural way. Anandtech already demonstrated that the 4G loses 10DB more signal than the 3GS when held tightly. It's true all phones loose signal when gripped tighly, the 4G just looses much MORE signal. Sorry Apple, but making a heavy object out of glass encourages people to hold it tightly.
At the end of the day, Apple should add an insulative coating to the stainless steel band, or subsidize bumper cases. It's that simple."
You may be correct! But, now, Apple can do this as a positive gesture: to help improve the UX; rather than a defensive (negative) gesture to avoid losing signal strength.
I could almost write the announcment myself:
Dear Apple iPhone 4 owner-- The iPhone 4 has proven to have one of the best cell phone antennas in the industry... blah, blah, blah.
All cell phone antennas lose signal strength when... blah, blah, blah.
We have found that a simple bumper case will minimize this effect... blah, blah, blah.
Because we want every iPhone 4 user to get best possible... blah, blah, blah.
Sorry, but you have your logic totally backward. It will not tell you the signal is worse that it really is, it will be accurate. The initial software reported a signal where there was no signal hence the frustration. Once it is accurate you will know where to get a call through ... like it has always been with mobile phones since they first came out ...
That makes sense, but I disagree in some instances. What about the people who drop all the way down to no service? Are you saying that this fix will give them service when it can't latch onto a signal? You are right, it will be more accurate. Instead of 5 bars, I may now show 3. For people who understand how reception works, they'll be fine because they understand the bars really lie anyways. But when most of the buyers out there aren't really technical (soccer mom), if they see 2 or 3 bars instead of the 5 they may see now, they will think something is wrong. It's the perception that's key to many people. That's too bad because I am sure this fix will alleviate the frustration for some.
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. [ View this article at AppleInsider.com ][/c]
"Stunned"....really?
I find it difficult to believe that a thirty year old computer company responsible for several revolutions in personal computing capable of engineering a state-of-the art network-integrated web browsing, media playing device somehow neglected to check the accuracy of the signal strength formula.
Come on...this doesn't even make sense. This is an egregious error in the most basic functionality of a device that comes from a company so perfectionistic that people were debunking the first authentic pictures of the device because of asthetically unpleasing, millimeter-wide breaks in the side of the case.
AT&T and Apple have been barraged with reception/call quality/signal dropout issues since the release of the first iPhone. I think that one of the first areas to be assessed, and one that would be given _extra_ attention prior to the release of the iPhone 4, would have been whether or not the phone reports signal accurately.
My 3GS never dropped calls in my office or house. My 4G does ALL the time unless I hold it in some freakishly unnatural way. Anandtech already demonstrated that the 4G loses 10DB more signal than the 3GS when held tightly. It's true all phones loose signal when gripped tighly, the 4G just looses much MORE signal. Sorry Apple, but making a heavy object out of glass encourages people to hold it tightly.
You can't discount the possibility that you have a lemon. There must be some problem sets out there and the assumption they all have an issue is now more than likely wrong thus meaning yours might be a bad one.
... wasn't this very same issue an 'issue' once before? I swear a patch was released to fix this (or a similar) bug immediately after purchasing my 3G.
That makes sense, but I disagree in some instances. What about the people who drop all the way down to no service? Are you saying that this fix will give them service when it can't latch onto a signal? You are right, it will be more accurate. Instead of 5 bars, I may now show 3. For people who understand how reception works, they'll be fine because they understand the bars really lie anyways. But when most of the buyers out there aren't really technical (soccer mom), if they see 2 or 3 bars instead of the 5 they may see now, they will think something is wrong. It's the perception that's key to many people. That's too bad because I am sure this fix will alleviate the frustration for some.
Well the simple answer to the question you ask is you walk around till you get a signal. Of course a lowering of bars doesn't allow you to latch on to anything, it is no more than a visual aid like the number of red bars on the side of a volume control on a hifi. If a few lights went out due to LED failure the volume doesn't change does it?
... wasn't this very same issue an 'issue' once before? I swear a patch was released to fix this (or a similar) bug immediately after purchasing my 3G.
Yes you are correct. They changed the signal meter in that model. I think that was because of the way the phone interpreted 3G signals compared to EDGE.
You see, you should have had only 0 bars before holding the antenna, and then with holding the antenna you get -5 bars, which means stopping transmission.
So basically they are saying that they're going to update your phone to tell you that your reception is worse than it really is, bar wise. This doesn't fix anything. This isn't going to fix the people who live in lower reception areas from losing service completely or drop low enough to drop calls, where their previous iPhones or whatever they used works fine.
This is just smoke and mirrors. They also need to address the proximity sensor, although I think they are going to sneak it in. It's a real simple fix, just give it more tolerance.
Emphasis mine!
No, they are going to more-accurately report your true reception!
Posting in this forum has been a complete joke. So many members just want to make out that people with problems are mad (hysterical) or unnaturally forcing their phones to get reception issues, it's pathetic. Truly the posters here who are spouting that crap have really brought this forum down and are a disgrace. I don't care if you own an iPhone 4 and haven't had problems either, your crap still stinks.
I like Apple, and I actually adore the Iphone, but I seriously hope they get crucified over this.
While there is often some amount of confusion and tiny deceptions permeating the computer industry, this is actually close to full out deception and fraud.
Their response to this issue has actually caused me to rethink future Apple purchases.
The actual problem is not really that bad. You just have to use the new iphone in a case or suffer dropped calls and data in weak signal locations. If Apple had admitted it, sent out a few free Itunes credits or some bumpers, we would have just all moved on.
I bet the next round of Apple job reqs will be PR people.
My 3GS never dropped calls in my office or house. My 4G does ALL the time unless I hold it in some freakishly unnatural way. Anandtech already demonstrated that the 4G loses 10DB more signal than the 3GS when held tightly. It's true all phones loose signal when gripped tighly, the 4G just looses much MORE signal. Sorry Apple, but making a heavy object out of glass encourages people to hold it tightly.
You see, before this software update, you displayed 5 bars, but truly you were at -2 bars. After the software update, it will properly show your true signal when held in the hand.
Comments
I'm in a wait-and-see mode before making any decision. Apple is correctly explaining the effect of attenuation when something (ie, your hand) blocks part of the signal. But that is a different effect than coming in direct contact with the antenna itself. Apple's explanations have so far completely ignored that issue.
We'll see...I'm in no hurry to run out and make a purchase. I'll let the rest of you be guinea pigs.
It does not fix the REAL PROBLEM of DROPPED SIGNAL!
I can reproduce the issue 100% of the time with my phone and it is truly insulting for Apple to refuse to accept this fact even after multiple independent studies.
At the end of the day, Apple should add an insulative coating to the stainless steel band, or subsidize bumper cases. It's that simple."
You may be correct! But, now, Apple can do this as a positive gesture: to help improve the UX; rather than a defensive (negative) gesture to avoid losing signal strength.
I could almost write the announcment myself:
Dear Apple iPhone 4 owner-- The iPhone 4 has proven to have one of the best cell phone antennas in the industry... blah, blah, blah.
All cell phone antennas lose signal strength when... blah, blah, blah.
We have found that a simple bumper case will minimize this effect... blah, blah, blah.
Because we want every iPhone 4 user to get best possible... blah, blah, blah.
---bumper case, at no charge.
Thank you fur buying the Apple iPhone 4.
.
Sorry, but you have your logic totally backward. It will not tell you the signal is worse that it really is, it will be accurate. The initial software reported a signal where there was no signal hence the frustration. Once it is accurate you will know where to get a call through ... like it has always been with mobile phones since they first came out ...
That makes sense, but I disagree in some instances. What about the people who drop all the way down to no service? Are you saying that this fix will give them service when it can't latch onto a signal? You are right, it will be more accurate. Instead of 5 bars, I may now show 3. For people who understand how reception works, they'll be fine because they understand the bars really lie anyways. But when most of the buyers out there aren't really technical (soccer mom), if they see 2 or 3 bars instead of the 5 they may see now, they will think something is wrong. It's the perception that's key to many people. That's too bad because I am sure this fix will alleviate the frustration for some.
Maybe the iPhone 4 now has yet another advantage, we all know now how to add that extra drop of reception
Well that's a fresh bit [spin] of optimism! Haha
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. [ View this article at AppleInsider.com ][/c]
"Stunned"....really?
I find it difficult to believe that a thirty year old computer company responsible for several revolutions in personal computing capable of engineering a state-of-the art network-integrated web browsing, media playing device somehow neglected to check the accuracy of the signal strength formula.
Come on...this doesn't even make sense. This is an egregious error in the most basic functionality of a device that comes from a company so perfectionistic that people were debunking the first authentic pictures of the device because of asthetically unpleasing, millimeter-wide breaks in the side of the case.
AT&T and Apple have been barraged with reception/call quality/signal dropout issues since the release of the first iPhone. I think that one of the first areas to be assessed, and one that would be given _extra_ attention prior to the release of the iPhone 4, would have been whether or not the phone reports signal accurately.
There's a larger issue behind this...
My 3GS never dropped calls in my office or house. My 4G does ALL the time unless I hold it in some freakishly unnatural way. Anandtech already demonstrated that the 4G loses 10DB more signal than the 3GS when held tightly. It's true all phones loose signal when gripped tighly, the 4G just looses much MORE signal. Sorry Apple, but making a heavy object out of glass encourages people to hold it tightly.
You can't discount the possibility that you have a lemon. There must be some problem sets out there and the assumption they all have an issue is now more than likely wrong thus meaning yours might be a bad one.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/20...one-os-2-1.ars
I clearly remember the display began to show more bars after installing this update.
That makes sense, but I disagree in some instances. What about the people who drop all the way down to no service? Are you saying that this fix will give them service when it can't latch onto a signal? You are right, it will be more accurate. Instead of 5 bars, I may now show 3. For people who understand how reception works, they'll be fine because they understand the bars really lie anyways. But when most of the buyers out there aren't really technical (soccer mom), if they see 2 or 3 bars instead of the 5 they may see now, they will think something is wrong. It's the perception that's key to many people. That's too bad because I am sure this fix will alleviate the frustration for some.
Well the simple answer to the question you ask is you walk around till you get a signal. Of course a lowering of bars doesn't allow you to latch on to anything, it is no more than a visual aid like the number of red bars on the side of a volume control on a hifi. If a few lights went out due to LED failure the volume doesn't change does it?
... wasn't this very same issue an 'issue' once before? I swear a patch was released to fix this (or a similar) bug immediately after purchasing my 3G.
Yes you are correct. They changed the signal meter in that model. I think that was because of the way the phone interpreted 3G signals compared to EDGE.
That doesn't explain this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yq4dfeSiOWw
You see, you should have had only 0 bars before holding the antenna, and then with holding the antenna you get -5 bars, which means stopping transmission.
Doesn't that make sense???
So basically they are saying that they're going to update your phone to tell you that your reception is worse than it really is, bar wise. This doesn't fix anything. This isn't going to fix the people who live in lower reception areas from losing service completely or drop low enough to drop calls, where their previous iPhones or whatever they used works fine.
This is just smoke and mirrors. They also need to address the proximity sensor, although I think they are going to sneak it in. It's a real simple fix, just give it more tolerance.
Emphasis mine!
No, they are going to more-accurately report your true reception!
The truth hurts... fact of life!
.
While there is often some amount of confusion and tiny deceptions permeating the computer industry, this is actually close to full out deception and fraud.
Their response to this issue has actually caused me to rethink future Apple purchases.
The actual problem is not really that bad. You just have to use the new iphone in a case or suffer dropped calls and data in weak signal locations. If Apple had admitted it, sent out a few free Itunes credits or some bumpers, we would have just all moved on.
I bet the next round of Apple job reqs will be PR people.
My 3GS never dropped calls in my office or house. My 4G does ALL the time unless I hold it in some freakishly unnatural way. Anandtech already demonstrated that the 4G loses 10DB more signal than the 3GS when held tightly. It's true all phones loose signal when gripped tighly, the 4G just looses much MORE signal. Sorry Apple, but making a heavy object out of glass encourages people to hold it tightly.
You see, before this software update, you displayed 5 bars, but truly you were at -2 bars. After the software update, it will properly show your true signal when held in the hand.
Emphasis mine!
No, they are going to more-accurately report your true reception!
The truth hurts... fact of life!
.
That's fine, but it doesn't solve this issue at all.