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Meta
Tag Archives: iPhone 4 antenna problem
Apple’s Antenna page is stripped
A few weeks ago when Steve Jobs held an extra press conference regarding the antenna problems with the iPhone 4, Apple published a lot of information and a few videos that showed a similar problem with it’s competitors phones. Now the page has been stripped down and only contain some general information about Apple’s antenna design and test lab.
Apple – Antenna [apple.com]
‘End call’ sticker for iPhone 4
I just stumbled across this photo via the lovely FlipBoard app on my iPad. Apparently it’s made by Aaron Draczynski and is just a mockup but I guess that someone probably will start producing these really soon! Brilliant.
Eat this Nokia
“you’re free to hold your Nokia device any way you like. And you won’t suffer any signal loss” – well, check out the video above then Nokia!
How do you hold your Nokia [conversations.nokia.com]
Fix your iPhone 4 with a sticker
None of my friends who owns an iPhone 4 have any reception problems but if you suffer from the death grip and don’t want to put on an ugly bumper on your stylish phone you could get one of these kind of cool vinyl stickers from this Etsy shop. The shop looks a bit fake though so you might not be able to order these for real.
Antenn-aid for iPhone 4, 6-pack [etsy.com]
Apple’s Press Conference July 16 – video
We wrote a quick summary of the July 16 press conference yesterday and now you can see the whole conference over at Apple’s site. The video is 34 minutes long and available in 3 bandwidth flavors.
July 16 Press Conference [apple.com]
Apple Press Conference summary
Ok, that was a quick press conference and here’s a short summary:
- The same problem (the antenna problem) exists with a lot of smartphones on the market
- 0.55% of all problems reported to Apple Care has been connected to reception or antenna problems (wonder what the other 99.45% is about?)
- ATT Return rates are very low, 1/3 of the Apple 3Gs
- Starting today Apple will give a free case to all iPhone 4 buyers, and those who already bought a bumper will get a refund.
- If you’re not happy with your iPhone 4, you can return it and get a full refund
- The problem with the proximity sensor will get fixed in the next software update
- The white iPhone will be available in the end of July
- iPhone 4 will be available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmar, Finland, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland starting on July 30
Go check Engadget’s great full coverage of the event: Live from Apple’s iPhone 4 press conference [Engaget]
Apple’s press conference starts now!
Ok, Apple’s press conference at Cupertino will start in 20 minutes now!. We’ll update as soon as it starts.
Update: Here are the live blogs covering the event:
Apple Insider Live
Ars Technica live blog
Engadgets live blog
gdgt live blog
Gizmodos liveblog
NY Times live blog
Wired’s liveblog
iOS 4.0.1 signal fix analysis
The clever guys over at Anandtech.com have published a nice illustration of how the iOS 4.0.1 signal fix works. As you can see the biggest change is within the 5th bar of signal strength. It goes down to the 4th bar much fast and it takes a bit longer before it goes from 1 bar to ‘no service’. Read the in-depth analysis over at Anandtech:
The iPhone 4 Redux: Analyzing Apple’s iOS 4.0.1 Signal Fix & Antenna Issue [anandtech.com]
Steve having a press conference this Friday
I just got the information that Apple will arrange a press conference on 10 a.m. Pacific time on Friday, July 16 at their Cupertino Campus. The conference will be about the iPhone 4 antenna problems and that’s about what we know at this point.
Open letter from Apple regarding iPhone 4 antenna problems
Just got this open letter from Apple regarding the antenna problems circulating the last few days:
Dear iPhone 4 Users,
The iPhone 4 has been the most successful product launch in Apple’s history. It has been judged by reviewers around the world to be the best smartphone ever, and users have told us that they love it. So we were surprised when we read reports of reception problems, and we immediately began investigating them. Here is what we have learned.
To start with, gripping almost any mobile phone in certain ways will reduce its reception by 1 or more bars. This is true of iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, as well as many Droid, Nokia and RIM phones. But some users have reported that iPhone 4 can drop 4 or 5 bars when tightly held in a way which covers the black strip in the lower left corner of the metal band. This is a far bigger drop than normal, and as a result some have accused the iPhone 4 of having a faulty antenna design.
At the same time, we continue to read articles and receive hundreds of emails from users saying that iPhone 4 reception is better than the iPhone 3GS. They are delighted. This matches our own experience and testing. What can explain all of this?
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.
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.
We have gone back to our labs and retested everything, and the results are the same— the iPhone 4’s wireless performance is the best we have ever shipped. For the vast majority of users who have not been troubled by this issue, this software update will only make your bars more accurate. For those who have had concerns, we apologize for any anxiety we may have caused.
As a reminder, if you are not fully satisfied, you can return your undamaged iPhone to any Apple Retail Store or the online Apple Store within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.
We hope you love the iPhone 4 as much as we do.
Thank you for your patience and support.