Apple today released an announcement regarding the iPhone 4 reception issue, and guess what – it’s not their fault, and there isn’t really an issue at all.
Apple’s PR department spoke out about the issue that has become a major concern among early adopters, although it seems only a small minority of people are actually seeing the issue.
Apple reports that the problem is “both simple and surprising”. The method used by phone manufacturers to calculate the available signal has been updated recently, and the iPhone 4 uses the old way.
Apple is essentially saying that the drop in signal isn’t actual, only perceived – that calls will not be dropped because of this issue.
Many users are indeed claiming calls are being dropped, but since AT&T was never really an outstanding carrier in the first place, is it so hard to imagine that users calls were dropping regardless of how many bars their phone displayed or how they gripped their phone?
Apple ends their communication by stressing that they believe the iPhone 4’s wireless performance is the best they’ve ever shipped.
They also stress at the end that any user not satisfied with they iPhone 4 may return their device within 30 days for a full refund, which is of course their way of telling the whiners to put up or shut up.
I think people are only focusing on the antennas, and attenuation because Steve made a point of talking about them. So people are hyper-analyzing something that has always been that way. The number one complaint in online reviews for the 3G and 3GS was call drop and signal. To be honest I had the same issues with my old Sony Ericsson that I had with AT&T before.
Considering it’s largely a NETWORK issue; My sister who lives 45 minutes from civilization doesn’t have any issues from inside her home. A home that is distant enough from anyplace that the only vehicle that comes by most days is a mail car/truck. I think it’s pretty obvious that it is a question of where you are, and what towers you use. Because she’s never had any real issues with signal or call droppings with her iPhone.
I think overall too many people expect landline level functionality, and that is just unrealistic.
“Apple is essentially saying that the drop in signal isn’t actual, only perceived – that calls will not be dropped because of this issue.”
I don’t believe that’s what Apple said. The letter does plainly accept that holding the phone a certain way does cause a drop in signal.
The real issue is that people thought they had a stronger signal than what they really did. So even a small drop in strength is enough, for those people, to cause the connection to be lost.
Why cant you report on issues such as this with an unbiased perspective? This post is riddled with “apple said its because of this, so it must be right…”, why cant you report on apple the same way as you would with other tech, with an objective perspective. Of course the company behind the device is going to release a statement saying its a non issue, that doesn’t make it true.
“The method used by phone manufacturers to calculate the available signal has been updated recently, and the iPhone 4 uses the old way.”
My phone is ancient so you’d expect it to use the ‘old method’ but does not have the same problem, nor do ANY other phones that use the ‘old way’ – am I missing something