iSee
Apple says it has cracked the case of sometimes dodgy reception on its best-selling iPhone 4, describing the fault, which it intends to fix as ‘both simple and surprising.'
The firm says it was amazed to hear reports of reception problems and after closer inspection has got to the bottom of the problem. Apparently, there is not an issue with the reception per se, more the bars of reception shown on the screen.
Apple says gripping almost any phone no matter what the manufacturer will reduce a mobile's reception by one or two bars, but was shocked when some users said their iPhone 4's reception plunged by four or five bars when help tightly, covering the black strip in the lower left corner of the metal band.
But upon investigation, it was ‘stunned' to discover the formula it uses to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display on the screen ‘is totally wrong.'
In an open letter, Apple admitted: "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 seeing a sudden drop of several bars when they hold their iPhone 4 in a certain way are probably in an area with very weak signal strength but they don't know because the display shows four or five bars, the company said.
"Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place," it insisted.
Apple has promised to fix the problem by adopting AT&T's recently recommended formula for calculating how many bars to display for a given signal strength. Consequently, the actual signal strength will not change but the iPhone's bars will report it accurately. In a design tweak, Apple says it will also make bars one, two and three taller, so they are easier to see.
Apple has vowed to issue a free software update within a few weeks that incorporates the corrected formula. Interestingly, it says the mistake has been present since the original iPhone's launch so owners of the 3GS and 3G model will also benefit from the update.
But of course some users may question why the iPhone 4's reception issues are reportedly larger than any of its iPhone predecessors'. "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," concludes the open letter.
