Steve Jobs had let us know to “stay tuned” regarding the iPhone 4 Death Grip, and today we have a letter from Apple letting everyone know what they’re going to do about it. As suspected, it’s a software problem with iOS 4 (and earlier versions), which Apple promises will be fixed in the next couple of weeks. Specifically, it has something to do with how the iPhone displays coverage; apparently the screen shows bars when there’s actually none, and it only adjusts when you try to make a call. In other words, the “big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place.”
Sorry, but that sounds like a load of crap when you consider that calls go through just fine when the iPhone 4 is placed on a table without any contact being made with the phone’s circumference, but calls drop when it’s picked up. If there really wasn’t any reception there whatsoever, neither call would go through. What really gets me is how Apple talks like severe antenna attenuation is a problem that effects every mobile (it’s not, just ask Nokia), and that the iPhone 4 is still totally perfect and magical. Whatever, that stance of denial is par for course.
Although it’s baffling that such a problem could go on unabated through the iPhone 4’s entire testing process, you have to take into account that when they were used in the wild prior to launch, iPhone 4s were kept in 3GS-looking cases, so no contact between the body and the phone was ever made. FCC testing was in the same boat, since phones were held in place with a non-conducive apparatus.
In any case, Apple has at very least admitted that there is a problem and they’re working on fixing it. Anyone who has already bought an iPhone and can’t put up with having to avoid the bottom-left corner of their phone have probably already picked up an overpriced bumper to overcome the issue, but for those holding out for a solution before taking the plunge, this is announcement is good news. It doesn’t seem like the statement is going to put a stop in that class-action lawsuit, though.
[via PR Newswire]