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Apple explains the Iphone 4 antenna problem
AN EMBARRASSED Apple has sent out a letter explaining its take on the Iphone 4 antenna problem.
Apparently everyone in cappuccino land was shocked when people started being nasty about its latest shiny toy and, convinced it couldn't possibly be a problem with the hardware, decided to look elsewhere for a problem.
The good news for fanbois and Creationists is that it's all science's fault. Bloody science.
The letter starts by telling us that the Iphone 4 was the most successful launch in Apple's history, which is news to us since all we've heard are complaints, and it adds that gripping any phone will reduce its reception. Presumably it's talking about a Lenny in "Of Mice and Men" vice-like grip.
What came next had us wondering whether this was some sort of spoof.
"We have discovered the cause of this dramatic drop in bars, and it is both simple and surprising," writes the Apple PR Machine.
"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." Stunned? So were we. Anyway, it carries on.
"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."
So, holding an Iphone 4 does not ruin reception, instead it temporarily fixes a maths and science phone display signal problem? Well, that explains everything. And to think we thought it was the antenna.
Apple claims the formula issue affects all Iphones but no one from the company was available to explain why these apparent legacy antenna issues did not see earlier widespread complaints about signal quality.
The fix is to make the Iphone display bars show the correct reception in any given area, which is such a great idea that we can only hope that other firms continue to follow Apple's lead.
Further distracting people from what might be the real issue, Apple's PR team adds that bars 1, 2 and 3 will be made taller, making them easier to see. Or maybe, making users think the signal is stronger.
It's great to see Apple tackling this issue head-on. µ
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...liked to advertise "More Bars in More Places," to compete with whoever was claiming to have "the most reliable nationwide network."
Obviously, displaying bars is a software fix. But why on earth didn't Apple fold their dipole over the top and bottom of the unit, where fingers rarely tread?
...liked to advertise "More Bars in More Places," to compete with whoever was claiming to have "the most reliable nationwide network."
Obviously, displaying bars is a software fix. But why on earth didn't Apple fold their dipole over the top and bottom of the unit, where fingers rarely tread?
The feed-point end of a monopole antenna has power applied, power is voltage (V) and current (I). The feed point is relative low impedance (Z) by the ratio of V/I.
The far end of a monopole, the open circuit end, has high voltage and essentially zero cuurent (due to the open circuit, that is right there...). Thus, the V/I=Z is very high. That high Z makes it very sensitive to being touched.
The far end of monopoles are normally kept out of reach.
Putting one under someone's hand runs against common sense, at least for those of us that really understand how the voltages and currents are distributed on antennas.
If they'd asked me, I would have pointed to the antennas and said, "you need to insulate those open-circuit ends", with a reaction time of about 200 milliseconds.
The feed-point end of a monopole antenna has power applied, power is voltage (V) and current (I). The feed point is relative low impedance (Z) by the ratio of V/I.
The far end of a monopole, the open circuit end, has high voltage and essentially zero cuurent (due to the open circuit, that is right there...). Thus, the V/I=Z is very high. That high Z makes it very sensitive to being touched.
The far end of monopoles are normally kept out of reach.
Putting one under someone's hand runs against common sense, at least for those of us that really understand how the voltages and currents are distributed on antennas.
If they'd asked me, I would have pointed to the antennas and said, "you need to insulate those open-circuit ends", with a reaction time of about 200 milliseconds.
To me this sounds more like a real life Dilbert moment at Apple.
Dilbert was explaining why antenna lose signal when inside a building.
Pointy Haired had an idea -lets make the antenna outside the phone this will max out the reception.
Dilbert starts to cries.
The CEO signs off on it.
Mad Fist reports the loss of signal when the phone is being held to Pointy Hair which replies put more bars in the signal strength.
Asok implements this.
Asok gets punched by mad fist.
Phone gets launched.
Public cries foul.
Pointy Hair blames Asok.
Too many bars is the issue.
Dilbert cries.
Tries to explain about fractal antennas to Pointy Hair which remains pointy hair of hallucinogenic posters of his youth. Dismisses Dilbert.
Public outcries more.
Pointy Hair tells the CEO not to worry about the small people. CEO thinks this is fashion what with BP CEO talking like that. Gives Pointy Hair a bonus.
What the hell is going on here?!?
Where are the Apple fan boys comments ???
LOL LOL LOL LOL
"That's the biggest load of crap ive ever heard and they expect people to believe it."
Yes the apple people believe it. The apple people have the education and money, but outside of their realm of education specialty, their about as dumb as you will find in any other area of general knowledge, well 95% of apple people anyways.
Ah, I get it.
So by showing the signal strength using a different algorithm, they'll magically get the antenna to stop loosing the signal, right?
Is ANYBODY buying this BS?
If you hold the phone in a certain way it loses the signal, so even if it show you all the bars, and even if the bars fill half the screen, the signal is still going to be weak.
It's obvious that the antenna problem is a hardware issue and as such no amount of software updates is going to fix it.
It is a poor engineer who blames the science. This is really just further proof that Apple is only a maker of *toys,* and that we should leave the real engineering to the professionals.
My only surprise is that Apple didn't blame Microsoft for the problem, rather than their own failure.
FAIL.
Its party correct, Apple appears to be telling the truth about the fact they previous lied about their reception.
See http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/2 for detailed information.
Still doesn't exclude the rest of polished iCrap issues that they deal with via a god like complex and deny everything rule.
Obviously if its broken, you didn't use it right
That's the biggest load of crap ive ever heard and they expect people to believe it.
Instead of actually fixing the root cause (recalling all iPhone 4s and simply applying some cheap insulating laquer/sticky plastic to the antenna), crApple just issue a software update that shows a reduced signal on the screen.
<sarcasm Yeah, thats really gonna work, isn't it.</sarcasm
Hahahahahahahahaha
(pause for breath)
Hahahahahahahahaha
Ah Apple, Apple...thank you for the gift that keeps on giving.
Perhaps Apple's penchant for top-secrecy was its undoing in this antenna design blunder? The Iphone prototype purchased by Gizmodo had a plastic "bumper" case installed over it to make it look like a 3GS Iphone. So perhaps they never actually field tested it without such camouflage to protect it from the eyes of the unwashed masses, and thus failed to discover their engineering blunder.
If so, they only have themselves (actually Steve Jobs) to blame.
Android = 1
Control freak = 0
Apple Schmapple I like to grapple. Bars schmars I like cars. Signal Schmignal I like to tinkle.
HeckVonDreshDork
Unbelievable. What a line of BS, and how disrespectful of those who have paid horrendous sums of money for one of these defective industrial-design abortions. Apple sets the customer-service bar to new lows with this line of drivel. If they still cannot make calls, put the phone to their ear, or otherwise use the phone, how are they supposed to take consolation from this "we were displaying too many bars" garbage?
Thanks, Inquirer, for providing information that millions of people can use to make informed decisions and hopefully prevent investing so much in a defective device.
Perhaps Apple have earned their own place in the Newspeak dictionary?
"Times two seven ten, jobsspeech malquoted sigbars rectify."
'Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use…'
As a long-time Apple customer and fan, I'm sorry to say it, but that is absolute marketing BS. The mapping of signal strength to bars was designed to make previous models look good, but now that it exposes the iPhone 4's weakness (a 20+ dB drop in signal strength when bridging the antennas), they're doing a back flip. The only ones truly stunned here are those of us who expected more from Apple.
Apple, you're ruining your hard earned reputation over this one model. Stupid.
http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/07/the-effect-of-holding-the-iphone-4.png
So, Apple weasels out of the reception issue by acknowledging that all along it has been over representing its reception bar graphic. This strikes me as the technological equivalent of faking an orgasm.
I held this phone using the left hand death grip on the bus traveling to work for over an hour and never completely lost a signal. What was strange was that it dropped about 2 bars after holding it like that but when I reached areas with really good 3G signal it showed 5 bars.
In weak areas and indoors if I do this it kills the signal completely. weird thing is that it keeps a weak signal (2 bars) all day in work when my iphone 3G was searching most of the day.
Something weird is defo happening, probably more than apple is saying, maybe they need to filter out wifi signal crossover into the 3G signal when held like this.
I've been able to reproduce the signal drop on a 3GS with iOS 4 by holding the phone but not with iPhone OS 3.1.3.
Perhaps the boys from Basingstoke or Farnborough could teach the newbs in Cupertino how to measure RSSI?
Every day i read one of those Apple announcement and they make my day. And every iime i come more to conclusion that they should put on iPhone box label "only for those belove 50 IQ".
R2D2 here,
Apple Inc. said Friday that it was "stunned" to find that its iPhones have for years been using a "totally wrong" formula to determine how many bars of signal strength they are getting. Since Job’s first fix “you’re holding it wrong” did not sell well he now has the solution: Use software to pretend that the hardware is working. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Oh, and that new software will also make you weigh ten pounds less and will add 10K to your bank account. Ahhhhhhahahahaha! Oops, help me Obi-Wan! I laughed so hard I fell over and can’t get up.
It’s July and hot on Earth. Better drink up that Kool-Aid.
No such problems with my Droids. The hardware is the best in the galaxy. You earthlings can expect another delivery very soon. The Millennium Falcon has just jumped to hyperspace to get my Droids there without delay.
The Force is with us! R2D2