I actually believe them. I can't recall ever seeing my iPhone report 2 or 3 bars -- it's always a very low or very high signal indication. And yet, so many times I've gotten bad performances at "full signal"...
Apple letter about iPhone 4
101–110 of 145 posts
Re: Apple letter about iPhone 4
#102hmmm... looks like they are backing out the 2.1 OS fix that "Improved accuracy of the 3G signal strength display". That always seemed fishy to me. http://gizmodo.com/5048905/iphone-21-update-available-now Especially entertaining is the update note at the bottom: The "3G signal strength display" fix certainly seems to have done something for my iPhone 3G: it's sitting here in the same place on my desk, and has gone fr…
Yep, they effectively made the signal strength meter useless in that update so that users would psychologically feel that they had a good connection even though AT&T's network was terrible in places.
When your phone shows 5 bars yet you still get dropped calls, distorted sound, etc, you know there is a problem with the signal strength meter.
They might as well have just made it 1 bar, either you have signal or you don't. But there may be something about the placebo effect, or maybe illiterate tech reviewers would actually write "my iPhone has more bars!1!1!11!1!"
Re: Apple letter about iPhone 4
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem is that Anandtech's conclusion is out of place with the rest of their article, even if you take into consideration the shorting of the antennae. The iPhone 4 loses 24.6dB of signal strength when cupped at the bottom vs 17.7dB for the Nexus one. If Apple should be required to add an insulative coating to the stainless steel, then shouldn't Google also be required to make their phone thicker (or make other…
What does the Nexus One have to do with the iPhone's antenna issue? There is no oversite body that is 'requiring' anyone to do anything. It's not Nexus One owners that are complaining about the antenna issue, it's iPhone users.
Actually, the people I've heard about this non-issue the most from are Android evangelists and Apple haters that are looking for any reason possible to trash Apple. So it might make sense to compare it to their beloved Nexus One in a head to head comparison.
Re: Apple letter about iPhone 4
#104I'm surprised that anyone considers this explanation reasonable. The real problem people are seeing with the iPhone 4 is measured in throttled bandwidth and dropped calls, not bars of signal.
Using a speed test app, I measure 2-2.3mbs 3G downline bandwidth with the phone sitting on my desk. Holding it gently in my left hand, the speed test drops to 0 and eventually fails. I can also reproduce that data transfer failure by lightly touching the left and bottom sides with two fingers.
This focus on the displayed signal strength is somewhat insulting misdirection.
Re: Apple letter about iPhone 4
#105To phrase that another way, it's not that covering the antennae gives you poor reception, it's that you've always had poor reception but didn't realize it. Doesn't seem right to me, as I thought I had hear complaints about calls being dropped upon covering the antenna - not just fewer bars.
Yes, my iPhone 4 essentially mutes immediately when you tap the gap. That's presumably a big drop in SNR, enough to silence the call, but for a brief tap, the call is not dropped. Note: the bars drop with a much greater delay, so there seems to be some kind of time averaging going on.
It's not a huge deal to me, but changing antenna execution (if not design) fundamentally, seems to have been quite a rash move, when suddenly the phone acquires a new behavior that other phones don't have.
Re: Apple letter about iPhone 4
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
Anand doesn't mention it explicitly, and neither do you, but I'm assuming that signal to noise ratio drops when you short the iPhone 4 antennae too otherwise his conclusion doesn't make sense: "At the end of the day, Apple should add an insulative coating to the stainless steel band, or subsidize bumper cases. It's that simple."
The problem is that Anandtech's conclusion is out of place with the rest of their article, even if you take into consideration the shorting of the antennae. The iPhone 4 loses 24.6dB of signal strength when cupped at the bottom vs 17.7dB for the Nexus one. If Apple should be required to add an insulative coating to the stainless steel, then shouldn't Google also be required to make their phone thicker (or make other…
I believe losing 24dB of signal strength is roughly ten times worse than losing 17dB. As I understand it, there is no other phone out there with this level of signal attenuation problem.
NB: I am not a signalology expert and only vaguely understand decibels.
Re: Apple letter about iPhone 4
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
When Apple was writing the signal strength algorithm, they forgot to account for the reality distortion field.
Actually they put in the reality distortion field in. Currently, ~50% of the dBm = 5 bars. Now the fix is to take the reality distortion field out.
not sure why the downvote. backup source is: http://fscked.co.uk/post/754590440/this-infographic-hopefull...
the RDF was put in back in '08 via OS 2.1 update to "improve the accuracy of the 3G signal".
Re: Apple letter about iPhone 4
#108Maybe I'm missing something, but if the problem is just the software that displays the number of bars, why does the iPhone 4 drop more bars than other iPhones which are running the same software?
It seems like there's still a problem with the antenna design that was just made more obvious by the software.
Re: Apple letter about iPhone 4
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Not really a coincidence: users are much more likely to complain about this problem due to the new antenna design being so prominent in the marketing. If Apple never said that the antenna was the metal rim (and assumingly are telling the truth here) then people would not be forming these theories.
It's interesting to me the language calling it a "metal rim" and "metal band", when Jonathan Ive says it's a solid slab of metal, that the groove is machined in. The iFixit teardown makes it appear that the groove is machined in as well, and the metal you see is all part of a slab. I contrast Ive's comments and iFixit's teardown with the Keynote presentation, and think someone's simplifying something in the explanati…
From what I've seen, on the right hand side, the groove is effectively 'fake' - designed to create a symmetrical look. One part of the rim is small (3G), and the other is larger, (WiFi) and has the 'fake groove'.
Re: Apple letter about iPhone 4
#110This is going to make AT&T look even worse. Maybe apple knew this algorithm was in place all along and now they are telling AT&T that they can't play games anymore. Apple is now placing the blame on AT&T by saying that the problem is actually low bars (i.e. the network). Brilliant way to shift the blame.
Apple put the algorithm in place via OS 2.1 update back in '08. http://www.newsoxy.com/technology/apple-iphone/article11156....
If you don't remember, back then every blogger was saying things like "my signal has improved drastically with this update!!11!!1one".
This is what the graphical representation of that update was: http://fscked.co.uk/post/754590440/this-infographic-hopefull...
As you can see, over 50% = 5 bars. AT&T's recommendation = more accuracy and less reality distortion.
Next update, you should see OS 2.1's 3g signal update reversed to what it used to be.