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Apple plans software fix for iPhone 4 reception problems
The biggest story around the iPhone 4 launch hasn't been about the phone's awesome new features, it's been about the flaky reception when it's held wrong. A left-handed grip on the phone messes with the baseband antenna, and users are ticked off. Steve Jobs, in typical Jobsian style, has responded with "just avoid holding it that way." Well, Apple might have a better response than that: a software update that fixes the problem and could be out as early as Monday. How can a software update fix what seems to be a hardware flaw in the iPhone 4? Well, it turns out -- according to posts on Apple's tech support forums and AppleInsider -- that the way the phone changes frequencies is miscalibrated, and the lag during the change registers as "no service" instead of actually switching to the best frequency.
So, left-handed iPhone 4 owners, hope is not lost. Keep an eye out for iOS 4.0.1 next week.
[via AppleInsider]
Comments
16
Subscribe to commentsMichael WendellJun 26th 2010 9:20AM
...except that it's not left-handed people who are affected, it's those who hold the phone in their left hand while telephoning, which is typically true of right-handed people.
JoePalmaJun 26th 2010 9:50AM
Exactly, this has been bothering me. Everyone says it's lefties affected, I'm a righty and I hold my phone with my left and use my right for everything. And then while talking I hold it with my left so I still have my favored hand for writing/using a mouse/pretty much anything.
Also, all this update is gonna do is add fake bars so you feel better about it.
BoydJun 26th 2010 11:19AM
Yeah. I'm a little confused. It actually affects right handed people. If your right handed then you hold the phone in your left hand and use your right hand to touch, scroll, type. Not sure why everything thinks it affects lefties. It's the opposite.
feraligatr8Jun 26th 2010 9:10PM
Oh apple, two consecutive fail products in a row.....
cyberguy91Jun 27th 2010 12:13AM
I assume the first, in your opinion, was the iPad?
feraligatr8Jun 27th 2010 1:27AM
indeed
Bryan ConnJun 27th 2010 2:28AM
I'd like to fail like that!
ProgozeJun 27th 2010 5:59AM
I'm left-handed and I hold my iPhone in my right hand !
Am I compatible with the iPhone 4 ?
ftl3000Jun 27th 2010 6:44AM
I don't consider this a "fail" by any stretch. It's the most popular smartphone on the market so of course people are going to tear it apart and complain. I can cover up that section of the phone all day long and I still never lose 3g signal. Most of the time I don't even lose signal at all, period. Full bars. If it really bothers you that much, buy a case to separate you from the antenna. Quit complaining people. Seriously. Would it kill you to have a positive attitude?
SugarDaddyJun 27th 2010 11:23AM
Seriously. After all, it's only a $500 phone! Why should it work right? C'mon people, be positive! Bend over and take it from Steve Jobs like a real man -- with no lube like ftl3000 here!
KarenAug 9th 2010 2:35PM
It's a shame. My husband and I spent $600 on the new phones alone. Add to that activation fees, a drive to the nearest Apple store(90 miles away) improper setup, a free bumper and STILL only one bar. I love what this phone can do,but it is still a cell phone and I cannot even use it at my HOUSE! What's going on, Apple execs? I hope you have a better solution than "don't hold it the wrong way" or a rubber bumper,because neither "solution" works.
John SawyerJul 5th 2010 7:13AM
'...when it's held wrong.'
You mean:
'...when it's held "wrong".'
Don't forget the quotation marks.
In any case, I don't see how this could be a frequency (band)-switching issue--why should a cellphone have to switch to another band when someone picks it up, or holds it in a certain way that covers part of the antenna? What would be the purpose of the band that the phone supposedly initially communicates with, when it's sitting on a tabletop? A specialized speakerphone frequency band? If anything, when a cellphone experiences lower signal level, it would simply increase its sensitivity and its output power, not switch to another frequency band.
And why do so many articles still claim this is a problem for left-handed people? Are people who write articles for tech blogs so out of touch with the real world, that they don't realize that just because someone holds onto a phone with their left hand, that it doesn't mean those people are left-handed? This sounds like a perceptual error that a beginner artificial intelligence might make, when analyzing human behavior from within its metal box. Right-handed people are more likely to hold onto a phone with their left hand so they can poke at the phone with their right (dominant) hand, write notes, etc.
DonJun 27th 2010 11:46PM
Doesn't need software...needs a new antenna.
RobJun 28th 2010 1:57AM
... And this is why I didn't get in line for the first release.
gidleysJun 28th 2010 7:38AM
I'm so not convinced by this issue. Certainly my iP4 has reception issues, but deliberately covering the antenna in various places makes no difference.
The most effective (albeit irritating) workaround for phone reception is to turn off 3G. I'm not saying this is a feature (!), but have never managed to reproduce the antenna problem that everyone is posting about.
KyleJul 3rd 2010 10:31AM
I dont agree with the "failed" comment. I have had an Iphone since they first came out with the 2G which I passed to my wife for the 3G. then the 3Gs and so on. My whole family now has Iphones and to put it plainly "There is NOTHING better" and I dont listen to all the hype about the copycat phones that are trying to convince everyone they are better, B.S. !! If there is one thing I could complain about it would be to tell Apple to stop working on the hardware for a while and improve the software that supports it. Itunes is far from being on level with the technology of the actual phone. Good luck to you all that buy your crappy Balckberry's, Droids or whatever anti-iphone train you want to ride, as for me...Im stickin with my Iphone!!