As I’m sure you’ve seen, since it’s all over the news, the iPhone 4 has some issues, which relate to the new antenna design.
In an nutshell, when touching the left-bottom of the phone, your hand can bridge the gap between the two antennas. When this happens, there’s a loss of signal. This can lead to dropped calls, slow data, etc…
There are actually two issues here – one hardware, one software. This seems to be rather hard for the mass media to grasp, so I’m going to try to explain it here.
First, the software issue. The iPhone 4, as shipped, has a software flaw that causes it to display more bars of signal than it should. This gives a false sense of how “good” your signal is in a given area. There’s a great rundown on page two of AnandTech’s review:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3794/the-iphone-4-review/2
Basically there’s a 22dB gap between 0 bars (no signal) and 5 bars (full signal), but the fifth bar spans 40dB. Signal loss from holding the phone normally is ~19dB, or nearly the entire span between 0-5. The practical take from this is that holding the phone normally *completely* destroys the signal, bringing it from 4-5 bars to nearly none – looking like it’s lost 80% or more, when in fact it’s lost around 30%.
Yesterday’s iOS4.01 update changes the way the signal bars correlate to the actual strength of the signal. Youc an see the comparison here:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/3821/iphone-4-redux-analyzing-apples-ios-41-signal-fix
The span between 1-5 is now 45dB rather than 20, and bar 5 now spans 25dB rather than 40. This is a bit more accurate scale-wise.
Ifyou were previously seeing 5 bars, but were on the weaker side of that, you were at ~-91dB. Now `91dB will get you 3 bars. Dropping 19dB to -110dB puts you at 1 bar, the same as before. However, the take from this is that you dropped 2 bars (40%), not 4 (80%), which is much closer to the truth.
As another example, if you have 5 bars now, and you drop 19dB, you’ll go down to 3 bars, not 1.
Mind you, this doesn’t change signal strength, just how it’s reported. It’s more accurate, and should give you a better idea of how good your actual signal is than before. Holding the phone without a case still drops more signal than competing phones, and it’s still possible to lose signal entirely in areas with weaker signal strength. However, you should now have a better idea of where the signal strength isn’t so good.
OK, so that’s the software issue. Now for the hardware one.
Touching an antenna with something conductive causes attenuation, which commonly results in a loss of signal strength. This happens to a degree with every antenna. Holding a cellphone essentially wraps it in conductive meat. Holding any cellphone will attenuate the antenna to some degree.
The iPhone 4′s antenna is exposed, rather than enclosed within the plastic shell. This allows the antenna to get *better* reception, most of the time. However, it also exposes the antenna to your sweaty, conductive, meaty palms.
That’s why you see the attenuation problems with the iPhone 4 moreso than with other phones.
So, how do youfix it? Well, you cna take the reported advice from Steve Jobs, and just “hold it differently”. THat doesn’t really solve the problem, as most of us are fairly trained in how to hold a phone to our ear, and changing that habit isn’t going to come easy.
You can also put something non-conductive between your hand and the antenna, such as a case. As you can see in Anand’s review linked above, a case brings the attenuation down to approximately the same level as seen in competing phones.
This appears to be Apple’s solution as well. For the first time, Apple offers a “case” for the iPhone – the “bumper”. Essentially a rubber and plastic band that wraps around the edges of the phone – right over the antenna. Hmm…
It also costs $30, which seems a bit much for a band of rubber and plastic. Not to mention a rather unreasonable additional expense for the customer, to fix a hardware design issue.
(Note that $30 is about the average price for an iPhone case at retail – and there are other options available from third parties that provide more robust protection for the glass back of the iPhone 4 for the same price.)
Most folks I know that have iPhones have them in a case of some sort. People like to feel that their expensive phone investmnt is protected. The notion of buying a case itself seems not to be much of a problem. The problem comes when the case is required to use the phone, because the phone itself has an issue.
We don’t know exactly how Apple’s planning on dealing with this. Originally they seemed to take the stance that the phone was fine, and that if you were having reception problems, you needed to buy a case. That changed when Consumer Reports decided not to recommend the iPhone 4 due to the conflated hardware/software reception issue. Now Apple has a press conference slated for later today, with the iPhone 4 being the subject.
What’s the overall outcome of the fixes so far?
Changing the signal display to be more linear, and thus more in line with what the bars appear to represent puts more of an onus on AT&T.
Back when iOS 2.1 (then called iPhoneOS) was released, they changed the signal display as well, to make the signal appear to be better. At that time, AT&T was taking a lot of heat about how bad their network was, and how shoddy most folks’ reception was. The change didn’t really quiet this down, but it diverted the discussion away from signal on the phones and more into dropped calls and poor connection speeds – which some blamed on the iPhone hardware itself, rather than AT&T. After all, they had 5 bars, and thus “full signal”, so it must be the phone, right?
The 4.01 change reverses that. Now folks will get a more accurate indicator of exactly how poor AT&Ts service really is in their area. Expect backlash against AT&T, who have profited greatly on the iPhone, yet have consistantly blamed iPhones for all of their problems, rather than growing their network capacity to deal with the increased demand.
AT&T will need to, as is said, “put up or shut up”.
As for the hardware, some are reporting that “fixed” phones are starting to appear as replacements for returned phones. There’s no cosmetic change, so the “fix” is most likely a clear non-conductive coating on the antennas. This would be in line with other silent, invisible fixes Apple’s done in the past.
However, the problem has now been made public, so Apple’s dealing with it in the public forum as well. They also have to deal with the backlash from the mainstream media that thinks the software fix was supposed to fix the hardware issue. I expect that to be addressed during today’s press conference. I also expect two other things to be announced:
* I’m predicting Apple will offer free bumpers to all iPhone 4 owners. In quantity, these things can’t cost more than a buck or two to produce, and this would be a cheap way to get a public fix out there.
* I’m also predicting Apple will extend the return/replacement period for a bit, and allow pretty much anyone to go swap their iPhone 4 for a new one. This will get the “fixed” phones in the hands of the loudest complainers.
* I’m predicting they *won’t* do a full recall on the iPhone 4. That would be costly, and a huge PR hit. Apple can, and I think will do better than that.
As for me, if they announce free bumpers, I’ll go pick one up. I have a more robust case already, but the bumper will be OK as a backup. If they announce fixed phones, and free swaps, I’ll certianly go swap my phone out, after securely wiping it.