Apple rules out free iPhone signal solution

[Simon]

Apple has told staff not to offer customers free accessories that could resolve poor reception problems if they complain about low signal strength on the iPhone 4.

In what appears to be an internal memo, leaked and posted on the Boy Genius Report, Apple has provided staff with instructions on how to respond to queries about signal strength on the iPhone and specifically forbids offering a free case.

"We are not appeasing customers with free bumpers," the memo reads. "Don't promise a free bumper to customers."

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/359104/apple-rules-out-free-iphone-signal-solution

[Steve]

I think they've already sold 1.7 million iPhones in 3 days

[Simon]

Someone's going to sell a lot of bumpers, then! 

[Technical Ben]

Next up, the car with no spare. If you want one it's extra. Oh wait...

[Glenn]

As it's an American company, shouldn't they be selling fenders

[zappaDPJ]

I prefer Gibson myself 

[Simon]

Wait, there's more!

Apple faces class action lawsuit over iPhone 4 reception

A pair of dissatisfied customers have filed a class action lawsuit against Apple over reception problems in the iPhone 4 - and it's unlikely to be the only one.

Since the arrival of the latest iPhone, there have been reports of reception problems, with Apple telling users to hold the device differently to avoid disturbing the external antenna.

Maryland residents Kevin McCaffery and Linda Wrinn filed the complaint against Apple and AT&T, accusing the firms of negligence, defective design and manufacture, breach of warranty, fraud by concealment and deceptive trade practices.

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/359143/apple-faces-class-action-lawsuit-over-iphone-4-reception

[zappaDPJ]

I wonder if it occurred to them to just take it back and ask for a refund 

[pctech]

This is America we are talking about, if you can, sue first!

[Steve]

The Yanks apparently are charging a substantial restocking fee,which is not the case in the UK

[Gary]

The thing is like myself there are many who don't have the issue as well, the whole situation would be funny if it were not so sad that people behave this way over a phone 

[Simon]

Yeah, but if the phone in question costs that much, and is built on the reputation of being the best handset of its type, this seems to be quite a basic design flaw, Gary, so I'm not surprised it caused a stir.  I'm not Apple bashing, by the way.  I found the 3GS very nice to look at, but it just doesn't do what I want from a smartphone.  If it did, I would have kept it, no question.

[Steve]

There's a new phone accessory coming soon called the iGlove.

Incidentally I played around with one earlier this week,the screen resolution is amazing.

[Gary]

Yeah, but if the phone in question costs that much, and is built on the reputation of being the best handset of its type, this seems to be quite a basic design flaw, Gary, so I'm not surprised it caused a stir.  I'm not Apple bashing, by the way.  I found the 3GS very nice to look at, but it just doesn't do what I want from a smartphone.  If it did, I would have kept it, no question.

Its not that much more expensive than a top of the range phone from a few other manufacturers, some Blackberrys sim free are not far shy of £500, its sadly the hype from Apple and its fanbois howling that Steve jilted them at the alter, most Normal people would just take a non functioning phone back and get on with their lives, I would, this whole episode is sad, and some members of the forum on the Apple site are just whipping it up more and more each day all die hard fanbois as well sobbing into their new technology when it could have been in a box back with Apple, because of law suits it looks like they cant even do that now, its like groundhog day Simon, come on if your phone did not work replacement or money back, that's what I would do, but to file law suits? Hundreds of posts repeating the same thing over and over again from the same people, they have choices, its simple. Sadly there is a mob mentality in that forum and fear and doubt and anger and also suggestion, its all over a phone they could have taken back and shown their displeasure that way

Just glad mine works 

[RogerP]

Its not that much more expensive than a top of the range phone from a few other manufacturers, some Blackberrys sim free are not far shy of £500, its sadly the hype from Apple and its fanbois howling that Steve jilted them at the alter, most Normal people would just take a non functioning phone back and get on with their lives, I would, this whole episode is sad, and some members of the forum on the Apple site are just whipping it up more and more each day all die hard fanbois as well sobbing into their new technology when it could have been in a box back with Apple, because of law suits it looks like they cant even do that now, its like groundhog day Simon, come on if your phone did not work replacement or money back, that's what I would do, but to file law suits? Hundreds of posts repeating the same thing over and over again from the same people, they have choices, its simple. Sadly there is a mob mentality in that forum and fear and doubt and anger and also suggestion, its all over a phone they could have taken back and shown their displeasure that way

Just glad mine works 

Hi

Gary I could not have put it better myself

Regards

Rogerp

[Steve]

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/07/02appleletter.html?sr=hotnews.rss

July 2, 2010

Letter from Apple Regarding iPhone 4

Dear iPhone 4 Users,

The iPhone 4 has been the most successful product launch in Apple's history. It has been judged by reviewers around the world to be the best smartphone ever, and users have told us that they love it. So we were surprised when we read reports of reception problems, and we immediately began investigating them. Here is what we have learned.

To start with, gripping almost any mobile phone in certain ways will reduce its reception by 1 or more bars. This is true of iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, as well as many Droid, Nokia and RIM phones. But some users have reported that iPhone 4 can drop 4 or 5 bars when tightly held in a way which covers the black strip in the lower left corner of the metal band. This is a far bigger drop than normal, and as a result some have accused the iPhone 4 of having a faulty antenna design.

At the same time, we continue to read articles and receive hundreds of emails from users saying that iPhone 4 reception is better than the iPhone 3GS. They are delighted. This matches our own experience and testing. What can explain all of this?

We have discovered the cause of this dramatic drop in bars, and it is both simple and surprising.

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. 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.

To fix this, we are adopting AT&T's recently recommended formula for calculating how many bars to display for a given signal strength. The real signal strength remains the same, but the iPhone's bars will report it far more accurately, providing users a much better indication of the reception they will get in a given area. We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see.

We will issue a free software update within a few weeks that incorporates the corrected formula. Since this mistake has been present since the original iPhone, this software update will also be available for the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 3G.

We have gone back to our labs and retested everything, and the results are the same— the iPhone 4's wireless performance is the best we have ever shipped. For the vast majority of users who have not been troubled by this issue, this software update will only make your bars more accurate. For those who have had concerns, we apologize for any anxiety we may have caused.

As a reminder, if you are not fully satisfied, you can return your undamaged iPhone to any Apple Retail Store or the online Apple Store within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.

We hope you love the iPhone 4 as much as we do.

Thank you for your patience and support.

Apple



Press Contacts:
Natalie Harrison
Apple
harri@apple.com
(408) 862-0565
Steve Dowling
Apple
dowling@apple.com
(408) 974-1896

[Lance]

OMG - Apple admitting to a fault!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Pick me up off the ground!

[pctech]

Maybe they'll stop referring to it as the Jesus phone now.

[Technical Ben]

If I read that right. The IPhoney 4.0 was pretending to have excellent signal reception, when it did not. To make it appear to have the "best reception for any Iphone yet!" 
Now they are caught, and back tracking. If they had been honest, people would have gone "the phone has lousy reception" and the reply would have been "no, your in a no reception area." Which would have been true, and put them off the hook completely.

I'm being a little too cynical. Not like anyone has tried the pretend signal bars trick before or anything... 

[Steve]

We need a comparison of the 3GS and the 4 in the same poor reception area, I'm sure it will happen

[Simon]

It does seem as though they are implementing a 'cosmetic' fix.  If people hold the phone in the same way, will the problem not still exist, no matter how many bars are displayed?  Who looks at the bars when making a call anyway, unless the call is dropped?  Are they saying this will no longer happen?

[Glenn]

That's what this former Motorola engineer says too. http://gizmodo.com/5577812/why-apples-iphone-4-update-wont-fix-your-reception-problem

[Simon]

Seems this 'fix' is just painting over the crack.

[Gary]

God I'm bored of this, not here on forum but in general, because of fanbois not getting Steve Jobs proposal of eternal love every day they stroke their phone and make love to it in their minds, oh Christ I hope that's all they do, maybe that explains the liquid sensors being at the bottom!

Right now my iPhone 4 is better at holding signal than my 3GS, I don't get the "no service" issue like I had on my 3GS in my computer room, some phones are worse it seems AT&T are the worst of the lot by the looks of it. Spectrum may or may not have an effect hell I don't know I'm not a specialist, I have seen testimony from experts left right and centre, its dull if it works keep it, if it does not junk it, as for it being called the Jesus phone, that was the media  The phone has gotten so much press due to its popularity and that's because they took a complicated device and made it simple to use for most people young and old, a great GUI for many people that simplified things over Symbian, and its not so techy as Android, but Android handsets are very good each has its place no one phone is better than another, the iPhone is liked not because its the ultimate phone ever praise be get on your knees and worship it, for crying out loud but because its a pleasure to use for those that like it, no other supplier shipped so many phones in that space or time so Apple did something right and as usual quite a lot wrong, its a great phone best I have used for my needs, I just had a 30 minute call to my wife on it, no dropped signal and I'm not in the best O2 area.

This is just like Tiger Woods its wow lets jump on the bandwagon, fact is FCC regulations say put the aerial in the bottom, so unlike the old days when phones had a great signal and fried your head supposedly, now they have worse reception, and this was Apples way around it, they may change the baseband, which will help the phone retune, we don't know yet but many people are happy and even the Apple hell zone (forum) is bored of the speculation, its like swineflu over and over again.

No one said Apple were the best, the fanbois did, I like the phones and my iMac because of ease of use and performance and aesthetics, life has become less messy for me with the iMac, even after the problems with the 27". Apple like to push technology, how many phones have a IPS panel with a pixel density like this with 512mb Ram in such a tiny form factor? That's another issue, people want their high tech to fit in a smaller space and to look the part, there is a limit.

Apple made some mistakes with this phone, but it does grab more signal than the older models, I now can send texts from what were previous dead zones, goody for me. If the phone was pants, back it would go, no toy is worth that much stress over, take it back keep it or worship it if you are a fruitloop, do what you want, but its a phone, if it isn't doing phone like things then I would have another, brand maybe a Blackberry probably not a google device, I trust google less than I trust Steve Jobs ethics but you don't get to be where he is in business by being nice, no one does, but you do become a diva. Right now many of us Apple users are happy with our phones and Macs and its not about mines better than yours, its about choice, and yes Apple in my view make beautiful technology, but no matter how beautiful it is if it does not do what it says on the tin, its junk.

It is nice to see Jobs trying to learn how to say "mistake" though 

[Gary]

Seems this 'fix' is just painting over the crack.

If they muck about with the baseband Simon maybe it will work better for those that have this issue badly, that might be part of the fix, Apple never say straight out what they do  Handy that!

[Simon]

If they muck about with the baseband Simon maybe it will work better for those that have this issue badly, that might be part of the fix, Apple never say straight out what they do  Handy that!

On the other hand, it might make things worse for some, depending on signal strength. 

To be honest, I think this is now more about how Apple are handling the issue, rather than the alleged issue itself, and this is what is fuelling the continued media coverage.  First they say it's the users fault for holding the phone 'wrongly', then they say it needs some sort of 'bumper', but tough, they're not going to give you one, and now they are saying it's all about user 'perception' of the signal strength display.  There must be some sort of issue, with some users, as otherwise, no one would have thought to raise it, would they?  

[Tacitus]

I'm with Gary on this.  The whole thing has been beaten to death, not by 'fanbois' (irritating word), but in the main by Apple haters who love to see Apple taken down.  In the end it seems to work better for some than others, but you can probably say that about any phone.  Apple's PR has not been good, but how much is down to wilful misinterpretation by the media is a moot point

In the end it really is very simple.

If you think the iPhone is rubbish, buy a Droid or whatever  If you do buy an iPhone and conclude it really is rubbish, take it back and claim a refund under the Sale of Goods Act. 

Then get on with your life.   

[Simon]

My phone is my life, Tac. 

[Niall]

On the subject of Apple *spit* I've found that on the new O/S for my iphone, various programs now crash. I never had a single issue before, but now if you're waiting for a page to load in Safari and click another link, Safari crashes. Also I had an issue that has so far only happened once, where pressing a link wouldn't actually do anything. The screen didn't respond to anything on a webpage, other than the main buttons so I couldn't go back to the home page. It sorted itself out with a reboot of the phone and I haven't had the problem since.

It seems this new o/s is unstable.

[Steve]

Or Niall some of the apps are not fully compatible with IOS 4,I've not had the Safari crash,have you tried clearing the cache.

[Tacitus]

Or Niall some of the apps are not fully compatible with IOS 4........

I think that is most likely the case.  Perils of being an early adopter....

Didn't realise your iPhone really is your life.  I would certainly miss mine, particularly some of the Apps which are incredibly useful.  No doubt I'd live 

Just got back from shopping and I notice there are queues outside both O2 and Orange shops as they have just got stocks of the iPhone4. 

[Niall]

Or Niall some of the apps are not fully compatible with IOS 4,I've not had the Safari crash,have you tried clearing the cache.

I thought that, although the apps in question are the browser and the facebook app, which have all been updated. It also crashed when I was opening an attachment on my idnet invoice. Maybe my phone doesn't want me to see my bills

[Steve]

There is an issue with IOS 4 safari and secure site certificates I think you have to turn off autofill to resolve that

[Fox]

I think i will keep my HTC Desire.........it just works