Posted on July 2, 2010 - by Wayne Sutton

Apple to fix the iPhone 4 problems to show you have more bars in less places! tip @techmeme

Now this is news. Straight from the press contact. No rumors, guesses or fake emails. Apple has officially announced they will release a software update for the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 3G/ 3Gs. Apple has admitted a problem with the way the iPhone 4 bars drop bars and the formula they used to calculate signal strength on the AT&T network. Also they admitted the signal drops if you hold the iPhone 4 a certain way but also says it worked the the same for previous iPhone models. Here’s an excerpt from the official press release via Apple.

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.

Wow! We’ll maybe all the blogging, YouTube videos and fake emails worked. I hope everyone can calm down now and just wait for the iOS 4 software update.

What are your thoughts on the Apple press release? Are you going to return your iPhone 4?

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