Apple releases fix for iPhone 4's miscalculated bars

[Matthew DeCarlo]

Apple has released an update for its mobile operating system that fixes a buggy algorithm which supposedly causes the iPhone 4 to miscalculate the number of bars it has. The company maintains that iOS 4.0.1 will resolve a problem users have dubbed the "death grip," whereby holding the new smartphone with your finger on a certain spot can degrade, and ultimately drop calls. This has caused quite a stir, even prompting an open letter from US Senator Charles Schumer telling Apple to fess up and provide a real, free solution for the call quality issues.

Despite countless user testaments and a video by Consumer Reports' engineers confirming some form of hardware-based design flaw, Apple insists that you're just imagining things and the new patch will solve your troubles – at least until tomorrow, when the company plans to hold a press conference to further address the matter. In the meantime, you can download the update through iTunes and be sure to share your findings in the comments.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/39668-apple-releases-fix-for-iphone-4s-miscalculated-bars.html

 

[princeton]

Oh a software update will fix a problem with the antenna. So steve jobs can now download hardware. Amazing.

"Senator Charles Schumer telling Apple to fess up and provide a real, free solution for the call quality issues. " We guess what. They aren't going to without a fight. I haven't a doubt in my mind that those incompetent twats over at apple will do everything in their power to avoid fixing it. Even if you could download an antenna steve jobs still wouldn't do it.

 

[aj_the_kidd]

Wow and here i thought this problem would just go away and be ignored, i guess Steve Jobs and I think a like. I'm curious in the outcome, considering some of the comments by the Apple fan boys. You'd swear Apple was some sort of cult or religion by the way they "passionately" defend the holy grail that is, the iPhone.

 

[matrix86]

One thing that has bothered me. Steve says it was an algorithm problem that caused the phone to report the wrong number of bars. So he's saying that when the antenna isn't covered, it reports the wrong number of bars, yet when it's covered, it reports the right number...yeah, that makes sense </sarcasm>

I'll laugh it this does turn out to be a hardware issue. And if it does turn out to be software related, then I will be upset. I've been enjoying picking on Apple for the past few weeks, lol.

 

[mattfrompa]

To quote a friend of mine who has the iPhone 4, "It didn't fix ****. It's a hardware issue and they ******* know it... "

 

[twojpodlysyn]

that will be so sad, looking on excited people that are going to buy new crapphone anyway.. if we do some research about faith in apple it can be such a big thing like faith in Jedi

 

[Guest]

I was going to get the new iPhone but fortunately another expense came along delaying my purchase, I'm freaking glad I didn't buy it seeing as how it has a major flaw. Motorolla's Droid X is looking mighty sexy right now.

 

[aj_the_kidd]

Considering theres still the the proximity issue causing some users to accidentally end call and the antenna issue, it makes you wonder how much time they actually spent testing making and receiving.

 

[Guest]

how could they test a phone that was accidentally left at a bar?
you need the phone to make test calls...

/s

 

[Guest]

Chuck-U ***** has NO business messing with Apple.
Once again, congress/senate is trying to screw with PRIVATE business.
LET THE MARKET figure it out! Yeah, any ***** with a CB radio could tell
you what happens when you GRAB THE FLIPPING ANTENNA, but let Job's/Apple/The market/consumers figure this one out Chuck-U. Don't you *****s in DC have a big enough
mess on your hands without screwing around with one of the few remaining SUCCESSFUL
American businesses?

 

[matrix86]

Guest said:
Chuck-U ***** has NO business messing with Apple.
Once again, congress/senate is trying to screw with PRIVATE business.
LET THE MARKET figure it out! Yeah, any ***** with a CB radio could tell
you what happens when you GRAB THE FLIPPING ANTENNA, but let Job's/Apple/The market/consumers figure this one out Chuck-U. Don't you *****s in DC have a big enough
mess on your hands without screwing around with one of the few remaining SUCCESSFUL
American businesses?

For once, someone in congress is actually looking out for us, and you're blasting them for it? All the guy said was for Apple to provide a fast, free fix for this. Why so hateful to someone who is actually looking out for the consumer for once? All the dude did was speak his mind, just like the rest of the iPhone users have. This guy may even own an iPhone, which is why he said what he said.

 

[PanicX]

Well to be fair, Apple was busy at the time of testing, you know, coercing police into raiding Jason Chen's apartment and seizing his computer and electronics. Then pressing charges against Brian Hogan for selling the phone to Gizmodo.

Nothing like a little gestapo action to really throw a wrench in the old quality control circuit.

 

[DJ83]

I wonder if there are any health issues with having your hand absorb all of that cell phone radiation, then again who worries about how safe devices are these days...

 

[Burty117]

Great! they now broke the 3GS!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-10659123

 

[9Nails]

dj83 said:
I wonder if there are any health issues with having your hand absorb all of that cell phone radiation, then again who worries about how safe devices are these days...

Well apparently all that radiation makes you an angry Apple fanboy. It isn't good, when your loyalties to the bitten fruit shift and you start to see the other half of the world does; overpriced designer goods with typically poor quality control issues.

But the good news is, people are no longer focusing on the screen issues that the iPhone 4's has which resulted in color tinting from the way the screen was glued to the glass.

 

[TorturedChaos]

Well I think Apple has just got to the point where they figured they could release a spray painted box that said "iCrap" on the side and apple fan boys would buy it. So why bother with 'quailty control'.

 

[Guest]

@9Nails and also the result of overdosing on Apple kool-aid is the Guest that posted on July 15, 2010 at 11:57 PM.

 

[PaulWuzHere]

Quality control hasn't apart of Apple business since Steve Jobs was back on board. He is such a blundering *****. How he ever convinces people to flock over his next piece of iGarbage I'll never know. Hopefully this will open people's eyes at how worthless all this junk is. Palm, Android and upcoming Windows Mobile 7 are platforms light years ahead of anything Apple can cook up.

 

[Guest]

Wow.. this is maybe the first time in history when a software problem is fixed by adding hardware! Bar calculation "algorythm error" solved by bumper case? Apple, really, how gullible do you think most people who spit out 300$ for a phone are?

 

[SNGX1275]

I don't think the software bars fix is related to the antenna issue, the software thing appears to have came up when Apple was further investigating the antenna issue. Now maybe some fanboys over the past couple weeks said things that made it seem like they were the same thing, but they are mistaken. I'm pretty certain you won't find a real news report saying they were the same.

Now what may have confused you is that Jobs (or someone at Apple) indicated they thought they could fix the antenna issue with a software update. This is what has gotten everyone that hates Apple all fired up saying "you can't fix a hardware issue with a software update". That is probably correct, but if its hardware AND software then there is a chance. New York Times is reporting:

One person with direct knowledge of the phone’s design said Thursday that the iPhone 4 exposed a longstanding weakness in the basic communications software inside Apple’s phones and that the reception problems were not caused by an isolated hardware flaw.

Instead, the problems emerged in the complex interaction between specialized communications software and the antenna, said the person, who agreed to speak on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter.

 

[davidkellyy]

I don't think that this new feature is gonna solve the problem as it is a design related issue. It cannot be solved with any software.
http://hubpages.com/hub/Dermitage-Reviews

 

[ViperSniper2]

ooops.... look at the new longer bars, they copied Android OS.... the thieves! ;O .....SUE 'em Google..... Oh yeah I forgot you guys love everybody, even thieves like crApple!