Apple Attributes iPhone 4 Poor Reception to Wrong Calculation Formula – What are the solutions?
In a letter to iPhone 4 owners, the company said after investigation, it was "stunned" to discover that the calculation formula used on all iPhone models often overstates signal strength by two bars. This explains the sudden drop in bars when the iPhone 4 is held in a way that covers the black strip on its lower left corner (circled in picture), which is known as the "death grip" across the Internet.
For instance, in an area of weak reception, the handset can incorrectly show 4 or 5 bars when it is in fact just getting 2 or 3 bars. This makes the plunge more significant if you grip it the wrong way. "Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place," Apple noted in the statement.
To indicate the signal strength more accurately, Apple plans to adopt a new formula suggested by AT&T, its exclusive carrier in the U.S. It will also make the iPhone bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller to show the signal more clearly. A free firmware update will arrive in a few weeks for the iPhone 4 as well as its two previous models, the 3G S and the 3G.
Still, the software will not completely resolve the death grip problem. In Apple's earlier statement to address the antenna issue, it said signal loss will happen to almost every phone when you grip it in certain ways that cover the antenna. It suggested customers to either change their grip on the iPhone 4 or use a case to avoid direct contact with the antenna band.
Apart from cases, other protective items like silicone skin cases and snap-on covers will also do the trick. Users who don't want to add bulk to their iPhones might consider using a Bluetooth headset or handsfree headset. That way, they can have phone calls without holding the device so as to avoid affecting the reception.
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