“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,” Apple said in an open letter to customers on Friday.
The letter was in response to complaints over the effectiveness of the iPhone’s wraparound antenna and was a key admission from the company as to the problem of overstating signal strength. According to Apple, the problem has existed since 2007.
This latest apology marks the third time in as many weeks that Apple has apologized to customers over its iPhone 4. Much was made of the earlier fiasco of consumers not holding the iPhone properly and receiving reception problems as a result.
Apple was quick to note that these problems don’t just afflict iPhone 4 users but that they also impact products made by Nokia and Waterloo’s Research In Motion. To their credit, Apple did note that consumers were reporting signal drops that were larger than normal.
The Friday letter reported that users would inevitably notice a sudden signal drop because the phone’s display was overstating the signal strength in the first place. “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,” said the letter.
Even with the complaints and signal issues, Apple has had no problem moving units. They’ve reported sales of 1.7 million in the first three days of release and have repeatedly claimed the iPhone 4 launch as their most successful ever.
The company says it will update its software to address the problem related to signal bars. They’re going to use a formula recommended by AT&T, Apple’s exclusive United States provider for the iPhone.
These signal issues will do little to harm the overall reputation of the iPhone 4. Even before it was released, prototype scandals and leaked releases had the public buzzing about the product and it appears that all has paid off royally for Steve Jobs and Apple Inc.
Despite a few technical issues, Apple’s iPhone is one of today’s hottest tech products and it simply shows no signs of slowing down.
