The Reader

In case anyone hasn't read this, I pasted the think and the full text. I
will say that I sent a detailed e-mail to the support department at Apple
(have never contacted them for an issue with any of the many Apple products
I have acquired over the years) and while I try and answer a lot of
questions, I (to Apple) am really a 'nobody', I did receive a phone call
directly from someone quite high up in the Apple infrastructure last night
(around 9pm Eastern, so even in CA was after 'business' hours) and I will
say that even with my commentary on the antenna issues, I am more than
satisfied with the phone call - I don't need to sue anyone, join a class
action suit, need anything for free or will I even consider returning my
phone:

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/07/02appleletter.html
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

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

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