Just days after Apple launched the iPhone 4, users have already reported an unusual issue that severely reduces the gadget’s signal reception when held in a certain way.
While Apple bragged about the iPhone 4’s external antenna earlier this month at the Worldwide Developer’s Conference, it seems users now have to keep their fingers away from two places on the antenna, or keep the gadget in a case, to avoid the issue altogether.
But in another strange development, chief executive Steve Jobs has responded to a customer email saying that “there is no reception issue”, and warned the user to “stay tuned”.
Analysts say this could mean Apple is working on a software update, which would indicate the antenna issues are software-based, and not a manufacturing issue.
Late last week, a number of tech blogs reported that some users were having problems with their reception. The issue became known when one user demonstrated if he placed his fingers on two places on the iPhone’s antenna, its signal strength would drop dramatically.
A number of other websites, including Engadget, picked up on the problem and posted several videos demonstrating how the bug worked.
But the company’s response was even more peculiar.
In one of Jobs’ now popular email responses to customers, he said that users should “just avoid holding it that way”.
This answer was met with a furious response online, with users demanding that Apple fix the problem as soon as possible. A second statement from Apple didn’t help:
“Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas.”
“This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases.”
Users seem to be relieved now with Jobs’ email suggesting an update is on the way, but many are still angry the problem exists at all. Many say the issue makes the American AT&T network, which has been labelled as volatile and unreliable, even worse.
Additionally, it has been reported that a Danish professor in radio signals actually predicted this problem would occur. Gert Pederson, who teaches at the Aalborg University in Denmark, told a local publication he was sceptical of Apple’s promise of better reception due to the external antenna.
“The human tissue will in any event have an inhibitory effect on the antenna. Touch means that a larger portion of antenna energy becomes heat and lost,” he said.
Gert suggests that smartphones need to have two antennae that operate in a fail-safe system, so one will work at all times even if another is blocked.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
