Apple Admit iPhone 4 Network Problem but Blame iOS Bug, Not Hardware

After days of speculation about a potential product recall and furious complaints from users, Apple has finally acknowledged there's a problem with the reception on its iPhone 4—but it's not what you think.

In a letter posted on its website, the company describes how a bug that's been in the iPhone's software since it first launched back in 2007 has caused millions of its handsets to overestimate the strength of signal in a given area, misleading users into thinking they have better reception than they actually do.

The company doesn't dispute that holding the new iPhone 4 in a certain way can affect reception—but because the phone has always shown more bars than it should have done, the problem appears worse than it actually is.  A press release from the company explains:

To solve the problem, a software update—which will be available free for all iPhone users—will be released in the next few weeks containing a new algorithm for calculating signal strength to avoid displaying the 'phantom' bars for signal that just isn't there.  At the same time, the display will be tweaked slightly so that it's easier to interpret how much signal is available when reception is poor.

Surprise in Store

This surprising admission from Apple, which readily admits the software bug is 'a mistake' should go some way to silencing critics of reception problems on the new iPhone 4.  Anecdotally, the company says that many users have actually reported better call quality compared to the iPhone 3G S, and it's true that many of the critics that have demonstrated signal falling away when holding the phone in a certain way didn't report problems with making calls or sending text messages. 

Many current iPhone users who are used to seeing full signal everywhere they go might be in for a shock too—but at least they'll have a better idea of how good their network coverage really is.

> Apple iPhone 4 First Impressions


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