issues

iOS 4.1: Positive early reviews from iPhone 3G users

After Apple's investigation into iPhone 3G users complaints related to slowness and poor battery life after updating to iOS 4, early reports make it clear that iOS 4.1 has turned the tide for most people.

Distraught iPhone 3G owners have been doing everything from frequent resets and restores to downgrading the iPhone firmware to version 3 all summer. Today's iOS 4.1 release has brought relief (and a lot of functionality) back to those users. Apple Support Discussions forum users as well as users commenting on CNET's article about the update have left several positive comments:… Read more

Consumer Reports finds Apple's Bumper case alleviates iPhone 4 antenna issues

Amid the swirling controversy surrounding iPhone 4's now infamous antenna engineering, Consumer Reports, which recently found the reception problems from Apple's latest smartphone to be a flaw disallowing it to recommend purchase, has stated that the Bumper case offered by Apple would solve those issues.

"With the Bumper fitted, we repeated the test procedure, placing a finger on the Bumper at the point at which it covers the gap below. The result was a negligible drop in signal strength--so slight that it would not have any effect, in our judgment."

Earlier tests, sans Bumper, caused Consumer … Read more

Apple has an ally; Electromagnetic engineer says Consumer Reports iPhone 4 study flawed

As iPhone 4 hits seem to keep piling up, Apple finds a friend in an electromagnetic engineer and self-described 'mobile topic expert' who claims that Consumer Reports failed to provide a truly scientific test of the antenna issues facing Apple's iPhone 4.… Read more

Apple defensive over Consumer Reports findings, deletes forum threads

The seemingly unending saga of the iPhone 4 antenna issues has grown yet again. After a negative report from Consumer Reports, Apple has apparently deleted all threads about the findings from its popular Support Discussions forums. As Kent German reported earlier today, Consumer Reports has issued its official stance on iPhone 4 and it can't recommend the phone.… Read more

AT&T capping data uploads on the iPhone 4?

Are you an iPhone 4 customer running into data upload problems?

CNET is seeing plenty such reports saying iPhone 4 usersin some regions of the country, including New York, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and as far west as Salt Lake City and Seattle, are experiencing dramatic drops in their data upload speeds.

People in the MacRumors forum started writing posts about the potential problem on Sunday. The initial poster from New York City said that last week he had seen upload speeds of 1.7 megabits per second. But on Saturday, he noticed he was only able to get … Read more

More suits filed in iPhone 4 antenna fracas

Apple may have offered a solution to faulty antenna allegations, but that hasn't stopped customers from getting the courts involved.

On Friday yet another lawsuit was filed against Apple for "misrepresenting and concealing material information in the marketing, advertising, sale, and servicing of its iPhone 4--particularly as it relates to the quality of the mobile phone antenna and reception and related software."

The suit was filed on behalf of Steve Tietze and others in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and is seeking class action status. Tietze accuses Apple of unfair competition, … Read more

5-bar phone signal: What's it get you? (FAQ)

Apple's recent explanation of iPhone 4 reception issues--that they're linked to Apple's miscalculation of how it measures signal strength on iPhones--has left many people wondering what that five-bar icon displayed on the phone really means.

Earlier on Friday, Apple issued a statement blaming iPhone reception issues on a software miscalculation rather than on hardware design. Since the iPhone 4 launched last week, thousands of consumers have complained that when gripping the phone around the lower left-hand corner of the device, the signal degrades or calls are dropped.

Apple acknowledged the problem, and explained that customers were simply … Read more

Lawsuit filed over iPhone 4 antenna

Barely a week since the public got its hands on the iPhone 4, the first lawsuit over it has been filed.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland on behalf of Kevin McCaffrey, Linda Wrinn, and others on Wednesday, the suit accuses Apple and AT&T of knowingly distributing a phone with a malfunctioning antenna. The plaintiffs are seeking class action status. The iPhone maker and its exclusive carrier partner in the U.S. are accused of a laundry list of infractions, including: general negligence, defect in design, manufacture, and assembly, breach of warranty, … Read more

Apple antenna issue a 'physics problem,' not a software problem

Almost a week after the iPhone 4's launch, questions remain over why users experience signal loss when gripping the phone in a particular way.

Apple has called this a "non issue," despite users being able to repeatedly reproduce the problem. In the meantime, it's been suggested that it might be a problem that can be fixed with a software update. Others have said, and Apple has suggested, that users buy a case to prevent fingers from coming in direct contact with the antennas built into the metal band surrounding the iPhone 4.

Brian Klug and Anand Shimpi at tech blog Anandtech have conducted their own hands-on experiments comparing different smartphones and their reception when the antennas are covered. They sum up their findings this way: "At the end of the day, Apple should add an insulative coating to the stainless steel band, or subsidize bumper cases. It's that simple."

The bumper case is a rubber holder that just surrounds the exterior of the device, and that Apple started selling the same day as the iPhone 4 for $29. Apple has already said it's not giving the cases away for free. It's not clear why the company wouldn't do that, especially when the problem has been reproduced by many people, though it varies by place and person. … Read more