Apple And The iPhone 4's Reception: Misdirection, Distraction, But No Meaningful Apology or Admission
Speaking of companies who have at-best ambivalence regarding their customers, I’ve been watching with a mix of bemusement and amazement the negative user feedback on Apple’s recently introduced iPhone 4. Some of the problems, I suspect, are scattered in scope and artificially amplified by Internet-published hype regarding anything Apple-related:
Another issue, for folks tapping into Exchange servers, seems to be resolvable exclusively via a software patch. Apparently, iOS v4 by default wasn’t providing sufficient time for initial mailbox refresh; the timeout flaw affected both new iPhone 4 users and those who upgraded their iPhone 3G and 3GS units to iOS v4.
More troubling are the widespread reports of proximity sensor misfires. As review, the purpose of this particular sensor is to disable the touchscreen when a user places the handset close to the ear, in order to prevent (for example) unintended call disconnection. Well, the iPhone 4’s sensor seems to randomly be shirking its responsibilities. Such Apple community notables as John Gruber and the gang at TUAW have noticed it; Aron Trimble’s ‘overly reflective ear canal’ discourse is a classic:
Knowing others were having issues with their proximity sensor, I made an appointment at my local Apple Store with one of the esteemed “Geniuses.” His name will remain redacted but I swear he stifled a laugh when he told me the cause of the problem. Apparently, the re-location of the proximity sensor in iPhone 4 causes the sensor to be more likely to be triggered by light “bouncing around the ear canal.”
I blankly stared at him hoping that he was joking only to find out he was not. My appointed Genius explained that I should try closing the windows because extra ambient light bouncing around my ear will cause the sensor to light up the screen. He said that’s all there was to it and sent me on my way.
I find myself incredulous that such an explanation could even be plausible let alone acceptable as IT fodder. I have worked in a similar situation and can understand the occasional straw-grasping that can occur when a solid explanation can’t be found. Honestly, I would have preferred the Genius to tell me he didn’t know what the cause was and ask me to come back if it happened again.
Again, one would hope that this glitch can be surmounted solely via a software patch, versus necessitating a hardware redesign to relocate the proximity sensor to a more function-amenable site.
Then there’s the cellular reception issue. Ah yes, the antenna. Before continuing, you might be interested in perusing a writeup I just came across from March of last year, published in Wired, which discusses how Nokia shoehorned the 8810’s antenna inside the handset back in 1998. For those of you who haven’t yet heard, some (but not all) iPhone 4 owners are able to attenuate the handset’s received signal strength simply by holding it in the left hand (aka the ‘Grip of Death’):
Why? Check out this image, from the iPhone 4 introduction event:
As iFixit’s teardown discussed, the stainless steel band around the iPhone 4 also serves as the handset’s antennas. And as the above graphic points out, the two antennas are in close proximity at the handset’s left corner. There’s an black-strip insulative gap in-between them. Bridge that gap with your hand, though, and, as AnandTech’s clever analysis points out, you negatively alter the cellular antenna’s fundamental reception attributes (both absolutely and relative to the iPhone 3GS predecessor (interestingly, AnandTech suggests that ‘crossing the streams‘ conversely improves the iPhone 4’s Wi-Fi reception):
For more, see this photo series. The extent of the effect depends on each user’s skin characteristics; moisture, salinity, etc, along with the inherent reception capabilities at a given usage location. And ironically, Apple employees using iPhone 4 prototypes ‘in the wild’ may not have stumbled across the problem (no matter that its obviousness wouldn’t seemingly require field testing to uncover in the first place), since they were using identity-obscuring cases around the handsets…cases (or, if you prefer, user-altered Lance Armstrong-branded wristbands or a piece of non-conductive tape) which have been proven to eliminate the issue by preventing the antenna ’short circuit’ scenario.
About those cases…Apple ‘coincidentally’ for the first time is selling branded cases known as Bumpers. Clearly, they don’t do much to protect the much-vaunted “two glossy panels of aluminosilicate glass - the same type of glass used in the windshields of helicopters and high-speed trains. Chemically strengthened to be 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic, the glass is ultra-durable and more scratch resistant than ever”:
As such, what’s the Bumpers’ intent, save to cynically redirect incremental revenue away from third-party case historical ‘partners’ and to Apple? If I were a conspiracy theorist, I might wonder if Apple knew about the antenna issue in advance and, instead of fixing the handset design, ‘turn lemons into lemonade’ by developing Bumpers. And lest you think that Apple’s generous enough to hand out free Bumpers to customers who complain about handset reception, think again. The best the company’s willing to do, per its most recent communication on the issue, is to accept iPhone 4’s for return without charging the normal restocking fee.
About that company communication…it’s frankly been a mess. Reception complaints began appearing on Apple’s support forum immediately upon first product shipments to customers. And what was Steve Jobs’ initial response? In an email reply to a frustrated iPhone 4 user, the ascerbic CEO commented, “Non issue. Just avoid holding it in that way.” Nice. A follow-up official statement from Apple was more verbose but no more reassuring:
Gripping any 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 [editor note: such as one of our Bumpers].
Regarding the above ‘fact of life’ comment, both Nokia and Motorola/Verizon beg to differ. A follow-up Steve Jobs email reply to another user extended Apple’s denial trend, “There is no reception issue.” And in a subsequent message series (whose validity is in some dispute), Jobs was no more sympathetic than before, suggesting that the disappointed customers should “Retire, relax, enjoy your family. It is just a phone. Not worth it.” Easy for a billionaire to say, eh?
Finally, we come to the company’s most recent missive, which I mentioned above and which came out on the Friday before the July 4th holiday weekend. The previous sentence’s link will enable you to read the whole thing, which I encourage you to do and which would make any politician proud. I’m going to comment on specific sections:
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.
See, our competition’s got the problem, too, not just us…trust us. Curious that they didn’t mention Windows Mobile-based phones, though.
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.
Tongue-in-cheek (or not) translation: “Our marketing department, along with AT&T, convinced us to report better signal strength than we were actually getting, to make the iPhone seem superior to the competition. Whoops, we got caught. Bad on us.”
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.
Ok, this makes sense. Some amount of signal attenuation is a given, since the FCC requires that antennas be as far away from the head as possible (i.e. at the bottom of the handset, where it’s normally gripped when in use). So if the iPhone 4 is artificially reporting more signal strength than it’s actually getting under nominal conditions, the degradation subsequently seems worse than it really is under more problematic conditions.
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.
Wait a minute; the whole point here is that the iPhone 4 is exhibiting much worse reception degradation when gripped than does its predecessors. If this signal strength reporting issue has been in place since the original iPhone, then your proffered ’solution’ really isn’t a solution at all, is it? No, actually, it isn’t. Incredibly disappointing, Apple. Your strategy is flawed from both technical and business perspectives. And Consumer Reports, in a remarkable about-face, now agrees.
Readers, don’t follow Apple down the near-term, short-sighted denial path…doing so will only result in greater long-term damage (fiscal, brand image, etc) than would otherwise occur if you just ‘think different‘ and fess up to the issue up-front.
JJPEngr commented:
My new iPhone 4 works great with no reception problems. And, it is fast. I don't see why you are complaining about. Apple support has been great.
Just Me commented:
I'm not one of the in crowd, don't have an I-phone don't buy things others think are niffty and I sure as hell wouldn't pay 3 or 4 times as much to have the "IN" product with the "Brand"
If touching the two antenna's at the same time causes problems then a little scotch tape around the edge of the Great I-phone should do the trick, then your grubby mits wouldn't be able to touch both antenna's at the same time.
ZMek commented:
As an Apple iPhone owner/user in all versions - all of the negative communications do not reflect my results. This product in all versions rocks in comparison to my business BB. The (w/3GS) 4.0 upgrade was a bust, but mattered little since I made the upgrade and YES, I have a speck case and have always cased my phones. Seems to me if you can afford an iPhone, get the case and be done with it.
Scunnerous commented:
Apparently Nokia's marketroids haven't even read their own manuals. The page numbered 4 in the User guide for the Nokia 1208, Nokia_1200_1208_APAC_UG_en.pdf, clearly advises against holding it such that the fingers touch the antenna area near the top rear of the device. I quote:
"Note: As with any radio transmitting device, avoid touching an antenna unnecessarily when the antenna is in use. For example, avoid touching the cellular antenna during a phone call. Contact with a transmitting or receiving antenna affects the quality of the radio communication, may cause the device to operate at a higher power level than otherwise needed,
and may reduce the battery life."
Oh, and if it's operating at higher power, does that mean increased SAR? Make up your minds Nokia.
slowboatskipper commented:
I have had exactly the same experience with my 3G as ‘Adios Apple’ commented on July 12,2010. A really nice, reasonably fast, usable product has become a slow dog.
I’ll keep it until my daughter (currently suffering her 4G which she says is basically a good unit) advises me that it now does what Apple say it should without problems (if they ever bother so to do) and then change to one myself.
Anti Baskaran commented:
Any competent design house, would have easily found such a obvious flaw during its initial testing. So, either Apple is very incompetent, or Apple made an executive management decision to deliberately ignore the flaw and press ahead to production.
However, all this is really irrelevant. Apple sells illusions. Even if the iPhone 4 didn’t work at all, it will still sell. Plus, no customer would dare return it because doing such, would result in a social stigma from all their “Apple Friends”.
Jobs and his Apple certainly need to learn what Nixon and Clinton learned. You can’t successfully lie your way out of a having done something really stupid.
Confused commented:
My iPhone 4 has the best reception of any phone I have ever owned. The phone consistently works with only 1 bar showing (even with the inflated calculations). I did buy one of the ifrogz cases, but I was thinking protection not antenna when I got it. For me this is a pretty acceptable design trade-off.
Plus, back in the day of pull out antennas, there was big drop in reception if you touched the antenna. People were just told not to touch the antenna and that was accepted back then. What's different now?
Are the gold stick on antenna boosters going to make a come back?
Baskaran commented:
I do not own any Apple stock. Apple is not a reference design integrator like most mobile phone vendors do and claim innovations. It is one of the brilliant design houses around. Apple engineering would not have released this into production unless all the tests that they had carried out are in par with excellence and nothing less. I tend to think that the QC may not be up to the mark - as the low cost manufacturing sites tend to be 'relaxed' with respect to Quality to meet the volume production ramp up rates. If Apple mismanages Quality probably Apple's name will be down the tube in the near future. (My first Mac survived for 8 years. My next iMac failed just after the end of the warranty. My MacBook Pro is still alive for more than 2.5 years) I have seen Apple products give value for money comparing the competing products and pleasant user experience.
liverdonor commented:
@Brian Dipert: Here's one RF engineer who won't be applying for any of those open jobs...
Brian Dipert commented:
And Apple digs their own hole even deeper; now they’re censoring their own support forum (www.tuaw.com/2010/07/12/apple-drops-consumer-reports-discussion-threads-down-memory-hole)
Yes, they have the right. But yes, it also makes them look even more guilty than they already do.
Meanwhile, there are job openings for antenna design engineers at Apple (apple.slashdot.org/story/10/06/30/130205/Apple-Hires-Antenna-Engineers-Really)…again, gee, I wonder why?
The key learning here to my mind is that the company could have easily nipped this uproar in the bud simply by fessing up to the flaw and offering a free Bumper to anyone who complained (while simultaneously instituting a manufacturing change to put an insulating see-through coating of some sort on the stainless steel band going forward). I mean…how much does each Bumper cost the company…a few cents? But no, they tried to be ‘clever’, and now they’re REALLY going to pay the price (www.cultofmac.com/pr-experts-iphone-4-hardware-recall-is-inevitable/50565).
liverdonor commented:
@Baskaran: if it's true that the Toyota accelerator pedal sticks, then why haven't the 100k's of Toyota owners rushed en-masse to complain?
As with any consumer product's design, there are lots of variables and it is difficult (not impossible) to selectively eliminate them all as you design. But some things are common-sense - if you can physically touch the radiating surface of an antenna and couple (any sort of conductance, be it cap, inductor or resistive), you change its operating characteristics. Making that change easier is just plain bad industrial design - which is something for which Apple (often rightly) claims a great deal of respect and industry cred. When they screw up on something this obvious, people will throw stones (especially competitors). Get over it, it's not a religion - it's just a company. :)
Brian Dipert commented:
Dear Baskaran, I didn’t publish a consumer product review. I published a case study of poor design and, perhaps more importantly, poor business strategy. Reader liverdonor clearly ‘got’ my intent.
p.s…so how long have you owned your Apple stock?
Baskaran commented:
If it is so true that there is a big design issue - 100s of thousands would have complained about the phone and returned to Apple. That has not happened yet. That means all you are spreading is just Apple hate and nothing but hate. I do see the possibility of Quality issues in the manufacturing as new product testing at the end of line requires a lot of tuning. With the pressure to make more - I am sure there are problems - but not to the extend that you are describing as total failure.
Is EDN supposed to focus on Design rather than a review site for consumer products?
liverdonor commented:
Ha, I have to laugh. RF Engineers the world over are probably enjoying this immensely, especially those of us who have spent 1k’s of hours designing better patch antennas and RF front-end circuits.
This is why we used to put the ugly antenna on the outside of the phone, why the whips on the older CDMA devices used to be extendable - get the damn thing as far away from the user’s body as physically possible. Cap-coupling not only degrades the signal but also increases the user’s SAR (Specific Absorbtion Rate) over time - with some possible potential health effects.
For all those kids out there who don’t remember, this isn’t just a cute piece of jewelry that happens to take calls & surf, it’s an RF TRANSCEIVER.
I can smell the redesign now… 
Lyeal commented:
I agree with your last two paragraphs. Anyone that thinks about it would conclude there is an antenna design problem if you can cause a dropout with how you hold the iPhone 4 but not a 3GS or iPhone 3G. The stupidity of inflating the signal bars will not cause dropout when the signal is reduced by hand capacitance by itself. The concept of the antenna design is flawed; any good RF designer would have known there was a problem with hand capacitance the way the iPhone antenna is designed.
Adios Apple commented:
As a 3G owner, the recent Apple communications concerning the 4G are disconcerting. In addition, my 3G was fairly fast before the 4G release. On the day of the release, the 3G became slower, using version 3 OS. Thinking that an upgrade to 4 OS would fix it did not work. This 3G is as slow now as my son’s Droid. This includes apps that do not require AT
