14 DAY TRIAL // Apple has reportedly informed select members of the media that the company is holding an emergency press conference on Friday, July 16 at 10am PDT in Cupertino. Apple would only say that the press conference is about iPhone 4, in what is an obvious attempt to downplay the outcry regarding iPhone 4 antenna issues.
Since the phone’s official debut on June 24, numerous reports emerged claiming the device was flawed. Various tests seem to indicate that Apple’s decision to place the phone’s antenna on the outer steel frame surrounding the device was a mistake on behalf of the company’s hardware design team. By touching what is considered to be a weak spot on the phone’s exterior, the signal bars drop significantly, leading to assumptions that iPhone 4 will easily drop a call in areas with weak cellular signal. However, it is still not confirmed whether actual signal strength is affected by the “death-grip.” Apple’s Friday even is likely to cover this particular aspect of the alleged iPhone 4 antenna issues.
In a statement issued on July 2, Apple stressed that iPhone 4 only had a software issue that led to the wrong number of signal bars being displayed on the device’s screen. Accusing a “wrong formula” used to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display, Cupertino promised to roll out a firmware fix. The update not only targets iPhone 4, but older iPhone models as well, “since this mistake has been present since the original iPhone,” Apple said. However, Apple’s statement clearly suggested that actual signal strength was not an issue with the iPhone 4.
“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,” the electronics maker specifically stated. “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,” Apple said.