14 DAY TRIAL // Apple customers have filled over 50 pages of complaints in a thread entitled “iOS4 update - now iPhone now reboots during phone call” over at the company’s Discussions Forums. Apparently, firmware 4.0 not only poses battery life issues for some iOS device owners, but also stability problems with the phone’s operating system. According to one post, Apple is willing to offer a replacement iPhone to those who are having trouble with iOS 4 on an iPhone 3G, as long as the device is under warranty.
“After about 4 or 5 mins in a phone call my iPhone 3GS reboots itself for no apparent reason,” thread starter homer4x4 explained on June 22, soon after Apple had rolled out iOS 4. “this did not happen before I put the iOS4 update on it,” he claimed. “Is the[re] some way I can stop this happening, or revert back to the previous version?”, the frustrated user asks.
Apple does not support reverting to a previous version of the iOS, even if the customer is experiencing issues such as these. There are methods to bypass Apple’s firmware lock, but the company does not offer any guidance whatsoever as to how a customer can go back to an older version of the iPhone software.
“I have exactly the same problem, and it's driving me crazy!”, reads another post, signed sebamattsson. “Phone reboots after >5 minutes in the call,” he reveals. “Please give us a fix!”
Most of the users complaining are using either an iPhone 3G or an iPhone 3GS. These devices have been plagued by battery drainage issues, muffled sound coming out of the phone’s speaker, bad wireless connection, and more, since their owners upgraded to iOS 4, according to the hundreds of posts visible on the Apple Discussions forums.
Interestingly, one customer claims to have been offered a replacement iPhone 4 after reporting similar issues with his 3GS. AppleCare staff allegedly provided the customer with a new iPhone, “no questions asked.” StarKrow’s post goes:
“For all of you with this problem...
Try to take the phone back to an Apple Store. My AppleCare warranty expired in June & yesterday, they replaced the phone with a 3GS with ios 4 on it no questions asked.
It's worth a try. That's how you get Apple to notice there's a problem.”
Should this be a policy at Apple, the iPhone maker is yet to confirm it.
How has your experience been since upgrading to iOS 4 on your iPhone 3G / iPhone 3GS?
Update: the article has been modified to correct a false observation made by Softpedia based on a forum user's comment. As pointed out by one of our readers, Apple replaced the user's iPhone 3GS with a brand new device of the same type, with iOS 4 pre-installed. The company did not offer the customer an iPhone 4 (as originally noted by our site).
Thanks Ndeclan!