14 DAY TRIAL // A lengthy thread at the official Apple Discussions forums seems to indicate there is yet another problem affecting the phone-functions of Apple’s iPhone 4. Apparently, the proximity sensor tasked with turning off the screen when the device is held to the user’s ear does not work as expected.
Numerous users have responded in a thread initiated by forum user "mdalegre", stating that they’ve never had these issues with previous generation iPhones. In fact, almost each of the 22 pages describing the problem indicate that iPhone 4 is the only device in need of a fix.
“I'm having an issue with the Proximity Sensor not properly detecting when i'm holding my phone to my ear”, a user identified as mdalegre writes. “I can confirm that the iPhone sensor is working by covering it with my finger, but when held to my face, the screen blinks as if it cannot decide to disable the screen or enable it. It results on me hanging up, putting calls on mute, and dialing numbers accidentally while i'm on the phone. This occurs on 90% of my calls. Is anyone else experiencing this issue. I would like to confirm whether this is a software issue (Proximity Sensor sensitivity too low) or a design issue (sensor now placed towards the end of the phone)”, mdalegre’s post ends.
A fellow poster, identified as jls33fsls, chimes in, saying “I am having the same issue. I am holding my phone in the exact same way I always did with my 3G, and it is right up against my face, but it continuously switches the screen on and off. I was just on a 10 minute call where mute was turned on 3 times and speaker once, all by my ear.”
“I am having this exact same issue”, forum user isaywhateveryo adds. “It is beyond frustrating. PLEASE fix it. This phone is basically unusable as a phone.”
It has also been reported that Apple needs to deal with a reception issue on its new iPhone 4 as well. While the company is extremely pleased with the smartphone’s launch and subsequent sales figures, Cupertino is highly pressured now to roll out a software update addressing not only these two issues with iPhone 4, but also various incompatibility problems experienced by older-generation device owners attempting to install iOS 4 on their “supported” hardware.
Citing an AppleInsider report last week, Softpedia informed its readers that Apple was reportedly gearing up to release iOS 4.0.1, a minor update to its new iPhone OS that would patch some of the bugs users are signaling on the company’s official forums.