Apple 'stunned' to find iPhones show too many bars

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Apple 'stunned' to find iPhones show too many bars

Fri Jul 2, 9:31 AM

By Svensson, The Associated Press

NEW YORK, N.Y. - Apple Inc. said Friday that it was " stunned " to find that its

iPhones use a " totally wrong " formula to show how many bars of signal strength

they are getting.

Apple said that's the reason behind widespread complaints from users that the

latest model, iPhone 4, shows a big drop in signal strength when held in a way

that inadvertently blocks the antenna at the bottom of the phone.

That drop seems exaggerated because the phone can wrongly display four or five

bars of signal strength when it shouldn't, Apple said.

" Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first

place, " the company said in a statement.

Apple launched the iPhone 4 on June 24 in the U.S. and four other countries. The

incorrect formula was present in the original iPhone, launched in 2007, Apple

said.

Some outside engineers and users have blamed the iPhone 4's apparent reception

problems on the design of its novel antenna, which is incorporated in the case.

But the company said that any phone will show reduced reception if held that

way, since nearly all manufacturers put the antenna at the bottom. It maintains

that the iPhone 4's wireless performance is better than previous models.

Apple, which is based in Cupertino, Calif., said it will fix its signal strength

formula to conform to other AT & T phones through a free software update for

iPhone models 3G, 3Gs and 4 within a few weeks.

" We are also making bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see, "

Apple said.