It was only Thursday that the Apple iPhone 4 became available to customers. And it did not take long for customers to start reporting issues about vanishing signal strength then it was held a certain way. Essentially, touching the two seams of the antenna band simultaneously seemed to have the effect of reducing or completely blocking wireless connectivity.
Apple even confirmed that there were situations where signal strength could be diminished. In a statement to PC Magazine, Apple wrote:
“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 Phone 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.”
Now it appears that the issue may be more software than hardware related. According to AppleInsider.com, Apple is readying an update to address the issue. iOS 4.01 will apparently fix a baseband radio frequency calibration issue. Due to an improper calibration, the iPhone 4 reports ‘no service’ rather than switching correctly to a new frequency.
Apple could release iOS 4.01 as early as Monday.