AppleInsider is reporting that Apple is expected to be releasing an iOS 4.01 firmware update to fix the iPhone 4 reception issue. The reception issues that have plagued many iPhone 4 users appears to be a software issue that can be resolved with an update which is planned to be released early next week. There are usually multiple factors involved in receiving a mobile radio link including the mass of different people's hands and the outside interference. So, it is said to be difficult to perform a clear observations of mobile signal strength and how they are affected by the placement of users' hands. According to AppleInsider:
“It appears that iOS 4, more so than previous iPhone software, presents a less accurate signal meter, showing less signal at times than an iPhone 3GS while still being able to achieve the same or better call quality. However, the fact that problems observed in the iPhone 3GS are much more pronounced when the device is upgraded to iOS 4 indicate that there is also a software issue involved in the matter. iPhone 4 users can’t downgrade to earlier versions of the core software, making it impossible to compare its relative performance."
In Apple's tech support forums, the iOS 4.0.1 software fix that will be addressing the issue was originally confirmed to be shipped early next week (as early as Monday), before the comments were taken down along with all the other related discussion about the matter. The fix is said to address an issue in the iOS 4 related to radio frequency calibration of the baseband. Readers who saw the original forum discussions say that the issue is said o occur when switching frequencies. The lag is said to be incorrectly calibrated, resulting in the device reporting "no service" rather then switching to the frequency with the best signal to noise ratio. iOS 4 introduced some improvements as to how the baseband selects which frequencies to use so it makes sense that there is an error causing this issue. There were also similar problems for iPhone 3GS users so it explains why iOS 4 does that to the older phone as well.
Many users also reported how the issue is related to the iOS 4's software control of the baseband because it is an easy reproducible issue when connecting to a WWAN 3G network but does not occur when connecting to a Microcell 3G. The problem can't be simply hardware related issues of the antenna design because otherwise it would occur at all tiems, regardless of the tower type.
If Apple is really pushing a software fix via iOS 4.01, possibilities are that the baseband will also get an update. For all of you iPhone 3GS and 3G users who depend on UltraSn0w 0.93 to unlock their iPhones, be aware in advance to STAY AWAY from iOS 4.01 or you may end up with a locked phone. For iPhone 4 users who are not facing any such issue and are interested in jailbreaking/unlocking, avoid iOS 4.01 as well (until further notice that is).
Stay tuned for more info by following us on Twitter and/or subscribing to our RSS feeds.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.