Consumer Reports iPhone 4 Reception Problem Study Is Flawed

As many of you may already know, Consumer Reports, a popular product review and comparison organization recently announced that it can't recommend the iPhone 4 due to its widely publicized reception problems. The whole situation is turning out to be a PR nightmare for Apple as mainstream media also have picked up the story. As of right now, rumors are floating and PR experts believe that Apple will have to recall the iPhone 4 due to the problems. Bob Egan, an electromagnetic engineer who has experience in exactly the kind of issues Apple is currently facing with the iPhone 4 is claiming that Consumer Reports has conducted a flawed experiment. Egan explains:

"To even reasonably run a scientific test, the iPhone should have been sitting on a non-metallic pedestal inside an anechoic chamber. The base station simulator should have been also sitting outside the chamber and had a calibrated antenna plumbed to it from inside the chamber.

I have not seen CR’s claim directly that the finger effect reduces the iPhones sensitivity by 20db as reported elsewhere, but unless CR connected to a functional point inside the iPhone that number is fantasy.”

He also pointed out that the assumption made by Consumer Reports to test the change “by varying the base station simulator levels by varying the base station simulator levels – seems to assume the iPhone receiver and/or transmitter operate in a linear fashion (the same way) across all signal strengths," which is is a bad assumption.

Bottom line. From what I can see in the reports, Consumer Reports replicated the same uncontrolled, unscientific experiments that many of the blogging sites have done.

Adding:

I’m not saying that Apple has no h/w problem and they surely have a s/w issue. But I’m still wondering that if the software signal algorithm was not AFU’d in the first place how many, if anyone would talking about this “problem”

Apple released a public statement two weeks ago stating that the signal strength bars were being displayed incorrectly and that they plan to fix the issue with a software update that will provide users with a much more accurate indication of reception in a given area. Egan notes that it isn't known "what part of this problem is Apple's and what part is related to the AT&T network." Looks like we will all find out soon enough when Apple releases the iPhone software update for the iPhone 4 which will correctly display the signal strength. Do you think the issues are getting blown out of proportion? What is your take on the whole situation? Drop us a comment below.