AppleInsider reports that Apple is expected to push iOS 4.01 firmware update to fix the iPhone 4 reception issue. Reception issues observed by new iPhone 4 owners, appears to actually be a software (iOS 4.0) issue that an iOS update is expected to resolve early next week.
There are multiple factors involved in receiving a mobile radio link including the mass of different people’s hands and the outside interference. So, it’s 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.”
Apple’s tech support forums originally confirmed that a iOS 4.0.1 software fix addressing the issue would ship early next week (as early as Monday), before the comments were subsequently taken down along with all the other related discussion about the matter, AppleInsider reports.
The fix is expected to address a issue in iOS 4 related to radio frequency calibration of the baseband. Readers who saw the original forum discussions say that the issue is believed to occur when switching frequencies; because the lag is allegedly not calibrated correctly, it results in the device reporting “no service” rather than switching to the frequency with the best signal to noise ratio.
iOS 4 introduced some enhancements to how the baseband selects which frequencies to use, so it makes sense that the error may have crept into those changes. Additionally, this explains why iOS 4 has also caused similar problems for iPhone 3GS users.
Additional readers have shared other related experiences that also corroborate the idea that the issue is related to iOS 4’s software control of the baseband, including the fact that the issue seems easily reproducible when connecting to a WWAN 3G network but does not appear when connecting to a Microcell 3G. If the problem were simply hardware related issues of the antenna design, it should only affect iPhone 4 units with that new design and should occur at all times, regardless of the tower type. That is not being observed.
If apple really is pushing a software fix via iOS 4.01, possibilities are the baseband will also get an update. So, all the iPhone 3Gs and 3G user who depends on UltraSn0w 0.93 to unlock their iPhones, are warned in advance to stay away from iOS 4.01 or you may end up with a locked phone and those iPhone 4 user not facing any such issue and interested in jailbreak/unlock should avoid iOS 4.01 update until further notice. [via AppleInsider]
Update 1: Dev-Team jailbreak iPhone 4
Update 2: Unlock iPhone 4 in works.
Update 3: GeoHot Jailbreak iPhone 4.
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