The launch of the iPhone 4 in June 2010 hit a bit of a rough patch for Apple, when several customers complained about loss of signal strength and dropped calls while touching the lower left edge of the phone.
Soon after the complaints began, Apple made a controversial statement, claiming that while they understood the issue, many of their competitor’s phones had the same problem and initially offered no other resolve for the problem. Once a lawsuit was threatened against the company and their partners at AT&T for fraud, Apple released a five dollar quick patch, a cleverly shaped band-aid with the catch phrase “Apple made a boo-boo.” Later, they released a free bumper casing for iPhone 4 owners in order to put an end to the complaints.
The technical issue and following actions taken by Apple were named by some online tech-bloggers as “Antennagate” and became a black mark on Apple’s mostly stellar cell phone record.
It seems now though; a permanent change has been made to this flaw, as the newly announced iPhone 4S will feature a pair of antennas that should eliminate concerns about a loss of single and dropped calls presented by its predecessor. The announcement of the new tech was made this passed Tuesday, at the unveiling of the iPhone 4S.
Apple says that the two antennas outside the case intelligently switch back and forth between each other to maximize the phone’s ability to transmit and receive data. This system should also minimize the loss of calls caused by the former problem. The antennas are also placed on the top and bottom sections of the phone, so as to minimize them both being covered by its I Phone users while gripping the phone.
This addition has been heralded by some as the long awaited permanent response to the iPhone 4’s issues, though it was said that by some that holding the phone horizontally with both hands to text or type may result in a similar “Death Grip” situation.
Whatever the result of the change, the major issue of calls being dropped due to hand position seems to be a thing of the past for iPhone users.
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