🚀 go-pugleaf

On 13/07/10 3:12 PM, John Richards wrote:
> "Ted Nelson"<ted@rnelson.org>  wrote in message news:4c3b8bed$0$1323$815e3792@news.qwest.net...
>> John Slade<hhitman86@pacbell.net>  wrote:
>>
>>>        Yea it's clear from Youtube videos and tests like the one
>>> from CR that the iPhone 4 has a hardware problem when it comes
>>> to the antenna. Apple is flat out lying when they say it's only
>>> a software issue.
>>
>> you can fix most any hardware problem through software don't forget.
>
> Not so. The laws of physics (including antenna efficiency) can't be
> circumvented with software.

There are often software work-arounds to partially mitigate hardware 
problems, but they rarely actually fix the problem completely, 
especially in the case of RF problems and thermal problems. I've done a 
lot of work in this regard. For thermal problems, the software fix is 
often dynamically reducing processor performance based on the feedback 
of the internal temp sensors. RF problems with internal antennas are 
especially difficult to solve because you've got the conflicting 
requirements of passing FCC Class B, while at the same time maximizing 
RF performance. Apple's idea of external antennas in the steel band was 
not a bad idea, they just didn't think through all the issues with this 
sort of approach, and how the signal would be attenuated by someone 
touching the antenna. I wonder if all the real-world testing was done 
with the iPhone4 inside a case in order to hide what it was.

The real workaround in this case is to use a case to insulate the 
antenna from the skin. Apple would gain immense good publicity if they 
acknowledged the problem and simply gave a case away free with each 
iPhone4. Then they can take their time to come up with a permanent fix 
on future production or future models. If they don't do anything it'll 
be _really_ interesting to see the iPhone 5 and if they continue with 
exposed metal antenna band or not.