Apple firmware won't fix 'death grip' problem

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Apple has admitted that the reception issues plaguing iPhone 4 owners are hardware-related after all, confirming that the forthcoming firmware update won't in fact address the problem as hoped.

Complaints over the so-called “death grip” problem, which sees signal reception fall away rapidly when holding the iPhone 4 in such a way that the bottom left corner is covered, started flooding in within hours of the much-anticipated handset's launch on 24 June.

The company issued a statement a couple of days later acknowledging the problem, but annoyed many already frustrated users by advising them to simply hold the phone differently, or to invest in a rubber “bumper” case to cover the affected area.

A week later and a fresh rumour emerged of a firmware update that would fix the problem. “There is no reception issue. Stay tuned,” chief executive Steve Jobs was reported as emailing one iPhone owner who had contacted him directly. Hastily removed responses from Apple support staff in user forums also made mention of an imminent OS 4.0.1 update that would address the matter.

However, as confirmed by a series of enquiries from technology site Gizmodo this week, Apple Care representatives have now been given new instructions for responding to complaints over the “death grip” issue.

The representative contacted confirmed that there was indeed an antenna interference problem when holding the iPhone 4 in a certain way, before returning to the existing advice to either hold it differently or buy a bumper.

However, in each case the representative ended by revealing that the incoming software update will not fix the antenna problem at all, only change the way the phone displays the available signal – in other words, reveal any signal problems more accurately.

While the latest information doesn't contradict any of the carefully worded releases Apple has thus far issued on the subject, it will nonetheless come as a major disappointment to irate iPhone owners hoping for a quick fix to the problem.

Jobs, meanwhile, has dismissed another negative iPhone-related story starting to gather pace – that iPhone 3GS owners upgrading to the latest iOS 4 operating system face significantly reduced battery life.

Despite a related thread on Apple's support forum currently standing at 28 pages, Jobs was characteristically blunt when asked by a Norwegian journalist whether there would be any deterioration in battery life when upgrading from OS3 to iOS 4.

“Nope,” was Jobs' one-word response.

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