Debunking Apple's Antennagate Press Conference Myths

On Friday, July 16 2010, Apple called a press conference to explain the situation with the iPhone 4's antenna, and what they intended to do about it to keep their customers happy. As an avid iPhone fan who was seriously considering buying an iPhone 4, but concerned about the antenna issues, I was looking forward to this, particularly after the concerning e-mails Steve Jobs had apparently been sending to various customers who had e-mailed him directly to complain. It was an opportunity for Apple to come clean with a clear, honest discussion of the problem, how it happened and what they would do about it.

Sadly, instead, Apple dished up half an hour of misdirection and deception. It was a well-crafted snow job, apparently intended to avoid accepting any specific blame for a problem unique to the iPhone 4 (which Steve Jobs earnestly assured us it isn't).

Before reading further, I suggest you watch the press conference if you haven't already. You can find it here.

And before I go any further, I would like to explain my purposes in writing this document. I am not an Apple hater - I have had several iPods over many years, and loved them. I have had three iPhones (an original iPhone, a 3G and a 3GS) over three years, and loved them. Neither am I an Apple fanboy - I chose iPods and iPhones because they were simply the best devices of their type available at the time. I don't use a Mac except when I have to for work related reasons. I was very excited about the iPhone 4 and will probably end up buying one, despite the issues I discuss in this document, because I feel I can most likely mitigate the problems, and the benefits of the phone will likely outweigh the impact of those problems, for me (if reception problems prove to be an unsurmountable issue, I will return the phone).

So why this document?

I want to call Apple to task over the terrible way they have handled this situation, and in particular the deception they have practiced in order to save face, specifically focusing on Steve Jobs' press conference, but also examining the "Smartphone Antenna Performance" site currently available on apple.com.

But I would also like to make clear, up front, that this document represents nothing except my personal opinions and impressions on the matters covered. Where I make claims that Apple or Steve Jobs have lied or been misleading, that is purely my opinion based on my understanding of the situation. Factors beyond my knowledge may reveal that Steve Jobs and Apple have in fact been entirely forthcoming in the information they have given about this problem.

The iPhone 4 Antenna Problem

So... What exactly is the problem with the iPhone 4's antenna design, and how is it different to other phones?

The iPhone 4 has an external antenna which completely surrounds the phone (it is the metal band that is visible around the rim of the phone). Its design was much lauded by Steve Jobs when the iPhone 4 was first announced. It is a revolutionary design, described by Steve Jobs as "brilliant engineering", intended to all but do away with reception issues that have plagued previous iPhones, and bring world class signal reception to the iPhone line.

It actually consists of two antennas - one is for Bluetooth, wi-fi and GPS, the other for UMTS and GSM:



Steve says "it's never been done before, and it's really cool engineering"... You have to wonder if maybe there's a good reason it has never been done before?

Very shortly after the iPhone 4 got into users' hands, stories started cropping up about reception problems and dropped calls. Videos started surfacing on YouTube and elsewhere showing how easy it was to cause the phone to drop from 5 bars to 0, just by holding it a certain way. This became known as the "death grip" (an unfortunate misnomer, as we'll see shortly). The story was picked up by technology blogs such as Gizmodo and Engadget and then exploded into mainstream media.

Turns out the problem has everything to do with the brilliant, really cool engineering of the iPhone 4's antenna. As the antenna is exposed, you can touch it with your skin. As two different antennas are exposed right next to each other, it is very easy to touch both of them at the same time, electrically connecting them and detuning the carefully tuned (and brilliantly engineered) UMTS/GSM antenna. This causes significant interference with signal reception, and unless signal strength is currently very good can result in dropped calls and degraded (or completely absent) internet performance.

There are two important take home points here:

1. This problem is unique to the design of the iPhone 4's antenna - specifically that the antenna is exposed, and you can connect two different antennas with your hand.
   
2. The problem can be caused simply by touching one spot on the iPhone 4's rim - no "gripping" required.
   

But don't just take my word for it... Here are a couple of videos to demonstrate the problem:





Also, AnandTech and Comsumer Reports have interesting and informative articles on this topic:

AnandTech - Apple's iPhone 4: Thoroughly Reviewed
Lab tests: Why Consumer Reports can't recommend the iPhone 4

Other Phones

As we will examine later, and Steve Jobs was very keen to point out, many phones can be induced into losing signal strength by gripping them in such a way as to obstruct the signal. In a certain sense, this is an issue for all modern cell phones (it was not really an issue for phones that have an antenna extending from the top). Simply by holding the phone, your hand is obstructing the signal and some loss of signal strength can result.

However, you can only get a drop as significant as that seen with the iPhone 4 if you hold the phones in a very particular way. Reputable phone manufacturers are well aware of this issue, and place the antenna so as to minimize the effect as much as possible, based on typical ways people hold cell phones. As described in Nokia's press release in response to Apples press conference:

Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying human behavior, including how people hold their phones for calls, music playing, web browsing and so on. As you would expect from a company focused on connecting people, we prioritize antenna performance over physical design if they are ever in conflict.In general, antenna performance of a mobile device/phone may be affected with a tight grip, depending on how the device is held. That's why Nokia designs our phones to ensure acceptable performance in all real life cases, for example when the phone is held in either hand. Nokia has invested thousands of man hours in studying how people hold their phones and allows for this in designs, for example by having antennas both at the top and bottom of the phone and by careful selection of materials and their use in the mechanical design.

There are many videos around on YouTube and elsewhere, including in Steve Jobs press conference on this issue, demonstrating this on a variety of phones. However, there are two important take home points:

1. This is not the same issue as that which is causing people problems with the iPhone 4. The iPhone 4's problem is not signal attenuation caused by a thickness of flesh blocking the signal.
   
2. To experience this problem with other phones, you generally have to hold them in a very particular, and usually awkward, way. With the iPhone 4, all you need to do is touch one spot on the phone's rim with any part of your hand.
   

The Press Conference

OK, to the point. Let's take a look at what Steve Jobs said at Apple's "antennagate" press conference, and compare that with the facts.

Smartphones Have Weakspots

To convince us that the iPhone 4's problems are just like those of any other smartphone, Steve made a bunch of points. We'll look at each of those and examine their veracity.

• "Apple has known about this issue for 22 days, and has been working their butts off to research the problem in order to understand it and come up with a solution."
  
  Fair enough. However, Steve Jobs later states that they knew their antenna design had a sensitive spot during development of the phone. Also, as will become apparent, Apple's research apparently primarily consisted of watching YouTube videos then seeing how they could reproduce an apparently similar problem on other phones. Their understanding of the problem was apparently limited to "it affects other smartphones, not just the iPhone". And the best solution they could come up with was offering a free case "because some people say it helps".
  
  This is the best their 18 PhD scientists and engineers could come up with after working their butts off for 22 days? Sorry, but I smell a rat.
  
  
• "It doesn't seem like a good idea if you can touch your phone or more in particular grip your phone in a certain way and the bars go way down. That doesn't seem like a good thing."
  
  This statement is particularly telling. It seems to me the Apple's primary purpose with this press conference is to convince us that this issue affects all smartphones, not just the iPhone 4. Apple very clearly doesn't want to communicate that the problem with the iPhone 4 is in any way unique or, more importantly, more likely to occur. Whenever Steve Jobs talks about making the bars drop on other phones, he always refers to "gripping" the phone. It is clear he also intends to say this when talking about the iPhone 4, but he knows that all you need to do is touch the iPhone 4 to cause the problem. I think this is why he sometimes slips up and says "touch" before "correcting" himself to "grip" when referring to the iPhone 4. I would agree that it most certainly does not seem like a good idea if all you have to do is touch your phone to drop calls or lose data connectivity, but it's not so much of a problem if you have to grip it in a very particular, and usually awkward, way for this to happen, as is the case with other phones.
  
  
• "It turns out it's certainly not unique to the iPhone 4. That was one of the first things we learned."
  
  Oh give me a break! As if their antenna engineers weren't already well aware of the issues with previous iPhones and other phones long before the iPhone 4 problem came to light. If they weren't, Steve should fire the lot of them. I cannot for one second believe that they just learnt this from watching YouTube videos in the last 22 days.
  
  
• "We did our own testing. So let me show you some examples of some other smartphones."
  
  While the information Apple presents to us in this section is strictly speaking correct, as far as it goes, it is deceptive in this context. We are shown how the same apparent problem can be demonstrated on other phones, when gripped in a certain way. Notice in particular how the hand has to be wrapped around each phone. Every example presented is completely irrelevant if people don't actually hold their phones that way when they use them. We also never once hear the inconvenient truth that it can be demonstrated on the iPhone 4 simply by touching it in one place, instead the implication is a similar grip is required.
  
  
• "Pretty much identical to the videos on the web about the iPhone 4."
  
  Here is a much stronger implication that the same sort of grip is required to experience the problem on the iPhone 4 as for other phones, conveniently ignoring all the videos on the web showing one finger touching an iPhone 4.
  
  
• "This is life in the smartphone world ... and it's a challenge for the whole industry"
  
  Sorry, but no. No matter how hard you try to convince us otherwise, the simple fact is that no other smartphone on the planet suffers from the same problem as the iPhone 4.
  
  
• "We're not perfect... We made it very visible ... We went to a lot of trouble to put this really beautiful line in the stainless steel to say 'here's where you touch it everybody', you know?"
  
  
  This is somewhat disingenuous. The "thing" Apple made very visible is not the same thing as was talked about for other phones (that is, the line is not the antenna). The thing that is very visible on the iPhone 4 is the gap separating two antennas. They didn't make it very visible so you would know where not to touch... They made it very visible simply because it is a gap, and gaps tend to be very visible.
  
  
• "And... We had incorrect bars"
  
  Yes, this is true, to a point. Because of the algorithm Apple used to determine the number of bars to display, you would get 5 bars for anything raging from a pretty weak signal to a very strong signal. As a result, if your signal was somewhat weak but still strong enough to give you 5 bars, a moderate drop in signal strength could cause a dramatic drop in the number of bars showing. This made the effect much more dramatic than it perhaps should have been - you see a drop from 5 bars to zero and think "Oh my, that's terrible!", when perhaps it should have been a drop from 2 or 3 bars to zero.
  
  In a recent press release, Apple would have us believe that they just discovered this "problem" as a result of investigating the iPhone 4 reception issues ("Upon investigation, we were stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong"). Give me a break! As if Apple engineers weren't fully aware of the impact of their chosen algorithm and how it compared to algorithms used by other cell phone manufacturers (and AT&T's recommendations). Up until now they were very happy with these "incorrect bars" because their algorithm had the effect of exaggerating the phone's apparent signal strength. Now, all of a sudden, they're unhappy because it makes the iPhone 4's signal loss look far worse than it perhaps really is. Apple just discovered they can't have their cake and eat it to.
  
  Incidentally, you can bet good money on the fact that other cell phone manufacturers use an algorithm similar to the one Apple was using previously, and for the same reason. Apple didn't have "incorrect bars" - they were just using the same smoke and mirrors trick as every other cell phone manufacturer.
  
  Regardless, I would like to make an important point: The number of bars showing is irrelevant. It is just a visual indicator. All that really matters is - can you make calls without dropping them, and can you get good data rates. It has been clearly demonstrated by several websites that the iPhone 4 issue can cause calls to drop (or prevent them being made in the first place), and cause significant drops in data rates when accessing the internet (or prevent internet access entirely).
  
  
• "Their bars will still drop by a bar or two when they put that finger or the grip that place... just grip the phone in just the right place"
  
  Oops! Slipped up again there, Steve! Remember... Always say "grip"! Unfortunately, though, you don't have to grip the phone in the just the right place. All it requires is any finger or any part of your hand touching that place. And sadly, that's all too easy.
  
  
• "And again... All smartphones seem to do that."
  
  No. They don't.
  
  
• "We haven't figured out a way around the laws of physics... Yet!"
  
  I appreciate the humor, but not when it is part of yet another bit of misdirection. The iPhone 4 problem isn't the result of Apple not being able to find a way around the laws of physics (though this pretty much is true for the issues he demonstrated with other phones) - it is entirely due to a design flaw in the iPhone 4's antenna. If the antenna was not exposed, the problem would not occur.
  
  
• "We do a lot of testing. We've got an extremely sophisticated antenna lab."
  
  Steve now goes on to explain how much money and resources Apple put into antenna research and design. And I appreciate that. And, I firmly believe, it shows in the significant advantages of the iPhone 4's antenna design. But ultimately it's just filler to try to impress people with how seriously Apple takes this. Or perhaps he's just trying to convince us that with all that time, money and resources there is no way they could have come up with a better design. But ultimately that whole part of his presentation is moot, because regardless of how much money and resources went into the antenna design, they still missed a significant flaw (or, perhaps more likely, knew about it but missed its significance).
  
  Interestingly, Steve says they have invested over $100 million in antenna research facilities over the last 5 years. That sounds impressive, but to put it in perspective, the iPhone 4 has probably made them a billion in the last three weeks.
  
  
• "So the iPhone 4 antenna went through all of this. We tested it. We knew that if you gripped it in a certain way, the bars are going to go down a little bit, just like every smartphone."
  
  An interesting admission. They knew about the problem. You can bet that "we knew that if you gripped it in a certain way" really means "we knew that if you touched the rim in a certain spot". And you can bet that "the bars were going to go down a little bit" really means "you could drop a call or kill your internet connectivity". And again, "just like every smartphone", to remind us that this is not a unique problem, when clearly it is.
  
  
• "But we didn't think it would be a big problem. Every smartphone has this issue."
  
  Sigh.
  
  
• "People are reporting better reception with this antenna than they have ever seen with their smartphones before."
  
  I absolutely believe this to be true. I have seen plenty of evidence to support the fact that the iPhone 4's reception, when you're not touching the death spot, is brilliant. Up to a point, this is clearly a fantastic antenna design. It is just unfortunate that there was a major flaw (which could have easily been avoided) in its execution.
  
  How could it have been avoided? Any sort of insulating coating over the antenna.
  

The Data

Let's examine the AppleCare and related data.

• Only 0.55% of iPhone 4 owners have called to complain about antenna and reception issues.
  
  This figure is quoted in such a way as to expect us to believe that this means that only 0.55% of iPhone 4 owners have experienced the problem. However, this is unrealistic and I'm sure that as the CEO of a technology company he would know that. There are several reasons why that figure is unrealistic:
  
  
  
  1. It doesn't take into account people who complained through other means - to AT&T, to Apple stores etc.
     
  2. It doesn't take into account that many people were aware of the issue, knew they were not going to get any joy from Apple, and were waiting for Apple's official response on the matter.
     
  3. It doesn't take into account the psychological reality that when people spend a lot of money on an item, they tend to overlook that item's flaws.
     
  4. It doesn't take into account the well-known fact, in customer support circles, that the number of people who complain about a problem is usually a small percentage of the number of people who actually experience the problem, even for serious problems.
     
  
  Taking these factors, into account, it is very likely that anywhere from 10 to 20 percent of iPhone 4 owners are actually experiencing reception problems. That sounds staggering when Steve is quoting a figure of 0.55%! But experience shows that the ratio of people who complain about a problem to people who actually experience the problem is often in the order of 1 in 20. Combine that with the other factors, and you can see a figure between 10 and 20 percent is not unreasonable.
  
  
• AT&T iPhone return rates are only 1.7%
  
  That is a fantastic figure, and a testament to the fact that the iPhone 4 is a brilliant, ground breaking device. Which make it all the sadder that Apple have to lie about their antenna issues.
  
  Though I do find it odd that only AT&T return rates are mentioned, and not return rates for people who purchased direct from Apple. One has to wonder why. Were the figures not as good?
  
  
• Less than 1 additional dropped call per 100 calls compared to the iPhone 3GS.
  
  This figure sounds impressive until you analyze it a bit, then you encounter two glaring issues:
  
  
  
  1. The iPhone 4's antenna design is radical, revolutionary, very advanced and "really cool engineering". And yet it still drops more calls than an iPhone 3GS? Something ain't right. Jobs has a pet theory on that, which we'll get to in a moment.
     
  2. The quoted figure is actually completely meaningless without knowing how many calls either phone actually drops per 100 calls. It is worded deceptively, so that it sounds like it is less than 1% worse, and that was certainly my initial interpretation. But this is not a percentage increase (that is, not an increase of less than 1% of the number of calls the iPhone 3GS drops). This is the the numerical increase in the percentage of dropped calls. So, for example, if the iPhone 3GS drops fewer than 1 call per 100 calls, then the iPhone 4 would be dropping at least twice as many calls! But we'll never know without meaningful data. Steve says "We're trying to find out why. We want to drive this lower than the 3GS"... Well, Steve, everybody else already knows why, and I think you do too.
     
  
  Now, about Steve's pet theory on why the iPhone 4 drops more calls than the 3GS. I'll spell it out for you, and hopefully based on the explanations at the top of this document you will see the hole in his theory as quickly as I did. Steve's theory goes something like this:
  

  The iPhone 3GS was the same design as the iPhone 3G, and there was already a healthy market of cases for the iPhone 3G. This meant that, in Apple stores, 80% of 3GS users walked out of the store with a case. iPhone 4 has a radically new design. No existing cases fit, and Apple didn't release the specs to anybody, so there were no cases available for it other than the bumper case, and Apple can't make enough of those. So only about 20% of iPhone 4 purchasers are going out with a case. Steve thinks that has something to do with why the iPhone 3GS has fewer dropped calls than the iPhone 4.

  An interesting proposition, but I think it has a pretty glaring hole. Can you see it? A case only helps the iPhone 4's antenna problem because it insulates your skin from the exposed antenna - specifically from the exposed gap that separates two different antennas. The iPhone 3GS did not have this same design flaw, so a case will do nothing to improve iPhone 3GS reception. I expect Steve is well aware of this, so I'm rather baffled by his "pet theory".
  

  "But who knows. We're gonna track it down"

  Yeah, right.

Next we hear a summary of the main points, once again emphasizing:

"Most every smartphone we've tested exhibits the identical behavior."

I hope you can see by now how misleading this point is, no matter how many times it gets repeated.

"So Let Me Tell You What We're Gonna Do"

Here are Apple's proposed solutions:

1. Apple released iOS 4.0.1 on Thursday. This "fixes" the bars formula, a meaningless fix which we have already covered.
   
2. "A lot of people have told us the bumper solves the signal strength problem. Why don't you just give everybody a case?"... You're kidding me! Their 18 PhD scientists and engineers worked their butts off for 22 days, but the only solution on offer comes from what "a lot of people have told us"? As presented here, that is simply bizarre. Particularly as Apple doesn't really seem to know why it fixes the problem. In fact, I'm sure they does, but if they acted like they knew why, they would have to actually explain the unique cause of the iPhone 4's reception problems and that is something they very clearly do not want to do. So, given that we know the facts, and we know that Apple knows the facts but wants to cover them up, this statement makes a bit more sense.
   

Smartphone Antenna Performance

Let's take a quick look at Apple's Smartphone Antenna Performance site.

The opposite of amplification, attenuation happens whenever a signal is obstructed. All antennas — including television, radio, GPS, and cellular antennas — can experience attenuation. And with most antennas, the density and composition of the human hand can cause attenuation to a greater degree than some other materials. On a mobile phone, signal loss typically occurs when your hand attenuates the most sensitive part of the antenna. In the photos and videos below, we demonstrate how different grips cause attenuation on many popular smartphones — including iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS.

More misinformation. The problem with the iPhone 4 has nothing to do with signal attenuation resulting from the density and composition of the human hand. The problem is antenna detuning caused by touching and bridging exposed antennas.

The external antenna on iPhone 4 is located in the stainless steel band. The attenuation weak spot is the black strip in the lower left corner of the band.

This is a blatant lie. The black strip is not an "attenuation weak spot".

Let's check their videos. First, the iPhone 4. Here is how they hold it so as not to cause any antenna issues:


Notice how they carefully avoid the bottom left corner? Interestingly, if they held it in exactly the same way, but in their right hand, they would be touching the gap, detuning the antenna and causing reception problems!

Here is how they hold it to demonstrate "signal attenuation":


I hope you can see they are trying to convey a very deceptive impression here... They are intentionally holding it in the same awkward grip required to cause signal attenuation on other phones, even though that is not at all required to cause problems with the iPhone 4's antenna. Remember... They are trying very hard to convince you that their problem is no different from anyone else's.

I'll skip the rest of the videos, as they're pretty self-explanatory. Except I'd like to point out something interesting with the iPhone 3GS video. Here's how they hold the phone to avoid signal attenuation:


Interestingly, if you held an iPhone 4 in the same way, you would be touching the black strip, detuning the antenna and screwing up your reception. But, they don't want to show you that.

So... What do I think?

First, let me say this: I think on balance the iPhone 4 is a brilliant piece of technology. I think the vast majority of people will be able to avoid antenna related issues by how they hold the phone or by using a case. I wish they didn't have to, but there is nothing at this point that can be done about that. And everything else about the phone is pretty amazing.

I also agree that the issue has probably been blown way out of proportion.

Finally, I think giving every iPhone 4 owner a free case is the most reasonable and realistic solution Apple can offer at this point.

So what's my problem?

My problem is that Apple, for whatever reason, is blatantly lying to its customers about the cause and impact of this problem. The only reason I can think of is that Apple want to save face. They have touted this brilliant new antenna design, and they don't want to give any perception that this antenna design might be flawed, so they try to convince us that this is just the same problem that every smartphone has. I have lost all respect for Apple and Steve Jobs as a result of the blatant lies Apple is trying to feed us.

And it would have been so easy for them to own up to the problem and tell the simple truth. Something like this: "For the iPhone 4 we designed a fantastic new antenna to help reduce the signal attenuation problems that exist in other smartphones, and deliver the best reception of any phone on the planet. And we believe we succeeded. However, since the release of the phone it has become apparent that there is an unfortunate flaw in the design which may actually cause worse problems than those we were trying to fix. The only solution we can offer at this point is to give all iPhone 4 owners a free case, which completely alleviates the problem. While we understand that this is not ideal, the good news is, with such a case in place, you gain all the advantages of the new antenna design and none of the disadvantages, and so have what we believe is the best reception currently available on any phone."

People appreciate and respect honesty. If Steve Jobs had made such a statement, my respect for him as a person and Apple as a company would have significantly increased. Sadly, it was not to be.

RagingFish, 17 July 2010