Although it promised that a firmware update would solve the so-called “grip of death,” Apple has now admitted that the solution is not so simple, and in fact may not even be possible.
It seemed that Apple had finally accepted blame for the glitch that causes the device’s signal strength to dramatically reduce if held the “wrong way,” but the company’s statement seemed to overlook the real issue. Instead of apologizing for a faulty design, Apple arrogantly tried to reframe the problem.
“Upon investigation, we were stunned to learn that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong… This mistake has been present since the original iPhone,” Apple said in its statement.
But the issue of an incorrect signal strength display is a separate issue. Gizmodo reports that Apple is now saying that the only fix to the grip of death will always be to just “hold the phone differently” or to buy a rubber phone bumper.
Customers who bought the faulty device can return it without paying a restocking fee, a concession that was just recently announced. However, Apple still won’t throw in a free bumper for people who are having problems.
The iPhone 4 is slated to get its first firmware update soon, but there won’t be anything there that fixes the grip of death.
