Is Apple already fixing the iPhone 4?

The smartest thing Apple can do, if there is a legitimate problem with the iPhone 4, is fix it while everyone else is off complaining about it. Again, I’m not 100 percent sold on whether there’s an issue to begin with. I haven’t been able to hold one myself yet due to my status as a Canadian.

But, it’s starting to look like this potential “manufacturing defect” is already having some of the rough edges sanded down a little. According to a couple of people who have had access to both the original iPhone 4 model, and the newer ones shipping from the factory, some subtle changes have seemed to fixed a couple of the reported problems.

The black [plastic] bezel isn’t as black on the new one. I couldn’t see the proximity sensor at all on the previous iPhone 4, now I can. The stainless steel band on the new phone is less ‘steel-y’ and more matte. I’ve also tried to replicate the signal drop and failure. While I can’t say for sure that it is entirely fixed, there is certainly huge improvement.

Maybe Apple has taken steps to rectify the problem, or maybe they just made an already great phone just a little bit better. No matter how you want to spin it, it seems like Apple has been looking into the reported issues, and are genuinely trying to fix it.

In the meantime, iFixit is trying to get people with iPhone 4s to participate in an “unofficial” study to test if impedence of the metal band. They’re hoping to get people to check the serial number on their phones, and if the number is greater than 27 for the production week, they want you to check the impedance on the metal frame with a multimeter. They’re expecting the new devices to have an impedance level of at least one ohm, and if that’s the case, Apple may have changed the coating on the metal frame.

Let them know your scores in the comments of their post.

Article Via iFixit

Joshua is the Content Marketing Manager at BuySellAds. He’s also the founder of Macgasm.net. And since all that doesn’t quite give him enough content to wrangle, he’s also a technology journalist in his spare time, with bylines at PCWorld, Macworld and TechHive.