iPhone Hardware

Apple, recently under fire for iPhone 4 antenna problems, publicly addressed the issue in a special press conference at its Cupertino headquarters today. Steve Jobs explained that the company isn't perfect, but they want to make their users happy. Over three million iPhone 4 units have already been sold.

According to Jobs, for 22 days Apple has been working non-stop on determining the root cause of the problem and coming up with a real solution. Reports have indicated that connecting a gap with your hand in the metal band around the outside of the iPhone 4 can cause a drop in signal strength. The media has affectionately referred to this hand position as the "death grip."

The independent and nonprofit magazine Consumer Reports sent some mixed signals after testing the iPhone 4. Reception issues resulting from touching the lower left corner of the device have been verified in Consumer Reports' labs. First the bad news. The magazine said it "can't recommend" the iPhone 4 due to the problem, which they cited as a design flaw in the external antenna.

When held so that a gap between the two antennas is covered the signal drops up to 20dB, which Consumer Reports explains is "enough to drop a call." Reception problems were improved with the addition of non-conductive tape to the affected corner of the iPhone 4, which prevents the metal from coming in contact with the user's hand.

The Apple iPhone has done it again. After winning the first touch screen battle earlier this year, a new robotic test by MOTO Development Group proves that when it comes to accuracy the iPhone can't be beat. For this test MOTO added two more devices to the lineup, the Palm Pre and BlackBerry Storm 2.

Google's Nexus one came in second place, with the Motorola Droid exhibiting the worst performance during the test. Two different sized robotic "fingers" were used at two different pressures to see which screens had the most accurate response. The iPhone showed a little bit of inaccuracy around the edges in the light pressure test, however it was light years ahead of the competition.

Will the next iPhone model be taller than its predecessors by a quarter inch (6 mm)? If these photos are to be believed, iResQ has received fourth-generation parts that show an iPhone with additional space at the top of the device.

iResQ acquired the parts as a sample from what they describe as a "reputable source" and note the fact that Apple could still change the design of the next generation iPhone before official release. Pictured above are parts from a 3GS on the left and a 4G iPhone on the right.

One of the highlights of Apple's iPad announcement was the heart of the device, the custom system-on-a-chip (SoC) now known as the Apple A4. This mysterious chip spawned from Apple's longtime partnership and 2008 acquisition of PA Semi.

The A4 is a power-sipping, high speed 1GHz processor with an integrated graphics processing unit (GPU) that runs Apple's multi-touch iPhone OS like nothing else. According to Steve Jobs, the iPad will play video for 10 hours before its battery is exhausted.