Apple tweaks iPhone 4 antenna design

In the same was as Apple scrapped its exclusivity deal with O2 in the UK in 2009, telcom operator Verizon has ended AT&T’s iPhone exclusivity in the US by grabbing its own distribution deal for the smartphone.

But as well as the change in operators, Appel has also quietly changed the iPhone 4 hardware itself.

Woes surrounding allegations of dropped calls, usefully termed as ‘antennagate’ by Apple itself last year, have dogged the device ever since it debuted last June.

Whereas existing models of the iPhone have three notches separating the various parts of its outer-edge antenna, the Verizon model has four separators. The MicroSIM port has also been moved.

Gizmodo reports that Apple says the changes to the handset are to accommodate Verizon’s CDMA network, but it’s hard to dismiss claims that the tech firm has taken the opportunity to address the iPhone 4’s antenna issues.

Furthermore, a number of tech blogs have reported an inability to reproduce the ‘death grip’ issue – that being the phone dropping signal strength when held in a certain way. Or ‘the wrong way’, as Apple once phrased it.