More Evidence Points to an iPhone Infineon Chipset Issue

A little clarity from Apple might help here. Speculation on what is really behind the problems iPhone 3G users are seeing with connectivity (dropped calls, slow browsing, no browsing, no signal, etc. etc.) has ranged from AT&T's network (doesn't necessarily explain issues with other carriers, though), poor signal sensitivity, or an issue with the Infineon chipset.

Apple support forums are swamped with posts on the issue. BTW, don't be fooled: two really long threads were closed because, as Apple said:

The threads were too long and some browsers were timing out.

There were hundreds of replies on those original threads.

Business Week has information from "two well-placed sources," both of whom tell BW that the Infineon chipset is indeed the issue, and that Apple plans a software fix. Not sure how you can really fix a hardware issue with software; you can work around it, but the one would think the real fix would be in the chipset.

According to one source:

Part of the role of the Infineon chip is to check whether there's enough 3G bandwidth available in a given area. If 3G isn't available or there isn't enough bandwidth, the iPhone will be shifted to a slower network. One source says Apple programmed the Infineon chip to demand a more powerful 3G signal than the iPhone really requires. So if too many people try to make a call or go on the Internet in a given area, some of the devices will decide there's insufficient power and switch to the slower network --- even if there is enough 3G bandwidth available.

According to this person, the problems are only occurring in areas of high iPhone density. These include the San Francisco Bay area, Boston, and certain overseas locales.

Interesting theory. Except many people are reporting the switch isn't taking place, that rather than switching to EDGE they are left with no signal at all, and that manually switching the phone to EDGE all the time fixes their problems (and no, that's no solution; iPhone 3G owners pay $10 a month more for their data plan, and EDGE also doesn't allow simultaneous data and voice calls).

Apple remains close-mouthed, but Infineon spokesman Guenther Gaugler commented to BW:

"Our 3G chips are, for example, used in Samsung handsets and we are not aware of such problems there."

Assuming the chipset used in the iPhone 3G is identical to that in Samsung devices, this would point to a possible programming. I can attest that Samsung phones seem to have no issues.

At any rate, if a software fix is upcoming, and it's as (relatively) simple as outlined above, where is it? People are getting frustrated and unsurprisingly, many are returning iPhones. Despite this, however, there's still lots of positive buzz around the device.

Personally, I love the phone, and am just going to "wait and see." I do wonder, however, if the fix Apple comes up with is really a workaround, rather than a true fix, and Infineon later modifies its chipset, if we early adopters (suckers?) will once again get the shaft with poorer performance overall than later buyers.