Apple says iPhone 4 drops fewer than 1 additional call per 100 compared with iPhone 3GS

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Apple: iPhone 4 drops more calls than iPhone 3GS

SEATTLE — Gripes from some people about the iPhone 4’s antenna design have overshadowed many buyers’ comments that the newest smart phone from Apple Inc. gets far better reception than previous models.

As it turns out, the iPhone 4 drops more calls than the older iPhone 3GS — “less than one additional dropped call per 100,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said during a news conference Friday.

Although that doesn’t sound like a big difference, a typical U.S. phone only drops one to 1.5 calls per 100, said Dan Hays, who focuses on telecommunications at management consulting firm PRTM. So another one per 100 could mean that the iPhone 4 drops nearly twice as many calls as the older model, Hays said.

IPhone 4 owners in the U.S. have endured other service issues in the three short weeks the phone has been on sale. AT&T Inc., Apple’s exclusive iPhone partner in the U.S., acknowledged that because of a software defect, its network was slower than it should be for people trying to upload photos, videos and other content from the phone to the Web.