It's not about the bar display. That page you linked to explains why the bar display matters: If your phone is at -60dB (5 bars) a 24dB drop is -84dB (5 bars)

It's not about the bar display. That page you linked to explains why the bar display matters: If your phone is at -60dB (5 bars) a 24dB drop is -84dB (5 bars) If your phone is at -84db (5 bars) a 24db drop is -108 (1 bar) Worst case: If your phone is at -90db (5 bars) a 24db drop is -114 (0 bars) That can be fixed with software. Given that the article says the iPhone 4 performs better than the 3GS at -113dB, the perception of the problem is twice as bad as the actual problem. So it might be worthwhile to fix that perception, though the fix will have other side-effects (a perception of worse reception overall).