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from the you're-not-holding-it-right dept.
Apple responded today to FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai, who issued a statement that "urged" Apple to activate the FM chips that he claimed are in iPhones in the name of public safety. The recent hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria were the hook for the reasoning. The only problem? Apple hasn't even included FM radio chips in iPhones since the iPhone 6s.
That's right, Pai called on Apple to activate radios that don't even exist.
As John Gruber astutely points out, the statement has the stink of trying to shift blame or attention off of the FCC's own response and readiness issues. Pai has been banging the drum for months now and it's been a talking point of the NAB for years. When ostensibly asked for comment by Bloomberg, National Association of Broadcasters spokesman Dennis Wharton said "The notion that Apple or anyone else would block this type of information is something that we find fairly troubling." Again, the radios do not exist in iPhones and haven't for over a year now.
(Score: 3, Informative) by fyngyrz on Sunday October 01 2017, @11:30AM
Oh, I get it, all right. I designed RF systems for a living for decades, and still write SDR software [fyngyrz.com] today. RF is my thing.
Believe me when I tell you that RF interference tends to go upwards. There can be other issues - power supply, for one instance, shared front end overloading for another - but an FM broadcast receive radio in proximity to a GHz level rx/tx system isn't really a problem for either set of capabilities. Which is why you find all of the foregoing in wifi chipsets.