Apple: iOS 4.1 still doesn’t fix problem with iPhone 4 proximity sensor (updated)

Update: The issue is listed as fixed in Steve Jobs’ iOS 4.1 presentation. It looks like we’ll have to wait and see just how well it’s fixed.
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Along with the iPhone 4’s widely reported antenna issues (a situation the tech press has dubbed “antennagate”), there were also complaints of an issue with its proximity sensor, which led to accidental button presses when the phone was held up to your face during a call.

Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that the company was looking into the issue when he gathered press to discuss the iPhone 4’s antenna trouble. But now Apple Australia spokeswoman Fiona Martin says that it still hasn’t fixed the issue, reports The Next Web.

iPhone 4 users have been expecting a fix with iOS 4.1, the next major iPhone software upgrade that’s expected to be released in the next few weeks. Some reports from iOS 4.1 beta testers noted that proximity sensor functionality seemed improved, but Apple has never officially said that the update would offer a fix.

There’s always the chance that Martin is mistaken, so we’ve dropped a line to Apple to see what its U.S. representatives have to say.

Personally, I’ve found the proximity sensor issue far more annoying than the antenna problem — it’s now practically impossible for me to hold my iPhone on my shoulder, and hands-free, like I would with a normal phone. Like AT&T’s notoriously finicky cellular network, the sensor issue is yet another iPhone problem that makes it a far more appealing portable computer than an actual phone.