The problem of signal dropping off when users hold the new Apple iPhone 4 in the left hand may be a software fault rather than to do with the hardware, according to a post on Apple Insider. According to the site, Apple will release an update for iOS 4 as early as Monday which fixes a problem in the way the phone calibrates its reception.

Frustrated Apple customers have reportedly been trying all kinds of Macgyver-style fixes for the £500 smartphone, including strips of gaffer tape or a dab of nail polish over the antenna, to stop the loss of signal.

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Users began reporting the signal problem shortly after the iPhone 4 went on sale on Thursday. Customers reported that when the handset was held with the left hand - as it would be for left-handed customers making calls, or by many right-handed customers typing or using apps - the iPhone's signal bars would drop down to nought in under a minute.

The response out of Cupertino was flummoxing: Jobs claimed that the signal problem was a "non-issue" and that users should "just avoid holding it that way" (silly us), while the follow-up statement from Apple claimed that loss of signal while being held was "a fact of life for all wireless phones" - just one that no-one had ever noticed before. The statement then invited buyers to rectify the problem by using "one of many available cases" - only £25 a pop from Apple, as it happens.

We'll keep you updated as and when the update appears.