Mark Papermaster, senior vice-president of devices hardware engineering, has left his job at Apple following a series of problems with reception on its latest iPhone 4.

The company has not disclosed the reasons or time of his deparature but it’s evident what are reasons are. Apple got evry bad ss following the iPhone 4 launch and this has pissed off Setve Jobs.

Papermaster’s responsibilities are being handled on by Bob Mansfield, senior vice president of Macintosh hardware engineering.

Papermaster, who’s previously worked for IBM for more than 20 years, was lured to Apple by Jobs last year, prompting IBM to try to stop the move on fears he would give away the family secrets. IBM though settled teh issues and he joined Apple in April 2009.

Apple has been selling people style and not decent cell phones is now clearly evident when Apple Inc. said Friday that it was “stunned” to find that its iPhones have for years been using a “totally wrong” formula to determine how many bars of signal strength they are getting.

Are they kidding?!!!!

Apple said that’s the reason behind widespread complaints from users that the latest model, iPhone 4, can show a sudden plunge in signal strength when they hold it in a way that covers a small black strip on one edge of the phone. Users have jokingly called this the “death grip” for the phone.

That drop seems exaggerated because the phone can wrongly display four or five bars of signal strength when it shouldn’t, Apple said.

“Their big drop in bars is because their high bars were never real in the first place,” the company said in a statement to users.

The company said it will fix the formula to one recommended by AT&T Inc. through a free software update within a few weeks for the most recent iPhone models, 3G, 3GS and 4. However, the “wrong” formula goes back as far as the original iPhone, launched in 2007.

Apple apologized to customers “for any anxiety we may have caused.”

Apple launched the iPhone 4 on June 24 in the U.S. and four other countries, and users began complaining on Apple’s customer support website within hours.

Despite numerous complaints about dropped calls, slow data service and lack of features, particularly in the U.S., the iPhone is a standout success owing to marketing and people penchant for stylish products, with each model selling faster than the previous one. Apple said it sold 1.7 million iPhone 4s in its first three days, essentially running out of stock.

Apple unveiled the new iPhone 4 featuring FaceTime, which makes video calling a reality, and new Retina display, the highest resolution display ever built into a phone. This will mean super crisp text, images and video. In addition, iPhone 4 has a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash, HD video recording, Apple’s A4 processor, a 3-axis gyro and up to 40 percent longer talk time in a all-new design of glass and stainless steel that is the thinnest smartphone in the world. iPhone 4 comes with iOS 4, the newest version of the mobile operating system, which includes over 100 new features and 1500 new APIs for developers. iOS 4 features Multitasking, Folders, enhanced Mail, deeper Enterprise support and Apple’s new iAd mobile advertising platform.

“iPhone 4 is the biggest leap since the original iPhone,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “FaceTime video calling sets a new standard for mobile communication, and our new Retina display is the highest resolution display ever in a phone, with text looking like it does on a fine printed page. We have been dreaming about both of these breakthroughs for decades.”

People who are contemplating a new smartphone are advised to hold off their purchase and wait for the highly anticipated revolutionary Windows Phone 7 which will be released by holiday 2010.