Where is the iPhone 4 proximity patch?

Apple Australia’s chief will make a rare public appearance at a local conference while the company’s ‘down under’ wing confirms it hasn’t yet managed to create a software fix for problems with the iPhone 4’s proximity sensor.

Apple had previously promised to patch the proximity problem, which affects some iPhone 4’s. What happens is that when a caller holds the phone to their ear, the sensor can get its job wrong and either cuts off the call or leaves the buttons vulnerable to being accidentally pressed by a user’s ear.

Steve Jobs last month said the sensor problem would be fixed in a future software update, but this hasn’t yet appeared.

Apple Australia spokeswoman Fiona Martin acknowledged the company had yet to fix the problem, but builds of iOS 4.1 show promise.

Apple Australia’s chief exec, Tony King, will appear as part of a ten-member panel of Tasmanian tech firms where there will be talk on innovation and the mobile industry.