Apple has informed select media that the company will hold a press conference to discuss iPhone 4 on Friday, July 16 at 10am PDT in Cupertino.
MacDailyNews Take: Looks like Apple is finally going to grab the bull by the horns and take control of this issue.
As we wrote earlier today: “You either take control of an issue or you get run over by it. We wonder, who has the worst PR people, Tiger Woods or Apple?”
Hopefully, the answer this Friday will be a decisive “Tiger Woods.”
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My insignificant .02, what a non issue.
OTOH Apple did bring this on themselves. Apple is an absolute virtuoso in creating free buzz via the media, common sense tells us that it will back fire every now and then.
Life giving sword, life taking sword and all that zen stuff.
But it wouldn’t have mattered because they kept it in a CASE for testing!
Finally! Maybe it’s taken this long for Steve to get the ‘Reality Distortion Field’ revved up. Seriously though, the only people having issues with the iP4 are either Apple haters or “Hemorhoid”/”Crack-berry” lovers.
I just hope to God it’s not a commercial with a voiceover by Tiger Woods’ dead father…
Has any Apple product, ever – had this much poor – dare I say it – reception? The negative publicity surrounding the iPhone4 is world-wide and ever-present. Morale has to be very low in Cupertino these days. Hopefully, something redeeming will be pulled out of the magician’s hat Friday, as this issue is getting to be too pathetic.
I’m really curious WHO will host the press conference. Jobs himself? Some no-name flunky? How serious is Apple treating this? They didn’t even do a press conference for the original iPhone $100 “refund” after the scandal of the price drop.
@ LeftCoastDude
> Recall???? Really? For 2.5 million iPhones? MOST of which are perfect.
They are all equally “perfect,” except for the ones that actually have a manufacturing defect (such as a bad proximity sensor or faulty camera). And if you want to deem laboratory antenna attenuation an issue, they are equally “imperfect.” The REAL problem is perception, not reception.
So Apple will do what is necessary to correct the perception. Maybe it will go something like this…
+ The iOS 4 update, available today, will more accurately represent signal strength on the screen for ALL iPhones.
+ iPhones rolling out of the factory now have a thin polymer coating around the edge.
+ Customers who have an iPhone 4 with a serial number earlier than [X] may apply online to receive a $50 gift card which can be used at an Apple Store (or online at Apple.com). The credit can be applied toward anything sold by the Apple Store, including a case or bumper.
+ Customers with an iPhone 4 sold on or before today may use our previously announced 30-day return policy to receive a refund, as long as the iPhone’s serial number has not been used to receive a $50 gift card. Starting tomorrow, all iPhone sales will employ the standard 14-day return policy.
Although a polymer coating and software update may not actually do anything to improve REAL antenna performance (especially for people who do not touch the bottom end of the iPhone), it will be perceived as Apple taking action and “fixing” something.
The $50 gift card will be perceived by actual iPhone 4 customers as a bonus, since the vast majority were not having any problems. Apple will gain it back as revenue, since it is only usable at the Apple Store; customer may even apply it toward an unrelated and more expensive purchase. And many customers won’t even apply for it, because they are oblivious to this “problem”; they are not having any iPhone 4 problems and don’t read tech news. It will be like the original iPhone’s refund; something that will make Apple most loyal early adopters into even bigger fanboys and fangirls. And it will show the “normal” customers (future iPhone 4 buyers who will outnumber the early adopters by at least 10-to-1) that Apple really cares about its customers, and further justify Apple’s extraordinary customer satisfaction rating.
@TheMac:
I hope you’re right, and then this issue goes away, but how is a software update going to cure the so-called “antenna squeeze” aspect of the problem?
If you think Apple is going to recall the iPhone 4, you are a ritard (a la The Hangover). The iPhone 4 is amazing, I have no reception issues whatsoever! They have tens of billions’ worth of “wiggle room” btdub.
That said, I foresee a software update Friday, possibly (but not probably) free bumpers to those having issues.
Shutup your crying!
I agree with all those who say that Apple PR needs to get better.
Over the years they’ve been lacking.
A lot of misunderstanding and inaccurate news accounts have not been addressed properly by Apple PR.
some that come to mind:
– missing iPhone. (it was only in All Things D conference that Steve Jobs mentioned the phone could have been stolen from engineers bag and that it was the room mate of the person who took it that phoned police and not Apple. Most press missed all that and kept repeating story of the ‘drunken engineer’ the Apple ‘mafia police’ etc)
– iPhones screens will fail due to ‘heat sensitivity’ issues in one year, iPhones ‘plagued’ with ‘dead pixels’ stories in 2007
– ‘Missing iPhones’ rumors , Apple misleading in how many they’ve sold reported by Barrons, the Street.com etc that caused stock to plunge
– Steve illnesses. Virtually no press release for months.
etc etc.
Apple PR need to get as good as the software, the retail etc teams pronto.
The bottom line is that VERY few people are returning their iPhone4″s, indicating that this is not a legitimate issue. Still, perception is reality to the general public. I think that all iPhone4 purchasers will receive a price-reduced bumper. No freebies because that would be admission of guilt for nothing and taint the product. How much do those bumpers cost Apple to manufacture anyway?
@iPhone5:
Only bad publicity that I can remember from Apple is back in 2001? about the so called ‘cracks’ on the casing of the G4 Cube.
@ken1w:
I think you hit every point right as how it will go down on Friday.
I hope Apple tells these FUD hit whoring bloggers and magazine rags to shove it up their you know what. Second tell them that all phones do the same damm thing!
Day 2 with my new 4, Im still trying to figure out what the “problem is” and I live an area that has 3g, edge, and a o, works alot better than my 3gs. Perhaps I am too tall as oppossed to SHORT.
The sky is falling. The sky is falling. You people make me sick. Apple will gain from all this hand wringing. Get some sleep.
A $30 store credit would be just the same as supplying a free bumper which everyone is clamoring for — and those who aren’t having problems can use it towards a good quality case or anything else they need.
@ AC in WA
Yours work fine because your not a hit whoring blogger pretending to be a journalist. Nor are you a magazine rag running out of subscribers to keep your so called relevancy in the market.
even if Apple puts out a successful software fix they still have to give out free bumpers. Most folks will buy a case of their own choice but Apple have to make nice to save face.
Apple and Steve Jobs caused this situation to explode to this level!!
I called AT&T;today to complain (again — 3 years so far) about the spotty coverage in my area (people calling me today got a message that my phone was out of service!) and the rep had the gall to tell me that maybe I was holding my phone wrong! Poor Apple…
Ken1w is dead on. These idiots reporting a recall live in la la land. There’s no reason when 99% of the buyers are NOT having issues.
Steve Jobs walks to the podium. He is silent for a few seconds as the sound and flash from the cameras go crazy. Then everyone settles down and things get real quiet. He then leans into the mic and says
“FU Gizmodo”
Then he says ” the antenna algorithm is all fixed and here is iOS 4.1, enjoy.
Walks off stage.
For the $.02 it cost to make the bumpers, Apple should make them an included accessory *even if* the reception issue isn’t brought on by hardware design. It’s a small price to pay to quell all the negative press.
That said, I’m betting they’re too arrogant to admit anything. No bumpers either, as that too would be viewed as an admission, instead offering their own *tests* showing improved reception across the board. Of course tech pundits will have a field day questioning Apple’s proprietary stats, but life goes on and Apple will still sell millions more iPhones.
Me, I just want whatever phone I buy to be more shatter-resistant than two panes of glass. (Their biggest gaff in my books)
I’m a huge apple fanboy, i can’t get a text message to go through if I’m holding the phone with my hand over the bottom left corner – case or no case.
That’s unacceptable.
This incident is a good example of media creating the story and not reporting on it. Pundits and bloggers are going crazy with this story and they don’t have all the facts. Apple is smart not to make a statement without further research into the problem. If they did….to just satisfy their critics and got something wrong they would have to back track. This antenna issue is not an across the board problem, it affect a small number of people in the scope of iPhone 4 solded. It would be crazy for Apple to panic and issue a recall when it’s not the entire product line that’s affected. People need to relax and wait for the press conference to see how Apple will resolve this issue.
Hardly think a recall is going to happen as Apple just shipped my iPhone 4………so………