“Apple watchers speculated that the company will offer a solution,” Kane reports. “‘Given the intense pressure and scrutiny Apple has come under on the problem with the iPhone 4, it’s going to be about some kind of fix or compensation for the owners of the phone,’ speculated Ed Snyder, an analyst with Charter Equity Research.”
“Even as the phone has continued to sell well at stores, it has been plagued with user complaints about dropped calls when the phone is held in a way that covers part of the antenna,” Kane reports. “Antenna-design experts have said that the phone design, while cutting-edge, was risky because it exposes the antenna to touch. While this problem can occur in all mobile phone devices, the design of the iPhone 4 makes it more susceptible than others.”
“What started out as a small number of users complaining about reception has now ballooned into a full-scale public-relations issue, potentially threatening to hurt the brand image Apple has so carefully built up,’ Kane reports. “Apple’s ability to maintain the brand image it has worked to hard to build will depend on how it addresses the issue going forward, said Allen Adamson, managing director for Landor Associates, a branding firm. ‘If they bury their heads in the sand, and don’t engage in conversation and act in an arrogant way they’re going to erode a bit of their brand,’ he said.”
Kane reports “A recall of the device is unlikely, because since the problem doesn’t affect safety and only occurs for some users in certain situations. But financial analysts said Apple could give away its $29 rubber ‘bumper’ case, which they said would solve the antenna reception problem. Analysts estimate that such action would cost Apple $1 to $5 a phone.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: A few points:
• If those Bumper cases are costing Apple $5 each, they need to renegotiate with their Chinese supplier(s).
• Apple needs to act because at least some (maybe all) iPhone 4 units can clearly be attenuated by placing a thumb or part of your hand over the lower left “gap” – especially in low signal coverage areas (where you can knock the iPhone 4 off AT&T’s oh-so-luscious network with your thumb). Place your thumb over the iPhone 4’s gap, wait 20 seconds or so and watch the bars. According to many reports, iOS 4.1 beta changes the signal bars display. It does not, of course, remove the ability to attenuate with your thumb. The negative PR debacle won’t stop until Apple provides adequate perceived recompense. Better than adequate recompense might even generate net positive PR for Apple after all is said and, most importantly, done.
• iPhone 4 does not attenuate in the same manner with an Apple Bumper case. We’ve tried multiple iPhone 4 units in Bumpers with all available iOS versions and cannot knock it off the network with the same thumb or hand placement as on a naked iPhone 4.
• As we’ve been saying throughout: If the iPhone requires a Bumper or some addition to the unit in order to operate normally when held in the hand, then Apple should provide a means for iPhone 4 owners to acquire said solution free of charge. Customers bought iPhone 4 units with the assumption that they would work when held in the hand; especially as Apple’s many promotional and demo videos, TV commercials, and their CEO have demonstrated holding the iPhone 4 in ways that cause attenuation on iPhone 4 units.
• Customers who have already purchased cases for their iPhone 4 units should be offered Apple Store credit or a rebate from Apple. We’ll see if Apple goes that far, as some people obviously bought cases for other reasons (cosmetics, protection, etc.), they might have an issue with the concept of paying for Paris Hilton’s Swarovski-encrusted iPhone 4 case.
• Apple should explore a hardware revision for future iPhone 4 units; clear non-conductive coatings, etc.
• There is no need for a recall. Apple’s iPhone 4 is the best smartphone on the market, bar none. 
• If and when Apple does right by their iPhone 4 customers, the unscrupulous can start looking for another issue to overhype for their short and distort schemes.
“There is no need for a recall. Apple’s iPhone 4 is the best smartphone on the market, bar none.”
BAR NONE! Exactly! Very funny! No signal bars. Hit the nail right on the head there.
Apple will make lemonade out of lemon hype.
Apple’s iPhone 4 is the best smartphone on the market, bar none.
Bar none? Oh very funny. Move your finger off my antenna and get on with your day!
If the phone requires a case to work properly, then Apple should not advertise or display it without one. If that’s the fix, I’ll probably return mine. Part of the reason for buying an iPhone or any apple product is the looks. I’m not going to put it in a cheap rubber case.
Tomorrow is all about damage control – nothing more, nothing less.
The software fix (= more realistic bar view) will not fix the reception problem itself unless the software is at the moment instructing the iPhone4 to drop the call when it goes under a certain signal strength level (highly unlikely imho).
So yeah Apple will prolly provide everybody a free case free of charge to fix the dropping-calls problem and a software fix to display the signal strength more accurately.
I returned my bumper case.
The bottom port area is very hard plastic and tight. I couldn’t use my current accessories when I had the bumper case on.
Plus the bumper case is very hard to take off. I had to take it off for it to sit in my iPod/iPhone clock radio.
Nonetheless, these things cost Apple only $2 to make (guessing) and it should of been included free in the iPhone packaging to begin with.
Besides, who owns an iPhone without a case to begin with? A case, any case practically solves all of these reception issues.
But if Apple would of field tested the new iPhone without hiding it in a secret case to make it look like a normal 3GS, then maybe this all could of been prevented.
addressing the antenna issue is fine, which I bought a bumper case and really have not noticed any difference in performance. Still have dropped calls. Other issues I would like to see addressed:
FaceMute- phone mutes during conversation
FaceDial- phone dials during conversation
FaceHangup-obvious
SpeakerBlast-During a call the phone switches from ear to speaker.
EmailBodyInvisibility-email loads, but body of text is not there.
And yes I have tried resetting, restoring, and returning. On my second iP4.
So what happens to us dopes who already bought a case? In my case (no pun intended), I got one of those BodyGlove hard cases (the blue was too nice to me to pass up).
Nice thing about it was the AT&T;guy in the store knocked 50% off. But still………I paid good money for a case. I think I’m entitled to a bit of compensation. Likely I won’t get any…..and neither will anyone else.
Ok, I already have a bumper. I don’t have any problems with signal with it or without it installed when I use the phone throughout the day (or night). I don’t really want another bumper right now. I only got it because at the time of pre-order, there were no other options to pick from and I needed some sort of protection (cough). There are several other cases I would prefer to have at this point.
That being said, the bumper is a nice piece of plastic, rubber, and metal. The metal buttons feel and work great, the bumper fits well and does not wiggle or create problems in and out of the front pocket. Is it worth $29? No… $9.99 would have been a more reasonable price. I’m sure it costs Apple a couple bucks to make and package. Maybe $2.50 given the volume of them they made.
We know Steve is only going to teach us how to hold the phone!
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Oh, and the bumper does not work with the dock… another thing that I purchased, and so far have not been able to use. Perhaps I will return that and get a universal dock instead.
FYI, anyone notice how the ONLY charging cord is that will fit through the Bumper Case slot is the Apple charging cord? Go ahead and try. I have numerous other cords from other manufactures that when inserted into the slot is just a fraction too large to connect to the phone.
Even when Apple “Fixes” the problem (regardless of how they choose to do it), you will still have media sources saying that it’s a bad fix and that the problem still exists etc… they are just whores for visitors.
My take on what Apple will do….
Apple will go into a short presentation about how 5% – 10% of all new products on the market have major issues which require a replacement or major repair of the device. This is just a fact of large scale production.
Then they will separate the problem into two classes. Class 1 will be the devices that actually are having problems physically keeping a call connected while holding it wrong. Class 2 will be the devices that are just reporting software wrong, and while you can get the bars to drop by holding it wrong, it doesn’t necessarily drop the call (even though it might say no service).
Class 1 will be considered the “actual” problem devices, and it will probably make up less than 5% of all the iPhones sold. Apple will trumpet this as a huge success saying they are well below industry standard for problem devices. They will offer a free trade out for Class 1 devices.
Class 2 will be considered a “mistake” on their end that is easily fixable. The devices have the appearance of being able to reproduce the problem, but since the calls aren’t actually physically being dropped, a software fix or bumper fix should solve the problem.
Then Apple will offer up the Software or Bumper solution to all iPhone purchasers. Most likely the black or white ones for free, and a small premium for the color bumpers.
Apple will trumpet the success of the iPhone, the media people that have said “Even with the problem, it’s still the best damn phone out there” and make everyone understand that speed bumps occurs in all product launches, but that it’s now fixed.
Then as a final surprise, [This is a guess of course], Apple will announce jointly with Verizon it’s plans for launching on Verizon in January 2011. (Which is why AT&T;bumped up all those upgrades from July – December to June. They wanted to get those folks that might bolt for a better network tied into a new contract before Apple jumped ship).
I shall come back on Friday to see how accurate I was.
So it took the press conference to make MDN finally realize that there is a problem. Better late than never, I suppose.
@Nonsense
That would be ideal, but way Way WAY too costly I am afraid…
“”What started out as a small number of users complaining about reception has now ballooned into a full-scale public-relations issue,”
So basically it’s an issue completely blown out of proportion by people like the diaper patrol over at Gizmodo.
@Bongo
MDN never said their wasn’t a problem. They have been saying all along that something is up, but just that there is no official word of what is up and what the fix is going to be. They have stated they have been able to reproduce the problem.
MDN just said they believe what Apple says, and that if they say a software fix will fix the problem, then unless Apple says otherwise, they have no reason not to believe that will be the case.
Ever since I was told by a genius that my original iPhone was in crappy condition because I didn’t have a case for it, I have always purchased a case for my iPhones, in black, non-skid silicone. That includes my new iPhone 4 which has had zero issues for me.
@deepdish
I’ve had a first gen iPhone since day one (day two actually) and I’ve never put it in a case. I prefer to see the Apple design of my phone rather some butt ass ugly case design someone else thought up.
If I were to get an iPhone 4, I would treat it the same way, especially since I find the new phone to be far more attractive than the original.
I’d be really peeved if I got an iPhone 4 and had to put it in a case to solve the antenna issue. Although no one I know with an iPhone 4 is having the issue. I know I would because that’s the curse I have with technology.
@ MDN
“• If and when Apple does right by their iPhone 4 customers, the unscrupulous can start looking for ANOTHER ISSUE to overhype for their short and distort schemes.”
Why not ANOTHER place?
I’m surely holding off now for the iPhone thing (antenna) issue passes us by …. I’m sure by friday apple will bring this mess to a stand still how will they do it who knows but it will work for sure ….free bumpers .. Exchange….. What ever it is the best phone on the market will remain the best phone on the market.
P.S. Friday please come fast I just got rid of my android garbage.
Everyone keeps talking about “bridging the antennas” when touching that certain area on the bottom left.
Question: Regardless of whether you touch the bottom left of the phone aren’t the antennas being bridged anyway because both sides of the phone are being touched?
I don’t use the iPhone to make calls anyhow, so it doesn’t really concern me. Why? Cuz I have no friends:(
@BumperCase
Spare us the lame conspiracy theory. The Apple dock cable from the previous generation (and the generation before that) also work fine despite slightly different dimensions.
If the cheap chinese knock-offs couldn’t copy those properly it’s no wonder that they don’t fit the bumper case.
MDN word: Every – Not every cable is the same.
@REALTORben
I still don’t believe in the free bumper, I think he’s going to say that they had a defective lot, and if you got one of those please ask for refund. and of course they will fix and sell as refurbished. for $30 less… and will sell them all.
@ Macromancer
You are better then me. I drop my phone too often. My case is a nice thick leather and I am sure has saved my butt many times.
I agree, the iPhones are beautiful and I wish I could use it without a case. But without the case, I would of chipped, cracked or ruined it many times over by now.
Hopefully a $30 credit and I’ll buy my own case. The Apple Bumpers look like shit to me. Who’s with me?!
Another solution is that Zagg does offer armor for the sides of the iPhone 4. Had it put on mine and it looks great.
There are three antennas. The bottom is the cellular one. Only bridging it with whichever one is on the left causes the problem.
The biggest problem for me is data. I don’t make many calls either, but If I touch the sweet spot I can’t load a webpage. Very annoying.
@MD
“If the iPhone requires a bumper in order to operate normally when held in the hand, then Apple should provide a means for iPhone 4 owners to acquire one free of charge.”
Sure, this would be a band-aid solution (pun intended), but, personally, I shall hold back ordering, until Apple has been able, to insulate the antenna without requiring a condom.
Shouldn’t be that difficult and since the white model is backordered, who knows, perhaps it will already have appropriate changes incorporated.
As discussed, the iPh4 display is phenomenal. Once you use it, everything else is unacceptable. But I’ve also noticed when using my new iPh4 next to my wife’s 3GS, and making calls to the same numbers, the new phone has clearer sound quality.
The attenuation problem forced me to get a bumper, but so what? The phone’s biggest problem, outside of Apple’s clumsy PR, remains ATT.
i wonder how many of these “very satisfied” iPhone 4 owners will return theirs if there is a recall?
I guess I’ll be the the only one without a Bumper case then. My i4 workes great and I’ve never put any of my 3 iPhones in a case. My front left pocket is protection enough and I don’t lay my phone down without something soft under it.
Regular readers of MDN will notice most of the people posting negative thoughts about Apple and this non-issue are not regular posters. This whole “news” story smells more and more like a concerted effort on the part of Apple’s competitors and haters to trash Apple and iPhone 4.
As I’ve stated many times on these threads, my wife, brother, and I have had iP4s since day one and find them to be the best iPhones we’ve used…period!
Dudes (and Dudettes) —
Giving away bumper cases doesn’t cost apple the manufacturing costs ($1 or whatever) —
Every time Apple gives away a case they could have sold, it costs them the full $29 they would have sold it for.
If they sell 10 million iphone 4s, and 1/3 would have bought bumpers, that’s 3.33 million X $29… That’s $96.6M.
Pushing 100 million dollars… Yeah, apple does NOT want to do that, I assure you.
So to you and me it’s a $1 piece of rubber… to Apple it’s a REAL profit center.
Giving out free bumpers makes no sense. Many iPhone 4 owners already have one. Others have purchased another type of case. Many don’t want one, because they have noticed no issues with reception and like their iPhones to be “naked.”
It’s very simple. This is mostly about fixing PERCEPTION, not RECEPTION. (1) Issue the software fix to more accurately display signal strength. (2) Put an invisible coating along the edge, to alleviate any perceived or real concerns about electrical conductivity. (3) For existing owners, who have an iPhone 4 without this edge coating, offer something of value (see below) as compensation. (4) Emphasize that every existing iPhone 4 owner is still within their 30-day window to return their iPhone 4 for a full refund, with restocking fee waived.
For that “something of value,” it needs to be something general and desirable, such as an Apple Store $50 gift card. Someone who already has a bumper or case, or does not want one, can apply it toward anything else at the Apple Store. Apple will lose some profit, but the money will be gained back as retail store revenue, and some may not bother to claim it (due to being happy and oblivious iPhone 4 users or perhaps too wealthy to care), so a $50 “loss” will actually be more like a $30 expense per iPhone 4; that’s probably about a 5% reduction on the total profit made on the first few million iPhone 4’s. Apple can certainly afford that for some good will. Most iPhone 4 customers will treat it as an early adopter thank you gift, not compensation. And that’s how Apple should describe and offer it.
So an existing iPhone 4 customer will have two choices. Return it for a refund within 30 days, then get another iPhone 4 later that has the edge coating modification. Or, if they have no issues with their current iPhone 4, enjoy the $50 “gift” from Apple for being a loyal customer. Most will choose the latter.
For future “non-fan” iPhone 4 customers (who will out-number the early adopters by at least 10-to-1), Apple will have demonstrated how much they care about customers. And once the antenna problem “perception” is repaired, the NEW perception will be that iPhone 4 is now perfect and they can feel confident that Apple will take good care of them too.
Lemonade from life’s lemons. We’ll see what happens tomorrow…
If iPhone 4 requires a case to ‘fix’ the problem – it’s a flawed product. Plain and simple. But – I’ll be receiving my ‘flawed product’ on August 3rd. Woohoo!!
(I guess that’s why people hate us agreed?)
Magicword: learned
What have you learned? Apparently nothing!
As a matter of principle I will not accept a case if one is offered – this whole dustup is evidence of the wussification of America – I love my iPhone – it works great – Apple is being screwed and I refuse to be a part of it. MDN has not done very well on this – the phone works “properly” without a case – if you must hold it in a way that results in the attenuation problem then go by yourself a case – or put some tape over the gap. By the way folks – you may be surprised to know that your iPhone won’t work if you go swimming with it in your pocket – I think that this is a design defect that must be addressed…
Speaking for myself, I can tell you that I am a regular MDN reader and long time Apple/Mac fan. I have been a fan because the products habe been near-flawless. If the quality or performance goes down, I will no longer be a fan. See how the two are related? That is, regular readers are likely to be the most concerned about this, because we’re the one’s that love and invest in Apple.
MDN the article said $1 – $5 per phone. This amount would include shipping presumably and not just the bumper cost.
People talk about Apple “hiding” the iPhone 4 in an iPhone 3GS case while field testing. I’ll bet there were other tests, field or otherwise, that Apple performed on the iPhone 4 without said casing.
The skeptic in me wonders if Apple learned of this design flaw, and found that it doesn’t effect every phone so instead of going back to the drawing board and redesigning the phone or retooling the manufacturing plants that produces the parts for it, either of which could have delayed the release (although the lost iPhone story and the Gizmodo scandal would have afforded Apple the perfect opportunity to delay launch, fix the problem and screw Gizmodo and others out of a story), a cheap looking rubber bumper will be released along side so Apple can say, “problems, get a bumper”!
As Senator Howard Baker of TN so infamously immortalized during the Watergate hearings and modified for todays events, “What did Apple know? And when did they know it?”
… MDN, for your much more reasonable Take on this “news”. Have you considered that possibly – possibly – the letter from Consumer Reports might have convinced Apple to respond to this problem which affects many (still, a minority) of their customers?
About the possibilities … other phone makers have had various responses to such problems. Mainly, they have discontinued the phones in question. I don’t see Apple going down that road. Not if they can get CR to change their rating to Recommended with a $5 fix.
Now are we able to think Apple was smart to keep their cash???
They can and will easily absorb this problem.
Steve said they missed the boat on CD-recorders way back. He stood accountable then and will now.
Standing accountable will turn negative press into positive MASSIVE FREE press…and er…releasing a Factime iPod Touch would hurt either.
How about giving iMovie away for free just to throw in an extra.
@MDN Reader @ Arnold Ziffel,
The quality of iPhone 4 is astounding, as I said in my previous post. It truly is a work of art and has worked perfectly for everyone I know who owns one. It’s time for the news media to start chasing “stories” like the “shark attacks” in the summer leading up to 911, or Natalie Holloway, or LeBron James, etc.
I say you are a FUD-spreading troll.
Sticks and stones may break your bones but names can never hurt you.
An edge coating isn’t a fix for this problem either. For the short term it fixes the problem, but as soon as the edge coating starts wearing off from daily use, the problem will return… The solution is acknowledging that this is a flawed design and model, recalling the phones, and returning to the technique that older first gen, 3g, 3gs models used for their antennas… Any attempt at sweeping this under the rug, or suggesting a case, only makes Apple appear arrogant, especially since they are only now acknowledging the problem after enough people were vocal and created a lot of noise and damaging press. The right thing to do is recall the phone, admit it is a flawed design, and build the best products they can…
@monkey
No conspiracy here. I’m talking about chargers and cords from companies like griffen technology, Kensington and belkin. ALL purchased at the Apple store! All of which fit my previous iPhones. No conspiracy just poor case design on apple’s part.
The manufacturing cost of a rubber bumper must only be in the pennies. There may be some associated costs such as shipping, admin etc that can take it to $1 per item.
They could simply ship it to every individual that has registered the phone or allow people to request a bumper online.
Let’s imagine we are Apple’s iPhone engineers and we want to decide where to put an antenna. Bear with me, I’m an engineer, so this might get a bit technical. You can put the antenna inside the phone or outside. Let’s say that putting it outside makes your phone 30dB more sensitive than putting it inside, but that touching the antenna drops your sensitivity by 20dB. It’s still the decision you would make as, worse case, the external antenna makes the phone 10dB better than with an internal antenna. By the way, dB is like percent, only logarithmic, not linear. It can only be used to express a CHANGE, not an absolute value, unless it’s related to some standard level. Basically, NONE of the pseudo-scientific tests on the internet – even the ones involving faraday cages and spectrometers – tell us anything about the sensitivity, SNR and all that good stuff of the iPhone 4. Sure, touching the phone the wrong way may drop a call, but a phone with an internal antenna may not have been able to start the call in the first place. I’ll just say it again. Measuring a signal drop – whether that’s in bars on the screen, dB or magic moonbeams – tells you NOTHING about the performance of the phone.
Here is the crux of the problem with Apple.
Apple made the bumper. Design, prototype, tooling, packaging design, contracting out the manufacturing and packaging, manufacturing enough to stock all stores, shipping and stocking all stores before iPhone release.
The whole bumper process started long before the iPhone release date and it fixes the ‘problem’ with the iPhone.
Why do the bumpers exist? If you are designing a new protective covering for the iPhone, you don’t end up with a bumper. If you fixing an antenna problem you do end up with a bumper.
All Apple had to do is talk up the advantages of an external antenna then include a bumper with every purchase and suggest that some users may need one if they find themselves shorting out the antenna and dropping calls during use without the bumper.
Why manufacture the fix and then not distribute it before the shit hit the fan?
I’ll say it ONE MORE TIME, Maybe someone will notice this time.
YOU SHOULD HAVE A CASE ON THE PHONE ANYWAY, YOU’RE CRAZY IF YOU DON’T. I can’t imagine this sea of people having this phone with no case onit, doesn’t make any sense at all.
@ Bumpercase
agreed.
none of my accessories worked with the bumper case.
Not crap from China, but name brand stuff.
Luckily, I found the perfect case for my iPhone elsewhere.
@Joe,
Yeah, you know all the answers. I say you’re full of guano.
Who are they to tell us what to expect? They don’t know. I can wait 24 hrs for the real thing.
it’s all overhype on this issue. I bet you don’t see anyone turning in their iPhone for another company’s inferior phone. the iPhone is superior to them. I also use my iPhone for phone calls about 2% of the time.
There is no need for a recall because everyone should still be within their 30 day return window anyway.
Wow. So many left handed people out there eh?? Lol
I don’t think Apple will give away bumpers. Their bumpers are a premium case. The after-market case makers are charge $30-$40 for similar products. No reason to give away a case of that quality.
If apple is going to give away something to insulate the antenna from your hand, I think it will be something much cheaper. Maybe a thin plastic/rubber/silicon band that you can put around your phone if you have the issue. Definitely no metal button extensions for volume and such, like the bumper case. Just a cheap band with cutouts.
@ RL
I want an iphone 4 that works properly. If the choice is between returning the defective one and having no iphone, or keeping it and having an iphone that is inconvenient to use, I’ll choose the latter. That doesn’t mean a recall is not in order.
actually i think they should recall them
mines got the issue and i had to buy a case for it and it looks crap.
plus if future models are gunna be fixed and ive got a crap one which needs a case to work i think thats unfair, especially when here in the uk if you bought one on launch day not all the networks had them and therefore it costs you more tariff wise.
i’m happy to wait till they’ve got it sorted but ill be pissed if its just a case, apple need to bite the bullet recall it and say there was an error. They should then offer people who have one already a new fixed model in either white or black !
If they give you a case they are gunna be a laughing stock, they’ll be adverts like ‘theres a case for that’ mocking them. Its not like it cant take the hit.
iPhone 4 is my first apple product i bought myself and if they dont fix it altogether its going back. A phone should work first and foremost and whilst i love my iphone and am prepared to wait for a new one without the problem i arent happy paying all that money for one that is essentially defective.
I’d have way more respect for apple if they admitted it and solved it. If i had any other phone it would have gone back already.
The only reason I do not have an iPhone 4 is I could not get my hands on one!
A disappointment that may be fortunate. All the publicity about bad signal and dropped calls I was prepared to ignore as the tendency for those with a problem to shout more than those who are not having trouble. Plus AT & T seems to get a lot of criticism so maybe it is not entirely a phone problem.
This afternoon I changed my mind. I was sitting opposite someone on a train in the middle of London – not a poor signal area. She dropped her phone call 4 times in about 10 minutes. She was not actually holding the phone in her hand it was lying flat on her lap and she was using earphones. It did not have a case fitted but no hand was touching. I asked her if it was giving her much trouble – the answer was an emphatic yes and she was thinking of returning it! Her last words were “Don’t buy one!”
I hope Apple sorts out the PR and if necessary the engineering pretty quick.
Better to admit a mistake even if it means an expensive recall than trying to bluff it out and let your competitors seize the initiative. A big short term loss maybe but an enormous long term gain in consumer trust.
I am now convinced and will wait and see what happens
All the hysteria puts the iPhone 4 in the limelight. Ever since Fizzmondo stole exploited and extorted the prototype, committing several blatant felonies, this iPhone 4 launch has been a soap opera.
In 3 months the iPhone 4 will bust all sales records internationally and go on to conquer the globe. Even a pygmy in Zombobway has heard all about it by now and will want to get his hands on it.
I love my iPhone 4! I don’t care “if I have to hold it with a pair of salad tongs to use it”. I have a bumpper on it and I have no issues what so ever. Not only that but it feels right with it on there. It’s not as slick so I don’t have to worry about it slipping out of my hands. I can’t stand all the BS about this nonissue, if you don’t like it don’t buy it and go get a subpar phone with a slew of other problems. F’n morons!!!!!!
@Dmitri
Every time Apple gives away a case they could have sold, it costs them the full $29 they would have sold it for.
If they sell 10 million iphone 4s, and 1/3 would have bought bumpers, that’s 3.33 million X $29… That’s $96.6M.
Pushing 100 million dollars… Yeah, apple does NOT want to do that, I assure you.
Irrelevant. Don’t use RIAA/MPAA math, you’re better than that. Unsold product should never ever count as “lost” revenue.
I just wish we knew if every iPhone 4 was affected. Based on the evidence thus far, all units should be affected because it looks like a design flaw.
A case is also not a fix. No way. Having to use a case in order for a unit to function properly is not a fix. It’s just an admission of guilt. And no, we’re not “crazy” for not using a case as some people have suggested. Some of us hate cases. And after owning 2 different iPhones and using them without cases, never had a problem. No scratched screens, no damage… I just use the phone naked because I get to experience the real design that way.
If this affects every unit, the phone is flawed and it needs to be recalled. Period. I don’t care how much more sensitive the new antennae is. It doesn’t matter if when you hold the phone it dumps the signal. It’s totally moot.
People are just delusional over this issue. Everyone is an expert. So many different ideas floating around. But the sad reality is that it’s likely a design flaw and Apple screwed up. Period. No excuses.
@ UM True, and some people will have insurance – i got it so i can live without the worry if i break it, so i don’t need to worry about putting it in a case. If it was meant to have a case apple would have supplied it in the box. To say it needs one makes apple look like a joke, it ruins the design (a big factor with any apple product) and ultimately it shouldn’t need one to work. I mean why don’t they just redesign the bumper and release it at WWDC every year.
The real issue is if its a fault they need to halt production and amend it (it cant be a massive fix). They should then swap all the faulty ones to the fixed ones and carry on.
Even though the return period of distance selling laws in the UK has passed min (7 days) i reckon anyone in the UK wouldnt have a bothered getting it taken back contract or not, as the phone is ultimately not fit for purpose.
It bugs me there are somee propper die hard apple people saying stuff like everyones a fucking idiot for questioning it when really apple shouldnt have got into this mess anyway. Its not about – wanting a different phone its about wanting an iphone that works simple as.
I love my phone, i like apple but i don’t buy something to then have it not work correctly, or have to buy or be given something else to solve it. The fact apple made it and i trust they’ll fix it means i’m happy to wait… for now.
I think apple has got off fairly lightly so far. I spoke with my phone company about it and advised them I’m happy to wait for now to see if it gets fixed. They told me apple was working on the issue blah blah. If it doesn’t get fixed or i’m given a bumper then i’ll give it them back and go on a 12month contract for a 3gs and wait till iPhone 5. I reckon a lot of people are waiting to see what apple come up with, 12-24 months is a long time to be with a phone that isnt working as it should.
I do wonder what the return line at Apple stores will look like 29 days after the launch. Might be pretty long I would guess. Right now earliest adopters are likely waiting until the last minute. Those who sold their old phones need to have plans about what to do I would imagine. I am keeping mine but it does sound like many will not.
I have a bumper and can more easily lose all my bars with it in place than without. But, here’s the really odd thing: I conducted a test yesterday holding the phone in the death grip sans bumper and with no bars. I made seven calls friends and Continental Airlines, told each my purpose for the call. I conversed for five minutes on each call asking each to keep in mind, the clarity of my voice, static, loss of voice, etc.
Then I called each back and repeated the exact process.
RESULT: with no bars at any time, no dropped calls, no loss of clarity, and the calls clearer than any phone, iPhone or not. So there seems to be an attenuation problem, no doubt, but why no loss of calls. Why all this hue and cry especially over CR’s rather flawed report, an organization better reporting on vacuums and washers and dryers.
Finally, hen I do hold my phone for conversation, I never use the death grip. There’s a far better way and maybe SJ was right all along–hold it differently–uh, I mean correctly. There is a better and more correct way. It’s just too bad that his response seemed snooty and uncaring when I think it was an honest, heartfelt reply that went wrong. Maybe he needs some new spin masters.
Before commenting about the cost of the bumpers, perhaps one should see one first.
It is not a penny rubber band.
• If those Bumper cases are costing Apple $5 each, they need to renegotiate with their Chinese supplier(s).
No shit. Monoprice has cases starting at $1.44!
A sensible and measured take from MDN this time. Well done.
@ Neomonkey
You have no idea about what the Bumper looks like or how it is constructed.
To compare it to a piece of plastic shit…you need another asshole.
@Bongo
Isn’t is bedtime? Go away.
@UM
You sound suspiciously like a self-proclaimed expert with *the one and only valid answer*
Since you will not be satisfied with any response other than an iPhone 4 redesign, I strongly suggest that you return your iPhone 4 for a full refund while you still can. You can either go back to a 3GS, or go with Android or Symbian or whatever. But just go. I can (and will) make my own non-delusional judgment on the matter, thanks very much.
> Arnold Ziffel wrote: Regular readers of MDN will notice most of the people posting negative thoughts about Apple and this non-issue are not regular posters.
As opposed to irregular readers?
This “non-issue” appears to be quite a big deal actually – especially to Apple. They’re obviously taking the design flaw pretty seriously.
And, you’re obviously just turning a blind eye to something that exists right in plain sight!
The iPhone 4 is an awesome phone! But it does have that one big fault. Can it be fixed or worked around? Yes!
Your position (in line with MDN) is to ignore and downplay. I hope the Apple that many of us admire, chooses to do the opposite – acknowledge and fix! We’ll find out tomorrow I guess.
wtf? MDN wants free bumbers?¿
Pink or Blue?¿ xD
If Apple doesn’t recall these phones, I suspect they are going to lose a lot of customers who always expected them to “make the best product they can”… The iphone 4 is no where near as good as it could be, and Apple has snafu’d this entire launch, from the early leaks, to the proximity sensor problems, to the antenna problems, to the white iphone not being available (not even having the courtesy to let people know well in advance), to shortages of the phone. All of this points to a company that is caring more and more about it’s bottom line, and less and less about its customers…