“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.
@ 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.