MacDailyNews Take: It was at that exact point that we went off: “Bzzzt! Wrong answer, Steve. Try again… iPhone 4. Not only does it disappear in bars when it’s put down, but its bars disappear when it’s picked up. Talk about ‘magical.’ …If the iPhone 4 requires a ‘case’ or rubber ‘bumper” in order to operate properly, then Apple should provide one in every box free of charge. All that said, the iPhone 4 is the best smartphone/pocket computer we’ve ever used. We wouln’t give our units up even if they had to held with salad tongs.”
Bajarin continues, “By the time the press conference rolled around, however, Jobs had taken complete charge of the problem—and he had taken responsibility for it. Jobs made Apple’s response and fix quite personal. His initial e-mail may have seemed flippant, but I sense that Jobs’s response was a reflection of his trust in his staff and the technology itself. Apple is an engineering company—technology is its focus. The technology isn’t always perfect, but Apple tries hard to be the best-in-breed with each product it brings to market.”
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“That fact was really driven home for me when a group of us were allowed to visit Apple’s antenna lab after the press conference. This too was unprecedented—until then, no outsiders had ever been allowed in this super secret lab. During out tour, we saw eight of the 16 special anechoic chambers the company uses to test antenna accuracy. Our tour guide explained that the company conducts tortuous tests to ensure that any antenna it creates is highly sensitive and accurate,” Bajarin reports. “I have been inside similar testing facilities in Japan, Korea, and the Midwest. Apple’s setup was the most sophisticated I have ever seen. This fact was driven home for me when an executive from another handset company told me that, at first, his company was elated that Apple had made such a ‘misstep’ with the iPhone 4’s antenna.”
“However, once the company realized that Apple had actually created a real breakthrough with its latest antenna design, the joy was short-lived,” Bajarin reports. “That fact became even more clear during subsequent conversations with two other top-notch antenna designers. They told me that Apple’s antenna is best-in-breed and predicted that other manufacturers will be forced to try to match it in the future.”
Bajarin reports, “History will show whether antennagate will have a long term effect on Apple’s image or sales, but either way it will certainly affect the company itself. You can bet that this type of mistake will never happen again.”
Read more in the full article here.
No shit Sherlock…
Apple has always been the leader that others follow.
You what? 3GS in one hand full 5 bar 3G signal iPhone 4 in the other with 1 bar 3G signal how can this be the best antenna design. I think not !!!
@Lava_Head_UK
Unless you have both phones running IOS 4.0.1 with the update to the signal strength algorithm, you are making a false conclusion. A week after this FUD exploded Apple stated that the algorithm they have been using for the past 2 years fir the 3G and 3 GS was not displaying proper signal strength particularly ib areas where signals were weak.
Thanks Lava_Head for that in depth analysis. I’m convinced.
Best in breed, but not good enough for CR to recommend?
@Lava_Head_UK
It is curious how, when a so-called tech analyst speak without any real and serious proofs, a lot of people believes him. And when a specialist (in this case, 3 of them) tell that iPhone 4 is the best in class, those same people don’t believe them.
Stupid is as stupid does®
“… this type of mistake …” What mistake? Letting it get talked up so much? Steve showed everyone that this is a great innovative design, fully tested in top notch cutting edge labs (and in some local bars), and can be dampened by the laws of physics (like ALL cell phones). Again, WHAT MISTAKE? When Apple got the AT&T results of 101 vs 100 dropped calls that backed up the lab testing, Steve Jobs believed it was time to shed some facts on the over blown “antennagate” story. And offered a full refund or a bumper to Apple’s valued customers.
Steve and Apple killed this story and the smart phone iPhone killers no longer have “antennagate” to hide behind!
Both iPhones with 4.0.1 both on the same network and both in the same room not much more to be said really
And just WHO–exactly–are YOU? Tell me, LHUK, would you stop just anyone on the sidewalk outside Buckingham Palace and ask him to evaluate the performance of Mr. Barkley’s stock year-over-year . . . and then act on that advice?
Of course not, for why would one lend any credence whatsoever to advice from a perfect stranger?
Same goes for you. For all we know, you’re a RIMMer, or perhaps a DROIDer, or perhaps a SYMBIANer, or (better yet) a rosy PALMer.
A troll by any other name is still a troll. Keep up the good work, T.
The antenna kicks butt!!! I get a stronger signal in areas that I had one bar or no service at all. Steve was right, this is an American company and too much stuff is done in other countries. We need to support U.S. companies and not tear them down, especially in the media. This is a great product, so great in fact that people are still rushing to make a purchase.
The mistake is only this: Apple has grown so fast and gotten so big, that it failed to ramp up it’s idiot proofing and legal disclaimers like all the other handset manufacturers have. So, they have had to double back and explain the technology to all the idiots. The trouble with idiots though, is no amount of explaining with wash out the idiocy. Once they hear something, they are tainted, and tend to taint the other idiots. This is the nature of the internet, where many idiots tend to be born and feed off each other. The real world of empirical evidence and real testing and incredible technology is surreal to them.
Never underestimate the idiots.
I don’t know about you, but I never have ever held a phone in any sort of death grip. I tend to hold my phones with my thumb and first two fingers. I generally use a case, but even if I don’t I rarely see call failures from holding the phone.
@ the twitt with no user name.
Go crawl back under the rock you came from and have a nice life, I am entitled to express my observations just like any one else on here. Why not become a registered user and enlighten us with some proper comments
Lava Head, get a case and be happy you own the greatest phone on earth. Apple is aware of the issue and is still working on it.
SJ’s email to user…..was not the “wrong answer”…because, as he said in the Q/A, it wasn’t an email addressed to everyone, but simply to one user. And as he said in the Q/A, he though it “rude” for folks to publish email he sent to them personally all over the web.
user to SJ: Steve, when I hold the iphone like this, my reception drops
SJ: don’t hold it that way
…this all seems pretty reasonable to me. What was he supposed to say “OMG, lets recall the whole product line. You must have discovered something that we were not aware of. Let me call gizmodo and put the news out right now”
…yeah, right
You can have the best lab and equipment in the universe, but if you don’t know how to use it to perform the necessary tests it doesn’t mean much. No way the antenna can be considered the best in class if a single finger touch can kill it.
Putting the most amount of resources/having the best equipment does not guarantee the best end product. Proof? Look at Microsoft and how much they spend on R&D.
@grandxadmiral
I have a Griffin case which covers all the stainless steel around the phone, I think I’ll be getting an exchange handset from apple when they get stock at my local apple store in Brighton
Antenna gate is rubbish. The iPhone 4 antenna is better than the previous iPhone antennas, even when it is being held “incorrectly”, the reception is better than all previous iPhones according to all independent tests.
How long will it take for us to realize that a bumper or a case is a COVER UP not a fix.
The iP4 antenna problems are profound. It’s the worse design of any mobile phone. Putting a rubber band around the rim does not fix the phone, in fact – it ruins the look, feel and uniqueness – one of the main reasons of forking over huge amounts of money to buy it and then to use it.
Steve Jobs is truly magical. He can sell us a defective phone, take responsibility for its failings without actually fixing the problem, and we rush in to buy some more.
What complete morons we are to stand for this fraud. Rolling out on stage in that get up of his, making any kind of claim he wants – true or false – and then laughing all the way to the bank with our money.
Amazing.
Read this. It makes the best sense.
Comment from: anaknipedro
Antenna gate is rubbish. The iPhone 4 antenna is better than the previous iPhone antennas, even when it is being held “incorrectly”, the reception is better than all previous iPhones according to all independent tests.
Never underestimate the lack of humor in the tech world. Jobs was (maybe poorly or with ill timing) repeating an old joke that even appeared in Pixar’s “Monsters, Inc.”
Patient: Doctor, it hurts when I turn my head this way.
Doctor: Then don’t turn your head that way.
At least I laughed when I heard it.
I’ve been sitting on my comfy chair reading some stuff on my iP4 for about half an hour and the signal, as per usual at my house, is sitting resolutely at 1 bar. I’ve got an iP3G cover on my iP4 so I slipped it off to see if I could get the signal to drop to zero via the death-grip. Within seconds the signal level went…up to 3 bars and has stayed there for the whole time that it’s taken to type this post. My hand is now getting numb from death-gripping.
In other news, I can’t log on to this site from said phone. Is it me, the site or does Apple really suck after all?
On iP4, I get signal in tunnels of SF’s subway where my 3GS reports “No service”. This antenna holds a call down to -123dB. That’s a staggeringly weak signal.
@Lava_Head_UK…you clearly nailed your username. Rocks for brains.
Good for you if I was in SF I might do too, but I’m not so I don’t I’d rather rocks for brains than S**t for brains. Surely if you were having the problems I am you too might not be very happy after spending £600 on a phone. There really is no need to get personal, is there?
@Lava_Head_UK
No need to get personal? Then why did you call someone a twit?
Personally, I enjoy having s**t for brains. It makes the crap so many folks sling up here smell so much better.
Sounds like you have a bad unit. I sincerely hope you’re able to get a replacement sooner than later so that you can see what 99.45% do, that the phone doesn’t have any more of an antenna issue than any other smartphone and that it seems to rival the performance of all despite being challenged by constantly changing signal dynamics.
How do you forward this article to Uncle Walt?