Apple Holding iPhone 4 Press Conference on Friday

[ChuckG]

I'm very intrigued as to what this is.

2. Ive stepping down would be a more reasonable solution, I believe. He seems tapped out. Aside from the unibody MacBook Pros his designs have been exactly the same since 2005/2006.

That is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever read online, and I regularly endure reading the trollish comments at Engadget.

Jony Ive is regarded by the design community as the best period. The responsibility over the iPhone 4's QA or lack thereof falls directly on one man, and one man only: Steve Jobs. He's intimately involved with the design and engineering process and reports out there pointed out Apple had 2 versions of the iPhone 4: the new case, as well as one similar to the 3G/3GS. Somewhere along the testing process, Steve pulled the trigger on the new enclosure, and now, we all know what happened.

Because Steve Jobs is such a hands-on CEO that micromanages the aesthetic of the company, he'll inevitably take the heat for giving too much a priority to design over engineering.

In my opinion, Apple has most likely already settled on a fix such as applying a clear coating to the stainless steel antenna, as iFixit has suspected. It's another slap in the face to Apple early adopters (eg, $599 iPhone), but I assume Apple will avoid issuing a massive recall. The problem is that it'd be pretty difficult to apply a clear coat to the antenna part, because it's an integral structure and chassis of the phone.

Best case scenario: A voluntary recall and replacement with new coated iPhone 4s. Refurb inventory increases to historic levels.

Free Bumpers just won't cut it.

Which brings me to my conspiracy theory. Apple may have known beforehand about the flimsy antenna, and therefore came up with a 'convenient' and profitable solution. This only makes Steve look even worse.

I don't see Apple's premium brand avoiding erosion after this though. I would personally recommend against any early adoption of future Apple products. The defective i7 iMacs and other recent iProducts may have flown under the radar, but not for such a mainstream product, such as the iPhone.

/endrant

 

[impulse77]

Press conference on iPad iOS 4.

 

[neutrino23]

Ahem, at 2 different apple stores I held my iphone 3G and several of the iphone 4s.. I was able to duplicate the signal loss on everyone of the iphone 4s.. After cupping my hand completely around the 3g I managed to lose 1 single bar…. so no there's is an issue.

I was curious about this and only tried it at one store and with only one phone but I was not able to get the iPhone 4 signal meter to drop even one bar no matter how I held it; left hand right hand, fingers bridging the gap, two hands around the phone, etc. Perhaps there was much stronger signal the place I tried it?

 

[klrobinson999]

I don't know about anyone else but I went "Huh, people still read that..."

absolutely. Per Wikipedia, Consumer Reports has a circulation of 7 MILLION PLUS per month, making it the #4 magazine in terms of circulation.

Nope, not read at all......

 

[Wild-Bill]

Point one...wrong. They always pick one product to recommend in each category, but they make it clear that it does not mean don't buy the others.

Point two... if they are deleting the articles... how the HECK do you know they are... or were there?

Point three... Ahhh... this is the Apple Rumor site... we like our Apple products and announcements like this press conference are usually a good thing because the mother ship is answering our calls... or dropped calls in this case!

Point 1 - No, you are making excuses for Apple.
Point 2 - It was widely reported the other day. Oh, and, Bing cached those threads before they were deleted
Point 3 - This press conference is nothing more than DAMAGE CONTROL.

 

[e-coli]

For me, the signal issue is prevalent only in places where the signal is a little weak to begin with. Not much of an issue in NYC. But head upstate and I've got reception problems. Outside the City my wife's 3GS gets better reception hands down. Most of my calls go straight to voicemail.

 

[Popeye206]

If it was going to be recalled they would hold the press conference at the beginning of the week to deal with all of the media fallout, not on a Friday when everyone wants to enjoy their weekend.

Not really... bad news is best given on a Friday because is gets lost over the weekend. People are distracted and out playing.... that's why they always have product announcements at the beginning of the week so you get a week of coverage.

I say recall is coming.

 

[tingly]

"Can't recommend" falls far short of "don't buy." The issue merely caused it to miss making the recommended shortlist, like most of the phones they have tested.

 

[TripHop]

Defective Units Are already Being Replaced For Free At Apple Stores

If the rumours are true then a non conductive coating will probably be put on the antenna of up coming iPhones, but they won't replace current versions.

They're already replacing defective units at the Genius Bar. So it's not a problem.

 

[Warbrain]

Press release at 10AM. My iPhone 4 returned at 10:30AM.

Good riddance. Don't let the door hit you.

absolutely. Per Wikipedia, Consumer Reports has a circulation of 7 MILLION PLUS per month, making it the #4 magazine in terms of circulation.

Nope, not read at all......

7 million when it was likely read by twice or three times more people just a few years ago.

 

[Woz4Prez]

Newsflash: phones have been using glass for a while now. Nothing new.

Since you're so certain that industrial designers and Ive are insignificant, show us some of your designs. In fact, engineer a new iMac or iPhone, I'd love to learn everything you know, I'm sure Ive would be THRILLED.

PS you have to have engineering, especially with regards to electronics, to function as Ive. Ive doesn't simply draw something and saw "Eureka!"

Hey, look kid, don't get your panties all in a bunch. First, I already excluded INDUSTRIAL engineers, such as those that work on autos or aircraft. Ive is not an industrial engineer. Consumer electronics is not industrial.

We (my partner and I) thought the same way as you. We had 10 designers on staff for our web and application development company. Two years ago, we literally started getting swamped with intern request (bad economy = grads with no jobs, especially art 'school' grads). Little did I know how fortuitous this was. We looked into the work produced by our designers and how much time they spent doing nothing (surfing the web, copying stuff off web forums (CSS literally copy and paste)).

Long story short, got rid of 10 developers, replaced them with interns working near minimum wage. Saved nearly $700,000 (salaries, benefits, etc...). Customers love the work. Our devs were ECSTATIC (one said due to the increased maturity level in the building). Interns work hard because they are trying to impress and get hired. That don't have the entitlement most designers have. That saved money went to marketing efforts and sales are up 21% in a recession.

Live and learn I guess. Point is, the interns actually didn't need training and they outproduced. That speaks volumes.

Just speakin from experience.


____________________________________________________________

 

[cferra]

I really believe that on Friday, they will announce the phone will be available for at least one additional carrier, if for no other reason than to get people to stop talking about whatever reception issues there are.

Chris

 

[digitalbiker]

This is so ridiculous that Steve Jobs probably just can't stomach dealing with the public anymore.

He delivers an incredible device with best in class low light camera, best in class size, better GPS, gyro, compass, high performance processor, double the ram, and a magnificent retina display.

So what happens? Record sales but then disaster strikes.

"Hey, if I touch the phone right here, under certain conditions, in weak signal areas, my bars go down, Man this thing is JUNK! I'd return the rotten phone if I didn't love it so much. Apple Sucks!'

Jobs is probably shaking his head and thinking of retiring early on Friday.

This actually sounds like a Simpsons cartoon. Grow up people. Apple will correct most of this with a software update. Any other issues could be resolved with a case which everyone needs anyway if they want to protect their phone from damage.

If you are really unhappy, return the phone. If you like the phone, enjoy it, it is a modern miracle of engineering.

 

[admanimal]

Hey, look kid, don't get your panties all in a bunch. First, I already excluded INDUSTRIAL engineers, such as those that work on autos or aircraft. Ive is not an industrial engineer. Consumer electronics is not industrial.

We (my partner and I) thought the same way as you. We had 10 designers on staff for our web and application development company. Two years ago, we literally started getting swamped with intern request (bad economy = grads with no jobs, especially art 'school' grads). Little did I know how fortuitous this was. We looked into the work produced by our designers and how much time they spent doing nothing (surfing the web, copying stuff off web forums (CSS literally copy and paste)).

Long story short, got rid of 10 developers, replaced them with interns working near minimum wage. Saved nearly $700,000 (salaries, benefits, etc...). Customers love the work. Our devs were ECSTATIC (one said due to the increased maturity level in the building). Interns work hard because they are trying to impress and get hired. That don't have the entitlement most designers have. That saved money went to marketing efforts and sales are up 21% in a recession.

Live and learn I guess. Point is, the interns actually didn't need training and they outproduced. That speaks volumes.

Just speakin from experience.
:

Wait, are you seriously comparing Jonny Ive (or Apple's design team as a whole) to a bunch of apparently mediocre web designers?

 

[Poll Smoker]

7 million when it was likely read by twice or three times more people just a few years ago.

Really?

That's the best you can come up with?

I love people who respond with something like "it was likely read by twice or three times..." as if it bolsters their argument!

And to top it off, they're too stupid or lazy to take a minute and actually look up the easily-accessible information that would back-up their claim.

 

[iObject]

will steve be there or phil?

will it be streamed?

this is surreal

 

[movieator]

I hope they do something a bit more substantial than just offer free bumpers, because all I know is that Apple's response to this issue is going to determine if and when I upgrade.

 

[damitssam]

Wifi exists much more then just home and starbucks.... work & school. How many college students you think use their university wifi or workers at a company. Think about it. Most of iphone uses are white collar aka theres internet at work. So no **** they arent going to use 200 mb of data.

My money is that Apple says the press is over exaggerating and that they attack Consumer Reports head on. I just really don't see Apple ever admitting that they messed up. It's not in their nature to admit anything that they do is wrong, so I don't see them starting now.

While this is a big stupid design error (and one that they obviously knew existed before it came out), the fact remains that the average iPhone user doesn't use their phone for anything so probably doesn't even recognize the issue. And by average I don't consider anyone here average. AT&T said that 94% of iPhone users on their network are less than 200MB a month. If you can stay under 200MB it means you don't do a damn thing on your phone. Wi-Fi is not yet available in enough public areas to be on Wi-Fi 24/7 so if you DO find yourself on Wi-Fi that much it means you're at home or Starbucks and you're never using your phone when you're outside.

Mobile minute usage has gone down tremendously in favor of messaging and I'd put my job on it that anyone who IS having a problem with this issue thinks it's AT&T's fault with reception before they even consider it to be an Apple related issue.

So, if I was a gambling man, I'm going with Apple pulling a Matrix-like "there is no spoon" and saying that there is no issue and that the media is just blowing this way out of proportion.

I actually would be shocked if Apple admits they aren't perfect and messed up and actually does something about it.

 

[JAT]

I also do not think a recall would be good. Mass hysteria.

Mass hysteria of 22 year old nitwits.

Yawn.

 

[Shanpdx]

Leave Steve Jobs And Apple Alone

like Leave Britney alone

cannot wait, one more day to Friday 10AM

 

[AudiA4]

Wild Bill - he is totally correct. They simply failed to give it the coveted "Recommended Buy"...perhaps for good reason, but the lack of that moniker is true for MOST of the phones (and any other product) they list.

I listened to a Kim Commando radio report this morning that was completely false...she kept saying on the air that CR recommended not buying the phone. This is completely false, and furthermore, she conveniently failed to mention that it topped the list of their tested phones!! Sheesh...

 

[The Monkey]

All the gnashing of teeth is kind of adorable.

 

[Poll Smoker]

I find it interesting that he's been a MacRumors member since 2007 and owns a lot of Apple products, yet throws around "fanboy". Ironic? Yes. Enlightened? No.

I find it interesting that you can't differentiate between someone who enjoys using Apple products, and someone who thinks the company is infallible, and would stick their dick in an iPhone if it fit.

 

[heavy2healthy]

The problem is Steve probably is surrounded with yes men. Who arent doing him any favors. He should of come out and said sometimes when you push the envelope on innovation problems occur.Well it happened this time and we apologize to our loyal customers. Everyone gets a bumper and if your not happy please return it for a full refund. I give you my word as chairman of apple this will never happen again.
If he did that he would of been Times Man of the Year.

 

[ChuckG]

Your avatar is ridiculous. It is basically saying that iOS is an epic fail. If you are trying to say the iPhone 4 is an "epic fail"

Dude, he's poking fun at the disastrous MobileMe launch. People were fired after many reported outages the weeks following the launch. Geez.