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Anyone want to bet on it being before the market closes at about 1 pm PST? Friday afternoon press conferences are always bad news.
It's scheduled for 10am local time. I don't know what you guys in SF are doing, but down here on the Peninsula we're on PDT right now. :)
 
I'd love to take bets on this.

I really think they're just going to try and BS their way out of it. 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'll probably do some demonstration where SJ holds the 4 in a death grip whilst they omit that there's a femtocell no more than a few feet away, thus making everyone believe the iPhone 4 is fine because Jobs says it is fine.

That's my prediction.
 
Most likely.

1. Free or discounted bumpers.
2. An additional 1 year of warranty coverage for iphone purchases.
3. A full refund offered to those who act by a certain date, NO restocking fee.
4. NO actual hardware fix in the works.
5. Apple will announce software/firmware update available on whatever date.
 
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.

Link? Far as I know AT&T said 98% of people dont use more than 2 gigabytes.

In fact, here's my link to prove it http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/data-plans.jsp right there underneath the "data pro" section. So obviously your "fact" doesn't remain.
 
Mashable had a great article on what Apple needs to do.

1. Acknowledge That the Antenna Problem Is Real
2. Go into the Technical Details
3. Roll Out the Software Update
4. Make the Bumpers Free
5. No Matter What, Don’t Issue an iPhone 4 Recall

I think you pinned the nail on the donkey with this.
 
That still puts a Band-Aid on a design flaw. For something that's considered the most advance piece of technology. You hold it wrong, it won't work. It's like saying:

"...Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"

Hmm? "Apple Holding iPhone 4 Press Conference on Friday" Are they gonna hold it wrong? :p

To clarify, if you hold it in a way that is one of many natural ways to hold a phone, you will suffer a drop in signal strength that may, if you are in an area of weak reception, cause a dropped call.

!= does not work.
 
I believe Apple will prove that the iPhone 4 has better reception, showing actual DB numbers side by side with previous phones. While the iPhone 4 will exhibit more db loss when being held, the final db will be better overall.
 
"We at Apple knew all along about the antenna issue... But our medical team had determined that good reception is bad for your health... so we opted to save lives. If you don't care about your health, fine, but don't blame us about it."
 
I'm gonna go with the announcement of iCoat (only $99 in your local Apple store). :D
 
Why does everyone think this will be about the reception issues? Don't see that anyone mentioned a Verizon announcement. I honestly expected it a couple weeks ago, but this Friday is close enough for my thinking.
 
Most likely.

1. Free or discounted bumpers.
2. An additional 1 year of warranty coverage for iphone purchases.
3. A full refund offered to those who act by a certain date, NO restocking fee.
4. NO actual hardware fix in the works.
5. Apple will announce software/firmware update available on whatever date.

I'm with the splashnader...this is a good plan for Steve.
 
I would hope that they would offer to repair/recall them...

As much and I and my family love the iPhone 4, we're returning ours before the 30 days is up for a refund.

This fiasco is unacceptable....

Already returned the 1st gen iMac 27"....waiting on 2nd gen
Apple FINALLY offers to fix/replace 2008 Time Capsules...
and now this 1st Gen "resigned" iPhone 4

Seems to me that 1st gen "redesign" anything from Apple is a dud.
 
If at any time, an Apple employee recites the standard line most of us have all heard when talking to AppleCare about our problems with the iPhone 4. . .

"The iPhone 4 is the best phone we've ever released. Its state-of-the-art design allows for crystal clear calls. . ."

I will throw something at my TV. Regardless of this announcement of a press conference on Friday, I am returning my iPhone 4 and purchasing a Droid X tomorrow. Apple should've held this press conference a week to a week and a half ago.

I do believe a press conference of this type is a first for Apple (if not ever, in a long, long time.) My gut feeling is that they will be eating some crow on this one so I won't have to throw anything at my TV. I don't think they'd call a press conference to give us the same tired rhetoric we've all been hearing for the past month about how great the iPhone 4 is.
 
...

Apple has made it's designs for looks over function lately anyway. It shouldn't surprise anyone that this has continued. Ives needs to get canned. Regardless the press release will be jobs stepping down as CEO
 
Wow. Surprising news. One thing is for certain, however -- they'd only do a press conference if there was some sort of major action afoot.

Free bumpers is a non-starter. You don't tell people your product is flawed and then expect them to buy it just because you hand out a case.

My money is on 1) All currently produced models remain on sale; 2) Production lines being retooled for hardware rev with antenna coating or some such; 3) New rev debuts along with the white iPhone; 4) Owners can trade in for new revision when it launches if they so desire.
 
Hopefully Apple "holds" this conference in a way that does not crash my iPhone bars. Ba dum dum!
 
There will be NO recall. Repeat, NO RECALL. That would cause panic among customers, both current and potential. Plus, it would be a disaster for the stock price.

FREE BUMPERS...this is an EASY fix. Consumer Reports itself says the use of a bumper eliminates the problem. They just released a video demonstrating this.

Apple's wiggle room will be that not all iPhone 4 users are effected. For the vast majority, you will experience ZERO problems. However, an iPhone bumper will now be included with each purchase, to ELIMINATE any potential problem. Offering a free bumper to any current iPhone 4 user can also be predicted.



They may also announce an engineering fix (a plastisol coating applied at the factory could perform the same function as a bumper).

Johnny Ive may be a shy guy, but he better be able to defend his product come Friday, and tell the world what his fix is.
 
Something tells me (and this could be totally obvious) that they will give people several options. And that they will somehow make people legitimately feel that the option best for them also happens to be the one least expensive to Apple. They'll say something like, for the 95% of happy users, the good news is you don't have to do anything. I would guess that is their goal. And I would also guess going forward they are making some sort of hardware change to the antennae. So maybe the options for existing owners are return, replace, fix, keep if you're happy, bumper. But I bet they have a hardware change of some sort for future iPhone buyers. Because anyone in the know of this situation (which is a growing number now) either won't want to buy one as it is or will buy it with mixed feelings about Apple.
 
I bet they're announcing that the iPhone 4 is actually running Vista! :D

No really.... this is good.... it will be interesting to see if this is a hardware issue or something they can solve with software... but at least they have a plan now and are ready to tell us. I'm thinking there may be a phone exchange program... turn in the current phone for a new one and then they'll fix the old ones and sell them as reconditioned. :D

Hopefully it covers both the antenna issue and the proximity sensor. The Prox sensor drives me more nuts than the antenna. :p
 
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