Apple Posts Video of iPhone 4 Press Conference, Antenna Information Pages

[rsbagga]

I was just saying... if what steve said was true then exchanging the phone would be the best solution if only .55% effected.
But it more sense the number is alot higher number effected because 1. bumper design was offered at start?? 2. huge number of reports of signal lost (CR, and others) 3. self experiencing it

Here's the thing - the case / bumper thing - I'm convinced they started selling a bumper early on because they want to make money, like any company! Think about it - when they came out with the iPhone, who could've known that iphone cases would be such a huge industry? Apple has previously come out with its own cases (see old school ipod cases) but hasn't done it in a long time - i think after realizing how much of a cash cow it is (lets be honest, it does NOT cost apple, nor any other case manufacturer, 30 dollars to make a piece of plastic to cover the phone), apple decided to get back in. Any smart company would've done the same - they see an accessory market making big money, so they think "we should get in on this."

The main reason, in my estimation, that they're giving them away is to save face. They know people like us are going to endlessly blog about this, and the news folks will discuss it ad nauseum - so this was a way to appease people.

Also, as a lawyer, I think they must've considered the legal implications of their actions. I think they would've definitely recalled had it gone over a .55% rate. I don't think they would want some sort of class action / product liability (defective product) lawsuit on their hands. If we're only talking a few hundred people, this is less of a concern. If it climbed into the thousands, there's a legal issue here. I think this is one of the reasons why they went through such pains to explain why it wasn't more of any issue than any other phone.

I'm really not trying to drink the kool aid that much here guys, I actually think though that this issue was actually overhyped.

 

[rsbagga]

I don't discuss that. My point is that the press have been applauding Jobs, naming him CEO of the year, more blah blah tech company, more this, more that, etc, to the point that it makes people sick of how much Apple they have to diggest everyday. Now that the press is on the other side, he better suck it. That's how life is.

Hahaha. I honestly can't argue with you there. The press loves to make someone a demi god one day, and the next day, the cause of society's decline.

 

[rsbagga]

But it's not a case, it's a "Bumper"! Make you feels better does it that Apple is charging $30 for a peice of material that cost less than a $1 to produce. How much do they love their user's???

Lets be honest, every company loves their users because their users buy their products. This is about money, no doubt. The only positive of the "bumper" design is because no other case (except for those all clear ones) allows you to showcase that you have the latest iphone haha.

 

[DotCom2]

All smart phones have that problem if you put your hand over the antenna, yes...but not all smart phones are stupid enough to have their antenna on the bottom lower corner where your hand is extremely likely to cover it!!! The SMART place to put an antenna is the TOP of the phone where it is least likely to be covered. I guess that's beyond Apple Engineering to figure out and now they WILL pay the price. This has basically handed the market to Android until iPhone 5 comes out, if not permanently. A bumper will not solve the underlying problem which is that it's downright stupid to put the antenna in that location.

The FCC won't allow antennae on the top closest to a humans brain because of radiation issues.

 

[Full of Win]

I live near Chicago. Many cell phone providers collaborated and decided to share a new tower.

The term is co-location. I get a nice little check every month as a landlord for a cell tower company who uses part of my land.

 

[firewood]

I think they would've definitely recalled had it gone over a .55% rate.

Then explain why they didn't recall the 3GS which had a 6% return rate, isn't that several hundred thousand returns?

 

[Shin3r]

All smart phones have that problem if you put your hand over the antenna, yes...but not all smart phones are stupid enough to have their antenna on the bottom lower corner where your hand is extremely likely to cover it!!! The SMART place to put an antenna is the TOP of the phone where it is least likely to be covered. I guess that's beyond Apple Engineering to figure out and now they WILL pay the price. This has basically handed the market to Android until iPhone 5 comes out, if not permanently. A bumper will not solve the underlying problem which is that it's downright stupid to put the antenna in that location.

Many phones have their antenna on the bottom because that's how the FCC wants it. Do your homework before you speak.

 

[41qser]

Also, as a lawyer, I think they must've considered the legal implications of their actions. I think they would've definitely recalled had it gone over a .55% rate. I don't think they would want some sort of class action / product liability (defective product) lawsuit on their hands. If we're only talking a few hundred people, this is less of a concern. If it climbed into the thousands, there's a legal issue here. I think this is one of the reasons why they went through such pains to explain why it wasn't more of any issue than any other phone.

I'm really not trying to drink the kool aid that much here guys, I actually think though that this issue was actually overhyped.

No one is forcing people to buy an iPhone 4.

You can return it for FREE.

You can get out of your ATT contract.

There is NOTHING that will hold water in court in these stupid law suits, which are solely designed to make scummy lawyers rich.

 

[Digital Skunk]

I have to hold my phone REAL TIGHT with BOTH HANDS before I start to loose my signal, and then it only goes from 3 bars down to two, not the "no signal" that I see with the iPhone 4.

And my phone is a 3 year-old pos HTC too.

 

[iRockMan1]

Then explain why they didn't recall the 3GS which had a 6% return rate, isn't that several hundred thousand returns?

Because there was no outstanding issue with it that dictated the need for a recall.

And there isn't one in this case either.

 

[Lestdog]

Pretty good conference until Jobs told us how generous he is. It's just business Steve… You do all that because you want to win but don't act like you're doing us a favor.

 

[rsbagga]

Then explain why they didn't recall the 3GS which had a 6% return rate, isn't that several hundred thousand returns?

I realize my statement was misleading - I didn't mean to imply that the rate of return was the sole factor or dispositive when it comes to product liability (though it certainly is a relevant factor). Rather, after there had been so much discussion within 3 weeks of the phone's release about its problems, had the rate been higher of complaints/actually reported issues, they wouldn't have taken a chance with it. Simply put, no one made a big deal about any reported issues with the 3GS, and with the small percentage of people returning them, it could easily be established that these were isolated incidents. However, with widespread attention to this issue, were there also a ton of reported incidents, Apple would've had a tougher time defending the allegation that there was a design defect were they sued over the issue.

 

[iRockMan1]

I have to hold my phone REAL TIGHT with BOTH HANDS before I start to loose my signal, and then it only goes from 3 bars down to two, not the "no signal" that I see with the iPhone 4.

And my phone is a 3 year-old pos HTC too.

Are you comparing the two on the same 3G network? It's entirely dependent on the location and the signal.

 

[rsbagga]

No one is forcing people to buy an iPhone 4.

You can return it for FREE.

You can get out of your ATT contract.

There is NOTHING that will hold water in court in these stupid law suits, which are solely designed to make scummy lawyers rich.

Hahaha as one of those "scummy lawyers" (but actually a former felony prosecutor with a specialization in civil rights ) I can tell you i'm on your side on this one! I agree, there is nothing to this - I'm just saying, I'm sure they thought about the repercussions when they made the decision not to recall!

 

[chagla]

so apple admits there IS an issue. and it's not At&T. now that we're clear on that, lets see whom other than apple will the fanboys blame now.

maybe they'll just quote god and say, "you're holding it wrong".

interestingly, god somehow dislikes Nokia and even says their phone drop signal but you would think god will try to justify his claims with a demonstration. No Nokia phone to demo the "signal loss" issue.

 

[Digital Skunk]

Are you comparing the two on the same 3G network? It's entirely dependent on the location and the signal.

I would think it's only dependent on the phone? But then again, some people don't seem to have a problem at all with their iPhone 4. I wonder if they live right next to an AT&T tower or something.

 

[patsfan83]

All smart phones have that problem if you put your hand over the antenna, yes...but not all smart phones are stupid enough to have their antenna on the bottom lower corner where your hand is extremely likely to cover it!!! The SMART place to put an antenna is the TOP of the phone where it is least likely to be covered. I guess that's beyond Apple Engineering to figure out and now they WILL pay the price. This has basically handed the market to Android until iPhone 5 comes out, if not permanently. A bumper will not solve the underlying problem which is that it's downright stupid to put the antenna in that location.

Let's put the antenna next to the person's brain. Real smart.

 

[inhrntlyunstabl]

Bars are not the best way to compare if they don't mean actually the same thing

I would think it's only dependent on the phone? But then again, some people don't seem to have a problem at all with their iPhone 4. I wonder if they live right next to an AT&T tower or something.

Comparing the bars is a bit like looking at each other's speedometers to see how high up they go and then equating it to performance or top-end speed.
Is the HTC's signal strength algorithm the same as Apple's? What ANANDTECH's posting proved was you have to know what the bars actually mean to truly understand the issue. Some phones might drop calls at 1 bar, some at 2 bars, some at no bars, etc. - but all could be at the same signal strength as displayed on their bar 'chart'.

My 3GS drops from 4 bars to 2 bars with a death grip. But that's meaningless to me. I've only had 3 dropped calls in 2 years. I can live with this and never cared how many bars I had (until antennagate of course).

 

[gtsipad]

Now will you hysterical ninnies change your napkin and get a life? Proof is in the pudding. Can't argue with it. People are not calling Apple and they are not returning the phone. People trust Apple not hack bloggers and lazy stupid dishonest "journalists" or silly low life haters.

Or absolutely pathetic media hog senators....schumer is a schmuck of the first kind.

 

[afireintonto]

Yay for free cases!
One otterbox defender please!
Incase is taking forever to make a case this time around:/

 

[rmwebs]

The first thing that comes to mind when I see the pictures of those testing chambers:

"Hello, and again, welcome to the Aperture Science Computer-Aided Enrichment Center."

Portal rules! Guessing you also got the free copy when the Mac version came out?

Cant wait for #2!





(back on topic)


Can everyone stop bitching now? You've got a lot of options:

1 - Dont like it? Get a full refund
2 - No problem? Get a free bumper anyway
3 - Poor signal? See #2

It's as simple as that. Now shut up, grab a cold bevvy and enjoy your weekend!

 

[jzuena]

Isn't that Apple's fault? When they release a product, they make it look like they have found the cure for cancer. Now that they have failed with one of such MAGICAL devices, they have to suck it. Probably this will give Steve a very much needed amount of humbleness.

I thought it was the iPad that was magical. The iPhone just changes everything... again

FWIW, I haven't had any dropped calls and now I'm getting my $30 back for the bumper that I only bought on launch day because I had heard about antenna-gate already. Looks good from my point of view

 

[msheredy]

IS REALLY TRYING to drop the signal.

LOL! What with jedi mind tricks!?

 

[inhrntlyunstabl]

This is an easy one...

so apple admits there IS an issue. and it's not At&T. now that we're clear on that, lets see whom other than apple will the fanboys blame now.

maybe they'll just quote god and say, "you're holding it wrong".

interestingly, god somehow dislikes Nokia and even says their phone drop signal but you would think god will try to justify his claims with a demonstration. No Nokia phone to demo the "signal loss" issue.

There IS an issue. Can't live with it - take it back for a full refund. Buy another phone. Stop using Apple products. There - how's that for a fanboy response.

The real issue is Apple has created a product that in almost all ways satisfies even people that are highly critical of them. Now that they have a well publicized focal point, these same people are upset their Apple product isn't 100% perfection. Steve said it well today - Apple and their products are not perfect. The iPhone is no exception. Everyone's ideal of perfection is different. Apple has had to decide what they are willing to risk with respect to their response. Now it is in your court. Vote with your wallet. If enough people return or don't buy the iPhone, maybe either Apple we'll respond with a better design or lose significant respect as an successful innovator, aka Microsoft.

But at this point I expect people with WAY too much time on their hands to continue to avoid returning the iPhone, partly because they don't suffer too many dropped calls, BUT continue to lambast Apple -AND- fanboys of Nokia or other manufacturers to continue to lambast Apple because they think they are in some sort of paid evangelist role or something.

Summary, Apple offering full refunds. If you don't take it, stop complaining. If you're a stockholder, then you can keep complaining.

 

[gr8tfly]

The FCC won't allow antennae on the top closest to a humans brain because of radiation issues.

They're would be the same distance restriction (and/or power) if it were on your hip. Read up on SAR (the FCC has a consumer information page about it).

Putting the antenna at the bottom places it away from any part of the body (it's simple geometry) - antennas like to work in free-space (assuming you hold the phone by the edges against your ear and leave the bottom open).