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-iMac yellow screen = monitor department, manufacturing issue - not a design issue

-iMac flickering = monitor department, manufacturing issue - not a design issue

-iPad huge bezel = designed so that hands would have an area to hold the iPad without activating the screen

With the exception of the iPhone 4, I agree. Ive is a brilliant industrial designer. He has received much recognition from highly regarded industrial designers and reviewers. In fact, I would credit Ive with Apple's resurgence than Jobs. Jobs is the visionary and business man while Ive is the braun, the creative that puts Jobs' ideas to work.

I have read much speculation regarding this recent iPhone 4 issue and how Apple may have overlooked this fault. As was the instance with the Apple employee whose iPhone was stolen, most (if not all) of Apple's team who tested the iPhone did so inside a 3G/3GS casing. In addition, on campus testing may have been conducted with superior AT&T signal strength and coverage (after all, it would be imperative for Apple to have the best coverage AT&T may provide). These two combined with the overload on AT&T's network may be part and partial to the reason Apple was unable to foresee this as a major dilemma.


Seeing as their core iCrap audience is 10 year old boys, DUH.

At least the Wham-o superball BOUNCED.

:apple:

I don't agree with this. Most of Apple's iDevice clientele are not young as you suggest. In fact, most people that purchase iMac's, iPhone's, etc. are in the 35-50 year age group. As a prosumer user, I am discouraged by Apple's focus on the consumer market. This is apparent with a blatant disregard for their display lineup, and an extreme focus on the iPod, iPhone and iPad. Apple does not make their money through iTunes sales, they make their money through the products sold that iTunes requires for use. While I am seemingly disregarded as an important consumer to Apple, Inc., the company has made billions from their iDevice market. For that I am thankful. However, it would behove Apple, Inc. to refocus some of their team back into their prosumer market. If they can sell a 27" iMac with an LED LCD IPS panel for $1600, then they certainly can update their display lineup and replace the 7 year old 30" CCFL LCD that sells for $1700. Seems a tad ludicrous.
 
My iphone 4

I don't see the big problem maybe i'm just the luck one but i have know problem at all, and i think a lot of this is just people hyping stuff up. My girlfriend has an EVO and if you cover the whole left side of that phone you drop signal bars too. every phone does. but i guess lol. :cool:
 
What to do?

I'm torn! I Love my iphone 4 but do experience the issue and have dropped calls in addition to sketchy data speeds when holding without a case. I bought a bumper and it seems to work ok but I HATE that I feel duped into buying the bumber to make the phone work correctly. It's the PRINCIPLE !

If there is a "software fix" I bet it will come out 33 days after the launch date and all pre orderd iphones will be non-returnable.

What a pain! not to mention the new 2 year AT&T contract that I can still get out of under 30 days here in Ca. I was month to month.

I have until the 21st to decide.... Back to 3G or be happy with iP4. hmmm
 
Why do people think nagging about a problem on an internet forum is gonna do something about it.
:D

Are you kidding? It is doing something... It has caused Consumer Reports to re-test and confirm the issue and not recommend the phone.

I assure you the shear number of complaints and how active many Apple message boards are is definitely being noticed by Apple and others.

On the flip side, why are you wasting your time telling me how to handle this issue?

As many have stated, Apple should provide a free bumper case to those having the issues. I'm definitely not going to give Apple $30 to workaround an issue with their product.

That would be like a software company charging for their bug fixes. How would you feel if every time Apple came out with an update to fix bugs, you were charged?
 
All I can say is I'm glad I waited for the white iPhone 4 and by the time I get it the hardware will be fixed, the rest of you that needed to have it so badly so they could show it off to their friends will just have to deal with a software fix that MAY or MAY NOT do anything more than place a bandaid on the cut.
 
True. The Dow is down slightly too (at the time I posted this). It's difficult to say what the cause of a stock drop or increase is over the course of an hour (This is barring obvious stuff like if Steve Jobs left the company or something big like that).

Steve Jobs leaving the company would be the absolute best news for Apple since he arrived.

Apple needs someone to think in the near and long term; not the short term and the decades out term the way Jobs does.

:apple:
 
All I can say is I'm glad I waited for the white iPhone 4 and by the time I get it the hardware will be fixed, the rest of you that needed to have it so badly so they could show it off to their friends will just have to deal with a software fix that MAY or MAY NOT do anything more than place a bandaid on the cut.

What makes you think anything will be "fixed" by then? Apple's stance is that it's normal and obviously don't believe a "fix" or "recall" of any type is necessary. Your exhibiting wishful thinking at best, nothing more.
 
I don't see the big problem maybe i'm just the luck one but i have know problem at all, and i think a lot of this is just people hyping stuff up. My girlfriend has an EVO and if you cover the whole left side of that phone you drop signal bars too. every phone does. but i guess lol. :cool:

Well you can stop believing it's just people "hyping stuff up", the problem is real, my phone loses bars, and I don't go around posting this on the internet to "hype stuff up." What does that even mean?
 
I had been planning to leave Verizon for ATT for the new iPhone, but now I'm thinking I'll just get me a Droid Incredible for now ...
 
I'm still very happy with my 3GS but have considered buying the iPhone 4 just because I like the way it looks. I always use a silicone case so I guess I wouldn't see the reception issues other are having.
 
All I can say is I'm glad I waited for the white iPhone 4 and by the time I get it the hardware will be fixed, the rest of you that needed to have it so badly so they could show it off to their friends will just have to deal with a software fix that MAY or MAY NOT do anything more than place a bandaid on the cut.

I am not that shallow and no one I know is shallow enough to spend hundreds of dollars on a item just to "show it off to firends". Seriously, do you really believe that is the whole basis of early adopters? A fashion statement? We get these devices because we think they are cool and love to use them, not show it off like it was some Gucci bag or something.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A293 Safari/6531.22.7)

Fernandez21 said:
Lol at the fanboys still stating this isn't an issue. Granted, it may not be universal, I'm not stating EVERY SINGLE IPHONE IS DEFECTIVE, but quite a bit of people are having this problem. And to say just use a bumper or hold it differently is nuts

Here's an analogy that maybe you will understand. It's like owning a luxury sports car, where everything is so nice and high end and you get like 50 mpg, but for some reason if you move your hands from 10 & 2 the car shuts off and you have pull over and restart it. Or you can buy a tacky steering wheel cover that just clashes with the interior leather. And when you go back to the dealer, their response is to keep you hands at 10 & 2 or buy one of their lovely overpriced steering wheel covers which they just began manufacturing with the release of this new car.

Interesting analogy. Here's the thing - if this phantom car were really my favorite other car in every other way, you're damn right I'd just buy the steering wheel cover. Is it ideal? No. Would i wish they'd designed it differently? Yes. But am I really going to give up a car that I prefer in almost every way over a steering wheel cover? Hell no.
 
Exactly what I've been saying from day one. WE. DO. NOT. KNOW.

The actual cause of the observed behavior is UNKNOWN to us. We can speculate until we're blue in the face but until well executed end-to-end engineering tests are conducted that include all the variables (towers, phone, and OS), we will not know for sure if the behavior can be changed by a firmware upgrade.

The Consumer Reports test was nothing more (or less) than a reproduction of what we all see ourselves. Not an E2E engineering study. For example, it's highly unlikely they were monitoring tower server logs during their tests.

Not a fanboy, not saying there's no problem. Just pointing out that while holding the phone seems to be a very reliable way of making the phone lose signal, we don't know anything about root cause.

Yes very true. Without actual data no one can determine the actual problem with reception. And Apple will NEVER tell us!

The whole issue IMO is how Apple responded initially..... hold it differently. Then releasing a statement that they didn't correctly implement AT&T's signal algorthm.

However, an antenna design where its exposed to external contact (human or otherwise) will affect its ability to provide optimal performance. This is where I think the issue lies. Weak signal areas require the antenna to deliver its best signal to the transmitter/receiver. Strong signal areas don't require the same optimal performance.
 
I don't think Apple can ignore this. Wonder if Mossberg and Pogue will come out with a statement. If the lap dogs defect, Apple's really gonna have to face the truth.

Awesome thought - both Mossberg and Pogue dissing something from Apple.

It'll happen about the time that Satan orders ice skates, though. Lapdogs are faithful.
 
????????? It's hardare. It's software. It's hardware...

Guess it is a hardware problem -- despite what Apple claims.
Shame on Apple and SJ for lying to us. CR isn't perfect but they do NOT mess around with the truth. Apple's credibility is dropping like a rock.

Still, not an issue for my Wife's iPhone 4: I put a skin on it (of course).

Actually, isn't this a moot point for most people?

Who doesn't put a skin or case on their phone?
 
I'm torn! I Love my iphone 4 but do experience the issue and have dropped calls in addition to sketchy data speeds when holding without a case. I bought a bumper and it seems to work ok but I HATE that I feel duped into buying the bumber to make the phone work correctly. It's the PRINCIPLE !

If there is a "software fix" I bet it will come out 33 days after the launch date and all pre orderd iphones will be non-returnable.

What a pain! not to mention the new 2 year AT&T contract that I can still get out of under 30 days here in Ca. I was month to month.

I have until the 21st to decide.... Back to 3G or be happy with iP4. hmmm

Buy a best-skins-ever skin: http://www.bestskinsever.com/
I would never go without one (with or without reception problems).
 
Auch! BURN!! :D

Apple denied this way to long already. Don't get me wrong, I love Apple, but their arrogance is getting way over the top. First Apple direct us not to have blu ray. Now they direct us how to hold our phone, and simple deny a serious design flaw. They almost screwed me with my macbook air, where the hinge have a serious design flaw and break. My Iphone 3 is almost unusable after the update, and works as bad as a PC, crashes, sluggish, no battery life anymore. Enough is enough!

In general, It seems ease to become successful, but way harder to keep success. Especially with serious competition on the corner.

As long Apple keep thinking the customers are a stupid sheep who eat this kind of crap, they will be wrong at the end of the story. People won't accept this.

The gap between Apple and the rest (Microsoft) become smaller too.

I forced my Girlfriend a lifetime windows user to go for Mac. But after a few months she still isn't impressed with MAC OS-X and find it hardly an improvement over WIN7. Wake up Apple. You are not longer the most unique in the universe anymore. There are alternatives. And if you keep treating your customers as stupid sheeps, they will go for that "alternative" eventually.

With kind regards,
Bas

Hi! Welcome to the world of Apple computer users, and how they've been treated for the past decade.

The stock drop is most likely due to the class action lawsuit filed for ATT and Apple anti-trust.

More due to stockholders waking up and realizing the Emperor IS naked, always WAS naked, and now dump before everyone else does.

Thank you Consumer Reports for doing your job. As for Apple...

I'm not saying this is a design flaw because there are people out there whose iPhone 4s work fine, but there's obviously enough people out there now complaining about the problem to warrant looking at some kind of defect in specific batches of phones.

We need a recall based on serial number. It just can't be a software problem if some phones are working and others aren't. All of the iPhone 4s have the same software, so in theory they should all be affected, but they are not. Therefore, logic dictates that there is something physically wrong (antenna, sim card, etc.) with some of the phones.

Apple, get your head out of your ass and fix the problem. I know you're in short supply, but you owe it to your insanely loyal customer base to admit the problem and fix it.

Apple owes the bargain basement iCrap crowd nothing, who are now getting a taste of how Apple has been treating high ticket high end pro app users and workstation purchasers have been treated for at least five years now. It's now systemic, and fatal until the board kicks Jobs to an iFad division or completely out the door.

Apple, Meet your Windows Vista

Worse. Software can be updated. Hardware can only be recalled and replaced.

:apple:
 
ooops

Careful, now.

Criticizing Obama and talking about any religion without a disparaging qualifier are two easy ways to get tarred and feathered around here.

Sorry, my bad. Wot is it 1984 already? I hate when that happens.

Okay back to our dilemma. Apple hopefully can adjust their interaction between exterior antenna placement and the towers to reduce the problem.

Or we can all wrap up our phone appropriately. I've discovered a nice hard plastic case does the trick to stop the "finger of death" as shown by Consumer Reports.

And combining a hard plastic case with Best Skins Ever is even better for the bluetooth range issue.

Even BSE eliminated the finger of death problem. (I was real careful to cover all the metal with the side BSE molds.) Good stuff BSE!
 
Two wrongs

I think Apple made a mistake in marketing. If they knew about the signal loss issue prior to release they should have marketed the phone accordingly -- this phone MUST be in a case or bumper. If they didnt know about it then they did a poor job testing.

Second, they should have done a better job explaining why the issue exists - the antenna is on the outside to make room for more battery. If they had taken a more proactive position, marketed the phone with a case in all their promo materials then they could have mitigated the ongoing negative press.

Instead of taking a proactive approach they have let an easily remedied issue fester into a reason for non-savvy consumers to avoid the iPhone 4.
 
Was going to get the iPhone 4 soon, but will wait until they fix this problem. Probably wont be a silent update. I'm hoping they will have a legitimate fix by the holidays. Having to use a bumper or case to fix this issue is laughable. Sounds like a Microsoft Windows type move to me. Maybe I will be lucky and be able to switch to Verizon instead of AT&T from T-Mobile.
 
nope....

We all know the iPhone has signal issues. The recommendation these guys give is the dumbest **** I have ever heard. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not use duck tape. The issue with duck tape is that it will leave adhesive on your phone and cause all kind of dirt and nasty junk to stick to it. I don't have an iPhone yet but I can almost guarantee Electrical tape will work significantly better and look more appealing. Use an exacto knife to trim away any excess tape.

Actually I did test with electrical tape. A strip wrapped around the offending "finger of death" area. Didn't work. Still had calls drop.

But Best Skins Ever did work. Found that out after playing around when installing the side pieces over the weekend. The hard plastic case was doing fine but left it off to test it out just for to see.

Even without the case, did not drop calls after putting on the skins. But those BSE go all around the phone so technically you are not conducting (re: joining the antennas) anymore since all the metal is covered.
 
Lesson for Apple

Always, always, always test your product in its final form. I bet all of their final prototypes were field tested using that iPhone 3GS disguised case.

When they discovered the problem, it was too late. Orders were already placed (millions) and all they could do is come up with the bumper solution.

Prediction: In the Sept/Oct time frame, we will see the iPhone 4.1. It will be idential to iPhone 4.0 except it will have some sort of clear covering over the entire metal case.
 
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