[Merged] iPhone 4 "Silent Upgrade" / "Running Change" rumors

[Nemesis]

It happens all the time!

NOW I can see the sensor by just slightly angling it, doesn't really matter the lighting... as for the surrounding metal - It is without a doubt different (more matte like) and I CANNOT create signal loss.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it

It's perfectly normal for a company like Apple to adjust some details about their products after several weeks of production. First they need to make ready the first batch and have all the components ready, but as soon as it goes on and new batches of components are hitting the production lines, some improvements/tweaks/new parts/substitutes are likely to be introduced. Then serial numbers are changed to track performance and issues related to that particular batch. Camera makers do that all the time. Sometimes small changes are done because of the user feedback, sometimes because of the supply channels problems, substitute components available, new better prices for certain parts, etc.
But it would be totally crazy to believe and expect that in a large scale production like that of the iPhone 4 some things wouldn't be changed or improved. Production itself is a learning process, a series of constant improvements each time a brand new product like this one hits the assembly line.

 

[MacGiver]

To those tihking they got a new model please share you new serial number and possibly the old one...and please share photos of the said to be more matte antenna.
I am going to the app store next Thursday for a possible exchange and would like to know if I need to look for a specific built week...All these people reporting new design without data can be seen as pure speculation or wishfull thinking/imagination...

 

[whocaresit]

The new iPhone 4's Shipping in 3 Weeks will have a insulating chemical coating

I just checked the Apple Store, and saw that the iPhone 4's ship in 3 Weeks. Are they going to be the fixed models with insulatory coating?


Here's TheStreet reporting that Apple's altering the production process
Gizmodo Silent Recall, The repl... No, I don't work for :apple: Or, do I? :p

 

[patent10021]

I just checked the Apple Store, and saw that the iPhone 4's ship in 3 Weeks. Are they going to be the fixed models with insulatory coating?


Here's TheStreet reporting that Apple's altering the production process
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10807906/1/analyst-reveals-apple-iphone-4-fix-exclusive.html

Gizmodo Silent Recall, The replaced phones no longer seem to have the issues
http://gizmodo.com/5587029/iphone-4-silent-recall-some-readers-confirm


No, I don't work for Or, do I?

Looks like it does pay to wait. Glad I've been holding out for the whitey. Still may get the blacky. Want to see both in person first.

What I'd like to know is what serial numbers to avoid especially here in Japan where Softbank will probably try to sell all the older ones.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Are people this naive? The first link was published before the press conference and the second link is just an unsubstantiated rumor. Jobs said at the press conference there's no defect and therefore nothing to fix.

 

[simple20]

I just checked the Apple Store, and saw that the iPhone 4's ship in 3 Weeks. Are they going to be the fixed models with insulatory coating?


Here's TheStreet reporting that Apple's altering the production process
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10807906/1/analyst-reveals-apple-iphone-4-fix-exclusive.html

Gizmodo Silent Recall, The replaced phones no longer seem to have the issues
http://gizmodo.com/5587029/iphone-4-silent-recall-some-readers-confirm




No, I don't work for Or, do I?

I don't know if you've noticed bro, but the iphone site has said '3 weeks' since about 3 days after pre-order launched.

 

[itsmemuffins]

Oh...you guys...

 

[whocaresit]

Are people this naive? The first link was published before the press conference and the second link is just an unsubstantiated rumor. Jobs said at the press conference there's no defect and therefore nothing to fix.

That is what they probably told to not piss off existing customers. It is Apple's strategy in holding a good image to the existing and new customers as well.

 

[fishmoose]

That is what they probably told to not piss off existing customers. It is Apple's strategy in holding a good image to the existing and new customers as well.

Okay prove it! Yeah you can't thus this is a moot point.

 

[TonyC28]

That is what they probably told to not piss off existing customers. It is Apple's strategy in holding a good image to the existing and new customers as well.

Wouldn't they have another PR mess on their hands and a few million very irate customers if in a few weeks someone discovers a chemical coating on newly shipped models?

 

[RC83]

Wouldn't they have another PR mess on their hands and a few million very irate customers if in a few weeks someone discovers a chemical coating on newly shipped models?

Exactly... its a move that would make their problems 1000000x worse... They are not messing with hardware unless they announce it.

 

[whocaresit]

I will wait till September 30th for their "Better plans" to fix the issue.
Gonna be my first iPhone, don't want issues the first time. (And I normally hold the iPod touch in a death grip)

 

[Blorzoga]

Those two reports were nothing but speculation. They're reported like they're fact. Some people believe everything they read. The phone works fine. Owners would be foolish not to use a case and with a case it's a nonissue.

 

[whocaresit]

Those two reports were nothing but speculation. They're reported like they're fact. Some people believe everything they read. The phone works fine. Owners would be foolish not to use a case and with a case it's a nonissue.

The case fixes it, no doubt. But it also steals the visual elegance of the stainless steel band

 

[simple20]

I will wait till September 30th for their "Better plans" to fix the issue.
Gonna be my first iPhone, don't want issues the first time. (And I normally hold the iPod touch in a death grip)

Since everybody feels the need to make their own thread with their own theory, I'll hi-jack yours for mine. I think that apple is stopping the free case on the 30th because the people who first bought the phone had no idea that this problem existed. Jobs is throwing everybody a cheap bone to get good press. Its like 'hey, you new batch, thanks for buying it... sorry there's a problem but this might help'. I feel like SJ is saying after Sept 30th, the person buying should know there's a problem, and if they still want to buy it, great! But you're gonna buy your own ****ing case. The new iphone comes out in t-minus 11 months... WhyTF do you think he's going to waste R&D on this phone when they've probably already started designing the new one.

 

[Outrigger]

wow, is this how rumors start? by naive people who see what they wanna see?

 

[RetiredInFl]

Okay prove it! Yeah you can't thus this is a mute point.

It's a "MOOT point" ..... it's not "mute." Well, it might be mute because points don't talk.

 

[murdercitydevil]

Okay prove it! Yeah you can't thus this is a mute point.

MUTE POINT
MUTE POINT
MUTE POINT

 

[deeddawg]

wow, is this how rumors start? by naive people who see what they wanna see?

Yep! Been that way for eons.

 

[Drag'nGT]

Are people this naive? The first link was published before the press conference and the second link is just an unsubstantiated rumor. Jobs said at the press conference there's no defect and therefore nothing to fix.

I'd bet that's just to keep 3 million phones from flying back to Apple for them to replace. A free case will do the same thing as the rumored coating but costs Apple $0.20 to give away. That's a lot cheaper than handing out 3 million new phones and pissing off the customers who still want one and haven't gotten one.

Reports of i4s with a different feel to the metal band began surfacing a few days before the conference. What we need to watch now is whether all the white iPhones suddenly don't have the issue the 1st run black ones have. That would indicate a clear difference in how they were made. But it would make Apple out to be a 'questionable' liar, which they will deny, about the problem being hardware related.

 

[Sinfire]

I doubt they will announce it. Companies make revision updates to their hardware products all the time without announcing it. Besides, if they announce it then they will have 3 million people exchanging their iPhones. If they just replace the iPhones on an as requested process, then that impact is a lot less.

Exactly... its a move that would make their problems 1000000x worse... They are not messing with hardware unless they announce it.

 

[ArkabaS]

Is a “silent recall” of iPhone 4 really taking place?

Hi everyone,

I searched the forums and I couldn’t find an answer to the following question:

Is the “silent recall” rumored by Gizmodo really happening? Or was this a rumor/hoax?

A few days ago there was an article on Gizmodo about a possible silent recall taking place, with customers returning their old iPhone 4’s and receiving new ones without the notorious “death grip” problem. I am currently an iPhone 3G user and I really want a new phone after the iOS 4.0 update made my 3G painfully slow and buggy (grrr… I hate unoptimized, bloated software). Although I’m right handed and would probably buy some sort of case, I really don’t like the idea of buying a phone with such a glaring defect, especially if there might be a manufacturing redesign in the near future to insulate the antenna with coating or whatever might be done. Any idea if a “death grip”-proof iPhone 4 is in the works? Many thanks in advance.

 

[toxictrix]

Nobody actually knows. Its all speculation. Maybe, maybe not.

 

[iSlanderous]

chance of stealth fix after sep 30th?

What is the chance of a stealth fix to the iPhone 4 after sep 30th?

Stealth fixes include but are not limited to:
Special coating on phone antenna

What do you think? If i bring my prestealth fix phone into the store, could i get a stealth fixed one? It is far too fishy for them not to continue to give out free cases if there is a "problem" right?

 

[stridemat]

Je ne sais pas. Nobody really knows. TBH honest I have't found the issues to be interfering with the usability of my iPhone. If you want one then get one, after all if you think the 'death grip' is an issue then you can return it for a full refund.