PR Experts Suggest iPhone 4 Recall 'Inevitable' as Antenna Issue Snowballs

[jeffreyropp]

Media frenzy, again.

Does Apple have a real design issue? Obviously there's a problem that is impacting some customers - denying that seems foolish at this point.

But its also clear that the media is in attack mode given the recent history involving Toyota and BP and that's unfair. The design issue hasn't killed anyone and certainly isn't destroying an entire ecosystem. Nevertheless, the big bad company narrative attracts ears and eyeballs right now. That's a shame and a distortion of the real issue.

So Apple (and probably other phone makers) will more correctly describe signal quality in the future. That's a good thing and persisted because Apple knowingly helped AT&T distort service quality perception. Even Apple's indication that they will increase the size of the 1 and 2 bar indicators demonstrates that they are protecting AT&T. Once Apple needed AT&T, now its clearly the other way around. I smell more lawsuits.

Anyone else wonder why Consumer Reports didn't test with a bumper or case in attempt to quantify its efficacy as a potential solution? The same reason the news shows more video of the oil escaping and less on the resolution. People love a train wreck.

 

[Macsterguy]

This post pretty much wins the thread. No issue-denial and a creative and cost-effective fix.

But would Jonathan "Jony" Paul Ive approve... That is the question...

 

[ast03]

There have been at least a few videos of folks buying one and taking it out to drop it on concrete from above their heads, or about the height of their heads. It actually tends to survive quite well, but a panel does shatter when it takes a fall from that height and hits a corner. Overall, probably less likely to shatter on any given side than the previous phones, but that's a wash because unlike the previous phones, where at least you've got a chance of a less important side hitting the ground first, now you've got two potentially fragile sides.

yes i agree. the glass is hopefully more durable on the iphone 4 as to previous years but now theres no plastic to take the impact. kind of a give-take thing with that.

 

[mattd313]

PS. I hope if Apple does give away their Bumper Cases, they do it fast, because i already paid for one and it works great, but i wouldn't mind a refund on it. lol

Completely agree. We ordered 2 online. Black for me, pink for wife. We don't even have the phones yet, but wanted them before out phones came in.
I wouldn't mind a refund on the bumpers...

 

[Scooterman1]

Yet will continue to rake in obscene profits without you. is gonna sell 10 million each of iPhone 4 and iPad by the end of 2010.

I know, I'm only 1 person with 3 phones. But I got rid of my ticket before this voyage.
There were a LOT of people that bought tickets for the Titanic also. But I'm somewhat sure that Apple won't sink. Android is outselling the iPhones now, and I didn't think that would happen anytime soon.

 

[MacPhilosopher]

this is WAY too obvious for most folks in this forum or out there in the wild...

you see, what folks want to do is:



1. enjoy a great iphone4 (because at the end, no one cares that you loose a freaking bar)

2. wait for a sue that accommodates you,

(you may want to sue because you could not make a call at a critical moment, because you are missing an arm, and your other arm had an issue that allowed you to ONLY hold the phone one and ONLY ONE specific way, and you always refused to get a case, because you know, you are you... etc)


3. get something for free from apple...

4. get free PR on account of apple...

5. eventually return the phone and get a new one later on...


any thing, but no, you do not want to return the phone that you claim to be faulty at the top of your voice... because at the end, you know that it is way too cool of a phone, better than any thing out there, and you adore the thing, because you know that you do not care about any thing, etc... etc... etc...


All of this anti-apple reminds me of the Lorax. May be the Lorax will go away and no-one will have beautiful phones any more...

Can you imagine technology without apple? Were would we be today?

1. command line terminals...
2. crap-full java-like phone OS from nokia,
3. dell crapware,
4. no pixar movies...
5. obnoxious music players with tape playback...
6. ok... go back to work..

Consider me a fan of your work here. Nicely put and funny.

 

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

location, location, location. I can go 4 miles north to the center of the city and you can put the phone in a tin can and still get 5 bars. The iPhone radio IS excellent, so much so it doesn't even need a functional external antenna in many, if not most, situations. The antenna expert who made most sense to me said it looks like the radio amp is protecting itself and effectively disconnects itself from the external with a huge change like touching the gap causes. That the drop of 99+% of usable signal strength is not normal attenuation like holding other cell phones have, it's because you are suddenly operating without an external antenna at all.

Which expert?

That said, it is clear from all the expert testing that I've actually seen the extent to which signal is degraded when it is held in the 'wrong' way. There's no mystery to this—it has been studied quite thoroughly. What does happen is a drop of up to about -20 dB when held in the 'death grip', which isn't a comfortable way to hold the thing anyway (that's with strong pressure). Spinning that as 99+% of usable signal is just a useless fabrication.

I've used my phone in San Francisco, Manhattan, and other states as well. I have a terrible signal in my office (usually about one bar). I've had plenty of exposure to exactly the sort of signal this phone will or won't drop and so have plenty of others.

 

[PerfSeeker]

I know, I'm only 1 person with 3 phones. But I got rid of my ticket before this voyage.
There were a LOT of people that bought tickets for the Titanic also. But I'm somewhat sure that Apple won't sink. Android is outselling the iPhones now, and I didn't think that would happen anytime soon.

Android phones are not outselling the iPhone yet. And that's with dozens of Androids against 1 iPhone. Don't hold your breath waiting for 1 Android handset to do better then the iPhone.

 

[MacPhilosopher]

Does Apple have a real design issue? Obviously there's a problem that is impacting some customers - denying that seems foolish at this point.

But its also clear that the media is in attack mode given the recent history involving Toyota and BP and that's unfair. The design issue hasn't killed anyone and certainly isn't destroying an entire ecosystem. Nevertheless, the big bad company narrative attracts ears and eyeballs right now. That's a shame and a distortion of the real issue.

So Apple (and probably other phone makers) will more correctly describe signal quality in the future. That's a good thing and persisted because Apple knowingly helped AT&T distort service quality perception. Even Apple's indication that they will increase the size of the 1 and 2 bar indicators demonstrates that they are protecting AT&T. Once Apple needed AT&T, now its clearly the other way around. I smell more lawsuits.

Anyone else wonder why Consumer Reports didn't test with a bumper or case in attempt to quantify its efficacy as a potential solution? The same reason the news shows more video of the oil escaping and less on the resolution. People love a train wreck.

Actually, I believe they said the problem is solved with a case, but few media outlets are making that point in bold.

 

[dogie678]

I have NO issues with my iPhone 4. its the best damn phone in the WORLD.

 

[PstLMac]

yes i agree. the glass is hopefully more durable on the iphone 4 as to previous years but now theres no plastic to take the impact. kind of a give-take thing with that.

Yes Apple needs to change the back panel or have the metal band incase the glass all around on the edges to produce a metal bumper. May not look as cool though...

back to plastic???

 

[Gatorman]

I don't get it. I haven't had ANY problems with my iPhone 4: no dropped calls, no antenna problems, no yellow screen, no scratches...nothing! It's working beautifully! Am I just lucky? Or is this just infatuation with a phone that's significantly faster than my previous phone: the original Edge iPhone?

 

[ast03]

For most users, the iPhone 4 will perform its basic purpose most of the time.

You have to be in an area of weak signal strength and hold your phone in a particular way to have a dropped call.

I mean, for me, the issue is this. Yes, this is a significant design flaw. But design flaws happen. I can't think of a piece of electronics I've ever bought that seems to me to have a perfect design. And that includes a ton of Apple products.

But honestly, this isn't even at the top of the list among Apple products. I find it less annoying than the vagaries of the ADC cable, the poor heat dispersion on the MacBook Air, the single USB port on the MacBook Air, the hockey puck mouse, the removal of the numpad or any facsimile thereof from most of their keyboards, the lack of multitasking on the iPad...

But you know what? Stack those against any other company's products, and you get bad design flaws all over the place. Design flaws happen. Apple's are, for me, generally outweighed by the positive aspects of their designs. And going from an iPhone 3G to an iPhone 4, the video, magnetometer, fast-app switching, and retina display are all more than enough to outweigh the occasional dropped call.

It seems like there's a lot of people who agree with my reasoning, and some who don't. But I'm mystified as to why this design flaw is being treated differently than the millions of other design flaws that exist in the tech sector.

yes for like 95% of the time ive had this phone it has performed without problems. and i am in phoenix, az so i should be in the center of a good reception area. and yes it is being blown out of proportion because its apple. if nokia or samsung had this problem not many besides the phone owners would complain but apple is trying to make the best cell phone on the market and any mistake will be big because of the hype. and apple is suppose to be different but i guess people think by different they mean perfect. but in reality being different just means you are going to have different problems.

 

[PstLMac]

I'm not sure about the antenna issue, but the proximity issue definitely. This is ridiculous. I've had the 1st Gen & 3GS and am very disappointed about how Apple is handling this. My iPhone 4 is not functional as a phone. I know I shouldn't have, but I thought better of Apple.

Feel sorry about Consumer Reports missing that complaint as well.

 

[atomicbatteries]

more blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.....
more fighting
more insults
more accusations
no peace
no love
no harmony

ya'll need to tone it down a tad

it is after all

only a phone!

 

[shakenmartini]

i got a bumper case yesterday and it still drops almost every bar when i hold it. im not holding it weird or anything. i just pick it up and it starts dropping bars. the bumper case has changed nothing

Return it and get a new one.

You have a different problem with your phone

 

[ast03]

more blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.....
more fighting
more insults
more accusations
no peace
no love
no harmony

ya'll need to tone it down a tad

it is after all

only a phone!

but its not just a phone, see theres an "i" infront of it. so it should be magical and completely perfect with lots a features from the future.

 

[BobVB]

Which expert?

That said, it is clear from all the expert testing that I've actually seen the extent to which signal is degraded when it is held in the 'wrong' way. There's no mystery to this—it has been studied quite thoroughly. What does happen is a drop of up to about -20 dB when held in the 'death grip', which isn't a comfortable way to hold the thing anyway (that's with strong pressure).

no anandtech got about that held normally. Holding a phone in the left hand with center of mass at center of grip IS holding it normally and that puts the gap into the base of the thumb.

Spinning that as 99+% of usable signal is just a useless fabrication.

ok don't know how to respond to that. You do know that decibels are logarithmic and that a -20dBm drop means that the signal strength has dropped 100 fold, right? It's not 'spin' it's a fact like the sky is blue and the ground is down.

 

[Xian Zhu Xuande]

Android phones are not outselling the iPhone yet. And that's with dozens of Androids against 1 iPhone. Don't hold your breath waiting for 1 Android handset to do better then the iPhone.

Eh, in all likelihood the day will come that Android outsells the iPhone. And it will come as a huge surprise to some people, too. The Android fanboys will be giggling over their 'victory' and the knee-jerk Apple folks here will be crying for Steve Jobs to compete, compete, compete—you're losing it. All nonsense.

Android is being installed on pretty much any high-quality or rubbish phone out there that wants Android. Apple is maintaining a controlled OS which is only installed on one phone at the highest tier of quality, and that phone probably won't dip much in price from where it is today. They'll just add new capabilities instead. It is part of Apple's brand image.

What people overlook is that this sort of market share will not define the success or failure of the iPhone, just as marketshare of OS does not define the success or failure of the Mac. If Apple opened iOS up to other manufacturers they would murder Android in marketshare, but they would sacrifice some of the things which have made the iOS platform so marvelous. A controlled environment where Apple can focus on a refined customized experience, right down to the smallest detail, is something Android cannot match deploying for a wide range of devices, and this will also show in other areas such as the Android Market, which will always be hindered by development for inconsistent and unpredictable platforms.

I predict that Android will pass iOS in marketshare, but I don't really care. They're competing in very different ways, and Apple probably won't go anywhere near the low-end market as long as ol' Stevo calls the shots. One possible exception will be if Apple releases a CDMA phone: then all bets are off and they could actually win marketshare too.

 

[0098386]

You're the guy basing his opinions on a demo unit and don't even own an iPhone 4. What a joke. Holding a demo that is locked into a glass table is hardly what i'd call real world use.

And no, you're not cool. Not at all.

No? It wasn't locked into a glass table, it had the USB port plugged in and a security strip.

A glass table? Lol. Where do they do that? My local o2, Vodafone branches have had wired demo units for all their phones for as long as I can remember.

I also tried my friends iPhone 4G and yup, that too has a good grip. Same as the demo unit.

 

[ast03]

Return it and get a new one.

You have a different problem with your phone

you think? it doesnt drop calls that often though, just bars.

 

[wytworm]

Android phones are not outselling the iPhone yet. And that's with dozens of Androids against 1 iPhone. Don't hold your breath waiting for 1 Android handset to do better then the iPhone.

What numbers are you using out of curiosity? Sprint didn't release any. I do know that apple said 1.7 mil, but 77% of that was repeat buyers. Which neither Evo or Droid x would have being new products. So all any phone would have to do is hit 391K to tie right?

 

[MacFly123]

IF, and I say IF Apple does recall (which I highly doubt they will) then I better get a replacement! I just got my iPhone 4 yesterday! Took Best Buy long enough after I pre-ordered on day one!

I haven't had any problems yet though.

 

[ModestForumName]

I know, I'm only 1 person with 3 phones. But I got rid of my ticket before this voyage.
There were a LOT of people that bought tickets for the Titanic also. But I'm somewhat sure that Apple won't sink. Android is outselling the iPhones now, and I didn't think that would happen anytime soon.

androids are only "outselling the iPhones now" because there are about 10+ different phones running the Android OS whereas there's currently 2 iPhones being actively marketed. And maybe 2 of those "Smartphones" are worth being compared to the iPhone. the rest is just a type of phone known as "smartphone lite" for the people who want to say "i have an android" but don't really know what it really means.

 

[wytworm]

yes for like 95% of the time ive had this phone it has performed without problems. and i am in phoenix, az so i should be in the center of a good reception area. and yes it is being blown out of proportion because its apple. if nokia or samsung had this problem not many besides the phone owners would complain but apple is trying to make the best cell phone on the market and any mistake will be big because of the hype. and apple is suppose to be different but i guess people think by different they mean perfect. but in reality being different just means you are going to have different problems.

The trouble Apple has is not only its self promotion as 'magical' / 'it just works' / 'revolutionary', but also their handling of a 'crisis' when it does occur. They have always taken the tack of being silent and quietly slipping out a fix later. It is unclear if that will work in this instance.