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PR Experts Suggest iPhone 4 Recall 'Inevitable' as Antenna Issue Snowballs
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I believe it is intended to convey that the market penetration of the issue is as complete as the Toyota issue was. i.e. Everyone now thinks twice before looking at a Prius. Company was a no brainer before. Same with Apple, but perhaps not to the same degree, as iPhones were never famous for keeping calls alive and in the end no one is getting hurt.
Also, I think with Apple part of their calculus will also be, 'So what if they know, they will buy it anyhow because we put it out there.' This is clearly a real phenomena vis a vis iPhone repeat customers...some 77% of the 1.7 million were not new customers. Why do a recall with so many vowing to keep it even with the defect?
It seems that all they have to do is move the antenna to the top.
This is also an issue because the company is so secretive about it's products that no one carried the phone around naked. They were all put in 3GS style cases which kept the issue from being found. This is a huge screw up for Apple.
Apple needs to make a statement about this and stop pretending the news and blog sites have it wrong. Looking like a jackass telling people the phone has better signal than the 3GS yet it can't make phone calls in real life is just moronic.
This is also an issue because the company is so secretive about it's products that no one carried the phone around naked. They were all put in 3GS style cases which kept the issue from being found. This is a huge screw up for Apple.
Apple needs to make a statement about this and stop pretending the news and blog sites have it wrong. Looking like a jackass telling people the phone has better signal than the 3GS yet it can't make phone calls in real life is just moronic.
Ok. ..this issue has been going on now for a while....WHERE ARE THE MASSES OF PEOPLE LINING UP TO RETURN THEIR PHONES?
Oh...right...because they aren't. If they were then everyone who analyzes these things would know and report it.
People aren't returning them because for the VAST majority of people this is a NON-ISSUE.
For a minority, albeit a very VOCAL minority it is a problem, yet they seemingly have found themselves incapable of returning it.
Why are people holding on to this phone if it sucks so bad?
Oh...right...because they aren't. If they were then everyone who analyzes these things would know and report it.
People aren't returning them because for the VAST majority of people this is a NON-ISSUE.
For a minority, albeit a very VOCAL minority it is a problem, yet they seemingly have found themselves incapable of returning it.
Why are people holding on to this phone if it sucks so bad?
Please don't compare Windows Virus with a bad hardware design that got through testing.
The iPhone: awesome phone with one major problem. It seems that all the testing Apple did they missed this "touch the lower left corner and lose a call" problem. It's serious if this truly is a hardware issue. One possibly major hardware issue. Several of my friends have the new iPhone and love it. The response to me asking about dropped calls.... "I haven't had any problems".
Obviously people are having issues but many are not.
Windows VIRUS (VISTA): A completely horrible experience that had hundreds of problems and known issues coming out the door. MS chose to look the other way on ALL of the issues. As software MS VIRUS could have been patched but it was so bad that MS proceeded to ramp up Windows 7 OS instead of fix the mess that was VISTA. I used to have a file saved with all my problems with VIRUS, if I had still had it I'd post it but MR would run out of forum space.
Hopefully Apple will find a solution for the issue. If it's a redesign of the case then so be it.
Design over Substance.
Swallow your pride Apple and at least give customers a £25 'bumper' (aka, a piece of rubber) to wrap on our devices. The means that this company goes to protect its image is unbearable at best - even when the 20" and 24" iMac's of the previous generation had backlight problems, threads were regularly deleted and the issue was covered over as a "non issue".
Given Apple had made their best ever quarterly earnings recently, this kind of ignorance is unacceptable; particularly when a device can cost so much as this. Steve Jobs' attitude that is to just "hold it differently" is pathetic.
Swallow your pride Apple and at least give customers a £25 'bumper' (aka, a piece of rubber) to wrap on our devices. The means that this company goes to protect its image is unbearable at best - even when the 20" and 24" iMac's of the previous generation had backlight problems, threads were regularly deleted and the issue was covered over as a "non issue".
Given Apple had made their best ever quarterly earnings recently, this kind of ignorance is unacceptable; particularly when a device can cost so much as this. Steve Jobs' attitude that is to just "hold it differently" is pathetic.
This is what I foresee with the impending software fix:
- so I'm sitting in a waiting room to get my car repaired. The person sitting next to me is checking his/her email and browsing the web. I try to send an IM or text message and its doesn't connect. I look at the signal bars and I only have 1 bar. The other person notices my frustration and says "oh... you have an iPhone 4.... that's a shame.... maybe you can get a signal outside".
Not good PR picture.
- so I'm sitting in a waiting room to get my car repaired. The person sitting next to me is checking his/her email and browsing the web. I try to send an IM or text message and its doesn't connect. I look at the signal bars and I only have 1 bar. The other person notices my frustration and says "oh... you have an iPhone 4.... that's a shame.... maybe you can get a signal outside".
Not good PR picture.
No response necessary.
So my question is this: if you're in a low-signal area and you hold a Droid/EVO/Nexus One a certain way, will you also drop a call? And if so, where's all the negative press?
Apple was just foolish enough to provide a visual "Line Of Death" for its users. "Look, if I touch it right here..."
Since smartphones typically have their antennas at the bottom (thanks FCC) where you hold the phone, I assume all smartphones are going to have issues with signal degradation based on grip. Now how about Consumer Reports validate the dead spots on competing devices as well?
Sorry you feel this way, but what your saying goes against the evidence.
No phone I have ever owned has come with instructions on how to hold it.
Not good my friend, they do have a defective device, and your right they should replace it or contain the damage being done to their once very good reputation.
you litterally believe that the product "Apple as said that the only problem is with the way that the signal is displayed"????
if you believe this then your a complete moron, I'm assuming you believed "your holding it wrong" and "its a non-issue" as well... and you probably believe that the software display fix is coming...
listen the fact is, apple is saying this because they want to dampen the serious issue... its not how its being distplayed, the first 3 phones use the same software to calculate the issue, 3gs and 4 same OS the 4 loses signal.. enough said,
AGAIN IF YOU DON'T HAVE THIS ISSUE PROVE IT WE HAVE A MILLION VIDEOS SHOWING IT HAPPEN AND NONE SHOWING ITS WORKING INDOORS AND OUTDOORS IN THE DEATH GRIP POSSISION!!!!
Give me a break!
Full scale recall? Yeah, right.
Consumer demand for this product is so high that it is STILL difficult to get your hands on one of these a full 3 weeks after the launch. People will keep buying these things. Just based on economics, Apple doesn't HAVE to do anything.
Toyota-style PR crisis? No. Toyota's problem was that its cars would sometimes overaccelerate and, um, KILL PEOPLE. Apple's problem is that, if you hold the phone in a very specific, intentional way, it might sometimes lose a little bit of signal reception and MAYBE (*gasp*) drop a cell phone call. "Devastating"? These PR experts are being a tad over-the-top.
Apple SHOULD respond with an acknowledgment of the antenna design flaw. But they do not need to do a full-scale recall. They should do something like the following: extend the period of time over which you can bring your phone back for a full refund from 30 days to 90 days, or something like that, AND give phone purchasers a $30 giftcard/partial refund that can be used to purchase a case.
As for myself: my wife has had the phone for 3 weeks. She used it for 2 weeks without any case, and we were not able to reproduce the signal drop problem (perhaps in too high a coverage area: Los Angeles). She did buy a Bumper to add a tiny bit of protective rubber in case she dropped it. (She has dropped it a couple times already from a couple feet onto our hardwood floor without a case. No damage.) In San Diego, we were able to reproduce the signal problem, but only when we held the naked phone extremely tightly: went from 5 bars to 3 bars after about 2 minutes. (Oh the humanity!) I just received my phone yesterday. First thing I did was put a Best Skins Ever skin on it ($5 to cover the sides, back and front), and then slap a cheap, clear hard plastic case on it, which protects the sides and back ($1 shipped, on ebay). This is the same thing I did with my iphone 3G. We had always planned to put cases on our phones, so this signal issue would not affect us even if it were significant in our region.
Full scale recall? Yeah, right.
Consumer demand for this product is so high that it is STILL difficult to get your hands on one of these a full 3 weeks after the launch. People will keep buying these things. Just based on economics, Apple doesn't HAVE to do anything.
Toyota-style PR crisis? No. Toyota's problem was that its cars would sometimes overaccelerate and, um, KILL PEOPLE. Apple's problem is that, if you hold the phone in a very specific, intentional way, it might sometimes lose a little bit of signal reception and MAYBE (*gasp*) drop a cell phone call. "Devastating"? These PR experts are being a tad over-the-top.
Apple SHOULD respond with an acknowledgment of the antenna design flaw. But they do not need to do a full-scale recall. They should do something like the following: extend the period of time over which you can bring your phone back for a full refund from 30 days to 90 days, or something like that, AND give phone purchasers a $30 giftcard/partial refund that can be used to purchase a case.
As for myself: my wife has had the phone for 3 weeks. She used it for 2 weeks without any case, and we were not able to reproduce the signal drop problem (perhaps in too high a coverage area: Los Angeles). She did buy a Bumper to add a tiny bit of protective rubber in case she dropped it. (She has dropped it a couple times already from a couple feet onto our hardwood floor without a case. No damage.) In San Diego, we were able to reproduce the signal problem, but only when we held the naked phone extremely tightly: went from 5 bars to 3 bars after about 2 minutes. (Oh the humanity!) I just received my phone yesterday. First thing I did was put a Best Skins Ever skin on it ($5 to cover the sides, back and front), and then slap a cheap, clear hard plastic case on it, which protects the sides and back ($1 shipped, on ebay). This is the same thing I did with my iphone 3G. We had always planned to put cases on our phones, so this signal issue would not affect us even if it were significant in our region.
Attenuation
Everyone seems to talk about attenuation and the somewhat more informed relate this to capacitance. This is, indeed, the type of attenuation you get in any device. However, this is the attenuation you'll, no doubt, get from holding the iPhone 4 at all. Also, this is the kind of attenuation that will cause less then a bar of signal deterioration.
No one seems to be talking about the fact that the signal drops significantly (according to the measurements performed by Consumer Reports) when touching both antennae at the same time. This makes me think it's probably not just a capacitance problem, but rather a conductance problem between the two antennae. Either the (2.4GHz) wifi (et al) front-end interferes "through" the antennae with the UMTS front-end (and possibly vice-versa), or the altered shape/size of the "combined" antenna is just wrong for UMTS.
This would also explain why some people don't have signal issues when holding their phones; not everyone's fingers conduct as well. There are demonstrations of a metal key being placed on the gap, where signal strength drops invariably.
Everyone seems to talk about attenuation and the somewhat more informed relate this to capacitance. This is, indeed, the type of attenuation you get in any device. However, this is the attenuation you'll, no doubt, get from holding the iPhone 4 at all. Also, this is the kind of attenuation that will cause less then a bar of signal deterioration.
No one seems to be talking about the fact that the signal drops significantly (according to the measurements performed by Consumer Reports) when touching both antennae at the same time. This makes me think it's probably not just a capacitance problem, but rather a conductance problem between the two antennae. Either the (2.4GHz) wifi (et al) front-end interferes "through" the antennae with the UMTS front-end (and possibly vice-versa), or the altered shape/size of the "combined" antenna is just wrong for UMTS.
This would also explain why some people don't have signal issues when holding their phones; not everyone's fingers conduct as well. There are demonstrations of a metal key being placed on the gap, where signal strength drops invariably.
You just failed!
Your said her iPhone doesn't work yet you say she doesn't even know how to turn it in.
Wow!
Since I have been able to attenuate the signal on my 3GS, does that mean Apple has to recall them too? How about the Nokia owners that have been able to do the same things with their phones? Do they deserve a recall?
I think at some point we have to trust Apple that the patch will correct the issue but in the words of that old codger that slept through most of his presidency and let the mice play (Ronald Reagan) you also can't be a fool and completely trust Apple. You have to 'trust but verify' and if the patch doesn't fix it, then start roasting some asses...
I think at some point we have to trust Apple that the patch will correct the issue but in the words of that old codger that slept through most of his presidency and let the mice play (Ronald Reagan) you also can't be a fool and completely trust Apple. You have to 'trust but verify' and if the patch doesn't fix it, then start roasting some asses...
It's not hyperbole. You people need to learn to read critically. A "Toyota-style PR crisis" does not mean that Toyota's stuck gas pedal is equivalent to Apple's iPhone reception problems. It means that they are equivalent from a PR standpoint in that the companies are known to make solid and reputable products, and now have scenarios that cause buyers to question that foundation.
It's the PR crisis that is similar (both companies have their work cut out for them), not the actual issues that led to the PR crisis.
iPhone 4
Am I the only person with the phone that does not have any issues. I get way better reception with this phone then the past 3 iPhones and have not dropped any calls. I got the morning it came out.
Am I the only person with the phone that does not have any issues. I get way better reception with this phone then the past 3 iPhones and have not dropped any calls. I got the morning it came out.
Probably because many of the people here screaming about how the phone (and Apple) "sucks so bad" don't actually own an iPhone 4? (Which makes it hard to return it...)
You'll recognize their names - they're the ones that were screaming about how bad the iPad sucked, how bad the iMac screens sucked, how bad the iPod Shuffle sucked...
You still have bunny ear TV Antennas?Welcome to 2010
I have HD bunny ears!
Who needs any station besides CTV HD and [REDACTED].com
hahahaAnd curse you Lloyd Robinson, for purchasing yourself a Consumers Choice award. Shame on you!
Dumb
Check your signature - you seem happy to tell everyone about your Apple stuff but there is no iPhone 4 there! Also, you must be dumb if Apple say, OK we ****ed up, please send us your phone back and we'll give you a new one that works. And you're telling me that you would say, NO I'm happy with it WTF are you on! I guess you're still driving your Toyota with the bad breaks too.
Check your signature - you seem happy to tell everyone about your Apple stuff but there is no iPhone 4 there! Also, you must be dumb if Apple say, OK we ****ed up, please send us your phone back and we'll give you a new one that works. And you're telling me that you would say, NO I'm happy with it WTF are you on! I guess you're still driving your Toyota with the bad breaks too.
You don't recall something because of a reason like this. You recall it when it blows up, when lives are in danger. Toyota's cars not stopping wasn't just an inconveinence, it was DANGEROUS!
If people were getting burns, or electrical shocks or the battery was exploding, then yes, Apple should recall them. But for this? No, that isn't what a recall if for.
What Apple should do is:
1-Immediately change their manufacturing of the iPhone to include nonconductive coating on the antenna. Also put a hold on any unsold, untreated iPhones, send them to a factory and give them the coating.
2-Offer 1 free bumper to anyone who has a first gen iPhone 4 who wants one (a lot of people will be happy with that and it saves Apple a lot of money).
3-As soon as they start coating the iPhones, send out a press release acknolwedging the issue and the steps taken. Announce an exchange program and let people get their names on a waiting list. When their phone is ready, it can either be mailed to a local Apple store (who will handle the exchange) or straight to the consumer with packaging to return the first iPhone (if it is not returned within say...one month of receiving the new phone {this can of course be tracked as they have to be activated on iTunes}, the charge for the cost of the new iPhone is placed on their iTunes account.) Finish up with a customer service call a few weeks later and make sure there are no issues with the phone.
THAT is how you handle something like this. NOT a recall.
If people were getting burns, or electrical shocks or the battery was exploding, then yes, Apple should recall them. But for this? No, that isn't what a recall if for.
What Apple should do is:
1-Immediately change their manufacturing of the iPhone to include nonconductive coating on the antenna. Also put a hold on any unsold, untreated iPhones, send them to a factory and give them the coating.
2-Offer 1 free bumper to anyone who has a first gen iPhone 4 who wants one (a lot of people will be happy with that and it saves Apple a lot of money).
3-As soon as they start coating the iPhones, send out a press release acknolwedging the issue and the steps taken. Announce an exchange program and let people get their names on a waiting list. When their phone is ready, it can either be mailed to a local Apple store (who will handle the exchange) or straight to the consumer with packaging to return the first iPhone (if it is not returned within say...one month of receiving the new phone {this can of course be tracked as they have to be activated on iTunes}, the charge for the cost of the new iPhone is placed on their iTunes account.) Finish up with a customer service call a few weeks later and make sure there are no issues with the phone.
THAT is how you handle something like this. NOT a recall.