Sep 30th: What happens to the iPhone 4?

[wirelessmacuser]

I think most people agree that:

- Apple is not going to change anything about the iPhone 4

I agree, they have no incentive to. There are too many people willing to give Apple money no matter what their product quality is.*

Apple had to place an end date to the free case program or else people would feel that it could run forever.

The right thing to do is continue the case program till they stop selling this model. That would prove that Apple cares about customers... But no... They could care less. If people think differently they are sadly wrong.*

So, if you think the "batches" made in October will be any better than a iPhone 4 delivered on June 24th, you are a fool.

Why does your ego prevent you from being a decent adult? Name calling reveals serious insecurity.*

 

[bowlerman625]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0_2 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A400 Safari/6531.22.7)

It will be the same iPhone as before Sept 30.

 

[shandyman]

Death grip issues don't manifest if you have a "bad phone". They manifest if you are in an area of less than ideal signal strength. With my iPhone 4, I was able to do the Death Grip, and drop from 4 bars to 1 bar in my home. But when I was at work, the Death Grip had no affect whatsoever on the bars. It was a full five, and stayed a full five.

I do agree though that the camera didn't thrill me. I felt like any dominant color in a frame would make the whole photo tinted in that shade. Too much pink in the photo, and the whole picture would have a red tint. Too much blue in the picture, and the picture had a blue tint. Also, pictures were much grainier than I expected them to be.

But you're not going to see a re-designed phone. Most folks are happy with their iP4, and they are still flying off the shelves. And despite my gripes about the camera, I still loved the phone. I returned mine, but it had nothing to do with the phone's performance. I think the iPhone 4 is an amazing piece of technology.

my house is in a low signal area, 2 bars in the most part and i have no death grip issue, when i do it, it stays at 2 bars, even after standing in the same place doing it for 20 minutes. all my friends iphone 4's do the same, so its not every phone that has the problem. so you are wrong in saying "Death grip issues don't manifest if you have a "bad phone". They manifest if you are in an area of less than ideal signal strength. ". simple as.

i have no issues with the camera either, i get nice decent photos, and i don't find mine grainy at all.

the only problem i have is the proximity sensor, but its not as bad as some people's problem with it i have read here and sounds like its resolved in 4.1 anyway.

 

[shandyman]

I agree, they have no incentive to. There are too many people willing to give Apple money no matter what their product quality is.

plus since there are alot of iPhones out there that don't have the issue, who's to say they need to. it could be that it was an issue relating to certain weeks batches made. mine's a week 38 with no antenna issue.

 

[err404]

More ridiculous than the coverage of the antenna issue was Apple's response. They have had the worst PR the past few months than they probably have ever had before.

You can blame the media all you want - but Apple fueled the fire on several occasions.

I agree they should have had better spin since everyone knows PR trumps facts. OP is asking the question months after the phone has been available proves this. I've seen all of Apple's responses and they make sense if you assume Apple doesn't believe that there is a major problem.
To measure the validity of a technical argument by the childish back and forth of media vs PR only serves to obscure the issue and turn perception into reality.
The fact is that most of the time, the iPhone 4 gets a better signal then other phones. Dropping 20db from a "death-grip" lowers the signal to be comparable to other phone in the same situation. The drop was larger, but they bottom out at the same point.
Put it this way, an A student getting a C on a quiz appears much worse then a B student getting a C. In this case the media is claiming the that the B student is better because he is more consistent without recognizing that the A student is better on average.

 

[RonHC]

Unlikely. They will either extend the program or something will change, like J&JPolangin mentioned.

if they extend it, 3rd party manufacturers will probably be PO. And Apple stated before that making bumpers isnt easy

So my common sense brings me to the conclusion that Sept 30 will ONLY end the Free Case Program....


so suck it

 

[samcraig]

posting big and bold doesn't make it any more true. Give up your cause. You're beating a dead horse. And you're annoying.

 

[wirelessmacuser]

plus since there are alot of iPhones out there that don't have the issue, who's to say they need to.*

I say they should have. I'm an Apple enthusiast, who believes that the antenna issue can be broken down into two categories. First is the fact that there is an issue with the fundamental design which created very real problems. No matter what the percentage of affected phones is, it is great enough that Apple should address it, not just cover it up with a case. After all they claim to be a premier company with premium products, so they should put their money where their mouth is and act like a responsible company would.*

it could be that it was an issue relating to certain weeks batches made. mine's a week 38 with no antenna issue.

I agree. Yet this does not remove their responsibility to the customers that got a bad phone.

Apple blew a wonderful opportunity to turn this around. Instead they acted like arrogant, superior jerks. They deserve all the heat they got from press & others.

As a loyal customer I know they could have done it right and ended up looking very good. At the end of the day, they're not going to be the cash cow forever.

The customers they're screwing now will remember it.*

 

[cocky jeremy]

I don't see what the problem is. I have a week 31 and my girlfriend has a week 33 iPhone. They're both perfect. So i doubt anything changes after the 30th, other than them not shipping free cases. I got my free bumper in the mail, but i don't need or use it. I can't make my phone drop bars, even when i try. My proximity sensor is perfect. No pixels out. No camera issues at all. I think all of the problems have been taken care of.

 

[kas23]

By September 30th, all y'all should have knowed better than to buy one of those no antenna-having scam-of-a-phones. So, if you go buy one after that, serves you damn right for being so down-right stupid.

 

[PirateP]

I think most people agree that:

- Apple is not going to change anything about the iPhone 4 until next June when the next iPhone comes out.

- Apple had to place an end date to the free case program or else people would feel that it could run forever. I think they feel that by Sep 30th people have had enough time to decide wether they want to buy the iPhone 4 and deal with the "death grip" or get a different phone (regardless of case).


So, if you think the "batches" made in October will be any better than a iPhone 4 delivered on June 24th, you are a fool.

THIS. No more need be said on the topic.

 

[dagomike]

I agree they should have had better spin since everyone knows PR trumps facts. OP is asking the question months after the phone has been available proves this. I've seen all of Apple's responses and they make sense if you assume Apple doesn't believe that there is a major problem.
To measure the validity of a technical argument by the childish back and forth of media vs PR only serves to obscure the issue and turn perception into reality.
The fact is that most of the time, the iPhone 4 gets a better signal then other phones. Dropping 20db from a "death-grip" lowers the signal to be comparable to other phone in the same situation. The drop was larger, but they bottom out at the same point.

Not to pick this scab, but it's hard to let things slide so far.

As you said, PR trump facts... The fact really is the iPhone performs worse than pervious iPhones in common situations. Apple even admitted it in coded terms when roughly the iPhone 4 drops 2x the calls as the rest of ATT which of course has a lot of iPhone 3G/3GS users. Plus, I believe even the method of recording dropped calls is way conservative.

I do agree, however, that if you buy an iPhone 4 now you shouldn't seek a remedy for any problems. It is what it is. It's reasonable to accept it for what it is or purchase your own remedy.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

More ridiculous than the coverage of the antenna issue was Apple's response. They have had the worst PR the past few months than they probably have ever had before.

You can blame the media all you want - but Apple fueled the fire on several occasions.

I disagree. Look what happened to Toyota surrounding the unintended acceleration media hysteria? They were the exact opposite of Apple, profusely apologizing on several occasions with some silly reasons ("We grew too rapidly") and they were quite meek. Yet, the media hysteria continued for many months and it was only recently that NHTSA reluctantly admitted that a vast majority of Toyota unintended acceleration claims were caused by driver errors.

 

[samcraig]

I disagree. Look what happened to Toyota surrounding the unintended acceleration media hysteria? They were the exact opposite of Apple, profusely apologizing on several occasions with some silly reasons ("We grew too rapidly") and they were quite meek. Yet, the media hysteria continued for many months and it was only recently that NHTSA reluctantly admitted that a vast majority of Toyota unintended acceleration claims were caused by driver errors.

Sorry - but as a PR professional for over 20 years I will say without a doubt that Apple's handling of the situation was a complete and utter failure which will be studied by PR classes for years to come as a case study on how not to handle damage control.

You're also comparing two unlike situations. For one - phones don't kill people when they operate incorrectly (save a battery explosion).

 

[cocky jeremy]

By September 30th, all y'all should have knowed better than to buy one of those no antenna-having scam-of-a-phones. So, if you go buy one after that, serves you damn right for being so down-right stupid.

I think you need to get out of Tennessee or wherever you're from and "get learnt" some English.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Sorry - but as a PR professional for over 20 years I will say without a doubt that Apple's handling of the situation was a complete and utter failure which will be studied by PR classes for years to come as a case study on how not to handle damage control.

You're also comparing two unlike situations. For one - phones don't kill people when they operate incorrectly (save a battery explosion).

Yet people cited Toyota as how not to handle damage control, or rather, they were pissed that Toyota weren't more upfront with facts. Okay, so phones don't kill people but both Toyota and Apple's situations were blown out of proportion by media hysteria.

I quite liked how Jobs laid out the facts to tell the media to S.TFU. Wished Toyota would have done the same rather than allow the media hysteria to continue for many months until NHTSA's findings.

 

[diesel]

Sorry - but as a PR professional for over 20 years I will say without a doubt that Apple's handling of the situation was a complete and utter failure which will be studied by PR classes for years to come as a case study on how not to handle damage control.

You're also comparing two unlike situations. For one - phones don't kill people when they operate incorrectly (save a battery explosion).

I thought they handled it pretty well by citing antenna"gate" was an industry wide issue and specifically naming popular competitor phones with similar problems. A very academic truth based approach to an issue that was blown way out of proportion.

 

[shandyman]

I say they should have. I'm an Apple enthusiast, who believes that the antenna issue can be broken down into two categories. First is the fact that there is an issue with the fundamental design which created very real problems. No matter what the percentage of affected phones is, it is great enough that Apple should address it, not just cover it up with a case. After all they claim to be a premier company with premium products, so they should put their money where their mouth is and act like a responsible company would.*


I agree. Yet this does not remove their responsibility to the customers that got a bad phone.

Apple blew a wonderful opportunity to turn this around. Instead they acted like arrogant, superior jerks. They deserve all the heat they got from press & others.

As a loyal customer I know they could have done it right and ended up looking very good. At the end of the day, they're not going to be the cash cow forever.

The customers they're screwing now will remember it.*

you missed my point totally. i'm trying to say, its sounding like most the new ones are fine, ergo nothing to fix....

 

[samcraig]

Yet people cited Toyota as how not to handle damage control, or rather, they were pissed that Toyota weren't more upfront with facts. Okay, so phones don't kill people but both Toyota and Apple's situations were blown out of proportion by media hysteria.

I quite liked how Jobs laid out the facts to tell the media to S.TFU. Wished Toyota would have done the same rather than allow the media hysteria to continue for many months until NHTSA's findings.

I thought they handled it pretty well by citing antenna"gate" was an industry wide issue and specifically naming popular competitor phones with similar problems. A very academic truth based approach to an issue that was blown way out of proportion.

It's unfortunate that Apple's handling of the situation isn't as transparent to you both. You're perfect for their marketing and advertising. I don't say that as a real insult - only that clearly you haven't bothered to really listen to what they were saying nor what they put in print.

Jobs hardly told the media to ****. And his facts were dubious at best. But carry on. This is something we will have to agree to disagree on.

 

[JayLenochiniMac]

Jobs hardly told the media to ****. And his facts were dubious at best. But carry on. This is something we will have to agree to disagree on.

How were his facts dubious at best? The 1.5% return rate (among at&t early shipments) and 0.55% of iPhone 4 owners reporting antenna problems were hard data, accurate at the time.

 

[samcraig]

How were his facts dubious at best? The 1.5% return rate (among at&t early shipments) and 0.55% of iPhone 4 owners reporting antenna problems were hard data, accurate at the time.

Really? Really? It didn't take into account that people weren't returning their phones to find out if Apple was going to fix the problem. Nor was the .55 percent taking into account the people that don't call customer service at Apple to report a problem because they've read about it for a few weeks on the news.

Again - skewed and dubious data at best. And statistics can be presented in several ways as to make any case "possible."

Again - believe what you want.

 

[shandyman]

Really? Really? It didn't take into account that people weren't returning their phones to find out if Apple was going to fix the problem. Nor was the .55 percent taking into account the people that don't call customer service at Apple to report a problem because they've read about it for a few weeks on the news.

Again - skewed and dubious data at best. And statistics can be presented in several ways as to make any case "possible."

Again - believe what you want.

you don't know there were lots of people didn't call customer service to report it, you're pulling stuff out of thin air there. all just assumptions. they gave the facts as they had them.

 

[samcraig]

you don't know there were lots of people didn't call customer service to report it, you're pulling stuff out of thin air there. all just assumptions. they gave the facts as they had them.

They presented the facts that would serve their purpose. Please tell me people aren't that naive...

 

[shandyman]

They presented the facts that would serve their purpose. Please tell me people aren't that naive...

well some of us aren't so pessimistic.....

 

[samcraig]

well some of us aren't so pessimistic.....

not pessimism. realism. Again - with over 20 years of PR experience you learn to really listen. Not to mention recognize strategy. If I wasn't able to notice these things, I wouldn't be very good at my job...