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Apple Offers Free Cases To Solve iPhone 4 Antenna Problems

Apple just finished their press conference about the iPhone 4 antenna issues that have been widely reported and discussed in the past few weeks. Steve Jobs started by showing that the problem wasn't limited to iPhones, using videos of the BlackBerry Bold 9700, the HTC Droid Eris, and the Samsung Omnia 2 as examples, all of which dropped bars while being gripped in certain ways. He said, "This is life in the smartphone world. Phones aren't perfect. It's a challenge for the whole industry. Every phone has weak spots." He went on to say that only 0.55% of all iPhone 4 users have called in to complain about reception problems, and that the return rate on the iPhone 4 so far is less than a third of the return rate for the 3GS. Jobs then said that according to their data, the iPhone 4 drops an average of less than one additional call per hundred than the 3GS. He continued by pointing out that because the 3GS was based on the 3G, there was already a large supply of Bumpers, which most customers left the store with. When the iPhone 4 came out, the old Bumpers didn't fit, so stock was lower and fewer customers used them (80% vs. 20%). Therefore, Apple's solution to the antenna problems is to give a free case to every iPhone 4 purchaser before September 30. Refunds will be offered for those who already purchased one. Since they can't make the Bumpers fast enough, they'll be supplying other cases from third parties. Jobs also acknowledged recently reported problems with the proximity sensor, promising a future software update to fix it. Engadget's liveblog of the conference has a ton of pictures and more direct quotes from Jobs. It's worth looking at if only for pictures of Apple's anechoic testing chambers.

5 of 917 comments (clear)

  1. Only .55%? by Linux_ho · · Score: 5, Funny

    He went on to say that only 0.55% of all iPhone 4 users have called in to complain about reception problems

    Yet there's a suspiciously high number of calls on that line where the caller mumbles something incomprehensible and then hangs up.

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  2. Apple sermon by arcite · · Score: 5, Funny
    The Apple giveth.

    The Apple taketh away.

    And on the third week of the coming of the iphone 4 Jobs said it was good... And gave to all gifts of bumpers to yoke the strength of the signal bar.

    And it was good.

    So sayeth the wise Jobs.

  3. So to sum up... by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...it's not a problem, the problem is unavoidable, everybody else has this problem too, and we're going to fix it.

  4. Re:'Bout time by NotBornYesterday · · Score: 5, Funny

    He went on to say that only 0.55% of all iPhone 4 users have called in to complain about reception problems

    I'm guessing the other 99.45% couldn't get a signal.

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    I prefer rogues to imbeciles because they sometimes take a rest.
  5. Re:'Bout time by theguyfromsaturn · · Score: 5, Funny

    Give Apple a break. Of course they couldn't test the iPhone 4 prior to releasing it, on account that one of their employees lost the prototype which was later found by Gizmodo. How were they supposed to test it without the single prototype they had?

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