Apple Announces iPhone 4 Issue Fix
iPhone 4 Signal Loss
When the iPhone 4′s reception problem (dropped calls) first turned up, Apple’s CEO Steve Jobs shrugged it off as a minor problem. Jobs said it was a problem with the signal bars appearing on the phone. The iPhone’s operating system (iOS) has a problem in that it is showing more bars than are available. Apple distributed a fix for the iOS 4 to address the incorrect number of bars. However, this fix did not
address the reception issue. Around the end of June Jobs denied anything wrong with the reception. Then, Consumer Reports and other users stormed the internet blogs with information that the iPhone did have a serious reception flaw. Touch it in the gap along the lower left side of the phone and your attenuation will go down about 20 decibels, enough to drop calls per ConsumerReports (http://www.publicradio.org/columns/marketplace/business-news-briefs/2010/07/another_use_for_duct_tape_ipho.html). ConsumerReports placed a ‘Do Not Buy’ rating on the iPhone and said we cannot recommend this phone until it is fixed. The consumer magazine did have its own workaround: If you place a strip of non-conductive duct tape covering the gap, it will minimize shorting out the iPhone’s antennae. There is one drawback though. The phone doesn’t look as nice.
Apple Provides An Issue Fix
Apple’s stock dropped about 2.1% in one day amid the negative sentiment. Apple had to address the problem.
Jobs said yesterday (7/17/10) in an announcement “We’re not perfect!” He acknowledged the reception problem. In addition, he said Apple is not alone; other phones also experience attenuation problems; this is not exclusive to the iPhone. After saying that he announced a fix for the issue. Apple will give users a free bumper to iPhone 4 owners (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/technology/apple-tackles-antennagate/article1643235/) until September 30. The bumper wraps around the edge of the iPhone to minimize the reception loss. If you already bought an Apple bumper for your iPhone 4, you will get a refund. But if you really can’t live with the problem iPhone, you can get a full refund. On September 30 Apple will reevaluate the situation and may announce how they will proceed from there.
My Take
Here is my take on the problem. I can empathize with Apple being a developer myself. Let me see a show of hands of all the developers out there that have implemented a software project to production without any bugs in it! Is there one? Apple has analyzed the problem and found that less than 1% of users have complained about it. That’s not bad considering 3 million have been sold. And more are scheduled to be sold in Canada at the end of July. Maybe Jobs is right in saying that the problem has been blown out of proportion. Apple is not recalling the iPhone which would be even a greater expense. The most important question comes down to: Would you still buy an iPhone 4 despite the reception issue? Yes I would.
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