Apple iPhone 4 special press conference round up

Lol

Good reporting Rene, thumbs up

I read a lot of tech blogs. My wife does not. She happened to read up on the press conference on a general news site. Her response was quite positive on Apples side. She said that admitting their mistake made them seem more human. Not sure her opinion will be indicative of your basic 'man on the street', but it's one in Apples favor.

So the i4 is worse than the 3GS. We can't fix it with software. So here a bumper for ya. Thx. Move along. Nothing to see. 

Good coverage, thanks TiPb!

I give it an A for apple. Wish BP ran their business like Apple

I've had the phone since launch day, and I can honestly say....
The antenna problem is not a problem for me.
Yes, if I hold my hand over that spot, I watch my bars drop. However, I've noticed this is only in places where my signal is already iffy. If I am in a high signal area, getting good reception naturally, I notice no problem with my phone whatsoever. Also, I don't hold the phone naturally in such a way to cause this in the first place. And, I use the headset a lot if I do need to make calls. My breakdown of how I use my iPhone 4 goes like this: 50% using apps/web browsing, 30% texting, 10% emailing and 10% calling. Also, I'm almost always on wireless, via my house or free wifi hotspots. Out of the 10% of the time I'm calling, I see an issue maybe 5% of the time.
Not a problem.
As for Apple's response and the conference - I was pleasantly surprised to hear about the free cases. I was not shocked at their data, a little confused as to why they included some data (Not many people have returned their phones because they were waiting for Apple's response!) and disappointed with some of their comments. In the end, though, I agree that the media and internet trollers have blown this out of proportion.
It's all very simple. If the phone does not perform to your standards, return it. You would do this for any other product you buy.

Poor angry bloggers and Droids will have to find something else to do now. It's over. :lol:

I'm waiting for my iPhone 4, but in the meantime I performed the same test he showed in the video today on my iPhone 3GS! Needless to say I was able to accomplish the exact drop in bars that Apple did on the 3 different devices today. I was surprised but not dismade because I've had the 3GS for a year now and have not occurred any problems, definitely not dropped calls! My belief is that some users are experiencing some challenges with their devices but every device in the history of devices has had a small percentage of their units experiencing some difficulties. Stay calm and carry on!

In a nutshell. There is nothing wrong here, all phones are like this. Here is your free case. Did I get it right?

Well, there's still "proximitygate." It was slick of them to rephrase the problem (with the help of the blogs) from "one finger in the wrong place" to a "death grip" and then shower the mob with free goodies. I predict the masses will be appeased.

@joost: I have a feeling that Apple has ended up extra-polished and so the fingerprints show up more.
I bet if you were to go to the support forums for a company's phones (or better yet, unofficial forums) you would get the impression that they are, for lack of a better word, crap.
I'm not trying to be a fanboy. Apple has reached the point that they can release a cell phone and everyone Freaks The Hell Out over it.
I remember when I first was shopping for a Windows Mobile phone and the HP iPAQ 6315 was one of the few options available in the U.S. I did a little research and it turned out to be basically a stinker so I didn't buy it. Was HP in the news because their phone had serious quality assurance flaws? No. At the time, I bet you could have showed it to random people and they'd have gone, oh, is that a Palm Pilot and a phone? Huh.
Now, you take out your iPhone and people go, oh good grief, not another iPhone. Everyone has those...

the antenna issue never really affected me... but i'm glad they at least addressed the proximity sensor issue... eventually i will be able to enjoy my phone...

All I have to say is they shouldn't have to apologize for innovation. I thought they did a good job and I know they put smiles on many Canadian faces.

The problem I see is going to be resale. The fix will come. After all they're not going to give away free cases forever. Just wait until you try and sell "the old one". This problem will be worse for those who weren't eligible for upgrades and shelled out big bucks.
Mine works fine. I have zero issues with it. Yet I will be returning it tonight. Mine was $499. I don't want to take the financial hit that I see as inevitable at this point.

Bought a 4 on release day. Total lemon in many ways. My iPhone classic and 3Gs worked great. They exchanged my 4 for another. It also was unusable because of the prox sensor and reception being so bad. Even with the bumper I reluctantly bought. I just returned it. Almost everyone I know has a defective 4. Even the one at the apple store wasn’t working properly. The employees recognized this. Apple won’t admit it. When they fix the hardware I’ll be back. Get on it Apple!

No matter what Apple did was going to please angry negative people. Apple could have said they were giving people new phones and a recall, the angry people would be unhappy. Mine works fine except for the proximity sensor and I hear there is a software fix soon. It is a phone for crying out loud. Stop being angry. Return it if it makes you unhappy.

It's over.

Free bumper or not it's still a bad apple. Early adopters, long hours in line, early morning reservers, we just got FUK! 

The press conference was in the end extremely successful, as far as press conferences go. It showed that Steve Jobs recognizes that the bad press needs to be addressed, laid out an argument with data that minimizes the impact of the bad publicity, showed Apple's commitment in continuing to address the problem, and provided a short term solution as well as a longer term goal. And Jobs showed humor and a little bit of humility. All that stuff is good for reasurring investors, shoring up their public image, and alleviating anxiety among current iPhone 4 owners and potential users. That's about a good as a press conference about a reported design flaw can get.
What will happen with the antenna issue is of course a completely different matter.

I agree with Icebike. Steve was incredibly defensive and repeatedly tried to diminish the size of the problem (with very questionable statistics). It sounded immature and evasive. His whole "we love you, why don't you trust us" drivel was pathetic. And the poor guys are just working their butts off. The only thing he left out, to compete the BP analogy, would be to say "I'd like my life back."

I am an Apple fan but the way Apple has handled this leaves a bad taste in my mouth. When this issue first cropped up, Apple's (Steve Job's) response was, "Hold it different." then, it was, "There's no real problem, it's an illusion caused by the way we show our bars." Once Consumer Reports blew it wide open and Apple couldn't deny it anymore, they start crying, "Hey, we're not perfect!"
No one expects them to be. What we expected was for them to own up to the problem when it first reared it's head, admit it, apologize, and offer a solution.
Yes, they are offering a solution now, when they have no other choice thanks to the huge PR scar. But they still never apologized, and instead, bragged about how much they love their users and how they built 300 Apple stores for "their users." Gee, I thought those stores were there to sell Apple products. Boy, was I wrong!

@Loz:

There’s no such thing as bad publicity. Watch the sales figures absolutely rocket now….

Agreed.
I'm sure Steve Jobs prefers having the "negative" attention that goes along with being #1, on all networks 24/7, then being a just another company whose products (and faults) the mainstream doesn't give a damn about.
Most people are just going to shrug their shoulders at this whole thing and take their chances when the next shipment arrives at the stores — while the haters stomp their feet up and down in more frustration.

I think Apple did what it had to do to make things right. It's over.

So stoked I didn't wait in that 8 hour line. So stoked. So stoked. Hate being a beta tester. Gimme the item when it's solid.

Well i will say to tipb.com Sorry, im no longer a iphone4 user..After Jobs Sorry response to the iphone woes i quickly returned my phone and the BUMPER that doesnt 100% fix my issues in marginal areas where other 3gs gets full bars..im done with Apple til they come out with a actual quality phone first fun stuff second..Jobs blaming all Smartphones on signal drops was sorry and pitiful..Ive had all but the onmia he showed and NEVER had signal crap out to the degree of apple..And please Steve can you please change freaking shirts! same stupid black smock neck shirt..lol.Anyway Consumer Reports doesnt recommend the i4 and i will not either..OH the reason your returns are low compared to the 3gs if that number is even right is because we have been holding off waiting to see what your response the the press was going to be..Run those numbers again in a week moron..

I find the response satisfying.
The phone has a design flaw- no question.
Free bumper to minimize the effect of the flaw.
Full refund if not satisfied.
That's about as good a response as I could have asked for- except for clearer communication earlier on. I live in San Francisco and so I can prompt the issue at will. But it doesn't affect me at all with a bit of attention paid. If that bit of attention is too much to ask... Return the phone for a full refund. Done.
The "data" about complaints, returns, and other phones is somewhat specious. I understand those who feel are offended by that, but the return policy trumps all.



Legally ( in the US ), you have a 30 day cancellation period after signing up for a cell phone plan. So, ATT should allow for new plans to be cancelled during that 30 day period... Return the phone, cancel the plan if not satisfied. But only during the first 30 days.
Reasonable to me.

I can't say I'm happy with their response, but that's mostly because I hate the way apple talk to consumers and especially the attitude Steve Jobs has. I do however love the iPhone 4 and my 3GS before it. I've never had a single problem with either phone and can't see what all the fuss is about. All tech items have problems, you either put up with it or take it back, end of. My 360 red ringed on me, I didn't head to a forum to cry, I sent it back for repairs and got on with my life. Some people need a reality check where all the drama is concerned.

Doesn't sound like much?
"As it turns out, the iPhone 4 drops more calls than the older iPhone 3GS - “less than one additional dropped call per 100,” Apple CEO Steve Jobs said during a news conference Friday.
Although that doesn’t sound like a big difference, a typical U.S. phone only drops one to 1.5 calls per 100, said Dan Hays, who focuses on telecommunications at management consulting firm PRTM. So another one per 100 could mean that the iPhone 4 drops nearly twice as many calls as the older model, Hays said." AP

Some serious spin going down today. Poor apple fanbois have been locked into the same os/device they dont know what to do. Change is good mkay. Progression, not regression is good mkay.

I'm keeping mine :-)

fanboys, trolls, snarky comments, and poor grammar. Lol, love this blog.

British accent Well played Mr. Jobs, well played!
iPhone 4 > Every other phone in the history of the world.
I LOVE MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will get my case but honestly I'm still not satisfied with the results of the press conference. I don't like being mislead or in better words lied to and that exactly what apple did. I'm not saying that I will never by another apple product because I might but I do know that the way they handled this situation will heavily factor in.

What's wrong with the comments?! Where have they all gone, and why was it impossible to post anything lately? :s
"<1 call drop more per 100 calls" doesn't really state anything without the actual numbers. Maybe the 3GS drops 1 in 100 calls, which would mean the 4 drops almost 2 per 100, resulting in a doubled rate! And I really don't hope the 3GS drops more calls per 100 than a few, which means the 4 really is quite a bit worse.
Not the best way to "put the issue in perspective", at least not the perspective Apple tried to put it in.

OK, the comments seem fine now..

For all who are complaining and not happy with Apple's response, well you should have called and complained to Apple directly instead of writing on the blog's. You still have time to get your money back too. I think it's time to start looking into the other phones Steve Jobs talked about and start slamming those companies. I'm quite happy with my IPhone 4 and will keep it.

Steve jobs is a liar. Funny how he shows PICTURES of other phones losing signal. He did this because it's not true. Poor tactic on his part. I hope the other manufacturers sue him.

mcre8tiv -> likely they are indicating interference, ie. max interference versus min interference or max grip versus min grip.
I have been in the world of cell phone development for over 10 years - what Steve was saying is actually very true - remember those phones with the whip antennas or the little stubs, best thing for us cell phone designers, get the antenna away from the body - but the people want nice compact and no extruded pieces, so the antennas needed to get smaller and put inside the body likely where a persons hand or head could get closer to interfering. Human body absorption causes antenna detuning. Combine that with needing three antennas in one device - difficult....
That all said, I am impressed with the Apple solution and design - I look forward to getting one when available in Canada.

W/e you people will never be pleased. Go ahead and make yourselves a Jesus phone.
I would have liked Apple to not even arrange a conference so cry babies like most of you could continue crying all over the place.
Return the phone, move along, you "perfect people"; get an Android phone and move to Androidcentral and blog everyday about Apple being some assholes and bad stuff.
-Sorry if there are gramatical errors, English is not my first language.

LOL. Seems that people here are forgetting that under all it's beauty and god-like presence, the device is a phone. An iPhone. It's in the name. It should at least function as a phone!
While it's true that if you touch any antennae, it will decrease effectiveness, but the idiot engineers put the antennae externally, right where you are forced to grip it. So, no, I don't buy Apple's finger pointing at other phones to stop finger pointing at theirs.
Finally, the way they approached this flaw was really childish. They knew and were warned even before release about the issue, but ignored it. And as for them giving out bumpers is just sad. I don't want a bumper on my phone, and I know I'm not alone.
Big fail for Apple. I'm done worshipping the iPhone. I love my macs, but I'm going out to buy a Droid Incredible.
That's all.

Thank you RIM for not going the route that apple did. Great statement. What class Blackberry it shows what a great company does. As for losing reception on the Blackberry Bold, not true or we would be hearing from hundreds of millions of people around the world. Didn't happen! 1st quarter of a hundred million Blackberry sold and only 3 million I phone alot from repeat customers. I love my Blackberry!!!! Class Act for sure

Buy an Apple to play (or fail), buy a Blackberry to work. Remember, Friends don't let Friends buy Apple.

I for one love that he got on stage and even adressed it so and i dont have the antenna problem so ill gladly take the free case thanks steve your awesome dispite what some might say

1. Apple wanted to expose antenna to improve iPhone reception, especially in those poor areas AT&T is known for (not an original idea but worth trying). 
2. At the same time Apple wanted to combine function and design (as they normally do) so they made antennas in the form of an outside wraparound metal band. 
3. As a result, iPhone 4 reception in bad signal areas has indeed improved.
4. However, antenna exposure to hand contact created the unwanted side effect of signal attenuation (when a phone held in a certain way) especially magnified in those poor signal areas. Is this a "major design flaw"? I don't think so. As a side note, all mobile phones are affected by hand interference, more or less. 
5. As a possible intermediate solution for those affected by attenuation Apple proposed:
   a) hold a phone without covering the so-called "bridge" between 2 metal bands/antennas
   b) get a (free) case/bumper to cut direct hand contact with an antenna
   c) return a phone for a refund. 
6. At the same time Apple made adjustment to a signal strength display algorithm to provide more realistic data about the signal. 

The next step for Apple, I guess, would be finding and putting into production a permanent solution (such as some kind of thin insulation layer etc.) without significantly changing design or aesthetics. 
Is the iPhone 4 "antenna issue" overblown? Based on all the facts so far, I would say it is. In fact, this whole "antennagate" may be a blessing in disguise. 
I believe Apple eventually will come with a permanent solution, which not only eliminates the issue but creates the best antenna in the industry. 

@mav.
Couldnt agree more ill bet the next antenna they come up with is gonna blow us away

i think the press conference was just amazing! seriously what other company would go to so much effort to actually keep people happy. i tell you what if hp, SE, nokia and htc (these are all the smart phone manufacturers i have owned phones from) did anything like this for all the terrible phones they have made i would be simply amazed and the problems im talking about make the phones completly useless and hence live in my top draw collecting dust!
go apple, you rock, you still make the best phone experience by a country mile, the OS is easy to use, fast and just works. sure there are some small things i would love, but overall the iphone 3, 3GS and i guess 4 (but i dont own one yet) are all winners!

Apple iPhone 4 special press conference round up. I think they did a superb job to address everything.

yeah im not happy either, it has worse reception than my 2G. my options are :
1) get a refund, goto android and loose lots of money on the apps i've just brought and invested in
2) keep it and hold it funny for a year until iphone5 comes out and be pissed if they release
a hardware update to fix the antenna in a few months
3) go back to 2G - wait for an update to the antenna or iphone 5 and try to get a refund for tomtom
non of which are very satisfactory.

Quote Dennis: " Thank you RIM for not going the route that apple did. Great statement. What class Blackberry it shows what a great company does. As for losing reception on the Blackberry Bold, not true or we would be hearing from hundreds of millions of people around the world. Didn’t happen! 1st quarter of a hundred million Blackberry sold and only 3 million I phone alot from repeat customers. I love my Blackberry!!!! Class Act for sure".
You obviously didn't own a blacberry storm 1
I went trough 4 handsets due to signal issues/ dropped calls and all the time rim said there was no problem, in the end o got a 3GS and never dropped a call since!

@Loz:
"There’s no such thing as bad publicity. Watch the sales figures absolutely rocket now….
Couldn't agree more. In fact, apples incident and subsequent press conference soaked up enough mainstream media attention to draw interest away from the "other" thong that happened this past week. If only I could just remember what it was. What was the date? Oh, July 15th.
By the way, I love my iP4. Haven't had any issues with dropped calls even though I can recreate the deathgrip issue. Not one to turn down a freebie, I probably won't ever use a bumper, but whatever, thanks.

Sorry for spelling errors in my previous post. It kind of diminishes my point, but hopefully you get it.

"One thing is for certain, RIM's customers don't need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity." -- RIM co-CEOS
But apparently you need to use a case for your Blackberry to keep it from frying your balls:
"If you do not use a body-worn accessory supplied or approved by RIM when you carry the BlackBerry device, keep the device at least 0.98 inches (25 mm) from your body when the BlackBerry device is turned on and connected to a wireless network." -- RIM Blackberry product manual
I don't know if that's standard practice among all smartphones (I've only read a RIM manual because I have one at work), but it seems disingenuous to brag about how your products don't need a case, when your own product manual says that they do.

I-phone users need to know and understand that all the BS and "apps" that they are all "Hyped about" can be summarized as one thing "USELESS". You dudes buy 3000 applications and dont even use 98% of them LMAO. I own a Palm Pixi PLUS and it kicks AZZ steady, reliable performance, great design, FAIR price, and great coverage. Hands down beats the IPhone anytime anywhere (BTW) I have friends that OWN IPhone's and they cant compete. SO heres to you Mr. Bandwagon Application whores.... LMAO without the applications you know what you have just another touch style phone nothing spectacular. Get used to it. Its no longer "COOL" to own an IPhone (get over yourselves) you spent too much money on a "status" item

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FL7yD-0pqZg

http://www.rongyi-bodyarmor.com/