NYT/Consumer Reports unmask Apple's iPhone 4 B$
Apple is bullshitting us, the market, about the iPhone 4's reception 'troubles'. It is not a software glitch. It is a design flaw. So Apple is lying about it.
Let's keep Apple straight, guys!
I think a general recall is in order. Steve can ask the major automakers how to organise one.
Quote:
July 12, 2010, 1:13 pm
Consumer Reports Says iPhone 4 Has Design Flaw
By NICK BILTON
Consumer Reports said in a blog post and accompanying video on Monday that widely reported signal problems with the iPhone 4, Apple’s latest mobile phone, were a result of a flaw in the phone’s antenna design, and that it could not recommend purchasing the phone. That contradicts earlier claims by Apple that the problems are a software issue.
The magazine said its engineers performed a series of tests on three separate iPhone 4s inside a controlled lab environment known as a “radio frequency isolation chamber.” They found that when the bottom left corner of the iPhone was touched it could sometimes lose enough signal strength to drop calls.
Consumer Reports said the tests led it to conclude that it could not recommend the iPhone 4 to consumers until Apple fixes the hardware problem. It also questioned Apple’s honesty on the antenna issues:
Our findings call into question the recent claim by Apple that the iPhone 4’s signal-strength issues were largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software that “mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength.”
When reports first started to surface of a reception flaw in the new phone, Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, said to a customer in an e-mail that he was simply holding the phone incorrectly. Technology writers lambasted the company for this comment.
Earlier this month Apple released a statement saying that it had looked into the signal problems and was “stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong.” The company also said it would release a software update to fix the issue and would make “bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see” on the phone’s signal display. It did not acknowledge any problem with the phone’s hardware.
Consumer Reports also tested several other phones, including the earlier iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre, and reported that “none of those phones had the signal-loss problems of the iPhone 4.” The report also said AT&T’s network did not appear to play a primary role in the iPhone 4’s signal woes.
AT&T declined to comment on the latest report and Apple did not return a request for comment.
The latest comments by Consumer Reports dispute an earlier statement on the publications Electronics Blog that the “iPhone 4’s supposed signal woes aren’t unique, and may not be serious.”
Michael Gikas, senior editor of electronics at Consumer Reports said in a phone interview that the earlier blog post was a “first impression” of the iPhone 4 and the latest report is based on detailed laboratory experiments showing the phones issues are clearly a hardware malfunction.
“We don’t believe that consumers should pay extra money to fix the problem,” Mr. Gikas said. “We think either Apple should supply free cases for the phone or come up with another solution. That’s why we are not recommending the iPhone 4.”
July 12, 2010, 1:13 pm
Consumer Reports Says iPhone 4 Has Design Flaw
By NICK BILTON
Consumer Reports said in a blog post and accompanying video on Monday that widely reported signal problems with the iPhone 4, Apple’s latest mobile phone, were a result of a flaw in the phone’s antenna design, and that it could not recommend purchasing the phone. That contradicts earlier claims by Apple that the problems are a software issue.
The magazine said its engineers performed a series of tests on three separate iPhone 4s inside a controlled lab environment known as a “radio frequency isolation chamber.” They found that when the bottom left corner of the iPhone was touched it could sometimes lose enough signal strength to drop calls.
Consumer Reports said the tests led it to conclude that it could not recommend the iPhone 4 to consumers until Apple fixes the hardware problem. It also questioned Apple’s honesty on the antenna issues:
Our findings call into question the recent claim by Apple that the iPhone 4’s signal-strength issues were largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software that “mistakenly displays 2 more bars than it should for a given signal strength.”
When reports first started to surface of a reception flaw in the new phone, Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, said to a customer in an e-mail that he was simply holding the phone incorrectly. Technology writers lambasted the company for this comment.
Earlier this month Apple released a statement saying that it had looked into the signal problems and was “stunned to find that the formula we use to calculate how many bars of signal strength to display is totally wrong.” The company also said it would release a software update to fix the issue and would make “bars 1, 2 and 3 a bit taller so they will be easier to see” on the phone’s signal display. It did not acknowledge any problem with the phone’s hardware.
Consumer Reports also tested several other phones, including the earlier iPhone 3GS and Palm Pre, and reported that “none of those phones had the signal-loss problems of the iPhone 4.” The report also said AT&T’s network did not appear to play a primary role in the iPhone 4’s signal woes.
AT&T declined to comment on the latest report and Apple did not return a request for comment.
The latest comments by Consumer Reports dispute an earlier statement on the publications Electronics Blog that the “iPhone 4’s supposed signal woes aren’t unique, and may not be serious.”
Michael Gikas, senior editor of electronics at Consumer Reports said in a phone interview that the earlier blog post was a “first impression” of the iPhone 4 and the latest report is based on detailed laboratory experiments showing the phones issues are clearly a hardware malfunction.
“We don’t believe that consumers should pay extra money to fix the problem,” Mr. Gikas said. “We think either Apple should supply free cases for the phone or come up with another solution. That’s why we are not recommending the iPhone 4.”
Let's keep Apple straight, guys!
I think a general recall is in order. Steve can ask the major automakers how to organise one.
Comments
Apple is bullshitting us, the market, about the iPhone 4's reception 'troubles'. It is not a software glitch. It is a design flaw. So Apple is lying about it.
Let's keep Apple straight, guys!
I think a general recall is in order. Steve can ask the major automakers how to organise one.
Good point Rokcet. On the other hand, this is great, I can cover my goof of selling AAPL at 170 and maybe buy more when it goes down! I'm sure it'll be losing a bit after getting slammed by Consumer Reports and NYT. People base purchases on these respected publications.
Apple is handling iPhone 4 issues in the worst possible way at every step. Insulting their customers, covering up problems, etc. No free bumpers etc. The bumpers they probably decided to make at the last minute knowing of the iPhone 4 signal issue and deciding to squeeze profit out of a problematic situation. Geez. And the whole fantasy they have of controlling what customers can and can't do with THEIR phone. Pff Android will crush iPhone given enough time. For now iPhone is better for my purposes but only because of its head start on a few things. My next phone will almost certainly be Android. it's classic Mac vs. Windows (now Android), they just don't get it. Only this time...Apple is the bad guy. Weird.
I have, in actual fact, gotten me an Android Google Nexus One phone, 3 weeks ago. 2 Days before the iPhone 4 launch, which I knew was coming. Because I had seen this face-off between the iPhone 3GS and the Nexus One. Knowing, from experience with the iPhone 3GS's availability, that the iPhone 4 wouldn't be available in €urope for several months.
This from a quarter century Mac veteran! Running 3 Macs simultaneously as we speak.
But now I don't trust Apple any farther than I can see anymore.
I have mixed feelings about having to report that my choice has sofar been vindicated...
I think Steve e.a. deserve a good kick in the pants!
Apple is to clever to just ignore whats going on and most likely will correct the problem. How they do it remains to be seen.
Remember, damage control at this point is very important to APPLES reputation AND THEY KNOW THAT.