Apple to hold iPhone 4 press conference on Friday - Page 4

Yup, store credit is the only way to go! -There will be a legal challenge if the bumpers are given away free. The question are how much will the credit be and will this be enough. I suspect people will continue moaning.

As for the antenna issue - I'd like a detailed explanation of what's happening, and how many people they think are affected by it.

Nice try, thanks for playing.

Yup, your screen name says it all... Recall? For what? Not going to happen...

I think you've just argued why Apple cannot do a full recall. If they do, they may as well leave the phone business. Fact of the matter though, it All the above ( bar google who only made 1 phone) have screwed up like this. But I guess their screw ups came before social medai - still Glass houses and stones etc.

I have noticed your whiny posts for weeks now on numerous threads. Your constant whining and badgering is getting really old now. Everyone here knows what you will say as soon as they see your username show up - same old whiny crap. Get something new to discuss and stop repeating yourself over and over. You never bring anything intelligent to add to the discussion, because you are so busy whining. Come back after you gather your thoughts, or not.

The issue is affecting very few people in the real world. This is issue is just trumped up by the press. That is the reason they are doing a press conference, because nobody who actually owns the phone cares -- just the press (and people misled by the press). This way the press can ask their questions. Whatever they do is essentially to appease the press and not the consumer. It will be interesting to see what they do. A product recall is extremely unlikely. I could see Apple saying that there is no problem, but offering free bumper cases (or something thinner so it doesn't disrupt the aesthetic) as a gesture to lay this completely to rest. This issue can be reproduced, but doesn't cause real world harm. Ask anyone with an iPhone 4 and they will tell you it has significantly better reception then their previous iPhone. I have no regrets with my iPhone 4.

For everyone comparing this to the Toyota recall, the government has been analyzing the "affected" cars computers and most of the time it was the drivers fault and not the cars. Certainly the recall is important because it is a safety concern, but for the iPhone there is no safety concern. Yet I still think this is more people trying to find something to criticize then a real problem. I suspect most complaints are coming from non-iPhone users. I have heard nothing about people returning their phone in droves even though there is no penalty to do so.

Consumer Reports is just egging Apple on to do this press conference. How can you say that it is hands down the best phone ever but not recommend it. Especially since those who have some sort of issue holding it properly could just spend an extra $15-$30 on a cover.

Honestly what they should probably say is something like

"The media is blowing things way out of proportion ignoring that all cell phones and services can and do suffer the trouble that has been blamed on a 'known tragic design error' that we are apparently believing our customers too stupid to notice. Even Consumer Reports included the caveat 'in areas with weak reception' suggesting that in fact the quality of service coverage could be the issue and not anything to do with the phone.

"Anyone that is not satisfied with the performance of their iphone on any level has 30 days from the time of purchase to return it with no penalty from Apple or ATT. Please do so. As for the media, please be fair, balanced and actually informed or Shut the F up. Apple is tried of being your tabloid trash hit fodder"

Cause that's basically the truth.

As for the bumpers. it probably won't happen. Because it's not a true solution. It works for some folks because their skin is more conductive than others. But it won't work for everyone because the issue has nothing to do with holding the phone or anything else. It's crap service in the area. No case can cover that. Using one would be like a band aid over a GSW to the gut.

Geez, I didn't know I'd run into someone so quickly on this board who dismisses anyone who disagrees with him/her with "spare us all the whining".

Since when has reasonable discourse, debate, and the rationale presentation of reasonable arguments made you so uncomfortable as to dismiss a simple recourse laden with facts, not opinion, and made you label those who disagree with you as "whiners"?

As for your observation that there are no statistics to show a considerable problem, I would respectfully postulate that to return it under present circumstances is both cumbersome, inconvenient, and for many a bit premature. This does not diminish the numbers of folks having the real problem, and lots of purchasers are loathe to make any disparaging remarks against Apple, and remind me of the purchaser of a new, expensive car who is somewhat disatisfied, but is embarassed to admit same, and is not likely to complain about it at the next cocktail party. I would be willing to bet that, if Apple was to offer anyone who wanted an instantaneous swap with an iP4 that had the antenna fixed (coated, or whatever) that virtually all of the owners would be marching down to the Apple or ATT store for just such a swap, and you'd have your statistics of the real problem. Just because no one can accurately estimate the percentage of owners who have noticed the problem, under controlled and reasonably scientific analysis, does nothing to diminish the probability that the phenomenon is indeed real, affects virtually all owners (under the right circumstances) is non-trivial in many eyes, and does nothing to address the more important public relations issue of a rationale explanation and response from Apple.

Believe me, this debacle is now much more public than people on here think it is. This is no longer chatter amongst the tech blogs and geek communities. When I walked through my company's cantine on Tuesday and saw laying on the table "Consumer Reports Slams New iPhone" plastered in big bold print across the front page of the Market Place section of USA Today news, I knew Apple could not side step the issue any longer. And now Apple has taken the uncharacteristic approach of issuing an unscheduled press conference. You can bet the news media will be running rampant with speculation. Should be interesting to watch AAPL in the coming days...

Assuming that 4.1 is the referenced update, it might actually be doing exactly what it is supposed to be doing.

Apple reported that the algorithms they were using (which were apparently given to them by ATT) are not as accurate as they believed and thus were reporting false levels of signal strength. So sometimes it was showing 5 bars when it should have shown 3 etc.

But understand that those bars do NOT equate to reception. They are about distance to a usable tower. That tower that you are right under could be super congested and while you are getting 5 bars, you can't make a call or keep one connected. Or you could be on the edge with only 1 bar and no one is on that tower and your calls are perfect.

Regardless of what aPPLE says and does people will still moan & groan.

If you're unhappy with the IPHONE4 or ATT service give it back for a full refund. Why complain if you can get your money back. Remember nobody is forced to buy a product, and every product has PROS and CONS. So if you can live with the Cons because the PROS are so strong than good. Why moan & groan if you can get a refund.

Its hard to believe that people would keep any cellphone if they could not call from it. Which means that the majority of people are not having the problem.

Exactly!

What people don't know is that for one reason or another, cupping the phone in the death grip seems to correlate to massive numbers of people trying to connect to your nearest cell phone tower.

Coupled with the error in the display of the number of bars, it makes it seem as if cupping the phone is actually causing the dropped call. In actuality, whenever you cup the phone, the cell phone tower gets crowded (after all, your carrier is AT&T).

This is why when the 4.1 update comes out, the bars will not drop as much anymore, but you will still drop calls. Didn't anyone find it suspicious that all these reports were coming from the US and not overseas? AT&T and the consumer are at fault here, not Apple.

Sorry I should have been a bit more clear. I was referring to an internal challenger, someone with enough credibility and enough standing to put up a fight with the industrial design guys (Ive et al) without getting canned in the process.

On that note, I still view Android as a platform as opposed to product. Android comparisons in software, but quite a different comparison in terms of hardware, spec-wise and design-wise.

How much for a buy in? Put me down for a free bumper after a $29 rebate, (which the coupon won't work for some reason as a f@ck you from Steve). And, put me down for a free swap of a new iPhone with a complementary 6 month subscription to Mobile Me (provided you give them a credit card which will then be pre-authed for a full year).

So who is having the pool and who's collecting the spot money? I feel lucky.

Does this mean that you have had trouble with the iPhone? (You might have said so elsewhere, sorry if I missed your post!)

actually that's a pretty good idea!

Sure I've had trouble. But, i'm still on the first gen iphone, so i'm not complaining. it served me well, for 3 years, (well maybe not the SAME phone, but 3 just like it). I'm waiting for the white one since I didn't get a choice of colors the first time and pocket lint looks so tacky on a black iPhone.

I'm trying to make light of the situation here. It seems that some people have issues. Issues with their phones and issues with their temper. They're not the first ones to have Apple products that don't work as advertised. For the most part, Apple fixes the problem if there is one, eventually. There are a lot of people who post here who know what I'm talking about. Whether it was a Powerbook titanium that the paint peeled off, or a first gen G5 Mac Pro with a leaking cpu cooler, or any, ANY version of the iMac flatscreen (not the lamp one, that one was ok). They all have had some issue and usually been taken care of. Remember the first iPhone fiasco? I got a $99 giftcard out of it and a lot of people had issues with their giftcards. I take all of these in stride since life is too short to have a stroke over this crap.

So to answer your question, it was a joke. A joke to see what does Apple do to try to calm these people who have had such a horrible thing done to them that they should seek a support group.
/SARCASM

Please spare the world with boring car recalls.

But what about the rumors that if you hit the back of a iPhone 4 real hard it could burst into flames?

The next iPhone killer?

The iPhone!

On Friday, if Apple were to acknowledge the design issue has disappointed too many of its customers, whether the problem is considered minor or serious, I think for the sake of the brand image, a full refund to dissatisfied owners should be offered.
For those who choose to retain their iPhone 4, some appropriate gesture by Apple should likewise be made.
I've been looking forward to the Australian iPhone 4 release since I sold my iPhone 3G about a month ago. I had already decided to include the bumper even before I first read about reception problems and I'll be very disappointed if this delays the local release of this really beautiful product and I'm forced to go to a lesser alterative.

Actually he's not accusing them of lying. He is accusing you of making sweeping generalizations without the facts to back it up, as per your usual. BTW, I noticed you used variations on the word "whining" 8 times in that post. Try a thesaurus.

Well anyone from the tinfoil hat club will tell you that they knew about the problem and that's what the delay is, to fix it in manufactering. Just don't go do something stupid like buy an Android phone. It's a bizarro iPhone.

There not recalling mine. Now't wrong with it. If they issue free bumpers I'll be slightly annoyed as I've just bought one for 20 squid.

Is there any issues with the phone in the UK? I haven't heard any.

I think it's really funny how everyone assumes that Apple will provide some kind of fix (i.e. refund, free-something-case, or total recall). Has anyone thought that perhaps this press conference will be just to answer allegations made against the iP4? Maybe Apple was doing testing of their own and want to show people factual information regarding the phone "issues".

Now, I might be wrong about that, but IMO, i could easily see this conference become basically like a White House press conference. They talk and talk and talk but say very little.

Steve Jobs:
"folks thanks for coming here; we are delighted to announce that there will be a free upgrade to next generation iPhone 4(G), trade in old model get new one, completely redesigned and fully functional, model

in the meantime, get your arse over your local Apple store, and they will apply a strip of shocking red coloured duct tape around the antenna to alleviate the problem. Best of all, it's free of charge

how does it sound?"





(followed by a rapturous applause among the syncopates in the room)

Let's start out that I too am a owner of a iPhone 4, so I can speak from experience. What I believe most people are forgetting is the resentment that many people are feeling from Apple's PR remarks. Whether it is Steve himself or appointed people who respond to his email, the remark that "you are just holding your phone wrong" rubbed people the right way. People stood in line for many hours to then find that the phone does have some problems to then be told the problem is them. Then you add insult to injury by being told that a Apple Bumper will fix your problem, how fortunate we are to have to pay $29.95 to solve Apple's design flaw. Let be honest here, Apple has made the original iphone, then 3G and then 3GS and no Apple branded case for any of them so why now with iPhone 4? They knew there was a problem and provided a owner paid for fix for their problem! Then as if the sky had opened with a software fix, we hear that it's just a bad algorithm that displays the signal bars incorrectly. We all knew that as bull and all that would have been done was reprogram the OS to show better or worse bars to "hide" the problem. You can't pull repeated crap like this and expect consumers to finally not push back after being made to look like fools for believing in a company and spending their hard earned cash to purchase your product. We might be lemmings sometimes, but even fanboys and girls are not fools for too long. Unfortunately, I don't think that Apple would be finally responding to the problem if it had not finally reached the mainstream via Consumer Reports - if it had stayed on the forums they would have rode this out until it passed. What I will always wonder is what would the response and outcome of this entire situation of instead of being told to hold your phone differently......had they said.......we have heard some complaints and we are looking into it....instead of insulting their best customers. Apple is profit motivated like all companies and is hearing HTC and Motorola stealing sales on a daily basis throughout this PR crisis. Apple could have created their own outcome if they had chosen to believe that for once their customers might be right and not them!

Maybe the irrational iPhone4 whining is over after the meeting. But I don't count on it.
The whiners are not interested in buying a first class Apple product, they are only interested in whining about it.
My only worry is that Apple postpones the iPhone 4 launch in Europe (more specific in Holland).
We don't have a tradition of whining over here and will buy the iPhone 4 as soon as possible.
I'm especially pleased that the wifi reception seems to be improved (especially when holding it tightly), and that's a real plus considering I'm 99,999999% of the time in a wifi zone.

Never like loud and bad mouth talk shows. A waste of time. The host never shows any respect and at best only knows surface stuff. Only yabba yabba nothing good but garbage! Just pity the audience as though they are in a garbage dump.

A press release is a press release. Apple wouldn't call one if they didn't have something important to say. It also may mean that the resolutions to the iPhone 4's problems are still in progress or they could announce that corrected phones will be shipping soon or on a particular date.

How do you know that the complaints are irrational? Just wondering \

We'll see.
So far, Apple's and Steve's (?) comments were the only truly reasonable inputs standing up to the facts in these hard times of mass hysteria.



P.S. Just avoid quoting cheap clowns who challenged CR's probe. With $40B in the pocket much better product audit is for sure available.

Only to trolls like you. iPhone 4 is absolutely PERFECT.

I'm still waiting for you to give us details on the mystery survey you keep presenting. You are the one trying to present evidence. It's up to you to prove your point. But I see that you can't prove it. You want to shift the burden of proving your own flawed evidence to someone else. Your evidence is completely useless without details. Evidence without details is the same as NO evidence. So go ahead and keep giving us flawed, mindless, empty charts that prove nothing. Lol. I realize you don't like the truth about the flawed iPhone. But giving us flawed evidence to poorly attempt to prove your point is not the way to do it. Try to find some real evidence next time. And I find it funny you keep using the word whiner, because *you* are one of the biggest whiners on this forum.

Me too

Apple to hold iPhone 4 press conference on Friday

Well done, Apple. It's all about the "HOLD" thing...

This sounds like the purely cosmetic change to bar appearance, not even what people are calling the "cosmetic" change of the values the bars represent, emphasis mine.


which may have already been a change intended for 4.1. I still don't see why anyone thinks this 4.1 beta includes changes related to antenna/signal issues referred to in the letter. And this article at macrumors would seem to indicate that 4.0.1 will be the update referenced in the letter:

http://www.macrumors.com/2010/07/15/...eleased-today/

OMG! What a bunch of whiners the human race has become. Return. The. Damn. Phone. Or STFU.

I got myself Honda Fit recently. In my research I found that that road debris can find its way past the lower grill, strike The AC condenser, and damage it. A few people reported needing to replace their condensers at very low mileage to the tune of $800. Honda has not acknowledged the problem, has not offered any fix, and are not redesigning the grill. Nowhere in car mags do you read about this and the car is constantly rated near the very top of any review.

Well, the Fit is one bitchin' car and I don't want another so I bought it anyway. I got myself some gutter guard mesh and spent 2 hours installing it behind the grill with zip ties. I love this car and I am not going to let a little thing spoil the fun. After about 10 years, I will most likely buy another Honda because, I am a fanboy. Just like Apple, I have found that they make products superior to the competition. Expecting perfection is a losing proposition and leads to misery.

The sjobs comment was "just don't hold it that way then" not you are just holding your phone wrong. Followed by emails explaining why blocking the antenna affects the signal.

"Sure there are - every phone has these areas of sensitivity, depending on the location of the antenna. Some phones even ship with labels warning customers to not cover certain areas with their hands."
"Gripping any phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases"

These comments are much different than a snide "you are just holding your phone wrong". Perhaps people are becoming more offended by the Steve Jobs comments because people keep saying he replied with a simple "you are just holding your phone wrong". A statement which is not factual.

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/iphone-4...news-7218.html