Apple gives one business free bumpers for iPhone 4 reception issues

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Comments

  • Reply 81 of 108
    hands sandonhands sandon Posts: 5,270member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    because a ninny who trolled for a week can't come to terms with the way he was acting?



    I stopped reading your post at this point solipsism. Over the three years I've been at this site I've thought highly of your opinions and have until now agreed when I had experience of the subject and learn't a great deal. I haven't ever noticed you being rude to anyone before, but I've now lost all of my respect for you.
  • Reply 82 of 108
    irelandireland Posts: 17,799member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    As long as opinions and theories are stated as such it's okay, but when you start claiming them as unassailable facts and indomitable truths you show your lack of maturity and lack of judgement.



    Yes Judy.
  • Reply 83 of 108
    irelandireland Posts: 17,799member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Hands Sandon View Post


    I agree. Given the statement to iPhone 4 owners by Apple I should take my phone back and end my contract, it's that insulting. I really like it though, other than the issues, so I don't think I could do it. Pathetic I know, I'm not proud of it. I've already told my brother to hold off getting one though.



    At least you did that.
  • Reply 84 of 108
    kinggypokinggypo Posts: 1member
    However those bumpers certainly cost more than $1 to produce. I've got one on my phone (which thankfully fixed the reception problem) and I've got to say that the bumper is much more complex than it looks on the Apple website.



    It is comprised of quite a few intricate pieces. There are three captive buttons with chrome finish. The equator of the bumper is hard plastic while the outer rings are rubber.



    Sure, it isn't expensive in raw material, but it is one of the most complex cases to manufacture. It actually involves assembly, not just dropping plastic out of a mold.[/QUOTE]



    I held out on not buying the previous iPhones, mainly because I was content with the PDA phones I was using and they were much more useful for me. But, my wife went back to work after taking off 2 years to fight cancer and I wanted to actually see her daily and vice versa. I have rather large hands, and was smothering the phone. Almost every phone I've owned has had quirky internal antennas. We live on 40 acres with lousy reception and when I'm going to be home for a few days, I pop the SIM card out and place it in an older Razr 3xx Elite. Always getting 3-4 bars, while my new iPhone 4 laying in the window sill only gives me 1 and then I need to go outside and I still lose calls. BTW, I can see the tower on the interstate from my house. But, I'm sure it's directed up and down the interstate. Which has dead zones too! I've been with all the offshoots of pre-Cingular and post-Cingular for over 20 years. They never stopped me from upgrading even within a few months of getting my last new phone. But not the high and mighty iPhone 4. I had a free upgrade and added a new line (tricky), and dropped my minutes to compensate for it. I think it's cheap and petty, that Apple won't give out the bumpers for free. Remember all the extra stuff Motorola thru in with their phones? Since China just gave their assembly line workers a raise, in the best paid Provence they're making $140 a month. The materials are less then 5 cents, in reality. Come on Jobs, stop being so freakin cheap. This is not a software glitch! Maybe you're worried it'll damage your deal with Verizon. If it wasn't for my wife, I'd return it and be a happy camper!
  • Reply 85 of 108
    john galtjohn galt Posts: 960member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    "You can almost see a line-of-site cell tower. "



    It's "line of sight".



    Line... of... sight.



    And if you can "almost see it", it's not in your "line of sight".







    We love our customers, even the stupid ones.
  • Reply 86 of 108
    successsuccess Posts: 1,040member
    I am so glad my girlfriend and I have been UNABLE to get a new iPhone 4 here in Japan. We are holding out for white phones and will wait until all this mess is over.



    Thoughts. How is it possible that this problem was missed by Apple employees/engineers who had prototypes and other employees who were given phones before the public? This must indicate that there is some manufacturing issue that wasn't there during the time the employees got their phones. If it's so easy to replicate this issue there is no way these phones would be approved before selling to the masses. Something isn't right here.



    Also there are a lot of people telling other people to just return the phone if you don't like it. That's not easy to do when you've already cancelled the old phone, invested money into lots of expensive iPhone applications, purchased MobileMe and many other related accessories/services for mobile use. A lot of my apps are over $20 so I wouldn't be too pleased if I had to return an iPhone. There are a lot of expensive subscription services you couldn't use either if you had to return your phone. GPS, satellite radio etc.



    I sure hope I can buy a sweet flawless white iPhone 4 by the end of July.
  • Reply 87 of 108
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iancass79 View Post


    Where the FAAAAACK is my bumper for free?! I have a family of four and we had to pay for our bumpers to fix the reception issue. This dude had a business of 5? Come on Apple. Get it together.



    EDIT:



    This is what I think on the issue.



    Apple says that all phones do this. Yes, I agree. My 3Gs did it too. They say that it is a software issue because the bars don't correctly resemble your real signal strength. That's fine. So, if that is the case, why would a bumper fix it? It isn't that you are COVERING the area, it is that you are touching the metal in that one specific spot. The bumper allows you to keep your kung fu death grip and not lose signal. That says that it isn't software but design issues. I think personally that Apple figured this out too late and decided to magically start making Bumpers that magically fix the problem. When has Apple ever made iPhone covers in the last 3 years. Never. And now they start making them when the iPhone has serious issues that these magic bumpers seem to fix. Come on. Really? If the software issue was true and my 3Gs did it too, why would my iphone 4 be soooooo much worse than it? If my finger on my RIGHT hand slightly slides down the phone and hits that spot....blam! call dropped.



    I ordered my bumper not because I wanted to, but because I want to stopped dropping calls and there aren't any better cases out there yet.



    I want a freaking refund.



    Oh, and FIX THE DAMN PROXIMITY SENSOR PROBLEMS TOO!!!! I am sick of muting, holding, ending, etc calls with my ear!!!



    I have been a dedicated Fanboy for years. But this is starting to piss me off. I spent a lot of money on these phones.



    You are within the 30 days, if you have such a problem return the damn phone!



    This is directed at all customers, stop bitching on the net if it is such a problem and return the god damn things the way you would any other device that did not work! You wanna show apple dissatisfaction? let that return rate get over 10%, they will be bending over backwards by then!



    I some time ago purchased a dvd player that didnt behave the way I thought it should, it skipped a lot and forced me to watch the previews, wouldn't let me skip, I exchanged it, and the 2nd one was the same, so I got a refund and bought a differant model, issue solved! There are other phones if this bugs so many so much
  • Reply 88 of 108
    dfilerdfiler Posts: 3,420member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by a_greer View Post


    You are within the 30 days, if you have such a problem return the damn phone!



    This is directed at all customers, stop bitching on the net if it is such a problem and return the god damn things the way you would any other device that did not work! You wanna show apple dissatisfaction? let that return rate get over 10%, they will be bending over backwards by then!



    I some time ago purchased a dvd player that didnt behave the way I thought it should, it skipped a lot and forced me to watch the previews, wouldn't let me skip, I exchanged it, and the 2nd one was the same, so I got a refund and bought a differant model, issue solved! There are other phones if this bugs so many so much



    If you have such a problem with people discussing apple products that they've bought, you could stop reading this forum.
  • Reply 89 of 108
    rtm135rtm135 Posts: 310member
    Not trying to be a conspiracy theorist here, but it IS kind of strange that Apple sells these bumpers considering the fact that (1) they didn't sell bumpers for the previous 3 models and (2) it doesn't offer the phone much protection yet happens to fix the problem.



    Apple has a bajillion dollars in the bank. Since the bumpers don't cost anywhere near $30 to make, they should just suck it up and give everyone the color of their choice and include them in future orders. It's the right thing to do and will shut everyone the hell up so we can move on to more important things (like how Apple has a serious fight on the way once the Windows 7 phones drop).
  • Reply 90 of 108
    adamcadamc Posts: 583member
    Apple make great hardwares and they all controlled by the softwares. In recent years all hardwares' problem are solved by software upgrades so will this time be different I don't think so.
  • Reply 91 of 108
    nvidia2008nvidia2008 Posts: 9,262member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by success View Post


    I am so glad my girlfriend and I have been UNABLE to get a new iPhone 4 here in Japan. We are holding out for white phones and will wait until all this mess is over.



    Thoughts. How is it possible that this problem was missed by Apple employees/engineers who had prototypes and other employees who were given phones before the public? This must indicate that there is some manufacturing issue that wasn't there during the time the employees got their phones. If it's so easy to replicate this issue there is no way these phones would be approved before selling to the masses. Something isn't right here.



    Also there are a lot of people telling other people to just return the phone if you don't like it. That's not easy to do when you've already cancelled the old phone, invested money into lots of expensive iPhone applications, purchased MobileMe and many other related accessories/services for mobile use. A lot of my apps are over $20 so I wouldn't be too pleased if I had to return an iPhone. There are a lot of expensive subscription services you couldn't use either if you had to return your phone. GPS, satellite radio etc.



    I sure hope I can buy a sweet flawless white iPhone 4 by the end of July.



    I just got my iPad so I'm playing with that, hopefully that will distract me enough to hold off on the iPhone 4 until the software/firmware update comes out and there is more clarity on the issue.



    It's been a crazy 9 days.
  • Reply 92 of 108
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by dfiler View Post


    If you have such a problem with people discussing apple products that they've bought, you could stop reading this forum.



    As one who is awaiting delivery of a new iphone 4, I am keenly interested in thses issues. I am trying to make a simple point, if people beleive their phone is defective, demand a replacment or a refund, that is how the market works, and if the complainers are not willing to do that I doubt the validity of everything they say.
  • Reply 93 of 108
    iancass79iancass79 Posts: 80member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by a_greer View Post


    You are within the 30 days, if you have such a problem return the damn phone!



    This is directed at all customers, stop bitching on the net if it is such a problem and return the god damn things the way you would any other device that did not work! You wanna show apple dissatisfaction? let that return rate get over 10%, they will be bending over backwards by then!



    I some time ago purchased a dvd player that didnt behave the way I thought it should, it skipped a lot and forced me to watch the previews, wouldn't let me skip, I exchanged it, and the 2nd one was the same, so I got a refund and bought a differant model, issue solved! There are other phones if this bugs so many so much



    This is why your comment is dumb and shows you haven't put any thought into it.



    You stupid ass DVD player didn't need a certain service to work that locked you into a contract. You didn't leave another contract years before only to be able to use that specific DVD player. You can't just take it back and choose a different type of DVD player because you like the company and any DVD player on their system will satisfy you. You haven't sold your previous DVD player to afford the new generation DVD player so taking it back leaves you DVD player'less. You don't have a 10% restocking fee on your DVD player (confirmed with a friend that works at apple). Your new generation DVD player doesn't all of the sudden have more severe issues than all of the previous generation DVD players you owned.



    Get a flipping clue. It isn't as simple as taking it back. Take your DVD player and go back to your cave. You don't even sound like you have an iPhone to know what the flip you are talking about.
  • Reply 94 of 108
    akhomerunakhomerun Posts: 386member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iancass79 View Post


    Where the FAAAAACK is my bumper for free?! I have a family of four and we had to pay for our bumpers to fix the reception issue. This dude had a business of 5? Come on Apple. Get it together.



    EDIT:



    This is what I think on the issue.



    Apple says that all phones do this. Yes, I agree. My 3Gs did it too. They say that it is a software issue because the bars don't correctly resemble your real signal strength. That's fine. So, if that is the case, why would a bumper fix it? It isn't that you are COVERING the area, it is that you are touching the metal in that one specific spot. The bumper allows you to keep your kung fu death grip and not lose signal. That says that it isn't software but design issues. I think personally that Apple figured this out too late and decided to magically start making Bumpers that magically fix the problem. When has Apple ever made iPhone covers in the last 3 years. Never. And now they start making them when the iPhone has serious issues that these magic bumpers seem to fix. Come on. Really? If the software issue was true and my 3Gs did it too, why would my iphone 4 be soooooo much worse than it? If my finger on my RIGHT hand slightly slides down the phone and hits that spot....blam! call dropped.



    I ordered my bumper not because I wanted to, but because I want to stopped dropping calls and there aren't any better cases out there yet.



    I want a freaking refund.



    Oh, and FIX THE DAMN PROXIMITY SENSOR PROBLEMS TOO!!!! I am sick of muting, holding, ending, etc calls with my ear!!!



    I have been a dedicated Fanboy for years. But this is starting to piss me off. I spent a lot of money on these phones.



    Oh my gosh, cry me a river, why didn't you just put a piece of tape on it? Or better yet return the damn phone it's still within 30 days and save us of your complaining.



    You could be living in a third world country where most people haven't even touched a cell phone. Grow up man. Your $840/year you pay just to have the internet on you at all times could feed and clothe a whole village.



    Also, you are completely wrong about the bumper not fixing the problem. From what I understand, which is more than what you understand, your fingers short circuit the antenna or somehow disrupt the signal with the conductive properties of human flesh. The bumpers are plastic, electrical insulators that prevent your fingers from making that connection.
  • Reply 95 of 108
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by akhomerun View Post


    Oh my gosh, cry me a river, why didn't you just put a piece of tape on it? Or better yet return the damn phone it's still within 30 days and save us of your complaining.



    You could be living in a third world country where most people haven't even touched a cell phone. Grow up man. Your $840/year you pay just to have the internet on you at all times could feed and clothe a whole village.



    Yeah, I guess I could live in a third world country but I don't. I live in a country where we expect to get what we paid for. Like I just said a few ago, yeah, I could take it back but that would cost me a fortune again. Taking it back in this situation isn't the answer due to financial reasons. This isn't that simple. When you own all previous iPhones and have not a single issue then you expect it out of the next generation as well. That isn't the case. My point about the reception issue is this. If it was just a "software issue" then my iPhone 4 would perform just as well as my 2g, 3g, and 3gs with only a fluctuation in bars. BUT, that isn't the case. I could care less about what the bars say on my phone. I am concerned about how this phone DROPS the calls if my finger slides down and touches that spot. I can count on one hand how many times each precious iphone would drop a call in each given year.



    And you comment on how we should appreciate what we have in America vs. what 3rd world countries have and you mentioning internet etc...Google how we rank in internet speeds vs some of those countries you speak of. I think you will be surprised at what you find and how behind we are in that area. But that is a different subject altogether. Actually, let me help you out.



    http://www.speedtest.net/global.php



    Scroll down to the bottom results. We are 28th.



    And I bet Apple really wants you to just slap a piece of tape on their creation. Looks real good on it. Ive would support that I am sure.
  • Reply 96 of 108
    mdatwoodmdatwood Posts: 8member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by mdatwood View Post


    Notice that all the phones the article talks about were delivered before or on release day.



    I received my iPhone from Best Buy on Wednesday of this week. No issue. I was out in the country yesterday where I had 2-3 bars of service. I tried to kill it with the touch of death...still no issue.



    I don't believe the problem is a design issue at all, but most likely a manufacturing one. When I think about it, I can't imagine the engineers not wondering what would happen if someone crossed the streams But, I can imagine Foxconn looking at the manufacturing plans that might have called for dipping the antenna is a protective coating for 10 seconds and only doing it say for 5 seconds in order to get the 1st and 2nd batches out the door on time.



    Also, a friend of mine got his on release day and has the issue. Another friend got his on Monday from Best Buy...no issue.



    Responding to myself here, but it seems like there is at least some rumors/possibility that it is as simple as a bad production run. It would definitely explain what I have seen anecdotally.



    http://www.electronista.com/articles...roduction.run/
  • Reply 97 of 108
    Why would Apple give away bumpers for what they claim is a software issue?
  • Reply 98 of 108
    sector7gsector7g Posts: 156member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    What is more? Your money back, your contract dissolved AND a settlement for emotional distress.



    i agree, just get a refund, there never has been a better choice for smart phones. maybe then i wouldn't have to wait so long to get on, if all these winey fools would just return theirs
  • Reply 99 of 108
    solipsismsolipsism Posts: 25,726member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by RationalTroll View Post


    Why would Apple give away bumpers for what they claim is a software issue?



    "I don't know why Apple gave them to only one business. What did they say when you asked them?"



    See how silly it sounds when you act childish. Just because you have a certain level of anonymity on these doesn't mean your character and maturity is hidden from view when you post.





    So to answer your question ? after stripping away your implied duplicitous insincerity ?*I don't think it was smart of them to give away any Bumper as it gives the ambulance chasers something to hold on to. The employee likely had (nor has) any information about the actual cause of the issue with certain phones, it was likely just a judgement call from from an employee who didn't know what else to do to appease an upset business customer.
  • Reply 100 of 108
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by solipsism View Post


    "I don't know why Apple gave them to only one business. What did they say when you asked them?"



    See how silly it sounds when you act childish. Just because you have a certain level of anonymity on these doesn't mean your character and maturity is hidden from view when you post.



    Dude, if you're embarrassed about your other comment here in AI you should just let 'em go instead of drawing attention to them.



    Quote:

    So to answer your question ? after stripping away your implied duplicitous insincerity ?*I don't think it was smart of them to give away any Bumper as it gives the ambulance chasers something to hold on to. The employee likely had (nor has) any information about the actual cause of the issue with certain phones, it was likely just a judgement call from from an employee who didn't know what else to do to appease an upset business customer.



    Whatever. That's all yours. Own it or retract it as you wish, but I wrote only what I wrote.



    Consider reading the comments from the others in this thread. You can dismiss them if you like, but I think many of them have some merit.



    I agree, you're not in any position to answer that question. But a good many of the members here have raised it in various ways, and given Apple's explanation that it's a software issue their decision to give away hardware as some sort of remedy self-evidently legitimizes the question.
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