Apple has no plans for iPhone 4 recall - report

Posted:
in iPhone edited January 2014
Although Apple has called a press conference tomorrow to discuss well-documented problems with the iPhone 4's antenna and reception, a new report claims that a recall of the handset won't be among the announcements.



Citing a person familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple doesn't plan to instate a recall of the more than 2 million units it's shipped worldwide thus far.



That same person echoed an earlier report from Bloomberg in claiming that hardware engineers warned chief executive Steve Jobs about the risks of the phone's new external antenna design nearly a year ago, but that Jobs "liked the design so much that Apple went ahead with its development."



The report went on to document how Apple's immense secrecy over new iPhone masked the problem during the company's evaluation process with its carrier partners, as design verification units were disguised as "stealth" phones that obscured their design and some of their functions.



"Those test phones are specifically designed so the phone can't be touched, which made it hard to catch the iPhone 4's antenna problem," the Journal said. The paper added, citing people familiar with the matter, that Apple afforded carriers "limited time to test the iPhone 4 before its June 24 launch" and equipped them with "fewer devices to test than other handset makers."



Although Apple declined to comment on its development methods for the new iPhone, a company spokesperson fired back at Bloomberg's claim that a senior antenna expert had expressed his concern over the new design to Jobs, challenging the publication to "produce anything beyond rumors to back this up."



"It's simply not true," the spokesperson said.



Concerns over the iPhone 4's new antenna design began generating headlines ever since its June 24th launch, when some users began reporting the handset's propensity to lose reception and sometimes drop calls when cupped in the lower left corner.



Though media coverage of the matter persisted for a couple of weeks on and on-and-off basis, it reached a boiling point earlier this week when Consumer Reports did a 180-degree turn on its stance on the iPhone 4, and announced that it could no longer recommend the device to consumers because of the antenna issues.



Since then, the matter has only escalated further up the chain, with democratic New York Senator Charles Schumer on Thursday issuing an open letter to Jobs, calling Apple's current solutions to fixing the problem "insufficient" and asking the company to provide a free fix for consumers.



Apple will hold a press conference on its Cupertino-based campus on Friday, presumably to address the matter in some capacity. AppleInsider will provide full coverage.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 86
    pmzpmz Posts: 3,433member
    Considering there is absolutely nothing wrong with them, except for a few seemingly defective proximity sensors, this is hardly surprising.
  • Reply 2 of 86
    No recall is necessary. There are many methods available to update the antenna in-store that will prevent conductive items (e.g. fingers, metal, et al) from coming in contact with the metal of the antenna. There is no doubt that touching the antenna will detune it, but I also agree that this whole issue is blown WAY out of proportion.



    Just upgraded my 3GS to 4.01 and I can Death Grip it and get exactly the same effect as many are reporting on the 4. Case rested.



    The primary failure here is a failure of Apple's PR department to address the issue directly up to this point, making the company appear arrogant and uncaring -- not a good thing for a high-visibility, premium consumer products manufacturer...
  • Reply 3 of 86
    ihxoihxo Posts: 567member
    it's not even 30 days yet.

    If you want a recall, just return the damn thing for a full refund.
  • Reply 4 of 86
    mkamka Posts: 1member
    I Just hope they tell us when the White iphone 4 is coming out like next week hopefully.
  • Reply 5 of 86
    ozexigeozexige Posts: 215member
    duh......



    As if they'd re-call, it's not as if it's a Toyota.
  • Reply 6 of 86
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,136member
    Unlike most other companies, Apple does do its best to take care of its customers. They have certainly treated me well when issues have arisen. I'm patiently waiting for what Apple has to say and what their plan is.



    Apple-Haters will always find some pathetic excuse to smack Apple since Apple's computing direction directly conflicts with their way of life. Sad.



    Until then, I will happily continue using my iP4. It does exhibit the same death-grip issues but it is barely an annoyance since I use a case anyways and when not, a simple hand movement of 1cm resolves that.



    I had an old Motorola phone with similar issues but folks never whined about that. People accept so many deficiencies with all the junk phones out there yet they hold Apple to the level of unobtainable perfection. Nothing is perfect in this world.
  • Reply 7 of 86
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,039member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


    Although Apple has called a press conference tomorrow to discuss well-documented problems with the iPhone 4's antenna and reception, a new report claims that a recall of the handset won't be among the announcements.



    Stop, Kasper's Slave. "Well-documented?" WTF?



    Quote:



    Citing a person familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple doesn't plan to instate a recall of the more than 2 million units its shipped worldwide thus far.



    Oh, well...."a person familiar with the matter." Jesus.



    Quote:



    That same person echoed an earlier report from Bloomberg in claiming that hardware engineers warned chief executive Steve Jobs about the risks of the phone's new external antenna design nearly a year ago, but that Jobs "liked the design so much that Apple went ahead with its development."



    So the unnamed familiar person echoed an unsubstantiated report. It keeps getting better!



    Quote:



    The report goes on to document how Apple's immense secrecy over new iPhone masked the problem during the company's evaluation process with its carrier partners, as design verification units were disguised as "stealth" phones that obscured their design and some of their functions.



    So, here is AI to report on the report, which sites an anonymous person who echoes another anonymous person. Oh my God.



    Quote:



    "Those test phones are specifically designed so the phone can't be touched, which made it hard to catch the iPhone 4's antenna problem," the Journal said. The paper added, citing people familiar with the matter,



    AHHHHHHHHH!!!!





    Quote:

    ....that Apple afforded carriers "limited time to test the iPhone 4 before its June 24 launch" and equipped them with "fewer devices to test than other handset makers."



    Limited as in "fewer than other iPhones?" If not, it's totally irrelevant.



    Quote:



    Although Apple declined to comment on its development methods for the new iPhone, a company spokesperson fired back at Bloomberg's claim that a senior antenna expert had expressed his concern over the new design to Jobs, challenging the publication to "produce anything beyond rumors to back this up."



    "It's simply not true," the spokesperson said.



    Wait...so we have now have an open and concrete denial from Apple, yet we're still peddling this bullshit?



    Quote:



    Concerns over the iPhone 4's new antenna design began generating headlines ever since its June 24th launch day when some users began reporting the handset's propensity to lose reception and sometimes drop calls when cupped in the lower left corner.



    Though media coverage of the matter persisted for a couple of weeks on and on-and-off basis, it reached a boiling point earlier this week when Consumer Reports did a 180-degree turn on its stance on the iPhone 4, and announced that it could no longer recommend the device to consumers because of the antenna issues.



    Thanks for recap.
  • Reply 8 of 86
    sdw2001sdw2001 Posts: 18,039member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pmz View Post


    Considering there is absolutely nothing wrong with them, except for a few seemingly defective proximity sensors, this is hardly surprising.



    I'm wondering what I should do about my proximity sensor. It's clearly a problem. I hear I may be able to take to an Apple store and have it exchanged.
  • Reply 9 of 86
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by pmz View Post


    Considering there is absolutely nothing wrong with them, except for a few seemingly defective proximity sensors, this is hardly surprising.



    Really? No problem at all with the phone. Then you come to where I am and explain why I could make calls (without dropping them) on all of my previous iPhones and not with my new iPhone 4. My bumper does fix the issue somewhat, but if the iPhone was supposed to have a "case" to let it work correctly, then it would have came from the factory with the bumper already wrapped around it.



    You may be one of the privy few that actually live in an area with stellar AT&T service so you aren't affected. But, it IS a design issue when none of the previous phones did it and now this one does. When a product gets worse in its 4th generation then there is a problem.



    And don't get me started on the prox sensors. Muting people constantly isn't a hassle at all in your mind I bet.
  • Reply 10 of 86
    I thought everyone already knew that the iPhone press conference was about Verizon. http://tinyurl.com/25jylyh
  • Reply 11 of 86
    shobizshobiz Posts: 207member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SDW2001 View Post


    Stop, Kasper's Slave. "Well-documented?" WTF?







    Oh, well...."a person familiar with the matter." Jesus.







    So the unnamed familiar person echoed an unsubstantiated report. It keeps getting better!







    So, here is AI to report on the report, which sites an anonymous person who echoes another anonymous person. Oh my God.







    AHHHHHHHHH!!!!









    Limited as in "fewer than other iPhones?" If not, it's totally irrelevant.






    Wait...so we have now have an open and concrete denial from Apple, yet we're still peddling this bullshit?







    Thanks for recap.





    Yes, Apple is making it harder and harder to get devices to test with and also the 'carriers' processes make it almost imposible to get one for testing.



    Source - Me
  • Reply 12 of 86
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by johnblack View Post


    I thought everyone already knew that the iPhone press conference was about Verizon. http://tinyurl.com/25jylyh



    Ain't gonna happen. Why would they do it within the 30 day cancelation time? People could still jump ship and head over to Verizon.



    Plus, the way Verizon is bashing the new iPhone in adds and commercials (open your eyes people) they still aren't getting the iPhone.
  • Reply 13 of 86
    eriamjheriamjh Posts: 1,762member
    Lemme guess:



    "A small batch may possibly have manufacturing issues. Phones with reception issues will be handled on a case-by-case basis with either repair or replacement at Apple's discretion. Those who are unsatisfied with their phones may return them before the 30-day window closes. After that, no refunds.
  • Reply 14 of 86
    grkinggrking Posts: 533member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SDW2001 View Post




    Oh, well...."a person familiar with the matter." Jesus.





    Wait...so we have now have an open and concrete denial from Apple, yet we're still peddling this bullshit?



    Thanks for recap.





    Leaving aside whether there is an issue or not.



    First, anonymous sources are common in Journalism (see for example, Watergate, or do you believe that Watergate never occurred because Deep Throat was an anonymous source?).



    Second, a denial from a company that there is no problem is hardly proof that nothing occurred unless of course you believe that corporate American has never "lied" to the public.



    OTOH, history indicates that companies deny problems, only to have them come out later (e.g. Pacific Gas & Electric Company). Heck, Apple denied that Mac Pro's had an issue with playing audio files and CPU usage, but subsequently issued a fix to something that they denied ever happened.
  • Reply 15 of 86
    kasperkasper Posts: 941member, administrator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by grking View Post


    Leaving aside whether there is an issue or not.



    First, anonymous sources are common in Journalism (see for example, Watergate, or do you believe that Watergate never occurred because Deep Throat was an anonymous source?).



    Second, a denial from a company that there is no problem is hardly proof that nothing occurred unless of course you believe that corporate American has never "lied" to the public.



    OTOH, history indicates that companies deny problems, only to have them come out later (e.g. Pacific Gas & Electric Company). Heck, Apple denied that Mac Pro's had an issue with playing audio files and CPU usage, but subsequently issued a fix to something that they denied ever happened.



    Thanks for saving me the time.



    K
  • Reply 16 of 86
    coolcatcoolcat Posts: 156member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by SDW2001 View Post


    I'm wondering what I should do about my proximity sensor. It's clearly a problem. I hear I may be able to take to an Apple store and have it exchanged.



    You can...you have 30 days to return it...
  • Reply 17 of 86
    coolcatcoolcat Posts: 156member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by johnblack View Post


    I thought everyone already knew that the iPhone press conference was about Verizon. http://tinyurl.com/25jylyh



    Are you high? What are you smoking? Do you always jump on rumor bandwagons? A Verizon iPhone has been rumored since day 1 back in 2007...
  • Reply 18 of 86
    grkinggrking Posts: 533member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Kasper View Post


    Thanks for saving me the time.



    K



    No problem.
  • Reply 19 of 86
    My iphone 4 doesn't have any such issue. I can't even get it to drop a single bar no matter how I hold it. Other's I know with 4's have not experienced the issue either. Overall, the 4 is WAY better reception wise than my Original iPhone 2 that I upgraded from. My thinking is that this may only affect a limited percentage of units.
  • Reply 20 of 86
    I got a bumper and it looks cooler, feels better in my hand, and reception issues totally gone. I would have gotten one anyway eventually. All this is so not worth getting in a fuss over IMO.
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