The Apple press conference at 6pm UK time has wrapped up. Apple appears to have admitted that there is a problem with the iPhone 4′s reception, and that holding the handset in a certain way will impact signal strength. There won’t be a product recall, but Apple has gone some way to addressing the problem.
The OS upgrade to 4.01 (out now) will make the signal strength display more accurate, and Apple will be giving away a free case (referred to as a rubber “bumper” to everyone who has bought an iPhone 4, or buys one before the end of September 2010. A “bumper” reduces the problem which is caused when the human hand comes into contact with the lower part of the left-hand edge of the iPhone 4.
Those who’ve already bought a bumper case will get a refund.
iPhone 4 owners still not happy can get a refund within 30 days of purchase.
“Antennagate”, a.k.a Death Grip is likely to cost Apple something in the order of £115 million in costs to provide cases for the 3+ million iPhone 4 users – plus a lot of bad press…
Details of how to get a free case will be coming to the Apple website from the 22nd of July 2010.
July 17th, 2010 at 9:44 am
Seems a bit of a cop-out; not everyone wants to keep their phone permanently in a case. Surely the best bet is to opt for a refund now as surely once the current batch are sold out, later models will be modified to cure the problem?