iPhone 4 Reception

Communications Issue

The reception of the iPhone 4 started to chill a bit after its odd reception problems were found. Consumer reports even went as far as not recommending the final iPhone after initially praising the phone in a preliminary review. Basically the iPhone 4 cannot be held in certain ways that cell phones are often prone to be held without suffering significant signal degradation.

Apple publicly ignored the issue and deleted threads about it on its forums. As I, or any long-time Apple customer and observer will tell you: This is typical behavior for Apple. When they did finally respond Apple just said users were holding the phone wrong. Then a potential breakthrough: Apple acknowledges an issue with signal display and promises a software fix soon. This is a strange acknowledgement: Apple says its formula for calculating signal "bars" on the iPhone is flawed and actually indicates a stronger signal than is actually present. So Apple is saying that the signal is not actually as good as it seems on the iPhone. Hardly a satisfying conclusion.

But that was not the end of it. The reception "holding" issue was real and not fixable by a mere software update, which was apparently a separate issue. The negative publicity snowballed to the point Apple decided to hold a press conference to address the issue. In rare style, Apple actually acknowledged the issue, to a degree. But not without calling out all other smartphone manufacturers on the same issue.

The iPhone 4 antenna had been a source of pride and attention for Jobs/Apple, even garnering presentation time at its debut. Even before, the antenna design had caused debate. It was questioned whether the iPhone 4 was real or not prior to its debut in the whole unfortunate Gizmodo fiasco (which deserves its own article. Gizmodo acted in a very shady way, and Apple/Jobs pushed back when they should have just shrugged it off and owned up to its own employee's mistakes, causing a raid of Jason Chen's home, constitutional questions and a now withdrawn warrant).

Apple's Response

But Apple did acknowledge the issue, and even offered a temporary program till September. This is in stark contrast to a document leaked beforehand showing Apple instructing its customer service reps explicitly not to offer free bumpers to affected customers. Apple will even refund customers not only for bumper purchases, but for purchases of third-part cases for the iPhone.

Apple/Jobs did the right thing acknowledging the issue and giving away free bumpers. Giving refunds for third-party cases is an unexpected gesture that the company did not have to do. Frankly, I think all legitimate gripes from iPhone 4 buyers have been addressed. You get a free bumper or a refund for a case, and if you are still not happy you can return it.

However, Apple has actually admitted that the iPhone 4 is dropping more calls ("less than 1%"). And it looks like all Apple had to do was put a piece of plastic over the antenna or build-in a "bumper" into the iPhone 4 to solve the issue. Consumer Reports says even duck tape will help. I think it's a testament to Steve Job's ego (and sense of aesthetics, I suppose) that he is unwilling to change the design when it is functionality inferior to the previous one. Talk about form over function.

Rotten Apples for Everyone!

And of course, Apple Putting up comparisons to other companies' phones on its website to prove a rather frivolous point (hey look, all these other cell phones have problems too!) is understandably upsetting to said corporations. What if the situation were reversed and Nokia or RIM put up a demo showing an iPhone performing poorly to excuse one of their own product issues? I don't think Apple/Job's response would be a very flattering or understanding one. It seems if Apple can't have its pie, its determined to ruin everyone else's too. Frankly, this move is a little low of Apple.

The iPhone has a particular antenna issue, and though it doesn't affect everybody (maybe not even most users under normal usage), it is as unique to the iPhone as the brilliantly Jobs-approved exposed antenna design. Being different is not always better. Apple is usually both. But this time around, Apple should eat its own pie, bad taste and all, not claim that everybody's pie has rotten apples.

It's true that there has been a lot of negative publicity on the matter, and maybe it has been overblown. Steve Jobs himself seems hurt at the negative media. But the media works both ways and Apple does not complain when it gets sometimes "overblown" praises on its devices and software or the millions in free publicity it gets from Apple fans like me (who have gotten Apple lots of sales without commission), and blogs, forums and product reviews. No, Apple/Jobs thinks they "deserve" that *good* publicity, but cry foul when the media is not so enamored with its latest product, and delete negative forum feedback to boot. Hey, at least nobody is calling Apple beleaguered anymore.

Apple also put put a page with impressive pictures of the insides of Apple's cell phone testing labs and even invited reporters into these rooms, as if to say "Hey, look we really do research and test these things". While impressive, it does nothing to address the antenna issue at (the wrong) hand. Apple has done everything to deflect attention to everything else, by pointing fingers and chugging the subject.

Conclusion

I agree with Consumer Reports' position. Why should they recommend buying a phone that needs an additional accessory to function normally, and one which is not guaranteed to come with the phone for the life of this generation? What is an iPhone 4 user to do after September 30th? Who knows? Apple is certainly not saying. The issue is (relatively) clear and Apple has responded. If you're not happy with Apple's solution, don't get the phone. Consumer Reports definitely does not have to agree that Apple's response is a sufficient solution, and is under no obligation to recommend it, though.

It is good to see Apple admitting that there is an issue at least and offering users a concession in the form of free Apple bumpers and iPhone cases. However, it is disappointing to see Apple pointing fingers, deflecting their responsibility and even decrying the negative media attention. Dragging other companies into this was a new low. One which I hope Apple will not make a habit of. But Apple suffers from Job's inflated ego. How dare the media question *his* design and *his* decisions? I suppose its a small price to pay, but it is not without its consequences.

While I will agree that some people make a sport of trash talking a company or a product no matter what, I disagree with the attitude that says "if you don't like it, don't buy it and shut up". Criticism is essential to making better products, and it is true fans of a better technology who speak and speak loudly about a product's features, failings and shortcomings.

That said, I would gladly get an iPhone 4 if I could get it outside of AT&T without paying a small fortune and being forced into a data plan. To me, *those* are the biggest issues with the iPhone since day one. Were those issues no longer present, I'd just put some duck tape around my new iPhone 4 (provided Apple ran out of bumpers and cases, that is).