In a short press conference, Steve Jobs addressed the rising media shit storm surrounding what some have dubbed antennagate. An apparent design flaw in the new iPhone 4 results in loss of signal when gripped on the left side, most noticeably in areas with poor reception. Jobs began the conference by pointing out that every other smartphone sees a noticeable drop in signal strength when held a certain way. He then noted that only 1.7% of iPhone 4s have been returned comapared to 6% of 3GS returns during the same 22 day period. Jobs then admitted that the iPhone 4 does drop more calls than the 3GS but the data shows less than 1 more dropped call per 100 calls. After spending 10 minutes calling out other smartphones and providing data that seemed to imply the drama was much ado about nothing, Jobs offered a solution. Every person who purchased an iPhone 4 will receive a free bumper or can return their undamaged phone for a full refund. This will undoubtedly make some people happy while not being enough to please others. If you bought an iPhone 4 and want a free case, late next week you can order one on the Apple website and chose from several different styles. If you are completely unhappy with your phone, return it.
If you’d like to ask some questions about your smartphone or other geeky obsessions, check in on Questionland for our last day of Geek Week.
Ending any issue with -gate simply means no one should take the issue seriously.
Please make a note of it.
I swear to God, I’ve help my iPhone 4 in every imaginable way, including all of the ways listed in the various reviews mentioning this flaw and I can’t for the life of me reproduce the problem. Neither can my girlfriend.
Which means, really, that I just probably wasted a good 20 minutes I’ll never get back. Of course, I’ve gotten at least those 20 minutes back in time I don’t have to wait for shit to launch on my phone compared to my old one, so there’s that.
I really think some people just got bum phones, which totally sucks.
But, hey…free bumper! Wait, do I even want a bumper? What the hell. Steve’s paying for it.
@1– “Irrelevancegate.” Duly noted.
Ummm, what’s a bumper?
A bumper is a fancy holder that goes around the edge of the device.
Duct tape will work just as well.
I can get a couple bars to drop if I hold it right, but I can’t make the call drop, even in the hallway of our house where I constantly lost calls on my 3G.
Nothing like a few winers to make a shit storm out of nothing.
Careful folks… don’t confuse Bumpers for “free cases”. Steve said:
“We’re going to send you a free case. We can’t make enough bumpers. No way we can make enough in the quarter. So we’re going to source some cases and give you a choice.”
I can get it to drop calls. It is better than my 3G though and I live in a particularly bad signal area. I think this will go away but Gawker will continue to annoy us with “exclusives” about it for a year until the next iteration. Yay for free bumpers/cases.
Here’s an easy decision tree for you:
1. Do you have an iPhone4?
A. No. Decision: Wait until fixed version released or get Verizon version when it comes out.
B. Yes.
If 1.B. then 2.
2.Do you live in an area with low AT&T signal strength?
A. No, good AT&T signal where I live and work and commute. Decision: Don’t worry about it, order free case.
B. Yes. Decision: You’re fucked. Get the case for free, but it’s not going to help that much.
Um, thanks 9 for your always timely and insightful comments. If your body attenuates the signal, it stands to reason if you put a insulator between you and the metal you’ll get *some* benefit.
@9 is wrong and @10 is right. Anandtech has great tests showing that wearing rubber gloves and covering with tape both significantly reduced the signal drop in areas of low signal strength. If that’s true, a case should help as much or more.
@10 you could also use some gum wrappers (foil) to extend the signal that your being left-handed messes up.
Way cheaper. They have a conducting side and a non-conducting side.
Doesn’t work well with those breath mint strips, though. Although they’re great for picking up fingerprints.
By the way, I didn’t say “tape” in @9. I said Duct tape – the classic kind has a reflective and a non-reflective side. Tape is an insulator on both sides. Duct tape has a conducting surface if you get the kind used for … duct work. Masking tape is not duct tape.
“Every person who purchased an iPhone 4 will receive a free bumper or can return their undamaged phone for a full refund.”
You heard it here first. The Stranger reports free bumpers.
@7 on the apple site they say free bumper or select cases. Yes they can’t make enough bumpers for everyone so they are offering select cases also.
Duct tape your iphone to your ass Will, then people will know where to plant their boot.