Bondevia

Many of you would have known that Apple held a last minute conference last night (16^th July 2010, Friday, 1000 hrs Pacific Time) to address the whole ‘Antennagate’ saga, so here are our take-aways from that little impromptu session.

Facts about iPhone 4

1. Smartphones have weaknesses

Steve Jobs admitted that Apple is not perfect but so are the other companies out there producing smartphones. The matter of fact is, all smartphones do have their own set of problems to deal with. And pertaining to the ‘Antennagate’ issue aka “Death-grip”, the iPhone 4 is not alone in this problem. In fact many other smartphones face similar issues.

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2. Apple Care Data : 0.55% complains on Antenna issue

To quote Steve Jobs, AppleCare is one of the worlds top post-purchase servicing division in the world and according to their data (since the release of the iPhone 4 three weeks ago), the number of calls / complains they received that is related to ‘Antennagate’ is about half of a percent only. Sure, 0.55% is still a problem but Apple has promised to help their customers in anyway they can, so give them a chance to make a small mistake will you?

3. AT&T’s return rate : 1/3 of iPhone 3GS

Based on the statistics given to Apple from AT&T (Apples biggest reseller), the number of iPhone 4s returned to AT&T by unsatisfied customers is only a third of the number of iPhone 3GSes returned.

4. <1 more than 100 drop calls compared to iPhone 3GS

This is the only downside mentioned in the press conference yesterday. AT&T was unable to provide the actual figures of the number of drop calls from the iPhone 4 and 3GS due to competitive reasons. But what they can provide is the ratio of drop calls compared to the iPhone 3GS and for every 100 drop calls the iPhone 3GS faces, the iPhone 4 has less than 1 more. To put it simply,

iPhone 3GS  :  iPhone 4           100        :   <101

One of the reasons Jobs mentioned in the press conference was that 80% of the customers purchasing an iPhone 3GS in the past also bought a casing – because iPhone 3GS casings were the same as iPhone 3G and there was a readily supply of casings to choose from. However, due to the entirely new design and the level of secrecy for the iPhone 4, there wasn’t enough bumpers or casings available in the market for iPhone 4 users when the smartphone was released. Hence only 20% of customers who purchased the iPhone 4 bought a bumper. I am sure you would have realized by now that the bumper / casings are directly involved in minimizing the Antenna problem.

Actions by Apple

1. Released iOS4.0.1 yesterday (15^th July, 2010)

iOS4.0.1 is available for download on iTunes and is recommended by Apple to be downloaded by all iPhone users. The software update is a patch to correct the wrong formula used to show the number of bars put up on the screen relative to the actual signal strength. Hopefully after this patch is up, the number of bars wouldn’t drop so drastically should the user hold the device in the usual way.

2. Free Bumpers!

Apple will give free bumpers or a list for the users to choose from through to September 30^th, 2010. For those who already have a bumper, Apple will give you a full refund on your bumper purchase.

3. Full Refund

And to address those of you who are still not satisfied with Apple’s solutions to the problem, you can return your undamaged phone for a full refund within 30 days of purchase.

Relevant to Singaporeans

Steve Jobs announced that the iPhone 4 will be available in Singapore on the 30^th of July!!! Well at least we all have a date to look forward to now. A huge relief to Apple fanboys (me) who dreaded the rumours of Apple recalling the device all over the world after the yesterday’s conference. *phew*

After looking at the whole matter it is relevant to say that indeed this matter has been drastically blown out of proportion by Apple haters waiting to see one of the world’s more technologically advanced companies make a mistake. It is a pity for Apple to acknowledge the problem before the release and assumed that nobody would make a big deal out of it – only because this problem is evident in many other smartphones already out in the market including the iPhone 3GS. So let us all give them a chance for the fantastic track record of products they have made for us all this while because even the most intelligent of people make mistakes but it is how we pick ourselves up – learn from it and make things better – that really matters.

Some of you might ask why should I have a bumper to fit over my iPhone just to make it work. Well, you do not need a bumper to make the iPhone 4 work. It works perfectly by itself. The bumper is only there to minimize any reception mishap from happening. As the saying goes, prevention is better than cure. AND also to reiterate, the iPhone (like any other smartphone) is not perfect and it has its flaws. So if you think you are unable to handle the problems you heard or read all over the web, don’t buy it and not hate it before you actually experienced it.

All picture courtesy of Apple.

To view the actual conference video click here.