Apple has said that it will give a free iPhone case to every iPhone 4 customer who has bought or who buys an iPhone 4 before 30 September.
At a specially convened press conference in California, CEO Steve Jobs explained that Apple had been ‘working our butts off’ in the 22 days since it became aware of the problem, in order to discover what caused the loss of signal. He admitted that ‘we’re not perfect’ but explained that all smartphones suffered signal problems, although the design of the iPhone 4 may have added to the problem by subliminally encouraging users to place their hand over the gap between the antennae.
Steve Jobs explains why the iPhone 4 loses signal
During his presentation Jobs showed a video of a BlackBerry Storm dropping signal bars when it was gripped tightly and sought to contrast the furore that has surrounded the issue with data from bit Apple and AT&T, the largest reseller of the iPhone. That data showed that 0.55% of iPhone 4 customers have called AppleCare to complain about issues with their phone. It also showed, said Jobs, that return rates to AT&T for the iPhone 4 were less than a third of that for the 3GS, and that the iPhone 4 dropped less than one additional call per hundred than the 3GS.
iPhone 4 owners will be able to apply for their free case on Apple’s website from 22 July and those who have already bought a bumper can get a refund. Jobs said that Apple couldn’t make enough cases to fulfil the expected demand and so would be sourcing cases from third parties and offering a range of options.
