Notes from Apple’s iPhone 4 press conference—iPhone 4 owners will get free Case

Mac Daily News ^ | 7/16/2010

[Swordmaker]

• Steve Jobs takes the stage.

• First, a 15-minute presentation

• "We're not perfect. Phones aren't perfect."

• "We want to make all our users happy."

• 3 million iPhone 4 units shipped to date

• iPhone 4 is #1 smartphone according to Wired, Engadget, PC World, Consumer Reports

• iPhone 4 has highest customer satisfaction of any iPhone or smartphone

• Antennagate. "Apple's been working our butts off for 22 days…"

• Attenuation "not unique to iPhone 4."

• Happens with many phones: BlackkBerry Bold 9700, hold it in a normal way, 5 bars go down to 1 bar.

• HTC Droid Eris: 4 bars to 0 bars.

• Samsung Omnia II: 4 bars to 1 bar.

•"Phones aren't perfect" (theme of the day so far, reinforced - MDN Ed.)

• This is a challenge for the entire industry

•"We had a reporting error.. screwed up our algorithm…"

•We've corrected that with recent software update

• You'll still see a drop "we haven't figured a way around the laws of physics yet."

•Apple tests in a state of the art facility with 17 anechoic chambers, a $100 million investment, 18 PhD scientists and engineers…

• "Smartphones have weak spots."

• AppleCare data: 0.55% of iPhone 4 users have called about attenuation (illustrates the hype/FUD - MDN Ed.)

• AT&T return rates: iPhone 3GS - 6.0%. iPhone 4 - 1.7%. "That's 1/3 of the 3GS."

•AT&T call drop rates: iPhone 4 does drop more calls than iPhone 3GS: iPhone 4 drops less than 1 additional call per 100 calls. (illustrates the hype/FUD, again - MDN Ed.)

•"iPhone 4 drops less than one additional call per 100 than the iPhone 3GS. Less than one."

• Jobs attributes the very slight call drop increase to lack of iPhone 4 cases available. Only 20% of customer leave Aple Store with iPhone 4 bumpers because Apple can't make enough quickly enough.

• "Even though the issue affects a small percentage of users, we care about every user."

• Free Apple bumper case for every iPhone 4 (users get choice of color)

• If you've already bought an Apple bumper, you'll get a refund

•For every iPhone 4 purchased prior to September 30, 2010.

• Proximity sensor issue will be fixed in next software update 


•White iPhone will start shipping at end of July

• On July 30, Apple will launch iPhone 4 in 17 more countries: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland. Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland. 

•"We love our users. We try very hard to surprise and delight them."

• "We love our users. Macs, iPods, iPhones, iPads, Apple TV, App Store,…"

• "We love our users. We connect them with great Apps and content."

• "We love our users. They reward us by staying our users."

• "We love our users so much that we built three hundred Apple Retail Stores for them in order to to give them the best buying experience in the world: With Genius bars, and seminars. We had 60 million people through our doors last quarter."

• "If users are having a problem, it's our problem." Working hard to understand the issue, so when we solve it,we really solve it to customers' satisfaction.

• "The data supports the fact that the iPhone 4 is the best smartphone in the world, and there is no Antennagate. There is a challenge for the entire smartphone industry to improve its antenna technology so there are no weak spots. So, today we're going to take care of our customers."

•Q&A: Tim Cook and Bob Mansfield join Jobs.


•Q: How's your health? Steve Jobs: "I'm doing just fine… I was doing better earlier this week while on vacation in Hawaii."

• Q: Considering any iPhone 4 antenna design changes? Jobs: "We're pretty happy with this. If we were at fault with the iPhone 4 antenna, it'd be that we waved a red flag by putting the 'touch me, grip me here' lines on it."

•Q: I can't get my BlackBerry Bold to drop right now, maybe you can show me how to do it? Jobs: You may not see it in certain areas.

• Q: Bloomberg article said you were told of antenna concerns? Jobs: "It's a total crock… Total bullshit."

•Q: Will you apologize to investors? Jobs: To investors, you invest in the company, so if the stock goes down $5, I don't think I owe them an apology.

• Q: Did you make a choice between form and function (MDN Ed. - Obviously not a question from someone who's ever designed anything; there' always a tradeoff somewhere). Jobs: "We try to have great design and great performance."

• Q: Will AT&T offer refunds; can people get out of their contracts? A: "I believe so, yes."

• Jobs: We aren't perfect. We try to make the best possible phone, but it is not possible to make a cell phone without weak spots.

•Q: Why September 30th cutoff date? Jobs: We'll reevaluate then. Maybe we'll have a better idea. "Maybe Eminem will come out with a band-aid that goes over the corner and everyone will want that."

• Q: Does the refund apply only to Apple branded bumpers? A: Yes, no refund for third-party cases

• Q: Why didn't Apple give case makers iPhone 4 specs before unveiling? Jobs: If we tell people what our next product is, they stop buying our current products. Sometimes websites buy stolen property and they get out there... and case makers have a history of showing off their new cases for our new products. The case vendors haven't had a history of helping to keep our work under wraps.

• Q: Do any of you use bumpers? Jobs, Mansfield, and Cook all hold up iPhone 4 units without bumpers. Jobs: I don't and I hold it like this (so-called "death grip") and I never see problems.

• Q: Anything you'd do differently or that you've learned from this? Jobs: Don't know yet. We need to get a bit of distance. I kno wone thing we've learned: How much we care about our customers. We were embarrassed by the Consumer Reports thing, but we didn't need it. We didn't say anything for a week because we didn't know anything yet. All of the data I shared earlier, we got that just 3 days ago...

• Jobs continues: Some people want us to go faster, but I don't think we could have. I've seen cars in the parking lot all night and we've got people sleeping oncots in the engineering building. I don't think we could be working any harder to get to the root cause…

• Jobs continues: I guess it's just human nature: when some group or some organization gets successful, there's always a group of people who want to tear it down. I see it happening with Google, people trying to tear them down, and I think to myself: why are they doing this? Google is a great company… And now they're doing it to us… I don't understand it... What would you prefer, that we were a Korean company, that we were here in America leading the world with these products? Maybe it's just to get eyeballs for these websites, people don't care what they leave in their wake. I look at this whole "Antennagate" thing, and I say: 'Wow. Apple has been around for 34 years; haven't we earned the credibility and trust from the press? I think we have that trust from our users, but I didn't see it exhibited from some of the press. It was blown so far out of proportion. Not saying we didn't make a mistake - we didn't; know we were putting a bully on the phone (line on lower left corner for users to try to cover) but this has been so overblown. But to see how we could do better is going to take some time."

• Q: Was recall ever considered? Jobs: The way we work is data driven. We tried find out why customers were experiencing what they were experiencing and we sent people all over the country to figure this out. We get emails from all over, I dispatch these emails, and we send teams out. Literally, two days after their email, they get a knock at the door from a bunch of Apple engineers. 'Can we plug this in? Can we test your phone? Can we log this?' Mansfield: "For the record, we told them we were coming." Jobs: "And we didn't bash down any doors!"

•Q: NYT article says there's a possibility for a software fix? A: Scott Forstall asks for Mic and says that article info is "patently false." Can we tune the phone to finely adjust the holding calls? Yes, wWe do that all the time. Says the NYT article though is "patently untrue."

•Q: Any impact on sales, you think? Cook: We'll announce our fiscal Q3 financial results next Tuesday and give fiscal Q4 guidance then, too.

•Cook: Apple has sold well over 3 million iPhone 4 units to date.

•Apple is selling very iPhone 4 unit it can manufacture right now.

•Jobs: We can't make iPhone 4 units fast enough.

• Q: Why is San Fran AT&T reception so poor? Jobs: In Texas, it's 3 weeks to get a cell tower approved, but in San Fran it could take up to 3 years because everyone wants better coverage, but nobody wants a cell tower in their backyard.
• Jobs on email message being posted online: "It's a bit rude. And now the most recent thing is to just make them up (which is why we said Jobs had to stop doing it - MDN Ed.) Jobs: "Don;t believe everything you read."
• Q; Does free Apple bumper offer extend outside U.S.? A: Yes, it does.
• Q: Beyond September 30th? A: We'll evaluate.
• Jobs: Okay. Thanks for coming. Has this helped? I would have liked to have done it in the 1st 48 hours after launch, but then you wouldn't have much to write about.

• End of press conference.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Lol

[Yo-Yo]

Say three times real fast:

Rubber Gratis iPhone Bumpers
Rubber Gratis iPhone Bumpers
Rubber Gratis iPhone Bumpers

[Wyatt's Torch]

•For every iPhone 4 purchased prior to September 30, 2010.


Is a new, fixed, version coming out then? Interesting since iPhone events are always in June.. As an Apple fan (and shareholder) I'm disappointed that they didn't do more to resolve it now. "Here's free case" is a bandaid not a solution.

[Swordmaker]

Apple's Official response to the AntennaGate Storm of bad publicity:

• Less than 1 per 100 additional dropped phone 100 calls over iPhone 3Gs,
• attributed to only 20% of iPhone 4 owners having cases...
• Apple will give FREE iPhone 4 Cases for all iPhone 4 buyers who bought before September 30th...
• If you bought an Apple Bumper case, you will get a refund.
• Only 1.7% of all iPhone 4 purchasers have returned their iPhones...
• Return rate of iPhone 4 is less than 1/3 of the return rate for iPhone 3Gs.
• Apple is selling every iPhone 4 they can make
• Apple has sold well over 3,000,000 iPhone 4s since release date

PING!

Please don't feed the anti-Apple Trolls,
it just encourages them!

Apple iPhone 4 Press Conference Ping!

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me.

[kevkrom]

I laughed every time I heard people speculating about “iPhone 4 recall?” — no way was Apple going to recall the phones; issuing free “bumper” cases was the most obvious solution.

Of course, I imagine that 3rd party case vendors aren’t going to be too happy about competing against “free”...

[Swordmaker]

Is a new, fixed, version coming out then? Interesting since iPhone events are always in June.. As an Apple fan (and shareholder) I'm disappointed that they didn't do more to resolve it now. "Here's free case" is a bandaid not a solution.

Read the press conference... it's not a problem. It's an overblown anti-iPhone campaign about a "perception" issue... and Apple has taken steps to correct the issue.

[Maelstorm]

I’m getting an Omnia HD. It may be a last year phone but it still has features that the iphone doesn’t support and will never support. Plus there is a lot of customization available. You can install Mame on it.

http://www.techtree.com/India/News/Customize_your_Samsung_Omnia_HD_With_HX-7/551-112269-893.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MksXBx58u_c&feature=related

[Not A Snowbird]

• Q: Why is San Fran AT&T reception so poor? Jobs: In Texas, it's 3 weeks to get a cell tower approved, but in San Fran it could take up to 3 years because everyone wants better coverage, but nobody wants a cell tower in their backyard.

Quote of the day.

[Senator Pardek]

If it’s not a problem why give away a free case? Just tell the users to stuff it, like Jobs initially did.

[RandallFlagg]

All in all, this issue reaffirms my rule:
“NEVER buy new tech. Wait until it’s been out for a while.”

[Mr. Blonde]

Because the biggest problem is one of perception. They are trying to be seen as doing something about it.

[Tribune7]

Why is San Fran AT&T reception so poor? Jobs: In Texas, it's 3 weeks to get a cell tower approved, but in San Fran it could take up to 3 years

Bump

[FLAMING DEATH]

Yep. Soon as they get the bugs worked out of this “television” thing, I’m gettin’ me one.

[itsahoot]

I am never getting an Omnia HD. So why am I commenting on your choice. Gee I don’t know.

[ConservativeWarrior]

"Here's free case" is a bandaid not a solution.

It is if you live your life in the Apple Reality Distortion Field.

Apple fanboys would have settled for an apology from their Steve Jobs God-man.

[Maelstorm]

It is ok. I wouldn’t recommend it for most. You have to buy the phone online from a third party and then you need to upgrade the firmware to a third party for the best result but that is what I like. I like being able to customize and modify and run what I will on my phone.

[OCC]

Happens with many phones: BlackkBerry Bold 9700, hold it in a normal way, 5 bars go down to 1 bar.


I tried holding my 9700 every way possible and couldn't get the bars to drop from 5.

[Swordmaker]

I tried holding my 9700 every way possible and couldn't get the bars to drop from 5.

They are referring to this occurring in similar circumstances (I.e., weak signal strength) to where the iPhone exhibited the loss of bars.