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Apple responds, they’re giving away free Bumpers and cases until September 30th

By Joshua Schnell Fri, Jul 16, 2010 @ 2:13 PM

gdgt iphone 4 event 009 500x332 Apple responds, theyre giving away free Bumpers and cases until September 30th

We sat, and we waited for an official response from Apple regarding the iPhone 4 and its antenna issues. Finally, we get a response directly from the mothership, but it’s not exactly anything we weren’t expecting to hear. Here’s a brief synopsis of what happened today:

The iPhone can be returned for a full refund if you’re not happy with the device, restocking fees have been waived, and AT&T also has a buyer’s remorse program and will refund you. So, really there’s no reason for you to hold on to the phone if you don’t like it. Steve says it’s the best phone they’ve made, including the other iPhone models. Consumers seem to have responded by not returning the iPhone 4. According to the numbers released by Apple, only 0.55% of iPhone 4 users have called into AppleCare with antenna problems, and it drops less than one more percent when compared to the iPhone 3GS. What’s that mean in english? If the iPhone 3GS drops 4 calls out of 100, then the iPhone 4 drops 4.9 or less calls out of 100.

Maybe this isn’t a problem, but Apple hears the complaints and they’re about to do something about it—free bumpers for all!

If you purchased your iPhone 4 before September 30, 2010, you’re now eligible to get a free bumper or a choice of a case from some of Apple’s partners in their online store. Why September 30th? Well, Apple’s clearly got something up their sleeves, because they’re hoping to leave themselves a chance to re-evaluate the issue in September. This may be a sign that Apple’s already working on a hardware patch, especially considering the rumours that some phones are leaving repair centers with the “death grip” issue fixed.

In short, the iPhone 4 is an amazing phone, Apple doesn’t think there’s a major problem, but they hear our concerns, and they’re working on it. Until then you can either return your phone or get a free bumper.

If there’s one thing we can take away from this, it’s that in 22 days Apple’s managed to not only figure out what’s going on with their device, but also come up with a way to clean up the mess. That’s pretty outstanding. They’ve sent engineers to customers’ houses to test reception, taken logs from the phones, and done other tests. If that’s not caring about your customers, we don’t know what is.

So what do you think? Did Apple do enough?

  • Marc

    I know there are a ton of Apple haters out there – but if people are still complaining after all the options provided today, they are just being derisive rather than expressing some real sentiment.

    So now the real question – I was planning on upgrading from iPhone 3G to iPhone 4, but put that on hold once I started hearing the various issues (real or imagined) with the device. I wanted to upgrade primarily for the cool new design, the improved camera and the extra 8GB of storage. So do I pull the trigger now and maybe even get a refurbished model at a discounted price, or hold off to see what happens in September?

    • http://www.macgasm.net Joshua Schnell

      That’s a tough one. I’m kind of in the same position, but being in Canada, I haven’t had the luxury of buying one yet. So, I’m not sure how this is going to playout up here. I’ll probably end up buying one as soon as it’s available though.

      Part of me wonders if the delay in iPhone availability might be partially because Apple’s re-engineering these phones. There’s certainly been a great deal of rumours supporting that.

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