Now we know......Apple Knew about it!!
Apple Inc. released its newest iPhone despite internal concerns about its antenna reception, and gave wireless carriers far less time to test the phone than is typical, according to people familiar with the matter.
Since its release June 24, Apple's iPhone 4 has been dogged by reports of reception problems, yet demand for the smartphone has outstripped Apple's ability to keep it in stores.
Apple engineers were aware of the risks associated with the new antenna design as early as a year ago, but Chief Executive Steve Jobs liked the design so much that Apple went ahead with its development, said another person familiar with the matter.
The electronics giant kept such a shroud of secrecy over the iPhone 4's development that the device didn't get the kind of real-world testing that would have exposed such problems in phones by other manufacturers, said people familiar with the matter.
The iPhones Apple sends to its carrier partners for testing are "stealth" phones that disguise a new device's shape and some of its functions, people familiar with the matter said. Those test phones are specifically designed so the phone can't be touched, which made it hard to catch the iPhone 4's antenna problem.
Apple gave its carrier partners far less time to test the iPhone 4 before its launch and gave them significantly fewer devices to test than other handset makers, people familiar with the matter said. AT&T Inc., Apple's exclusive partner in the U.S., has until recently taken the brunt of criticism for dropped calls on Apple phones.
An Apple spokesman declined to comment on the company's development process or relationships with carriers. On Thursday, Apple released new software that tries to fix a problem with the iPhone's signal bar display, which Apple said has misrepresented cellular signal strength.
"This is a perfect storm of Apple's design methodology," said Mark Rolston, chief creative officer for San Francisco-based design firm Frog Design Inc. Apple was a client of Frog Design in the 1980s.
The mounting iPhone 4 controversy has hit a receptive ear in Washington, as Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) Thursday wrote to Mr. Jobs urging Apple to come up with a "permanent fix" to the problem at no cost to customers.
Mr. Jobs in early June unveiled the iPhone 4, boasting of the edge-to-edge glass casing with a metal band that doubles as the antennas. But as soon as the phones went on sale, some consumers began complaining of a drop in reception when a hand covered the device's lower left corner. Antenna engineers say putting the antenna in direct contact with the human hand can change the way it behaves.
Apple first suggested people buy a case or hold the phone differently. A week later, it said that the problem lay in a software glitch that has been making signal reception look stronger than it is in all of its phones since the original iPhone three years ago.
The explanations, however, have only fueled the discontent, particularly after product-quality watchdog Consumer Reports challenged those assertions, saying there was a hardware problem. Since the iPhone 4 launched, Apple's stock price has fallen more than 7%.
One of the people familiar with the situation at Apple said that, typically, Apple's industrial design chief, Jonathan Ive, works closely with lead antenna engineer Ruben Caballero in the early stages of an iPhone's development to make sure the design is compatible with the intended function of the phone, and some prototypes have been killed because of issues that emerged as a result.
Apple's iPhone 4 has been dogged by reports of antenna-reception problems since its launch last month.
Bloomberg News reported that Mr. Caballero had raised concerns about the antenna to Mr. Jobs. In response to the article, an Apple spokesman said, "We challenge Bloomberg BusinessWeek to produce anything beyond rumors to back this up. It's simply not true." A spokesman for Bloomberg News said it stands by its story.
As development on the iPhone 4 proceeded, field testing would have been limited because of Apple's emphasis on secrecy, said people familiar with the matter.
Carriers routinely test devices before they certify them to work on their wireless network. Many factors can derail a phone from being certified, including the amount of radiation that it emits or how hot the battery can get.
The testing process usually takes a minimum of 14 weeks. However, Apple flies in the face of this norm, handing over iPhone prototypes to carriers with much less time, people familiar with the matter said.
These people also said Apple's antenna woes go back years, through multiple versions of the iPhone and with repeated instances of design clashing with functionality. The first version had a back made of metal, which hampered the ability of wireless signals to penetrate to the antenna inside, engineers said.
Later versions, including the iPhone 3G that was launched in 2008 and the iPhone 3GS last year, also didn't hold a signal as well as other phones and experienced more dropped calls, people familiar with the matter said.
For at least two years, multiple iPhone carriers lodged complaints with the company that its phone doesn't work well in making calls and doesn't hold a wireless signal for a voice call as well as other devices, these people say.
Apple introduced some changes to the iPhone's internal software so it would interact more seamlessly with wireless networks but didn't fundamentally change the design—until the latest version.
Since its release June 24, Apple's iPhone 4 has been dogged by reports of reception problems, yet demand for the smartphone has outstripped Apple's ability to keep it in stores.
Apple engineers were aware of the risks associated with the new antenna design as early as a year ago, but Chief Executive Steve Jobs liked the design so much that Apple went ahead with its development, said another person familiar with the matter.
The electronics giant kept such a shroud of secrecy over the iPhone 4's development that the device didn't get the kind of real-world testing that would have exposed such problems in phones by other manufacturers, said people familiar with the matter.
The iPhones Apple sends to its carrier partners for testing are "stealth" phones that disguise a new device's shape and some of its functions, people familiar with the matter said. Those test phones are specifically designed so the phone can't be touched, which made it hard to catch the iPhone 4's antenna problem.
Apple gave its carrier partners far less time to test the iPhone 4 before its launch and gave them significantly fewer devices to test than other handset makers, people familiar with the matter said. AT&T Inc., Apple's exclusive partner in the U.S., has until recently taken the brunt of criticism for dropped calls on Apple phones.
An Apple spokesman declined to comment on the company's development process or relationships with carriers. On Thursday, Apple released new software that tries to fix a problem with the iPhone's signal bar display, which Apple said has misrepresented cellular signal strength.
"This is a perfect storm of Apple's design methodology," said Mark Rolston, chief creative officer for San Francisco-based design firm Frog Design Inc. Apple was a client of Frog Design in the 1980s.
The mounting iPhone 4 controversy has hit a receptive ear in Washington, as Sen. Charles Schumer (D., N.Y.) Thursday wrote to Mr. Jobs urging Apple to come up with a "permanent fix" to the problem at no cost to customers.
Mr. Jobs in early June unveiled the iPhone 4, boasting of the edge-to-edge glass casing with a metal band that doubles as the antennas. But as soon as the phones went on sale, some consumers began complaining of a drop in reception when a hand covered the device's lower left corner. Antenna engineers say putting the antenna in direct contact with the human hand can change the way it behaves.
Apple first suggested people buy a case or hold the phone differently. A week later, it said that the problem lay in a software glitch that has been making signal reception look stronger than it is in all of its phones since the original iPhone three years ago.
The explanations, however, have only fueled the discontent, particularly after product-quality watchdog Consumer Reports challenged those assertions, saying there was a hardware problem. Since the iPhone 4 launched, Apple's stock price has fallen more than 7%.
One of the people familiar with the situation at Apple said that, typically, Apple's industrial design chief, Jonathan Ive, works closely with lead antenna engineer Ruben Caballero in the early stages of an iPhone's development to make sure the design is compatible with the intended function of the phone, and some prototypes have been killed because of issues that emerged as a result.
Apple's iPhone 4 has been dogged by reports of antenna-reception problems since its launch last month.
Bloomberg News reported that Mr. Caballero had raised concerns about the antenna to Mr. Jobs. In response to the article, an Apple spokesman said, "We challenge Bloomberg BusinessWeek to produce anything beyond rumors to back this up. It's simply not true." A spokesman for Bloomberg News said it stands by its story.
As development on the iPhone 4 proceeded, field testing would have been limited because of Apple's emphasis on secrecy, said people familiar with the matter.
Carriers routinely test devices before they certify them to work on their wireless network. Many factors can derail a phone from being certified, including the amount of radiation that it emits or how hot the battery can get.
The testing process usually takes a minimum of 14 weeks. However, Apple flies in the face of this norm, handing over iPhone prototypes to carriers with much less time, people familiar with the matter said.
These people also said Apple's antenna woes go back years, through multiple versions of the iPhone and with repeated instances of design clashing with functionality. The first version had a back made of metal, which hampered the ability of wireless signals to penetrate to the antenna inside, engineers said.
Later versions, including the iPhone 3G that was launched in 2008 and the iPhone 3GS last year, also didn't hold a signal as well as other phones and experienced more dropped calls, people familiar with the matter said.
For at least two years, multiple iPhone carriers lodged complaints with the company that its phone doesn't work well in making calls and doesn't hold a wireless signal for a voice call as well as other devices, these people say.
Apple introduced some changes to the iPhone's internal software so it would interact more seamlessly with wireless networks but didn't fundamentally change the design—until the latest version.
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