Consumer Reports Still Can't Recommend iPhone4

good for them, i feel the same way apple is just handing out bandaids, while ignoring the real underlying issue. GG consumer reports!!

I think the iPhone 4 is an "iM-Done"

I can't stop smiling. I guess bad news is good news for some. Thank you consumer reports for staying strong and not bowing down to Sith Jobs. I guess that makes them the Jedi?

At least they're not in the camp of those praising the product just because it has a shiny Apple printed on it.

The iPhone 4 was well on its way to be a great phone (yes, I'm saying this as someone who heartily dislikes Apple products), but Antennagate killed it. Bumper cases are ugly and shouldn't be needed if they had spend a few dollars giving the edges a non-conductive coating.

His Jobsness' arrogant and slow response didn't improve things either.

Everyone with sense buys a case for a high end smartphone, it really is a none issue these days.

This is exactly what I was going to ask:What will happen beyond September 30th?

What is the deal with the haters? I do NOT own one piece of Apple hardware or software, but you people are like vultures the instant these products come out. Did Apple fire your daddy just before he retired, then he lost his pension and couldn't send you to college, so you worked at the local Best Buy for 10 years before you saved enough to go to community college only to find you could have got financial aid already???? If yes, then crucify him. If you are a PC-fanboy, big deal! A profitable, successful company messed up on their design. I have worked for a few companies that had way worse design flaws and took WAY longer to remedy them...and it impacted way more people than the number of iPhone 4 customers to date.

Ridiculous comment. While it is true that buying a case is a good investment to protect the phone against damage, it still shouldn't be a necessity in order to have a phone work properly. To call it a non-issue is completely irresponsible and ignorant.

I'll take it one step further -- so you say it's a non-issue these days? Well, according to statistics, only 20% of customers walked out with a case when buying the iPhone 4 (80% did for the 3GS). So based on your response, most iPhone 4 users have no sense then. It also means that it actually IS an issue. You stand corrected...

I walked out without a case when buying my 3G. I then went and ordered a more suitable case from a 3rd party. Those statistics prove nothing at all. The majority of people I see with high end phones tend to use a case.

IF I were to buy an iPhone 4 then it would be a no brainer to get a case to protect my shiny product. While it should not be a necessity the fact that many do buy cases anyway makes it much less of an issue, coupled with the fact that the actual percentage of people who have this issue is quite low too. Out of several friends with an iPhone 4 none can replicate this disastrous issue.

Why should they recommend it? Out of sympathy for Apple having to spend 3mill. dollars to give free rubber bands to cover up up its mistake? No way.

So why bother with making a good looking phone when you can just sell it glued to a rubber case????????????

Are you insane? A good investment in my opinion is a leather case or a case that you take off when you use your phone. When you buy a phone you enjoy the LOOK, FEEL and FUNCTIONALITY.

Yeah you could do that but at the end of your contract the phone will be scratched and battered and worth less as a trade in. Unlike the "normal" old school phones, smartphones will not look in good condition after 1-2 years of use without a case.

Really are blowing things out of all proportion. As is usual with fanboi wars I guess.

Personally I am waiting to see if the UK Android market can match or beat the iPhone 4 before I purchase my next phone, and despite some people having antenna issues there isn't currently a phone for sale that does that.

For you it may be a no-brainer to get a case, but not for everyone. And while many people with high end phones do use a case, many with the iPhone 4 aren't, however, because in this case they want to show off how beautiful it is (and I must admit, it is a nice looking phone). So the statistics DO say something. I'm sorry, but going from 80% of consumers buying a case with the last model to only 20% of consumers for the new one isn't something to just dismiss.

And I'm glad to hear your friends can't replicate the reception issue; however, there are people who are having the issue. And many websites besides Consumer Reports thoroughly tested the phone and were able to replicate the reception problem. Considering CR has labs, equipment, and trained professionals to test electronics, I'd say that there is almost definitely an issue, whether your friends could replicate the issue or not. Also, there is another issue I have heard surfacing -- the proximity sensor not working when bringing the phone up to your ear, resulting in hitting numbers while talking, hanging up on calls, etc.

It's a problem -- it wasn't the best design, and it wasn't fully and properly tested...period. Coming from Apple, it's more of a surprise compared to other electronics co.'s because of their reputation, both earned and self-created. That's why they are feeling the heat more so than other co.'s...and it's not entirely undeserved.

Well, I guess we'll just have to see what happens to sales after the offer expires.

I said people would diss the iPad and then buy them like hotcakes on release (and with the constant media blitz they get for doing something that has been done uncounted times before on a tablet pc, no wonder - next thing you know they'll use a touch keyboard on screen and people will be all "oooooo... it has a virtual keyboard - that's totally new").

Well, my guess is people will keep buying the iPhone 4 after the offer expires. Why? Image. Its not what tool you need to get a job done, its how cool you look in the eyes of everyone else. Its not a phone, its more like a sports jersey, Tommy Hilfiger clothing, or Nike shoes - its a brand image. Yes, I said it, most consumers of the bitten apple are really buying the modern day equivalent of a crocodile or crest on a shirt lapel. (Though some do buy it for the features they need, I think this is the minority of the market.)

Still the best smartphone on the uk market

As with a lot of statistics they don't tell the full picture and these ones are flawed due to many people buying 3rd party protection products.

It is a design problem but its blown out of all proportion.

In other news, Apple patents a system for review and rating of consumer products and files a patents infringement suit against Consumer Reports. Jobs reported as saying "We cannot allow such blatant disrespect for our [intellectual] (Sic) property."

The case is a band-aid when the wound obviously required surgery.

I love the "I can't recreate the problem on my phone" scenario. And not all Toyota cars would speed out of control causing accidents either, but it still happened and all models affected were subject (or at least feared to be subject) to it at any time.

I love the Whoopi smashed hers. She was doing something important to her (live interview) and it dropped the call.

You guys should try listening to yourselves sometime. It's a phone, not the anti-christ. My wife fell under it's spell, so I got her one. They didn't have the new cases yet, so I got one elsewhere. In the case, it works fine. Out of the case I wouldn't know...I'm more concerned with protecting an expensive electronic device than ogling it. I'm no fan of Jobs, but I couldn't get around the simple UI and huge APP base. If I had to use AT&T, I would have chosen something else (anything else).

Apple should stop recommending consumer reports, either with reason or just for spite.
and put it on that page! http://www.apple.com/antenna/

coating stainless steel: good luck. I think they will continue with a case solution

Actually the estimate is 50 millions out of their revenue for the solution. Remember, they have to buy 3rd party cases and give them away. not just bumpers.

Coating is unlikely, membrane maybe...

Still I guess if you really hate Apple and you want to make a statement they opened the door: Go buy one and return it.

They will have to ship it back and forth, make new packaging and pass it as refurbished at a lower price. not very environmental but still a statement for hardcore haters it will only take 30 minutes or so of your day... and you will have cost Apple money and influenced the "return and complaint" statistics.

The contract will be null and void and there is no restocking fee. So what are you waiting for?

Fact is that the apple response albeit nothing more than typical apple spin and rhetoric needs to be seen to the end user as business as usual for a company who keeps is secrets internal and then tries to lie about its flaws (sounds like American politics). Do not support such organizations, support open source Android, open standards like adobe flash and let Steve Jobs know that he is nothing more than a fascist in jeans clothing.

"Doesn't create a conductive bridge when you "hold it wrong""

I have a Panasonic wireless phone in my office. If I hold it upside-down, am I holding the right way?

Agreed.
snotling: Coating 300 or 400 series stainless is not a problem. Know your facts before you knock someone else's brainstorm.

Good for them. They're not afraid to say that Apple screwed up, while everybody else is.

The case is not a solution. It is a workaround.

Now those housewives can go back to review soaps.

Only engineer should test another engineer’s design.

well, back up that claim with an actual product to use as coating. make sure it is scratch resistant and non toxic, we wouldn't want that coating to peel off on your hands before you lick your fingers at KFC

@snotling

im going to guess the antenna is a sheet metal formed part, apple can just buy the metal coils pre-coated with a clear lacquer thats hard baked onto the metal, good luck with getting that stuff off seeing as the stuff can survive sheet metal forming process intact and unscathed and having pre-coated metal is dirt cheap, im sure that right up apple's alley