Apple to Hold iPhone 4 Press Conference July 16

by Jordan Yerman | July 15, 2010 at 12:09 pm

774 views | 0 Recommendations | 0 comments

Apple to Address iPhone 4 Reception problem with July 16 Press Conference

Apple is holding its first press conference that does not involve a product launch. The subject of recently-announced July 16 press conference: the iPhone 4 and its poor reception. The press conference begins at 10am PDT/1pm EDT.

Pundit opinion varies on exactly what message will come out of Cupertino, but the offer of free rubber bumpers is far more likely than an iPhone recall. Either way, it would be the Consumer Reports review that sparked this, rather than consumer unrest: Apple has happily ignored build-quality complaints in the past (i.e. most iPod models), except when those defects caused the product to self-destruct (i.e. first-gen MacBook).

The iPhone 4 reception problem continues to dog Apple, and it's Apple's fault: the company has yet to address the issue in a satisfactory manner, blaming everything except for the oft-documented hardware problem. While the July 16 press conference may be a step in the right direction, Apple has already been sued over the problem several times.

In predicting an Apple Store credit for iPhone 4 owners, MacRumors Forum poster spblat says,

I would be more than satisfied with a response like this, although the $50 gift card is probably a tad optimistic (but recall for precedent the credit to existing iPhone users when the price dropped suddenly). And I bet they don't say word one about the proximity sensor issue, or the white iPhone 4.

Others are less optimistic: