Consumer Reports: Apple’s free Bumper case does not earn iPhone 4 our recommendation

Mac Daily News ^ | Friday, July 16, 2010 - 07:09 PM EDT<

[Swordmaker]

"Apple CEO Steve Jobs on Friday announced that his company will give iPhone 4 owners free cases to address reception problems caused by the phone's external antenna, which is a metal band around the edge of the phone," John D. Sutter reports for CNN. "Mike Gikas, senior editor for electronics and technology at Consumer Reports, said in an interview that such a patch is a good "first step." But it's still not enough for his group to recommend the phone to consumers. 'What we were hoping for was a concrete, this-is-it fix for the phone,' Gikas said."

MacDailyNews Take: Consumer Reports would do well get their staff on the same page before allowing them to spout off: Consumer Reports: Apple’s Bumper case fixes iPhone 4 signal-loss issue - July 15, 2010

Sutter continues, "Gikas said such a solution makes it difficult to review the phone, because everyone has a different case, and it's unclear if the solution is permanent; there's a chance the phone could still be recalled after September 30, or that a new version could be issued, he said."

"During the press event in Cupertino, California, Jobs tried to spread the blame about reception issues across the smartphone industry as a whole," Sutter continues. "Gikas said that was a bit unfair. 'The human hand -- the body -- attenuates signal on all phones,' he said. 'But we haven't seen it happen to the degree that it's happened with the iPhone 4.'"

MacDailyNews Take: Did Consumer reports test iPhone 4 with iOS 4.0.1 with its the revised signal display algorithm? No they did not. They should take an iPhone back into their crap booth of flawed testing that's likely worth 1/1000th of Apple's state-of-the-art testing facilities (we're being exceedingly generous with that estimate even though it's certainly not warranted) and test the iPhone 4 running iOS 4.0.1 with and without Apple bumpers before they make any more of their conflicting and illogical non-recommendation recommendations. Again, anyone under the age of 115 who uses a Consumer Reports recommendation for any electronic device needs to seek immediate mental health counseling. The rest of you, enjoy your Aiwa boom boxes.

Sutter continues, "'The most important thing to remember is a problem was discovered with the phone and we can confirm it in a lab, and it was a significant problem,' Gikas said. 'And I don't think Apple fully admitted to it. They acknowledged it and they threw an interim solution at it. But everything spells fogginess about this thing.'"

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: Fogginess?! Okay, let's talk fogginess:

In chronological order:

• "iPhone 4 reception is actually better than on the 3GS according to many to some highly respectable and thorough testers, including AnandTech... There's no reason, at least yet, to forgo buying an iPhone 4 over its reception concerns." - Mike Gilkas, Consumer Reports' Electronics Blog - July 2, 2010

• Apple iPhone 4 is the best smartphone on the market according to Consumer Reports' ratings. - July 12, 2010

• "Apple needs to come up with a permanent—and free—fix for the antenna problem before we can recommend the iPhone 4." - Mike Gilkas, Consumer reports' Electronics Blog - July 12, 2010

MacDailyNews Take: You already did recommend it, you moron.

• "But for those who prefer to keep their iPhone, we encourage Apple to step forward soon with a remedy that fixes the confirmed antenna issue, and not one that requires additional consumer expense." - Mike Gilkas, Consumer Reports' Electronics Blog - July 13, 2010

MacDailyNews Take: Milk the thing for all it's worth, Mike, why don't you?

• "With the Bumper fitted, we repeated the test procedure, placing a finger on the Bumper at the point at which it covers the gap below. The result was a negligible drop in signal strength—so slight that it would not have any effect, in our judgment... The Bumper solves the signal-strength problem... We're still calling on Apple to provide an acceptable free solution to the iPhone 4's signal-loss problem." - Paul Reynolds, Consumer reports' Electronics Blog - July 14, 2010

MacDailyNews Take: Apple did so today, but CR still won't recommend their top-rated smartphone, Apple's iPhone 4.

• "We look forward to a long-term fix from Apple. As things currently stand, the iPhone 4 is still not one of our Recommended models." - Consumer Reports' Electronics Blog - July 16, 2010

To recap the fogginess: Consumer Reports recommends the iPhone 4, then they don't recommend the iPhone 4 even as they say it is the top-rated smartphone on the market. Next, Consumer Reports calls three separate times for Apple to "step forward soon with a remedy that fixes the confirmed antenna issue" that does not requires "additional consumer expense." Consumer reports then tests Apple's Bumper case and find that it alleviates the issue. Apple then offers free Bumper cases to all iPhone owners. Consumer Reports then decides that what they asked for is not good enough (for then hits to their website from users who do not require bottled oxygen in order to click a mouse button would cease) and fails to recommed Apple iPhone to their geriatric readership which actually believe that Consumer Reports' opinions on electronic products and God-knows-what-else are worth more than a bucket of warm spit.

How many more illogical, contradictory, flawed articles can the transparent hit whores at Consumer Reports concoct regarding this non-issue?

[Swordmaker]

Apple does what Consumers Reports wanted, but it's not enough to satisfy them—PING!

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

Apple iPhone 4 Ping!

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

[BunnySlippers]

Here’s today’s press conference:

http://events.apple.com.edgesuite.net/100716iab73asc/event/index.html

The trolls cannot watch it or they will have to backtrack. It is on Apple’s site.

[Psycho_Bunny]

lolololol

[aMorePerfectUnion]

WORST car I ever bought was after I read Consumer Report’s high rating of it.

I still have a dream of leaving it on the side of 635 in Dallas, on fire, taking the plates off...

I never believed them again.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

Here’s a quick question, perhaps someone can answer it?

Steve Jobs admitted the iPhone 4 has worse call connection than the iPhone 3 GS (it drops 1 out of 100 more calls than the iPhone 3GS).

How many calls did the iPhone 3 GS drop? If it drops - normally - 1 out of 100, then the iPhone 4 is twice as bad. If the iPhone 3GS drops one out of 500, then the iPhone 4 is 5 times as bad.

Basically, what is the actual rate of drops? That’s never been given, only an acknowledgment that the iPhone 4 drops more calls than the previous iPhone model.

[BunnySlippers]

Here is Apple's $100 million Testing Facility for iPhones:

State of the art testing facility with 17 anechoic chambers costing $100 millions dollars manned by 18 PhD scierntists.

Pretty cool, huh?

[BunnySlippers]

I thought it quite telling that the iPhone 3GS had 6% returns to the i
Phone 4’s 1.7% return rate.

Can we say “overblown”?

The people who have a problem with the iPhone 4 are people who don’t own one.

[Gone_Postal]

"The people who have a problem with the iPhone 4 are people who don’t own one."

Yep they are just waiting for obama to mandate that apple hand them out to the slackers

[PugetSoundSoldier]

So, you don’t know the answer? You don’t know how many calls a typical 3GS dropped? We know the iPhone 4 is worse, but how much worse?

[BunnySlippers]

We know Apple’s customer satisfaction blows everyone else out of the water. No way would that have that level of satisfaction if they were “inferior: to the competition.

I just had to laugh today.

Watched the live blogs on Ar Technica and Gizmodo. Then the whole video on Apple’s site today topped it off.

Oh, how funny!!

[Paradox]

MacDailyNews Take: Did Consumer reports test iPhone 4 with iOS 4.0.1 with its the revised signal display algorithm? No they did not. They should take an iPhone back into their crap booth of flawed testing that's likely worth 1/1000th of Apple's state-of-the-art testing facilities

This is quite a silly statement. You can still screw up a test with expensive equipment. You can still NOT do a test that you should have though of. That said, this whole thing is no big deal. I'm surprised so many Apple fans have such a problem with it this criticism though. They doth protest too much.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

So again - no answer? How much worse is the call drop rate of the iPhone 4 versus the 3GS? We know it’s worse (that is not in dispute), but how much worse?

[PugetSoundSoldier]

One of the things you learn in customer support is that for every person who complains, 10 more stay silent. I’d take a 0.5% call rate for dropped calls as meaning 5% actually have the problem.

And note that Apple was careful to mention calls to “AppleCare”, NOT to AT&T. Most people who have dropped calls tend to call the carrier, not the hardware manufacturer (when your call drops, do you immediately think of your carrier or the phone maker?).

If Apple’s getting 0.5% of all iPhone 4 owners calling THEM over dropped calls, that’s a pretty significant rate overall. How many called AT&T about the issue?

A more telling metric than what Jobs reported would be the total number of iPhone 4 users who reported a dropped call - not just to AppleCare, not just to AT&T, but worldwide (since the sales are reported worldwide). THAT would be a relevant statistic; calls to AppleCare is interesting, but I don’t think too relevant.

[HangnJudge]

http://apple.slashdot.org/story/10/07/16/1741212/Apple-Offers-Free-Cases-To-Solve-iPhone-4-Antenna-Problems?art_pos=10

Long and Civil discussion on the iPhone at SlashDot
Remarkably devoid of polarizing Diatribe

[BunnySlippers]

And note that Apple was careful to mention calls to “AppleCare”, NOT to AT&T

They mentioned the return rate to AT&T as being 1.7. The return rate on the 3GS as being 6%. With the 3GS having no howling from trolls.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

You're mixing your facts. I was talking about the number of calls to AppleCare, not returns. You cannot return an iPhone to AppleCare. But you bring up an interesting point! Jobs mentioned a 1.7% return to AT&T; how many were returned to Apple stores? That wasn't addressed.

[Wright Wing]

Jobs was clear to state that they used the Apple Care numbers because they had the metrics. AT&T did not give out the actual numbers because they.keep those numbers private because it might be telling as to their network capability.

Will Comsumer Reports investigate the signal loss of the BB phone and HTC phone demonstrated during the press conference? After all it was just a Gizmodo article that started this whole thing.

Consumer Reports actually shuould retest the phone after the latest software update. They should also compare the iPhone signal loss against other phones that exhibit similar signal drops.

[PugetSoundSoldier]

Jobs was clear to state that they used the Apple Care numbers because they had the metrics. AT&T did not give out the actual numbers because they.keep those numbers private because it might be telling as to their network capability.

Precisely! So to infer that only 0.5% of iPhone 4 users ever had a problem is quite incorrect; we don't know how many called AT&T about dropped calls, and that may in fact be a reflection on the phone, not the network.

The real number is undoubtedly higher than 0.5%; how high is anyone's guess, but 5% is not out of the question.

Will Comsumer Reports investigate the signal loss of the BB phone and HTC phone demonstrated during the press conference? After all it was just a Gizmodo article that started this whole thing.

I thought it was an Ars Technica article with the first measurements of signal loss?

Regardless, CR tests phones the same way, and to date they haven't had a problem with other phones. In fact, CR even said the iPhone 4 was very good except if you touched the antenna wrong. It's part of their standard test - measure actual signal strength for all phones.

The difference, of course, is that the iPhone 4's antenna is exposed and uncovered (bare metal). That explains the problem, and why other phones may have lost some signal, they did not lose it to the degree of the iPhone 4.

(note: Apple's pictures of other phones losing signal strength is interesting and all, but unless Apple knows how signal strength is mapped to displayed bars for all those other phones, it's really nothing more than pretty pictures used to distract from the real issue. After all, we already know that Apple was calculating their bars wrong, and can change the display in software; who's to say that BB, HTC, Samsung aren't wrong with their displays, too?)

Consumer Reports actually shuould retest the phone after the latest software update. They should also compare the iPhone signal loss against other phones that exhibit similar signal drops.

I'm pretty sure they will. We have to wait for Apple to finish the software update, first...

[Richard Kimball]

And note that Apple was careful to mention calls to “AppleCare”, NOT to AT&T.

AT&T routes calls about the iPhone to Applecare. A couple of weeks ago I called AT&T. First thing they did was ask me what phone I was using. I told them iPhone, they said "hold on" and about 30 seconds later a lady said, "Welcome to Applecare."