Posted on 10/09/2010 12:41:13 AM PDT by Swordmaker
Whether or not you've experienced the iPhone 4's famed death grip, or even believe it's a real phenomenon (and based on extensive personal experience I can assure you that it is), the whole Antennagate scandal undoubtedly left a deep scratch on the iPhone's squeaky-clean sheen. As we all now know, the story ended with a semi-contrite Steve explaining how all cellphones have "weak spots" and that iPhone 4 customers upset with their device's wireless performance would be entitled to a free iPhone case. The offer has since expired, but it had the desired effect: people pretty quickly shut up about the issue, and Apple got back to the business of selling a LOT of iPhones.
But there's another issue brewing behind the scenes that's sent Apple's iPhone engineering team back into the bunker for preemptive damage control. If you've been into an Apple Store (or visited Apple's site) recently, you might have caught a hint while browsing iPhone 4 cases (or lack thereof). Although Apple has just this week reestablished a wide variety of cases for sale, as of only a couple of days ago the only iPhone 4 case Apple even so much as mentioned on its site was its own first-party Bumper -- and still conspicuously absent from its lineup are slide-on cases. As it turns out, was by no means a cynical ploy to maximize profits.
See, the interesting thing about how Apple works is they make money on all angles of the ecosystem. Similar to how Apple acts as the gatekeeper for the software it sells in the App Store and then takes a cut of that software's revenues, Apple also officially licenses third-party companies to make accessories for its various products (which are designated MFI, as in: "Made for iPhone," "Made for iPad," "Made for iPod," etc.), often selling those accessories in its Apple Stores.
Although the numbers have never been disclosed, Apple supposedly gets 10-15% off the top of all officially licensed MFI accessories (in recent years this has said to have changed to a flat rate per accessory). Giving Apple a cut hurts margins, but it also opens up a big opportunity: if Apple chooses to carry your officially licensed product, it will give it shelf space in one of the highest grossing retail chains (per square foot) in the world. Of course, if Apple sells your gear in the Store, that means they also get to take another hefty cut of that margin (as would any retailer); it may sting, but as it happens most companies are desperate to have their products sold in the Apple Store, and begrudgingly put up with Apple double-dipping on their margins (in no small part because competition in the accessories business is so fierce these days).
Naturally, this is really good business for Apple. It means that the highly lucrative accessories market is even more profitable for Apple than any other individual company since they're skimming off the top of every licensed product sold -- which is part of the reason it was so bizarre to see so few iPhone accessories sold for the first time in years, and at a moment when Apple is selling more iPhones than ever before. Yes, the free case program could have had something to do with this shift, but there's a huge market for cases outside the standard fare (like, say, those with integrated battery packs). If the absence of these accessories seems as strange to you as it does to me, well, there's a reason why.
According to my sources both inside and outside Apple, after Antennagate the iPhone engineering team identified another potential design flaw that appears to have sent them into lockdown, and has them working behind the scenes in what's been described to me as something of a quiet panic to preempt any further tarnishing the iPhone brand. Apple has apparently found that non-bumper style cases -- specifically those that slide onto the iPhone 4, which are occasionally prone to particulate matter getting caught between the rear of the phone and the case -- can cause unexpected scratching that could quickly develop into full-on cracking or even much larger fracturing of the entire rear pane of glass. To put it another way: Apple is afraid you might buy a standard slide-on iPhone case, put it on your phone, and then discover the next time you take it off that the entire back of your device has been shattered by no fault of your own.
So before things escalated out of control and they had "Glassgate" on their hands, Apple swiftly moved to block sales of nearly all third-party iPhone 4 cases from its stores (which it just this week reversed, but only online -- physical retail stores still aren't yet stocking cases). Internally, I've heard the iPhone team has grown to be very concerned by this issue with slide-on cases, and has created a lab and large new test program specifically to investigate this further. (If the bumper seemed like kind of an odd concept for a case when it was announced, now its design, which doesn't come in direct medial contact with either of the iPhone 4's glass surfaces, seems to make a lot more sense.)
In the mean time, many third-party manufacturers with slide-on cases are all but dead in the water; accessory companies that invested heavily in developing and shipping these iPhone 4 cases now find themselves waiting indefinitely to get their products back into their top sales channel: the Apple Store. And as you might expect, Apple hasn't exactly been to clear about when -- or even if -- it's going to get back to business as usual selling the full selection of iPhone 4 cases. It should also come as no surprise that Apple representatives declined to comment on this story.
And then there's the matter of all those iPhone 4 owners. Whether Apple likes it or not, slide-on cases iPhone 4 cases will continue to be sold, and many even bear the "Made for iPhone" mark, presumably licensed before it went into Glassgate-lockdown. Apple surely can't ignore any iPhone 4s cracked -- with a certain dash of irony -- by those users going out of their way to protect their phone from undue damage, but whether they will (or can) find a resolution to what the what the company is treating as another design flaw is yet to be seen. Either way, something tells me there's a pretty good chance next year's iPhone probably won't have any glass on its back.
From what I can find out Corning makes Gorilla Glass under strict quality control. There seem to be very few complaints about such issues among the users and the articles evidence, I.e. , the non availability of slide in cases in the Apple stores is bogus, makes the story FUD.
But Gorilla Glass is 20 times more resistant to scratching than plastic... I was looking for the Incase battery case for the iPhone4 when I was in the Apple store. They didn't have that but there were two Incase 4 slide in cases on the display.
I’m aware of MacMall and some of the other Mac retailers. The only reason I mentioned the Apple store is as a possible data point in support of the article. The Incase Slider for iPhone 4 exists, and is available other places. Apple has a relationship with Incase, and carries the slider case for the 3GS. That suggests — but is, of course, far from conclusive — that for some reason, possibly the one cited in the article, they don’t like slider cases for the 4.
The main reason I checked store.apple.com is that if they *did* carry the slider case, it would be a pretty strong point in debunking the article.
From what I could find online, Gorilla Glass is about a 7 on the Mohs scale. Quartz, a common component in sand, is also a 7. Of course, the Mohs scale is a pretty crude instrument, but I wouldn’t discount the possibility of scratching.
On the other hand, Gorilla Glass is also specifically designed so that shallow scratches don’t weaken its structural integrity. The shattering thing sounds like FUD, especially with no actual occurrences cited out of however million units sold.
BTW, in looking around at cases, I found the page for the Mophie battery case for iPhone 4 (http://www.mophie.com/mophie-juice-pack-air-iPhone-4-battery-case-p/1145_jpaxp4.htm). It looks like a really nice design.
IIRC, two of the six third party case models that Apple was offering for the free case program were slide in cases. The lack of one or two models on the online store is hardly probative.
My buddy had the Mophie case for his 3Gs while I had the Incase battery pack case for mine. We both agreed the Iincase was the better, more protective case design while the Mophie had slightly more battery and time capacity. Price wise, the Incase was half the price of the Mophie.
I was cooking in the kitchen and listening to audiobooks with my ear buds on. It slid off the counter and onto the slate floor.
I like my iPhone without a case so it was not protected but it wasn't hurt. I wouldn't want to try it again though.
Apple has pulled its page when the free case program ended, but slashdot has a review of the case options up. No slide-on cases there.
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