Apple works round the clock to solve iPhone's reception flaw

New York: At Apple Incorporated, "working our butts off" means beds in the engineering department and cars in the parking lot at all hours of the night.

Seeking a solution to the antenna flaw that is dropping calls for some iPhone 4 users, Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs said on Friday that employees started a round-the-clock effort to improve the reception amid complaints since the device's debut on June 24.

"We've been working our butts off in the last 22 days to understand what the real issues are here so we can come up with real solutions," Jobs said at a press conference.

Jobs offered customers free rubber cases that prevent the dropped calls by covering the external antenna on the left-hand corner of the iPhone. That will stop users from gripping it in a way that interferes with reception. He is giving full refunds to buyers who are still dissatisfied.

Solution

While just 0.55 per cent of users complained, Jobs said the reception glitch is industrywide and Apple wants to be the first to find a solution. Apple, the world's biggest technology company by market value, will offer free cases until September 30 and then decide whether it has a better solution for the iPhone 4. The iPhone accounts for about 40 per cent of revenue and is a bigger money-maker than the Macintosh or iPod.

"Apple did leave some unanswered questions, such as providing a definitive answer on whether a full software/hardware fix is likely in the next several months, which we believe is a possibility," said Katy Huberty, an analyst at Morgan Stanley in New York.

Apple, based in Cupertino, California, aims to burnish the iPhone's image after Consumer Reports opted not to recommend the device, citing difficulty sending and receiving calls. Apple was stunned, upset and embarrassed by the magazine's review, Jobs said on Friday. The company has sold more than three million of the devices, he said.

"We tested it — we knew that if you gripped it a certain way, bars would go down a little bit," Jobs said on Friday. "We didn't think it would be a big problem because every smartphone has this problem."

Media and blog reports have sensationalised those concerns, with some dubbing the situation "Antennagate", Jobs said.

"We care about all of our users, and we won't stop until every one of them is happy," Jobs said. "This is blown so out of proportion that this is incredible."

Every iPhone 4 buyer will either get a free rubberised case called a Bumper or the option to choose another case if Apple Bumpers aren't available, Jobs said. People who already bought a $29 (Dh106) Bumper will get a refund.

Customers can also return their undamaged iPhone 4 within 30 days of purchase for a full refund.

"That's everything we can do to make every customer happy," said Jobs, who cut short his vacation in Hawaii last week so that he could meet with the media on Friday.

Bloomberg reported that an Apple engineer warned Jobs last year that the new external antenna design chosen for the iPhone 4 might interfere with calls, citing a person with knowledge of the matter.

A carrier partner also told Apple the external antenna might interfere with reception, according to another person familiar with the situation.

Jobs said on Friday he didn't know about the antenna concerns early on. He called Bloomberg's report a "total crock".