After blaming users, besmirching competitors and finally offering a free iPhone 4 case to appease customers, rumor has it that Apple could relent in the biggest way: revising the antenna on the iPhone 4.
Apple's company line for a while has been that it will look into the signal attenuation — the disruption of the iPhone 4's signal strength when held a certain way — and decide what to do about it. That "what to do" could be revising the antenna architecture, according to an executive with Mexican mobile carrier Telcel. The company man says that it could happen as soon as September 30th.
It sounds like the executive was just being upfront and trying to calm worried consumers, according to Ars:
While announcing the launch of the iPhone 4 in Mexico, Telcel's Director of Value Added Services, Marco Quatorze, told CanalMX that initial units would exhibit the same antenna problems as those released so far in the US. He also said that Apple would be providing free cases to all iPhone 4 buyers who request one from its website.
However, Quatorze also said that after September 30--the date Jobs promised an update on the antenna issue and the date that the free case program expires--Apple will begin supplying revised iPhone 4 devices that "do not have the reception malfunction."
This isn't standard operating procedure, not by a long shot. Having an executive stand up and say there's a better unit on the way is sure to bite into the iPhone 4's early sales in Mexico. Telcel did add that early adopters would have an option to trade up, but words like this makes the current iPhone 4 nothing more but a placeholder.
Via Ars Technica
