James Delahunty
15 Jul 2010 3:49
Consumer Reports has tested out a case sold by Apple Inc. and confirmed that it does fix antenna problems with the iPhone 4. The antenna problems affect signal levels when the iPhone handset is held in a certain way. The problem particularly affects lefties. Apple has called a press conference for Friday that is expected to address the issue.
The influential publication has refused to recommend the iPhone 4 to consumers until Apple comes up with a free fix for the antenna problem, even though it praised the handset for other features such as its high quality display and video camera. It tested a "Bumper" with the iPhone 4, which is sold by Apple for $29, and confirmed that it works.
"The Bumper solves the signal-strength problem," Paul Reynolds of Consumer Reports said in a blog posting. "So does a piece of duct tape, as we reported earlier, or just being careful how you hold the phone. But these options all put the onus on consumers to solve or pay for a fix. We're still calling on Apple to provide an acceptable free solution to the iPhone 4's signal-loss problem."
Consumer Reports' announcement on Monday kicked off a week of bad press for Apple as the company has failed to properly address the issue. Whilst being dismissive at first of the reports, it later blamed the problem on a software glitch that caused the signal indicator on the iPhone to report the wrong signal strength.
However, bloggers continued to allege that there is a physical problem with the handset causing the issue, and after some testing, Consumer Reports agreed.