14 DAY TRIAL // Handing out free Bumpers is at least a billion dollars cheaper than recalling the new phone, “something that was on the table,” Steve Jobs acknowledged, according to ABC News. Exclusive footage featuring Apple’s top secret testing facilities is also included in a recent ABC coverage which also includes a few statements from Bob Mansfield, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Mac Hardware Engineering.
According to ABC reporters, Apple is saving a lot of money by giving out Bumpers for free, rather than recalling the iPhone 4 to do some antenna adjustments. The matter was reportedly debated behind closed doors, according to an ABC reporter who said that “Jobs acknowledged” discussions about recalling the phone.
However, one critic on Twitter is quoted as saying Apple only conceded to offering free Bumpers to muffle the bad PR the company has been receiving over the “antennagate” fiasco. Referring to Apple’s potential stance on the matter, the critic put the following words in the company's mouth: “We’ll give you something that uglifies out cool design to fix a problem we don’t think exists.”
News agencies, tech-focused web sites, and blogs continue to emphasize that Apple has admitted to the reception issues with its phone, although the company has struggled to clarify that actual reception was an issue, but rather the number of signal bars displayed on screen. A subsequent fix delivered the formula for displaying the right number of bars, while antenna performance remained the same. Bumpers are only being offered for free to make customers happy, Apple said. However, had this been the case, talks of recalling the device should have never occurred.
Recalling over 3 million iPhone 4 devices would have spelled disaster for Apple’s reputation. Giving out a free case to every device owner is certainly cheaper, going by Apple standards. With roughly 40 billion in the bank, the $175 million said to cover the entire manufacturing and shipping costs is pocket change for the people at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, California.