Apple needs to put an end to the antenna outcry now

Jul 13, 2010 13:23 GMT  ·  By

Apple is faced with immense backlash for failing to properly address iPhone 4 reception issues, while it remains to be seen who is right and who is wrong on the matter. Now, more than ever, the company is pressed with issuing a fix before PR sharks start eating away at the sales of its iPhone 4. Although Apple officially confirmed that a firmware fix was on its way in a few weeks, Softpedia believes the company will do everything in its power to rush things up a bit.

Judgements dished out by multiple PR experts suggest Apple will either have to recall all iPhone 4 units sold to date and address said reception issues, or issue a formal statement now, refuting the results of Consumer Reports’ tests, which seem to indicate there is a serious design flaw with the phone. However, faced with similar claims on July 2, the company said a firmware update was all it would take to address what was just an erroneous way of displaying signal strength on screen, rather than an actual issue with reception. Having already made the promise of rolling out a software update, this is likely Apple’s first step in defending itself from the increasingly bad PR surrounding iPhone 4.

Apple has also re-posted a Support document which aims to instruct iOS device owners on how to check their current software version. Entitled “iPhone, iPad, iPod: How to find software version,” the knowledge base article has been recently updated to include references to iOS 4, alongside a screenshot of iTunes showing that an iPhone 4 is connected. This may also be an indication that Apple is rushing the release of its promised firmware update.

When the new iOS version is out, customers will have to follow the exact same steps described in this document, as well as use the “check for update” function, which will result in the software being downloaded and applied to their device.