As expected, Steve Jobs announced that Apple would offer free rubber “bumpers” to anyone who bought an iPhone 4 in order to fix the problem caused by the antenna’s design flaw. However, Jobs did not promise a hardware fix which would alleviate the problem without marring the phone’s aesthetic.

“We’re not perfect,” Jobs told reporters. “Phones aren’t perfect either,” adding, “but we want to make all of our users happy.”

Apple iPhone 4 Antenna Fix

The free offer is available through Sept. 30, and a full refund will be issued to those who already bought the $29 case. The deal will appear on Apple’s website “late next week,” and if the supply of bumpers runs out, Apple will offer “a choice of cases,” presumably all in the $29-or-less price range.

“It’s very hard to escape the conclusion that there is a problem,” Jobs said, “but that problem is affecting a very small percentage of our users.”

During the Q&A period following the press conference, Jobs did offer an apology to customers: “To our customers who are affected by the issue, we are deeply sorry,” adding, “To those investors who bought the stock and are down by $5, I have no apology.”

Apple opened the event with a jab at the media’s overreaction to the antenna issue, playing a video of Jonathan Mann’s ”The iPhone 4 Antenna Song,” which includes the lyrics: “If you don’t want an iPhone 4 don’t buy it. If you bought one and you don’t like it, bring it back … but you know you won’t.”

Jobs announced that Apple had sold more than 3 million iPhone 4s in three weeks, and that it’s been judged the No. 1 smart phone by many publications, including Consumer Reports, who had withheld a “recommended” rating because of the antenna issue.

Jobs also said that the problem itself had not caused an unusual upsurge in customer-support calls. He said that just 0.55 percent of iPhone 4 owners have called tech support, adding “historically … this is not a large number.”

According to AT&T’s dropped-call analysis, the iPhone 4 dropped 1 percent more calls than its predecessor, the iPhone 3GS.

The antenna problem has plagued the iPhone 4 since the first days of its release. Though its impact on calling has perhaps been overdramatized, it is a demonstrable issue: Hold your hand too tightly around the bottom of the phone, and in many cases you will lose reception, and perhaps drop a call.

If you are one of the unlucky Apple Customers experiencing the Antenna problem and want to get a permanent fix for the problem, talk to Dr. Cell Phone and see if the Antenna assembly from inside the phone can be replaced with a brand new one.

News Source: MSNBC