Will Apple recall the iPhone 4?

Until very recently the idea that Apple might have to recall a product would have seemed ridiculous. It's one of the best manufacturers of stuff in the world, people would have responded; you can't make them do that, people love the products too much.

Then the iPhone 4 came out. It was hyped like the rest, it sold out like the rest - and only yesterday the Consumer Report organisation in America, usually in thrall to all things Apple, declined to recommend it to its customers. The reason? Because in spite of Apple's claims, the Consumer Report people believe the hardware problem people have been reporting is real and not a software glitch at all.

I'm going to stick my neck out here and say that whether it's flawed or not, even if it's in perfect working order in every conceivable way, Apple should recall the iPhone 4. The reason is simple: Apple has to win people's trust back, no matter how technically right it believes it is. There have been stories of the company censoring criticisms on its forums, and also of Steve Jobs sending high-handed emails out to users. Unusually, Apple just doesn't seem to get it this time.

Let me give you a counterexample. A few years ago a nappy (daiper) company suffered bad publicity when a woman said she found broken glass in her child's garment. Now, it turned out that she was lying in the hope of getting some compensation out of them, but the company didn't sue. The word was out there, so it overhauled its safety procedures, invited journalists around its factories and offered an expert on the end of the phone - OK, he spoke in a strong Norwegian accent but who cares, they offered someone.

They were aware by this time that there was no actual issue. But the word on the street said differently, so their PR and marketing team decided they needed to be seen doing something (and no, suing the woman wouldn't have done anything other than make the company look like a bunch of bullies).

I don't know the truth about the iPhone 4 glitch as I have yet to get hold of one. I do know I ordered another phone as a replacement for my iPhone 3G, took a look at it and through no fault of the other phone, sent it back. Once you've been iPhoned you tend not to look at anything else.

But even if stocks arrive over here I'll be reluctant to start the upgrade process before I'm absolutely convinced it's going to work. It's time, I think, for a futile and unnecessary gesture from Apple...

[rosemerry31]

For anyone who hasn’t been on a deserted island or living under a rock for the past month, the news about the PR issue when it comes to the problems with the antenna/reception of iPhone 4 certainly isn’t new. It has been covered on almost every blog, website, news station, and media outlet in the nation. Okay, maybe not all of them, but close. Regardless, Apple hasn’t done much to address the iPhone 4 reception issue. In fact, they’ve done almost nothing. Aside from issuing a press release stating that all phones have reception issues when touched near the antenna, Apple has also made it clear that they won’t be appeasing complaining customers with new bumpers.

But this is a very real problem for Apple, as a large amount of people have been having this issue, leading to class action lawsuits and many unhappy customers (as well as a pretty busy legal and PR department, I’m sure). Therefore, the question remains, will Apple issue a recall of the iPhone 4?

Put simply, I doubt it. Apple, as said earlier, has already stated they won’t be giving out free Bumpers to address this issue. In my opinion, if Apple were to do anything, this would be it. Those small pieces of rubber cost the company nearly nothing to make, and giving them to all of the iPhone 4 customers wouldn’t be at a large cost to the company. That, and the Bumpers (and iPhone 4 cases in general) have been said to help correct the issue in many instances.

Also, Apple has stated that they will be releasing a software fix for the issue that addresses how they calculate how many bars to display. If this is the case, then I’d have to say Apple thinks this will fix the problem, which leads me to believe they have no plans for a recall

[Master Rattley]

I am actually the creator of the earth, and i can say this with 100% certainty that they will not "recall" it, rather make a improved version of it in the future.

[johnwords]

i believe that they will not do like this .recalling iphone4 is not good for them .iphone4 is very popular so it has a very huge market in the future .what they'd better do is add more functions on it

[sophieharris]

agree to you johnwords

[saferguard]

I agree with johnwords said ,iphone 4 is so popular that recall will discourage customers.