conormulligan.com

Apple will eventually have to address the reception issue again; once they ship the somewhat silly software update, and all that happens is iPhone users see less reception than before, I can't really believe the dissatisfaction will simply evaporate. They've done themselves no favours by pointing the finger at an algorithm; it only makes it more difficult for them to actually address the hardware issue.

There are no good solutions, at all, from Apple's point of view. A recall is simply out of the question, Apple would never go for it; I think they'd gladly weather the PR storm and hope users start holding the iPhone the right way. I also think they're unlikely to rev the hardware; the backlash would be immense and they'd probably have to accommodate customers wanting to trade in their current iPhone for a revised model. One simple and relatively cost-effective solution would be to ship the currently outrageously over-priced bumpers with new iPhones, for free. This too seems unlikely for a couple of reasons: 1) Apple said they wouldn't, and if they figured it would make the complaints go away they probably wouldn't have come out so forcefully against it, 2) It would be admitting that there really is a hardware issue, something Apple clearly does not want to do, without actually addressing it which creates problems for them down the road, and 3) Gizmodo have been pimping the idea for weeks now, and if Gizmodo wants it chances are Apple won't do it.

Anyway, one thing is clear: fairly or unfairly, the perception of the iPhone being a crappy phone but an otherwise great device is pervasive and Apple needs to come up with a real, non-diversionary solution and end the "there is no problem" theatrics if they want to combat this trend.