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iPhone 4 Recall?

To everyone’s complete surprise, the software fix that targets the faulty signal display calculations wasn’t enough. The reception issue with the iPhone 4’s antenna persists, and people aren’t happy. Petitions are being signed all over the web asking Apple for free bumper cases (which are known to alleviate the problem), but Apple continues to sell a ten cent piece of rubber for twenty-nine fucking dollars. Consumer Reports even suggested that users can stick a piece of duct tape on the lower left corner of the phone. I know maybe one person who’d be willing to do that. Marco Arment, lead developer of Tumblr and brains behind Instapaper, suggests the next step in the process:

To fix the problems, Apple will need to replace, redesign, or relocate the proximity sensor and prevent electrical conductivity between the antenna sections (possibly with an insulating coating on the steel). They can do this with a mid-cycle hardware revision, but they’d face an even more massive PR disaster (and a potential class-action suit) if they didn’t recall all iPhone 4s sold so far for replacement with the fixed models. It would need to be an unconditional (but probably optional) recall.

I really don’t see any other option. While Jonny Ive’s latest design may well be his masterpiece, the fact that it has this much difficulty carrying out its primary function is ironic and embarrassing. Well, there’s always Android…as long as you don’t care about pitiful software glitches and shitty UI design. Goodnight.