Apple iPhone Had a Serious Case of the Mondays

Posted on July 13, 2010 by Jennifer Latkiewicz

Maybe the Apple iPhone should’ve just stayed in bed yesterday morning. The same day it was announced that Consumer Reports changed their mind about giving a seal of approval to the iPhone 4, a federal judge granted class action status to an iPhone-related monopoly lawsuit against Apple and AT&T. This ruling comes a few weeks after both companies were slapped with another class action lawsuit that stems from the antenna reception issues that attributed to Consumer Reports’ new thumbs down rating for the iPhone 4.

Consumer Reports has determined the antenna design flaw is indeed real, refuting Apple’s earlier claims that a software miscalculation was to blame. Using lab equipment to test AT&T carrier signals, Consumer Reports, confirmed the steel bands that run around the phone’s edges function as antennae, and when a small gap between the corner bands are covered, the signal is lost and calls can be dropped. A tester points out that a small piece of tape will work as a quick fix, and that issues relating to the iPhone 4′s antenna are not unique to the iPhone 4. However, Consumer Reports has gone on to conclude that the issue is a hardware flaw inherent to the iPhone’s design – and not with the software. (Although Apple says the issue will be fixed with the next release of OS 4.)

Interestingly, despite Consumer Reports’ decision to not recommend the iPhone 4, they still awarded the iPhone 4 one of the highest scores, ranking it as the best smartphone currently on the market, according to Apple Insider.

iPhone 4 users have reported antenna reception issues since the first day the phone was available for sale. Apple has insisted that the problem was not a design flaw but a software issue, although they did acknowledge the reception issue in a statement to PC Magazine suggesting that customers simply hold the phone a certain way or use one of their $29 ‘bumper’ cases. In the most recent class action lawsuit filed against them, Apple and AT&T, Apple’s exclusive iPhone carrier, are accused of Deceptive Trade Practices, Negligent Misrepresentation and Fraud by Concealment, among other claims. The suit alleges that both companies were well aware of the design flaw before the iPhone’s release but sold them to customers anyway. Over 1.7 million iPhone 4s were sold within a week of its release.

Meanwhile, AP reports that the lawsuit granted class action status on Monday consolidates several lawsuits from late 2007 and 2008 that complain iPhone customers who signed two-year contracts with AT&T were actually locked into a 5-year commitment, due Apple and AT&T’s exclusive 5-year iPhone deal. The lawsuit also claims that Apple drove prices up  by controlling which apps an owner was authorized to install.

Apple was able to catch a minor break when a judge dismissed claims that Apple broke laws when an update to the iPhone’s OS caused problems with some iPhones and deleted programs users had purchased.

The iPhone 4 has had an unusually rocky and drama-filled road thus far. In April, an Apple developer lost his iPhone 4 prototype at a beer garden, only to find out the person who found it had then sold it to a blogger at Gizmodo. (The blogger’s home was later searched by San Mateo Sheriffs and had over two dozen of pieces of electrical equipment seized.) iPhone customers were up in arms when the pre-order in June crashed AT&T’s systems, resulting in handwritten order forms, as well as reports of hacking and credit card fraud. Over 600,000 iPhones were pre-ordered that day, despite the glitch. This was all before any of the complaints that were made once the phone was actually available.

Tough break, iPhone. You’ll get ‘em next time?

UPDATE:
Moderators in Apple’s support forums are deleting any messages that even mention the Consumer Reports findings, claiming that they violate the forum’s Terms of Service, according to reports.