By AppleInsider Staff
Published: 01:20 PM EST (10:20 AM PST)
Just 0.55 percent of all iPhone owners have called AppleCare with an antenna issue, and the return rate for the iPhone 4 has been 1.7 percent -- much less than the 6 percent seen with last year's iPhone 3GS, Apple said Friday.
Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs hosted Friday's event, and said that Apple has known about the antenna issue for the last 22 days. He said that the company has been working hard to address the issue since it first learned of it. "We've been working our butts off," he said.
"You know, we're not perfect," Jobs said, according to
Macworld. "And phones aren't perfect either. But we want to make all of our users happy. And if you don't know that about Apple, you don't know Apple."
Jobs even offered a glimpse inside of Apple's secretive labs, showing a massive shielded room where the company tests its phones. Jobs said that Apple has 17 anechoic chambers, a $100 million investment. They also have 18 PhD scientists and engineers on their staff.
He also suggested the issue is not a major problem with iPhone 4 owners, noting that just 0.55 percent of all iPhone customers have called AppleCare with an antenna issue.
He also highlighted that other phones experience similar issues, including the BlackBerry Bold 9700 from Research in Motion, Samsung Omnia II, and the HTC Droid Eris. Clips of the phones losing reception when held improperly were shown.
"It's a challenge for the entire industry, and we're doing the best we can, but every phone has weak spots," he said.
Jobs also noted that on Thursday, Apple
released iOS 4.0.1 for the iPhone, which improved the accuracy of the handset's display of signal strength. The cosmetic change did not, however, improve the reception with the phone, but rather changed how it reports the available reception.
The event kicked off by showing the "iPhone 4 Antenna Song," a YouTube clip that has garnered interest this week. The song parodies the iPhone 4 antenna problems, and suggests that the media has blown the issue out of proportion.
