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Steve Jobs on iPhone 4 Signal Issue: 'Stay Tuned.'


One MacRumors reader emailed Steve Jobs in a followup about the widely publicized iPhone 4 signal issues that have been reported across the web. In particular, rfbandit was asking about Apple's policy on giving free bumper cases to alleviate the issue. "I love everything about the phone except my signal issues", he wrote.

Steve Jobs reportedly replied immediately with:

There are no reception issues. Stay Tuned.

The response is notable in that it is not simply a copy/paste of the official statement from Apple. Steve Jobs had previously been replying to all signal inquiries on Friday with the same generic statement published Thursday:

Gripping any phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas. This is a fact of life for every wireless phone. If you ever experience this on your iPhone 4, avoid gripping it in the lower left corner in a way that covers both sides of the black strip in the metal band, or simply use one of many available cases.

That public statement from Apple essentially described the issue as a normal phenomenon. Today's email provides users some hope that a fix might somehow be on the way. In fact, one report even claimed an iOS update as early as Monday might be able to relieve the issue due to a lag in the iPhone 4's ability to switch between frequencies causing the loss in signal.

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21 months ago
Earlier today I tried calling in to Apple Care to see if I could get a bumper case to help with my reception issues. Nobody I spoke with could help me out. So I decided to send the boss man an email, kiss ass a little bit and see what the result would be. He emailed me back in literally 2 minutes! Here's the email:
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21 months ago
hmm "stay tuned." I wonder what this means.....
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21 months ago
So that *wasn't* sent from his iPhone?
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21 months ago
Do you have the raw message headers?
Would be significant to prove its really from Steve.
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21 months ago
what a douche insulting your intelligence like that! :rolleyes:
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21 months ago

So that *wasn't* sent from his iPhone?


Yeah, I was surprised by that as well. It looks like he sent it from a computer, the disclaimer on the bottom is not in my signature, so I'm assuming it's in his. EDIT: This message is automatically added to all emails sent through my company's exchange server, it is not my signature on my iPhone, so I assumed it came from him. I can't find a way to view headers in my webmail exchange server access. Once I find a way, I'll copy/paste the headers.
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21 months ago
Must mean an ios update. Good news!!
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21 months ago
It would be very significant if steve really said those words. He usually doesn't lie, but you have to parse his words carefully.

That makes it sound like the problems people are seeing maybe due to something else and there is a fix on the way.

Can only hope, but its very very promising. 'Stay tuned' is huge.
'There is no reception issue' is either him being supremely arrogant, or inside knowledge that the phone isn't really broken but a software fix maybe coming.

Hmmm.
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21 months ago
Who needs customer service, just email the Steve Jobs, lol.
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21 months ago
Sounds like there being no reception issue and to stay tuned means it is already fixed and the update is on the way? It doesn't seem like he is trying to be a jerk unlike some of the other emails I've read lately. This one just seems like he is trying to give out a little info?
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