According to a report from Bloomberg on Thursday, Apple executives were made aware of the iPhone 4 reception issues months ago.
The report indicates that an iPhone 4 engineer personally notified Apple chief Steve Jobs that the iPhone 4 design, in its present form, could suffer antenna and reception problems. The story adds that right before last month’s launch of the 4th generation Apple smartphone, Apple was given another warning about the iPhone’s nagging reception flaw.
Bloomberg reveals Ruben Caballero as the “senior engineer and antenna expert” with Apple who informed executives of his suspicion that today’s antenna troubles would ultimately manifest.
Apple’s industrial design team, led by Jonathan Ive, submitted several iPhone designs before Jobs and other executives settled on the bezel antenna, said the person familiar with the company’s design. Caballero, the antenna expert, voiced concern in early planning meetings that it might lead to dropped calls and presented a serious engineering challenge, the person said.
Apple did not formally respond to Bloomberg’s report and also effectively prohibited Caballero from addressing the matter.
Following days of negative press attention and waves of customer complaints, Apple will hold a press conference that will focus exclusively on the iPhone 4 and its repudiated reception troubles. The press conference will begin Friday, July 16th at 10:00 am PST.
