Apple: There Are No iPhone 4 Antenna Issues But Here's A Free Case Anyways

Apple and CEO Steve Jobs may be vehemently denying reports that the iPhone 4 has serious antenna and reception issues however that hasn't stopped the company from caving to pressure and offering up a partial fix.

In a Friday news conference Jobs does a two step around an all out confirmation that the latest greatest iPhone from Apple has some flaws. "We love our users, we really love them," Jobs said. "We try very hard to surprise and delight them. We work our asses off. When we fall short, which we do sometimes, we try harder. We pick ourselves up, figure out what's wrong and we try harder."

Jobs says Apple will be offering customers who have already purchased a $29 Bumper case from Apple a full refund and all iPhone owners will be given a choice of several different manufacturers' cases, including Apple's.

"We can't make enough bumpers," Jobs said. "No way can we make enough in the quarter. So what we're going to do is source some cases and give you a choice."

The free-case-giveaway is effective immediately, and good for iPhone 4 purchases through Sept. 30. iPhone 4 owners who have bought a Bumper will be able to apply for a refund on the company's Web site starting this week. In addition, customers who are still unhappy with the iPhone 4 can return their handset undamaged within 30 days for a full refund. Users can return before or after they've received their free case, therefore you can order your free case and try it out. If you still have issues with your phone you can send it back with out issue.

"No restocking fee or anything," Jobs said. "We want to take care of everyone. We want every user to be happy."

At this time it appears as though Apple has pulled all of their bumpers from the companies online store. Apple's site now carries the note, "iPhone 4 Bumpers are currently unavailable for sale." Apple has yet to state why the bumpers are no longer unavailable on the site, we can only assume Apple is bracing for the inevitable in-flux of demand in the wake of last week's announcement.

You can checkout the full press conference here.

My thoughts:

You really have to watch the full news conference for yourself. I only touched on some of the basic details Mr Jobs gives out about the bumper program. I didn't cover any of the finger point and 'calling out' of other companies that Jobs did. Its really sad that Apple feels they need to result to acting like a kid on the playground.

You made a mistake, there is undoubtedly an issue, own up to it and move on. Don't sit back and point fingers accept the blame and be done with it. No company wants to have to shell out the 10's of millions of dollars Apple is going to be spending to make things right but that doesn't give you a free pass to act childish.

There are reports that engineers warned the company this might be an issue. Then there was the whole iOS 4.0.1 update which was supposed to correct the way signals bars are displayed on the iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4. Now Jobs wants us all to believe this is an issue with all phones on the market. Come on!