News

Jobs stifles "White iPhone" complaints, say rumours

 It's been reported often enough that the "ringer switch" which mutes an iPhone is faulty in a number of samples; and there have been complaints, too, that the baseband electronics are failing more often than the networks like. But there are now starting to be rumours that Steve Jobs has personally had to assure AT&T that the problem will be fixed.

What seems to be the case, is that the white iPhone 3G has turned out to be less robust than the original black cased model, and that the network performance of both black and white models is irritating AT&T in the US and T-Mobile in the UK.

What can't be assessed, is the scale of the problems.

Sources in North America are now saying that the networks are looking to share data about link failings, with the idea being that if they can show compelling statistics, Apple will be obliged to do a general recall, rather than continuing with the "bring it back, we'll swap it" programme.

A source inside Apple told NewsWireless: "It's no use asking us. Even if this were true, we wouldn't know."

Most publicity on the forum boards seems to have gone to stories of the ringer switch simply snapping off, or breaking because it is too stiff to move across. As seems normal for Apple worshippers, mentioning this problem has been seen as treachery by some. One report: "it was too stiff for me to switch across" was greeted with this riposte: 

Wouldn't that actually be a good thing though? Think about it, say you're in a meeting/movie/dinner/presentation/whatever. You put it on silent, then when you put it in your pocket, the swith catches on the lining. I'd much rather it be stiff than super loose, the the switch would be completely useless.

What the networks are wanting to say to their users is: "Complain to us, because we can get something done about it, if we have the stats..."

But such a request for information is unlikely to be published, because of the perception that the iPhone is a premier product, which brings extra customers into the network that has the excusive franchise. Upsetting Apple is not high on the list of strategic moves, even for the networks with most influence, say sources.

Tomorrow's rumoured announcement of an upgrade will be watched by many networks, to see if it addresses their problems.