Engineer warned Jobs of iPhone 4 flaw

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Apple iPhone 4
SAN FRANCISCO: Apple Inc’s senior antenna expert voiced concern to Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs in the early design phase of the iPhone 4 that the antenna design could lead to dropped calls, a person familiar with the matter said.

Last year, Ruben Caballero, a senior engineer and antenna expert, informed Apple’s management the device’s design may hurt reception, said the person, who is not authorised to speak on Apple’s behalf and asked not to be identified. A carrier partner also raised concerns about the antenna before the device’s June 24 release, according to another person familiar with the situation.

The latest model of the iPhone carries a metal antenna that surrounds the outside of the device -- a design chosen by Apple executives because it yielded a lighter, thinner handset. It has also resulted in dropped or degraded calls that led Consumer Reports to refrain from endorsing the iPhone 4, weighed on the company’s stock and stepped up pressure on Apple to issue a fix.

Steve Dowling, a spokesman for Apple, declined to comment and said he wouldn’t make Caballero available for an interview. Caballero didn’t respond to a call and an email seeking comment.

Apple plans to hold a press conference about the device. Dowling declined to elaborate on what will be discussed. A separate person familiar with the matter said Apple doesn’t plan to announce a recall of the phone.

Record sales
Apple broke sales records with the iPhone 4, which debuted June 24 in the US, the UK, Japan, France and Germany. The exclusive US carrier is AT&T Inc. Apple’s European partners include Vodafone Group Plc, France Telecom SA and Deutsche Telekom AG. Softbank Corp carries the iPhone 4 in Japan.

In the first three days, the company sold 1.7 million devices, the most for any iteration of its top-selling product.

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.

The metal bezel surrounding the handset would need to be separated in sections to create individual antennas capable of handling particular ranges of the radio frequencies for different wireless networks, the person said. If a user covered one of the seams between the sections, their finger would act as a conductive material, interfering with the signal, the person said. Consumer Reports suggests iPhone 4 users cover the antenna with duct tape to help mitigate reception woes.
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