Apple: the end of the love affair (for now)

I've been an Apple fanboy for the last couple of years. I loved my iPhone 3G from the day I got it. It prompted me to buy my first Mac and an early iPad. I've loved the intuitive, gorgeous designs and the contrast with the sheer unpleasantness of life with Microsoft products. (Windows Vista was hideous, but Pocket PC wasn't much better.) 

So I was really looking forward to upgrading my iPhone to the latest model. iPhone 4 looked a worthy successor to Apple's earlier, extraordinary smartphones. But wait: were those stories of dropped calls more than media hype? And why has my previously flawless iPhone 3G turned into a mobile version of the hideous Windows Vista since Apple pushed its iOS4 operating system upgrade? The phone now takes ages to do anything. 

I've spoken to lots of iPhone 4 owners this month. They all report huge disappointment at the phone's performance ... as a phone. The dropped signal problem is a real crisis, not an invention of Apple critics. One person bitterly regretted not demanding a refund. Others I talk to are switching to rival Android phones. 

Apple has facing a real crisis. Sales may have been strong in the two months since the iPhone 4 went on sale, but if I'm typical many other likely purchasers are delaying splashing out - or, worse for Apple, are considering rival phones. Steve Jobs' complacent, arrogant response to the iPhone 4's design flaw - 'don't hold it that way' - led many to question the Cupertino company's commitment to its customers. But I was also disappointed by the feel of the latest iPhone. It doesn't caress the hand like its predecessors. That might not matter if the phone worked. But I see no reason to spend a huge amount of money on a flawed product. I haven't renounced Apple. But I feel betrayed. The folks from Cupertino need to start wooing me again after the disappointments of the summer of 2010. 

Comments

[Mark]

Again, it turns our that I'm seemingly the only person who has a mass-produced device that despite having the same spec as everyone else's, exhibits no issues whatsoever.
Am I lucky, normal, it just don't look for problems where they don't exist?
Sure, there will be a failure rate and I don't doubt your personal case but there's no evidence to support a wider ussue as far as I can see.
Sales are higher than all previous models and the return rate is lower certainly than 3GS from memory - I can't remember it that's the same for other versions. Dropped call rates are lower than network averages for all handsets.
A few bad handsets coupled with a (relative) handful of users with an predisposition to complain on platforms populated by like-minded individuals doesn't sway me.

[Mark]

Apologies for the typo in my previous comment. I was typing the message on my iPhone 4 (really) so it must be to blame. Now I just need to decide what to do first. Should I pack it up and send it back, or rush to report it on the macrumors forum?

[Rob Skinner]

Interested to read your comments, Mark. As my post explained, I haven't yet bought an iPhone 4, but have been listening to the experience of friends and colleagues who have. They're sensible people not given to complaining for the sake of it, so I respect what they've reported. I accept that you have not suffered problems. But it seems clear there is a real problem. And my iPhone 3G has suffered a disastrous fall in performance since I 'upgraded' it to iOS 4 after being prompted by Apple's iTunes. Not what I expect from Apple - a company that is normally obsessive about creating a good customer experience.