No iPhone 4 recall; Jobs loved design, ignored antenna issues: WSJ

A Bloomberg report issued Thursday has been dubbed "Antennagate" by some. It stated that Apple's senior antenna expert, Ruben Caballero, voiced concern over the antenna design last year. While Apple discounts that report, the Wall Street Journal confirm that design took priority over engineering, and adds there will be no recall.

The iPhone 4's problems with reception have been apparent since its release. Hold the phone such that the gaps between of the external antennas is bridged, and you will see signal attenuation and even dropped calls. A case seems to fix the issue, but Apple's new "bumper cases" cost $30.

Apple PR told the WSJ that the earlier Bloomberg report was false. They said, "We challenge Bloomberg BusinessWeek to produce anything beyond rumors to back this up. It's simply not true." Bloomberg News said it stands by its story, which used anonymous sources and would typically be labeled more than just rumor, at any rate.

Meanwhile, the WSJ confirmed the same story, though not in such detail. The WSJ cited its own source, who stated that although engineers warned over possible antenna issues, Jobs loved the design, and chose to ignore them. Additionally, according to further sources, Apple gave carriers far less time to test the iPhone 4 than is normal.

On Thursday, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) wrote Jobs an open letter, urging him to do the right thing and come up with a proper fix for the iPhone 4. Will that include a recall? No said the WSJ, citing yet another source.

iOS 4.0.1 was released yesterday, with what Apple said earlier was a "fix." However, all it does is change the way the signal strength on the phone is calculated. Apple plans a press conference at 10AM PDT this morning to discuss the iPhone 4.