iPhone 4: The check is in the mail

It’s the final chapter of Antennagate settlement

The Apple iPhone 4 has achieved its place in history as the last iPhone not spookily inhabited by Siri. But the phone was also responsible for one of 2010’s biggest tech scandals: “Antennagate.”

Within days of the phone’s June 2010 release, users discovered that when the device was held a certain way, it received almost no signal. Users said that putting one’s hand over the phone’s metal frame in the lower left-hand corner — where the antenna is exposed — led to a marked decrease in signal strength.

Unsurprisingly, the issue quickly produced a flurry of lawsuits, Cheap Converse Shoes with class actions filed in California and Maryland by the beginning of July. Ultimately, 18 cases were filed, although all were ultimately combined into a single class action.

Last year, Apple agreed to settle the matter for $53 million. This week, the final chapter of Antennagate will be written, with $15 checks being sent to eligible class members. Apple had also offered free iPhone 4 cases in place of monetary compensation.

Jobs: “Just avoid holding it that way”

The issue provoked a characteristically brusque response from late Apple CEO Steve Jobs. When a customer emailed Jobs to ask, “What’s going to be done about the signal dropping issue[?],” Jobs replied, “Non issue. Just avoid holding it that way.”

Jobs did ultimately issue a mea culpa, stating that, “We are human and we make mistakes sometimes.”

Consumers who receive a check must cash it by July 16. If you haven’t filed a claim yet, it’s too late — the deadline passed in August 2012.

Glassgate

The iPhone 4 was also at the center of “Glassgate,” involving the device’s alleged propensity to shatter when dropped. A Los Angeles suit centering around that issue claimed that “Apple … failed to warn and continues to sell this product with no warning to customers that the glass housing is defective.”

(originally published at )