Jobs offers free cases to all iPhone 4 users

Jobs offers free cases to all iPhone 4 owners
Jobs offers free cases to all iPhone 4 owners

Steve Jobs has taken to the stage in Cupertino to offer free cases to all disgruntled iPhone 4 users.

Apple has acknowledged there's a problem with the antenna and has offered users a free case as a way to rectify the issue.

However, Jobs said Apple can't make enough Bumpers to offer everyone one of those, so will be offering alternatives:

"We're going to send you a free case. We can't make enough bumpers. No way we can make enough in the quarter. So we're going to source some cases and give you a choice."

iPhone 4 refunds too

Users who have bought an iPhone 4 bumper will be able to get a refund, and the refunds will apply to all iPhone 4s bought from opening day to 30 September.

Users will also be able to return (undamaged) iPhone 4s to Apple stores for a full refund with no restocking fee up to 30 days after purchase, as the company clearly goes into damage limitation mode.

Early estimates predict this could cost Apple up to £120 million if everyone eligible for the case takes up the offer, but this is miniscule compared to the cost of a full product recall.

You can see the full report of the Apple iPhone 4 press conference here.

TechRadar has contacted a number of Apple iPhone case and peripherals manufacturers to guage their response to the latest news.

Stay tuned for updates.

Gareth Beavis
Formerly Global Editor in Chief

Gareth has been part of the consumer technology world in a career spanning three decades. He started life as a staff writer on the fledgling TechRadar, and has grown with the site (primarily as phones, tablets and wearables editor) until becoming Global Editor in Chief in 2018. Gareth has written over 4,000 articles for TechRadar, has contributed expert insight to a number of other publications, chaired panels on zeitgeist technologies, presented at the Gadget Show Live as well as representing the brand on TV and radio for multiple channels including Sky, BBC, ITV and Al-Jazeera. Passionate about fitness, he can bore anyone rigid about stress management, sleep tracking, heart rate variance as well as bemoaning something about the latest iPhone, Galaxy or OLED TV.