April 20, 2010: A day after the most high-profile iPhone leak in history, tech news site Gizmodo dissects a prototype iPhone 4, then publishes the teardown — showing the world exactly what’s inside the soon-to-be-released device.
The iPhone 4 prototype, accidentally left in a bar by 27-year-old Apple software engineer Gray Powell, quickly becomes the biggest story in the tech world.
And that’s where the trouble begins.
February 3, 2011: The iPhone finally arrives on Verizon Wireless, the United States’ largest carrier, ending nearly four years of exclusivity with AT&T.
The move comes as Apple faces pressure to expand its customer base as Android phones grow in popularity. The deal commences with the iPhone 4 available for preorder by Verizon’s 93 million customers.
July 12, 2010: The iPhone 4 suffers a major blow when respected trade publication Consumer Reports says it can’t, in good faith, recommend the new Apple smartphone.
The reason the magazine refuses to give its vaunted “recommended” label to the previously top-ranked device? A little Apple scandal called “Antennagate.”
July 2, 2010: Apple opens up about “Antennagate,” addressing iPhone 4 reception problems for the first time publicly.
In a letter to customers, Apple admits to being “surprised when we read reports of reception problems, and … immediately began investigating them.” However, the company’s findings do little to dispel the growing Antennagate controversy.
June 16, 2010: Apple reports a massive surge of interest in its upcoming iPhone 4, with 600,000 sales on the first day of preorders.
The company calls the number “far higher” than expected. At the time, it’s the largest number of iPhone preorders Apple has ever taken in a single day. AT&T suffers server problems thanks to the demand — with 10 times the usual traffic on its website. It’s proof positive that Apple is onto a winner!
The deadline for California citizens who bought an iPhone 4, 4s or 5 with a defective sleep/wake power button to cash in is coming up.
A class action lawsuit against Apple was filed in 2013. It alleged that Apple knowingly sold iPhones with “defective” power buttons and then failed to properly remedy the issue. A settlement reached with Apple means that people who bought one of these devices can complete a form to receive “up to $24” for their troubles.
Your brand-new iPhone 11 is about to look outdated already thanks to these exciting “iPhone 12” concept images.
The renders imagine what next year’s refresh will look like based on the rumors that have surfaced so far. It takes design cues from the iconic iPhone 4 while improving on what we have today.
Apple could go back to one of its most beloved iPhone designs with next year’s iPhone refresh. According to a new report from seasoned Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple’s 2020 iPhone redesign will resemble the iPhone 4.
If true, that would make an already exciting upgrade even more of a must-have!
June 24, 2010: Apple’s fourth-generation smartphone, the iPhone 4, goes on sale.
While the device is perhaps most remembered for the infamous “Antennagate,” it is otherwise a pretty great handset. In its first weekend, it sells 1.7 million units. That’s a major triumph for Apple.
Never sell your organs for an iPhone.
Most of us don’t need that advice, but one Chinese man, aged just 25, is now bedridden with organ failure after selling his kidney to buy the latest Apple devices eight years ago.
