Bloomberg reports iPhone 4 antenna problems were predicted before release

As we all get ready for the smoke and mirrors show Apple will put on tomorrow, secrets are rising to the surface faster than oil in the Gulf of Mexico (too soon?). Was Apple warned of antenna problems ahead of time? Bloomberg reports they did.

Last year, Ruben Caballero, a senior engineer and antenna expert, informed Apple’s management the device’s design may cause reception problems, said the person, who is not authorized to speak on Apple’s behalf and asked not to be identified. A carrier partner also raised concerns about the antenna before the device’s June 24 release, according to another person familiar with the situation.

Such reports will cast doubt on any attempts by Apple to feign ignorance at their press conference tomorrow (not that ignorance will make them look any better either).

While they could try to ride things out and continue to let users fix the problem on their own (which I think has been their plan all along), I’m betting they’ll go with something like explaining how 99% of their customers use cases, so they designed the iPhone 4 to accommodate them, but that resulted in a design compromise that affects a tiny percentage of users, blah, blah, blah, yakkety-shmakkety, and then offer the solution I previously proposed. Sales-wise, this whole debacle doesn’t matter, but a tarnish like this on their flagship product dulls their sparkling image.

Via TechCrunch