Was the iPhone 4 Apple’s best phone? | Version History

Quick Overview

The iPhone 4 is considered by some panelists to be the best or most seminal iPhone because it established the modern smartphone design template, introduced the Retina display, and launched FaceTime, despite its launch being overshadowed by the infamous "Antennagate" scandal involving AT&T network issues and Steve Jobs's aggressive handling of the media leak.

Key Points: Neil Patel asserts the iPhone 4 is "easily the best iPhone ever" because it changed phones forever as a design object and introduced the Retina display, calling it a "huge step forward." Walt Mossberg believes the iPhone 4 was "probably the most seminal iPhone" as it set the template for subsequent iPhones and Android phones in terms of shape and thinness. The iPhone 4 introduced FaceTime, which panelists noted was an incredible breakthrough at the time, although AT&T initially resisted letting it run over the 3G network. The phone's launch was immediately followed by the Gizmodo leak, where a prototype was found in a bar, leading to Steve Jobs calling the CEO of AOL and threatening criminal charges against the leakers. During the Antennagate controversy, Steve Jobs flew back from vacation to hold a press conference where he aggressively stated, "avoid holding it that way" and demonstrated that competitor phones also suffered signal attenuation. Apple resolved the Antennagate issue by issuing a software change to fix the bar display algorithm and offering free bumper cases, which immediately caused the scandal to disappear. The iPhone 4 marked a significant shift for Apple, being the last iPhone launched at the June event, the first to use custom Apple silicon (A4 chip), and the first to work on CDMA networks (Verizon launched it in January 2011).

Context: The Version History episode focuses on the iPhone 4, inviting tech journalists Neil Patel and Walt Mossberg to discuss its historical significance, with Mossberg noting he was being paid to cover such products in the past, contrasting it with his current status as a "poor pensioner." The discussion centers on the phone's monumental design changes, technological leaps like the Retina display and FaceTime, and the unprecedented scandals that plagued its initial release, particularly the leak of the prototype and the subsequent signal attenuation issue known as Antennagate.