The problems are so infamous, the "R" word is now crossing the lips of even loyal Apple customers.
"Yeah, if he said 'recall' and I can exchange my iPhone, that would be great," iPhone 4 user Christine Kani said.
There are questions about when Apple CEO Steve Jobs knew about the product's potential design glitch. Bloomberg is reporting a senior antenna engineer alerted Jobs early on that the outside metal antenna could lead to dropped calls.
Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak believes there is a design flaw.
"I definitely believe there is an engineering, antenna issue; in other words, the antenna is not designed in the most strongest, most robust way," Wozniak said.
The fire under Apple to address the antenna issue got even hotter after Consumer Reports magazine refused to give the iPhone 4 a "buy" recommendation.
So far the solutions to the problem are to hold the phone so you are not touching the left side antenna or buy a bumper.
"If you are not physically touching that with your hand, then the problem goes away, so yes a bumper or as Consumer Reports suggests, a piece of duct tape would fix the problem," New York Times tech reporter Miguel Helft said.
Apple says it will address antenna concerns Friday at a news conference at its Cupertino headquarters. Most analysts do not expect a recall, but some customers are hoping for a price break on the $30 dollar bumpers.
"For the trouble they caused their customers I think it's worth it for them to at least maybe hand out free bumpers," iPhone 4 user Isamarie Perez said.
As usual, Apple is remaining tight-lipped about any announcement. It is worth noting, despite reception problems, Consumer Reports does give the iPhone 4 the highest ranking of any smart phone on the market.
