Apple has just issued a statement on the iPhone 4 Case Program page on its website, indicating that the iPhone 4 antenna issue is smaller than initially believed. Therefore after September 30, the company will only provide free cases to those really affected by the antenna problem through AppleCare.
In addition, the company points out that its return policy for the iPhone 4 will also return to normal after September 30. That means that unsatisfied customers will have to pay a restocking fee when returning an iPhone 4 — even if it’s affected with antenna issues.
Full statement by Apple after the break.
“We now know that the iPhone 4 antenna attenuation issue is even smaller than we originally thought. A small percentage of iPhone 4 users need a case, and we want to continue providing them a Bumper case for free. For everyone else, we are discontinuing the free case program on all iPhone 4s sold after September 30, 2010. We are also returning to our normal returns policy for all iPhone 4s sold after September 30. Users experiencing antenna issues should call AppleCare to request a free Bumper case.”
It’s unknown whether Apple will keep selling affected units after September 30, or if the company has implemented some type of internal solution. At the end of August, a new rumor began circulating trough the Internet, indicating that Apple was planning to release a slightly modified version of the iPhone 4 to prevent any further Antenna issues. However, Apple has yet to confirm that.