Apple seems to have gotten past "antennagate"

> Apple says the white version of the [iPhone](http://topics.sfgate.com/topics/IPhone) 4 will not be available until later this year. > > Apple had originally said the phones would be available in late July. > > [Apple Inc.](http://topics.sfgate.com/topics/Apple_Inc.) says the white gadgets have been more difficult to manufacture than expected. It did not say when the white models will be available. > > The Cupertino, Calif., company says the black models, which went on sale in late June, are not affected. I take this article, from the San Francisco Chronicle, which is notoriously not Apple-friendly, as evidence that Apple’s press conference last week has successfully stemmed the tide of doom and gloom articles surrounding the iPhone 4’s “Death Grip” issue.

When I woke up this morning and saw that the white iPhone 4 had been delayed for the second time, I thought for sure that most, even in the mainstream press, would use this as an excuse to tie this completely unrelated manufacturing issue to the antenna issues, thus starting a whole new cycle of “Has Apple finally lost it?” articles. Especially on the very day that Apple started to refund people for their bumpers and set up the free case program. Seems like amateur night to me.

But that doesn’t appear to be happening. Just announcements that the white phone is delayed, and nothing more.

The only people still talking about “antennagate”, as far as I can tell, are John Gruber (defending Apple effectively, as usual), and the Apple haters who never get their message out past the nerd bubble. (Dan Lyons, for instance.) So I’d say that Apple’s press conference was a success.

The irony here is that the delay for white iPhone 4s is probably likely to cost Apple more money this quarter than returns for antenna issues. If Apple can’t ramp up production on both the white and black iPhones to meet demand, it’s leaving money on the table.