Apple was aware of the iPhone 4 antenna risk as early as a year ago, a person familiar with the matter claimed.

The person said on the condition of anonymity that that Apple engineers had predicted the risks associated with the new antenna design, but the existing design was liked by the chief executive Steve Jobs so much that the firm put in under production.

The person added that Apple kept a shroud of secrecy over the fourth-generation iPhone’s development that it couldn't receive the sort of real-world testing that would have revealed such problems in the device by other phone manufacturers.

Apple's iPhone 4 has been dogged by so-called “death grip” problem that causes dropped calls since its global launch on the 24th of June.

Apple had to call a press conference on Friday to address consumer concerns with the iPhone 4's reception problem, where Steve Jobs acknowledged the reception problem.

The firm also said that it would offer free “Bumper” cases to customers who worry about the device's reception problem or a full 30-day refund if customers are still unhappy. According to experts, Apple iPhone 4 owners can get rid of reception problems by enclosing their devices in the so-called Bumper case.

Meanwhile, Apple has also released an iOS 4.0.1 update to improve the formula that determines how many bars of signal strength to display.

Nevertheless, the popularity of iPhone 4’s is such that demand is outperforming supply.