When the Verizon iPhone 4 appeared with its slightly redesigned antenna, there were reports this would cure the antenna problems that plagued the GSM iPhone 4, however iLounge have discovered that this isn’t the case, at least with their test phone.

Sure enough, in their video we can see the CDMA device drop two bars from its medium signal when held a certain way, and the data connection suffer as a result.  Interestingly, the issue seems to have spread to Wi-Fi too, and with the phone in landscape orientation the Wi-Fi connection appears to be interrupted when the device is ‘hugged’.  Once more, a case is showed to stop these problems from occurring.

Altering the location of the antenna splits seems to be related to the operation of the CDMA antenna, rather than the clever fix we all hoped for.

However, it’s not really the fact that the problem still exists that we find interesting, but rather the potential reaction to it.  With a few early pre-orders now reaching customers hands, and many more likely to do so over the coming weeks, are we going to see a repeat of last year’s furore?

There are several scenarios that could play out.  Firstly, all the Verizon iPhone 4 customers who experience an antenna problem could ignore it or work around it, perhaps having already been prepared for such an issue.  Secondly, we see an almost identical repeat of last year’s performance, culminating in free Bumpers for all Verizon iPhone owners.  Thirdly, this same possibility takes a different turn, with Apple refusing to compensate in the same way they did with the GSM phone, as customers should have had been aware of the previous problems and therefore accepted any risk.  Now wouldn’t that generate some headlines!

If many Verizon iPhones are afflicted in the same way as the one in iLounge’s video, we’d be quite surprised for users to remain silent.  Perhaps the only saving grace is that this time, the amount of owners complaining will be far lower, as this is a US-only CDMA device, not an internationally sold GSM phone.

We’ll have to wait and see.