The biggest problem with all this is the "shocking discovery" that it was all some sort of signal display issue and implies you won't have more dropped calls. It's disingenuous because yes under ideal conditions the phone gets better reception than prior generations. When the problem occurs (which is most of the time for me), it's a complete loss of signal.

While other phones suffer degradation, few suffer complete and repeatable dropped calls with such predictability and frequency. The "shock" that Apple claims seems highly unlikely since I discovered this after 10 minutes of using it before the problem became well known. The shock is also unusual given that Apple is making bumpers for the first time ever. It is also a bit of a blatant assumption that I am stupid enough to believe it's solely a display issue when I have the phone.

True the gradation can be changed so it's less sensitive to dB loss at lower bars, but a dropped call is zero bars even if you signal strength is in pesos or Zimbabwean dollars.

They should try just being honest and telling the truth about it. There are advantages to the new design and with a bumper you can mitigate both the upsides and downsides of the design.