Crisis communication experts contacted by CultofMac.com, including Chris Lehane, former Clinton White House ”Master of Disaster,” agree: the iPhone 4 reception issue presents a Toyota-style PR crisis for Apple, and the company must respond with a more meaningful fix than a software patch.

Apple acknowledged the issue earlier this month but said the problem was caused by the way the iPhone calculates signal strength. The company has promised to issue a software fix shortly. Many critics viewed Apple’s response as spin, which was compounded on Monday by a devastating report from Consumer Reports saying the reception issue is hardware related.

Toyota has been severely punished for its foot-dragging response to concerns about the safety of the Prius. Toyota recalled about 10 million vehicles worldwide and its reputation has been seriously damaged.

“Apple needs to put this fire out now,” said Dr. Larry Barton, a leading expert in crisis management and author of Crisis Leadership Now. “There has to be a military-like response to this issue. And we have not seen this kind of urgency.”