The 3G iPhone: First Impressions
I’ll have a full, detailed review of the new 3G iPhone in a few weeks, but here are some first impressions based on Apple’s (AAPL) announcement today.
The Biggest Pluses
Speed: Because the biggest problem with the original iPhone was the slow AT&T (T) network, moving the device to the much faster 3G network, while no surprise, will have a huge impact. This is especially true since data already show that it is by far the most heavily used smart phone for Web surfing. It means that you won’t have to search for a Wi-Fi network to do decent Web surfing.
Price: Less than one year after it was introduced at a hefty $599 price, the 8 GB model of the iPhone will now be two-thirds cheaper, at just $199.
Third-party programs: Until now, in order to get third-party programs on an iPhone, you had to hack it. Now, there will be hundreds of them coming soon, and the handful that were demonstrated by Apple looked impressive, from blogging-on-the-go, to news and sports, to games and even medical software.
The Biggest Minuses
Still locked to one carrier: Even though the greater speed is a huge deal, it only matters if you have good AT&T reception. If AT&T’s coverage in your area is poor, the iPhone is still a bad choice, because Apple, unlike its competitors, doesn’t sell it through multiple carriers in one market.
Still missing some features: They haven’t added a real way to cut and paste, or to save files, other than emailed photos. And there still isn’t any MMS capability–the ability to instantly send or receive media files over the phone network without resorting to email. There’s also no instant-messaging program, though third-party developers are likely to offer these.
Still has a wimpy camera: The original iPhone camera was OK, but, given the phone’s brilliant screen and tight integration with computer photo software, it could stand to be better. It isn’t in this new model.
Comments
I have the 4-Gig, purchased on the first day they came out. It was worth the extra dollars. In fact, I got two — one for my wife.
I still have the two $100 vouchers, too. Guess what I’ll be buying!
Posted by Dan Robinson at June 9th, 2008 at 3:06 pmDisappointing that there doesn’t seem to be any native video support either. Maybe a YouTube app will allow it.
Posted by Jason Menayan at June 9th, 2008 at 3:15 pmI don’t expect to have a “blow-em-away” camera on any phone. It’s convenient that I can take photos whenever I’m carrying my iPhone
The 2 megapixel on the iPhone is more than adequate–if I want to take high quality photos, I get my dedicated camera out, which does not, by the way, have a phone!
Posted by Bill Nation at June 9th, 2008 at 3:40 pmDear Walt,
Posted by Dudi Roth at June 9th, 2008 at 4:01 pmDo you, or anybody else, know a good reason why Israel is not among the 70 happy countries?
What is the difference between an iPhone which hasn’t been activated and an iTouch? In other words, why should I pay a $100 premium for an iTouch? Or am I missing something?
Posted by Chris Snethen at June 9th, 2008 at 4:43 pmChris, if you buy the iPhone, you have to sign up for a 2 year contract, which in addition to your voice plan, requires a $30/month data plan. So over the long run, you’re paying significantly more. And any time the software is upgraded, you have to buy it for the the touch, whereas updates are free for the iPhone.
Posted by Arthur Magee at June 9th, 2008 at 5:08 pmI think part of the problem with lacking features on iPhone old and 3G is lack of memory. Could be another reason why the camera is still only 2 megapixels. Seems to me a no-brainer to include a slot for memory chips or expansion.
And what’s the deal with the pricing? AT&T is charging the same price requiring a two year committment regardless of whether you are a new customer or one with an existing contract. You still have to agree to a new two year contract. The new 3G network will cost an additional $10/month as well. So where is this rumored ATT discount if Apple is selling the iPhone for the same pricing? I’m sorry Walt, where is the incentive to get the new model iPhone for early adopters? (I was fourth in line last June 29) GPS AND NEW FEATURES are cool, but what about; Cut, Copy, and Paste?
Posted by Avi Learner at June 9th, 2008 at 5:31 pmDear Walt:
Posted by Paul Finger at June 10th, 2008 at 4:24 amI think Steve really missed a great opportunity to evolve to a voice user interface. Many phones have voice activated dialing and others are starting to use voice for messaging. Who really wants to stand or walk while typing out a message with your finger? A voice user interface could make the iphone a mini-laptop.
It’s funny about what kind of apps appeal to people. I have no interest in copy or paste. I very much want MMS. Hopefully, 3rd party apps will fill in these gaps. I am retired now, but the Modality Netters looks very appealing.
Posted by David Owens at June 10th, 2008 at 4:59 amKudos to Arthur in the comments above for noting that the cost of ownership is actually higher than the old iPhone. The phone itself is cheaper but it requires a more expensive wireless plan. No one’s going to be saving money with the new iPhone.
Posted by Jonathan Barsook at June 10th, 2008 at 10:00 amAs a loyal Apple customer and fan I love that the iPhone finally has 3G and GPS (although a new high-res camera sensor and 32gb flavor would have been nice), but I think people are too quickly glossing over the fact that the “new low price” of the iPhone 3G is far from being low. With the $10/month increase in the data service plan the price is actually higher than the old iPhone when looking at it over the life of the 2yr contract. I fully realize you get a lot more functionality for a relatively minor increase in over-all price, but I think that the idea that the price has been “dropped” is a little misleading.
Posted by Jeremy Feldman at June 10th, 2008 at 11:42 amWhen Apple announced that AT&T would be the exclusive carrier for the IPhone I thought it was a typo. But, Alas it wasn’t; because Mr. Jobs wanted a special deal from the carrier of choice and AT&T was the only one to consent to his demands. Why oh why did he choose the one with worse coverage?
Posted by James Skinner at June 10th, 2008 at 3:05 pmI travel all over the country and I hardly ever find a dead spot with my Verizon phone. My daughter finally got so frustrated with AT&T she changed to Verizon and has been very happy with the service.I think Apple would’ve reached 15 million IPhone sales if it were available to other carriers.
What happens if the 3G network isn’t available in some areas? Can the thing still use Edge? Is 3G deployed as widely as Edge?
Posted by Jim Peters at June 10th, 2008 at 5:28 pmI was really impressed by the steps that Apple has taken for Enterprise use of iPhone from special app store, to remote wipe, to MS exchange.
The two items that remains open is ‘disk encryption.” The iPhone info e.g., sensitive medical info, or SSANs, etc., have a generally accepted practice or in some cases law/regulation to encrypt the “disk” or in this case the memory.
Finally, there is a desire for “strong passwords” 8 characters with non-alpha-numeric characters included e.g., !, #, and %. So I think Apple appears to be 95% of the way there, but these are issues that appear to remain open.
Do you have any insights on these, alternatives [e.g., POINTSEC, Filevault, and Enterprise PGP], or other Enterprise issues, I’d love to hear about them.
Posted by George Providakes at June 10th, 2008 at 7:17 pmThe biggest issue I have with my iPhone is the weak antenna. In many places where I can get good reception with my wife’s Razr, the signal is either too weak to use or non-existent with the iPhone. I am surprised I don’t hear more complaints about this.
From a UI point of view, what frustrates me the most are two things: lack of a back button, and lack of cut/copy/paste. Too often I mistakenly end up in some unwanted place and just want to hit a back button. The browser has changed UI design for good and Apple should get with it.
Posted by eagle jackson at June 11th, 2008 at 10:22 amI’m really curious to read some reviews from actual users about the overall performance of the iPhone 3G GPS system.
The acquisition time, tracking stability (# of satellites visible while moving) and so forth.
I’ve been checking out several US and Canadian reviews since last night and they are all lacking in reviews of the GPS functionality.
Posted by Robin Majumdar at July 11th, 2008 at 9:20 amAs a business person, I think it’s important to mention some missing features for business users. I’ve used a Motorola Q, a Blackberry Curve, and now the iPhone 3G to access my corporate email (and personal email) for over 2.5 years. No doubt it enhances my productivity when I travel, but the iPhone lacks some basic functions the others have, namely:
1) Dialing from a calendar entry. Our CIO even inserted a dial-string for capable phones that includes the dial-in number, the access codes, and the pauses required to dial a number properly. There is no evident way to use any phone numbers (even in the “location” field) to dial phone numbers. This seems like a basic function that needs to be fixed. You can dial numbers from a web page, but not from the calendar.
2. Broken Apps - there are so many bugs in both the Apple software and third-party Apps, that this phone should not be considered “production.” They quit regularaly (including Safari, caleandar, contacts, and others).
3. No “week” view in calendar - this is standard on most handhelds, and is particularly useful on the Blackberry. in addition, the calendar is quite slow. Apple could do a better job with the calendar app. What about those reminders - they come up, but no way to snooze them (I used this a lot with BBY and Q)
Anyway, Apple, please give us an updated OS. Thanks.
Posted by Michael Palmer at July 22nd, 2008 at 1:09 pm