[written from an iPhone 3GS owner's perspective]
Yesterday Apple’s Steve Jobs announced the long anticipated iPhone 4, also being referred to as the iPhone HD. I won’t bore you with all the details since I expect you to have heard the news somewhere on the digital and offline grapevine. To be quite honest, I am not really sure why I am writing this article. I have taken a little time to think about the new iPhone HD and what I really think of it and all that I could tell is, that as iPhone 3GS owner, I am not too impressed.
Apple has taken the trouble to build a new iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS comparison page but on that page I can only find 2 real improvements that in my honest opinion should have been released with the 3GS.
802.11n compatibility
The 3GS is not an old phone. I feel that Apple has been holding out on release 802.11n compatibility on its iPhones for some time, especially on the 3GS. Now, to be fair, I have not seen any reason to use an 802.11n connection. Video streaming works with an app like Air Video flawlessly on 802.11g. Only higher resolutions (even higher than on the new iPhone 4) would justify 802.11n usage.
Battery Life
Apple boasts the vast improvements made on battery life. Now, I can work a full day, do my online thing, listen to Spotify, play a game and still have some juice left when I get home, but to say that performance is optimal would be a flat out lie. I have never taken claims by vendors about battery life and even petrol usages by car manufacturers very serious. I have owned a Honda Civic Hybrid, but I never obtained the much talked about performance. Same goes for the 3GS and although battery life is important to mobile phone users, I can’t put too much trust into Apple’s figures.
There are in total 2 pages worth of information about battery testing conducted by Apple, but just like life, there are too many dependants. A talk time improvement from 5 hours on a 3GS to a mere 7 hours on an iPhone 4 is not what I would call groundbreaking for such a big release. This improvement should have been released with the 3GS.
Other features…
So what about the other features? Facetime, HD movie recording, 3-axis gyro, Apple A4 processor… wow, my list ends there.
Facetime allows you to do video conferencing via your iPhone, but was it made clear to you that this will only work on a Wi-Fi network and not on 3G? This functionality feels like a half-baked cupcake, it sounds delicious, but it hasn’t baked properly and now tastes a bit soggy.
HD video recording sounds great doesn’t it? So, I will give them a point for that. The quality of video recording on mobile devices is terrible. I use a Flip HD Ultra to record moments I want saved. So why are they promoting video editing on the iPhone through an adapted iMovie app? Movie editing on an iPad, now that is something that I could see happening, but on a device as small (in comparison) as an iPhone? No sorry. Even if my trusty Flip HD Ultra would have built in software to edit the movies I make, I would still upload it to my MacBook Pro and do some proper editing. Nice try Steve.
Now the last two features, 3-axis gyro and Apple A4 processor… do you think that these are selling points for the average public? I would like to bet anyone that less than 0,5% of all iPhone owners today cares a rat’s backside about the processor in a device. If you are building your on pc maybe, but not a mobile device. So what’s the purpose? I guess Apple wants to show off the fact that the processor matches that of the iPad. Well woopty-do, as if that will convince me to sell my 3GS and upgrade. At this moment in time, if anything was to happen to my iPhone 3GS be it a manufacture fault or my own, I would first consider purchasing a phone with the Android OS.
Am I too pessimistic about Apple? No, not really. I really like my 3GS and I look forward to getting rid of jailbreak on it and installing iOS 4. iOS 4 is where you have really listened to your users and this is something that I can only applaud, but as for the iPhone 4… Steve, to be honest, the iPhone 4 changes nothing. The improvements are too little too late, the iPhone 4 is what the 3GS should have been and as a 3GS owner this is what annoys me the most. I am glad, however, that this will give iPhone 2G and 3G owners something to look forward too when they renew their subscritions. In my personal opinion, the slogan on the Apple site should have been “iOS 4 changes everything“!
