New iPhone unimpressed

schweb said:

The new display alone, IMHO, is enough to want this new phone even if nothing else changed. It's amazing.

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Very true. If the phone was unchanged but with the new display I would have bought it. In addition to the display the camera is much better, the video smokes the 3GS's video, the front cam, etc. I think it looks much better aesthetically but that's an opinion not fact as are the other things I mentioned. I fail to see how Apple could or would make a drastic change, it's not like them. It looks completely different, yet still looks like an iPhone. As far as the OS on the phone, no way would they change the way it looks/feels, they just keep giving us updates with new features, and those new features still have the look/feel that we are used to. I think Apple hit a home run with the 4.

I think it's all about expectations.

Is my iPad just a big iPod Touch? Yes.
But does the form factor/size make all the difference in the world? Yes.

Is iPhone 4 just a mostly improved version of the 3GS (with the exception of the front facing camera)? Yes.
But does the extra memory and faster speed make iOS4 that much better to use? Yes.

I agree that the case is definitely subjective taste. I wouldn't want to carry it naked because it's too slick, but it sure does look gorgeous naked. But I don't get going to a Droid instead. Maybe I'm missing something, but after living with an iPhone (3G, 3GS, 4), I can't imagine going to another platform right now unless they offered something unbelievable, ESPECIALLY if you sold the iPad.

Everyone has a personal preference and different expectations. It's like the whole "magical and revolutionary" thing with the iPad. I think in retrospect 10-20 years from now, we'll say that yes it was revolutionary as it ushered in touch screen tablet computing (successfully). But on the surface right now it doesn't necessarily seem revolutionary to some since you can do most of those things with an iPhone or iPod Touch on a smaller screen. Just my thoughts.

To each his own, Not everyone is going to like the new iPhone and that's OK there are plenty of other options out there. Personally I think Apple did a great job on the iPhone4 the build quality reminds me of the 1st Generation iPhone, It doesn't have that cheap plastic feel like the 3G/3GS had. I was playing with one the other day, Thinking to myself man this feels like a $600 phone. Let's not forget it's not too bad on the eyes either by far the sexiest iDevice to date.

bargsbeer said:

To each his own, Not everyone is going to like the new iPhone and that's OK there are plenty of other options out there.

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True, I love the iPhone, but it won't be right for everyone. I always loved Motorola phones and hated Nokias. Just depends on style, form, utility, coverage, and performance for each person.

Of course this is an Apple forum, so people should remember that if they wonder why there are so many iPhone fans here.

Thinking to myself man this feels like a $600 phone.

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It is a $600 phone if you buy it without a contract!

schweb said:

True, I love the iPhone, but it won't be right for everyone. I always loved Motorola phones and hated Nokias. Just depends on style, form, utility, coverage, and performance for each person.

Of course this is an Apple forum, so people should remember that if they wonder why there are so many iPhone fans here.



It is a $600 phone if you buy it without a contract!

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Right it is, But ya gotta admit the iPhone 4 feels like it's really worth $600
I didn't get that feeling with the 3G/3GS.

As phones go there is something for everybody, I know people who swear on Nokia, Blackberry, Droid...etc

bargsbeer said:

As phones go there is something for everybody, I know people who swear on Nokia, Blackberry, Droid...etc

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I was a Nokia fanboy for the longest time. Now that they've clearly given up on the US market, I gave 'em the finger and went over to the dark side.

Derek McNelly said:

I was a Nokia fanboy for the longest time. Now that they've clearly given up on the US market, I gave 'em the finger and went over to the dark side.

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I don't think Nokia has just given up on the U.S. market. There hurting worldwide, they just can't get it together when it comes to there high end smartphones.

fleurya said:

I jumped from my 3G, and it was quite a jump. So I'm very happy with it. I suppose from the 3GS it's not quite as special, but I think overall it's definitely a significant jump from the the past 2 redesigns.



Actually, I think the population is general likes this iPhone much more than any past versions, which is why they had crazy sales the first week. I had read many comments on tech blogs like "I don't like Apple or the iPhone, but this one looks really nice."

This is definitely the most attention it's drawn since the first.

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Yep, this is my situation too. I'm coming from the 3G and see a huge difference.

As for some of the minuses mentioned by others:

form factor - I like it. Perhaps because this shape reminds me of any of my many PDAs, all of which were a bit squarish (yes, I'm remembering you fondly, Sony NX-70). Though I was plenty happy with the curved back of my 3G, the flat back is much easier for setting on the table and typing/game playing.

camera - certainly a big leap from the 3G, if not the 3GS. This has been one part that I've been really pleased with. I still have a 10MP camera when I need the extra quality, but it sure is nice to know that I can just carry my phone (when I need to travel light) and still get quality pics from it.

multi-tasking - okay, maybe it isn't "true" multi-tasking, but it is certainly better than what I had on my jb'd 3G.

The unified inbox and retina display are definite plusses to boot.

It may not be for everyone, but hey, that is okay. Personally, I'm very pleased. No real death grip issues, and the extras over the 3G make it a nice move up for me.

iPhone 4 = best phone ever. smh @ all you haters!

bargsbeer said:

I don't think Nokia has just given up on the U.S. market. There hurting worldwide, they just can't get it together when it comes to there high end smartphones.

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Yeah but you went to the other darkside! The one who's future is in the clouds!!! Grin

BadApple said:

I think so maybe that's why I want a good phone not any more toys.

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Let's be clear about this: the iPhone is an outstanding cellular phone.

In the US, you are limited to only one carrier: AT&T. Depending on where you are, AT&T is as good or better than the others, or it sucks horribly.

Countries where you have more than one carrier, or people who live in decent metropolitan areas, you never hear people complain about the iPhone as a phone.

If you're having issues with your iPhone as a phone, take it up with your carrier. Apple paid every bit as much attention to making the iPhone work well as a phone as they did any other aspect of it. The sales figures and overall satisfaction tell the (true) story.

chas_m said:

Countries where you have more than one carrier, or people who live in decent metropolitan areas, you never hear people complain about the iPhone as a phone.

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That I think is the most true statement ever uttered on this board.

People often forget that the highest numbers of complaints about iPhone performance come from the metro areas where AT&T's network is the worst (New York, San Fran, etc). And unfortunately, most of the bloggers and pundits shouting about iPhone issues just happen to live in those metro areas. Coincidence?

I feel their pain, but sometimes it's hard for people to separate the phone from the network to know where to place blame.

Where I am, AT&T has outstanding coverage and no network issues. AT&T and the iPhone are great. Out of the major carriers, Verizon may be the weakest as far as network and coverage, so if Verizon had the iPhone here, there'd be more complaints here.

chas_m said:

Let's be clear about this: the iPhone is an outstanding cellular phone.

In the US, you are limited to only one carrier: AT&T. Depending on where you are, AT&T is as good or better than the others, or it sucks horribly.

Countries where you have more than one carrier, or people who live in decent metropolitan areas, you never hear people complain about the iPhone as a phone.

If you're having issues with your iPhone as a phone, take it up with your carrier. Apple paid every bit as much attention to making the iPhone work well as a phone as they did any other aspect of it. The sales figures and overall satisfaction tell the (true) story.

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schweb said:

That I think is the most true statement ever uttered on this board.

People often forget that the highest numbers of complaints about iPhone performance come from the metro areas where AT&T's network is the worst (New York, San Fran, etc). And unfortunately, most of the bloggers and pundits shouting about iPhone issues just happen to live in those metro areas. Coincidence?

I feel their pain, but sometimes it's hard for people to separate the phone from the network to know where to place blame.

Where I am, AT&T has outstanding coverage and no network issues. AT&T and the iPhone are great. Out of the major carriers, Verizon may be the weakest as far as network and coverage, so if Verizon had the iPhone here, there'd be more complaints here.

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I think both statements are spot on, You never read about issues with the iPhone in other countries where there are multiple carriers, Also I don't think most people in the U.S. have a problem with Apple, I think most of the anger and hate directed towards At&t, It is their network after all. Personally I don't have At&t I fully intend on getting the iPhone 4 unlocked once it's available to use on Tmobile, I think it's by far the best iDevice to date.

I'm certainly not an AT&T fanboy or apologist. However, I will say in their defense that iPhone customers have taken advantage of all the network bandwidth hogging features we can and put an incredible amount of stress on the network. I think people will start complaining about Verizon's network as soon as 12 million iPhones jump on that network in the first year or so. You'll see that wonderful network come to a grinding halt real fast. Or I could be full of crap and Verizon will somehow handle it with no problems and AT&T will look like fools.

It's possible that as has been pointed out before, having multiple carriers in other countries spread out the traffic amongst those carriers so you didn't see what AT&T saw where they got the brunt of it.

jacksonian said:

I'm certainly not an AT&T fanboy or apologist. However, I will say in their defense that iPhone customers have taken advantage of all the network bandwidth hogging features we can and put an incredible amount of stress on the network. I think people will start complaining about Verizon's network as soon as 12 million iPhones jump on that network in the first year or so. You'll see that wonderful network come to a grinding halt real fast.

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I think this is also very true. I think AT&T has probably done the best they could given the circumstances.

Verizon's network would have crumbled also if they had been the first and only carrier in the US. I mean we're talking about the same network that even today doesn't allow you to use data and voice at the same time...

Reception problems.

I have had my iphone4 2 weeks now on 02 network,no calls dropping out or any reception problems on WIFI. I don't think there's any faults with the phone just maybe network overload problems in the US. Could be 02 here in the UK is much better than AT&T or perhaps it's because you have so many more user's.

andyboy said:

I have had my iphone4 2 weeks now on 02 network,no calls dropping out or any reception problems on WIFI. I don't think there's any faults with the phone just maybe network overload problems in the US. Could be 02 here in the UK is much better than AT&T or perhaps it's because you have so many more user's.

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There are a few reasons why O2 (and honestly cell service in general is better in Europe...alot of the same reasoning can go into why mass trransit is better in Europe):

- O2 and every other Euro carrier has far fewer overall customers than AT&T (or Verizon, or almost any other major US carrier).

- Europe has a much more compact and dense population than in the US. It's easier to build your network since most of your population lives in a smaller geographic area.For example, if a US carrier only needed to worry about building a great network for the state of Illinois, it would be a lot easier than trying to build a network across the vast expanses of US territory.

- And as important, Europe has multiple carriers with the iPhone which spreads the pain around alot better.

- Europe as a whole is standardized on GSM which makes roaming and network coverage more ubiquitous. In the US only AT&T and T-Mobile use GSM, Verizon and Sprint use CDMA which makes our coverage much more fragmented.

So I would imaging if O2 had to do the same thing that AT&T was doing in the US, it would be having the same problems.

schweb said:

. I mean we're talking about the same network that even today doesn't allow you to use data and voice at the same time...

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Not for nothing but, how many real world (useful) scenarios can you really conjure up where having such a feature is a make or break deal ? Where I've traveled in the US, just being able to get a signal to make a call on ATT's network was sometimes a miracle. Forget about simultaneous voice and data. Here in EU, my carrier's network (using my iPhone 3g) has been (thus far) flawless, and I still didn't run into any situation where I needed voice and data at the same time.

Want to send me an e-mail that I most absolutely have to look at while talking to you ? Fine. I'll call you back when I get it. Though unless you're wheeling and dealing in a business situation 24/7, I don't see this happening all that often, if ever. Consider how many BB users there are and why they use that phone ? Usually handed out at the corporate level, and I know plenty of people like that, and their company chose Verizon.

And while I'm sure that we can both come up with rhetorical ideas, the point is that if we really have to think about it for more than a second, I doubt that such a use is going to make it into your hourly or daily routine.

Just sayin'.

Doug

Edit: BTW.. good points about the network infrastructural differences between EU countries and the US. And this is why the FCC really needs to step in and start regulating things a LOT more tightly.

Doug b said:

Not for nothing but, how many real world (useful) scenarios can you really conjure up where having such a feature is a make or break deal ?

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You're missing my point Doug. I'm just pointing out that in some ways Verizon's network isn't as robust as AT&T and would probably have had the same network issues as AT&T if they had been the initial exclusive provider of the iPhone in the US.

And while I'm sure that we can both come up with rhetorical ideas, the point is that if we really have to think about it for more than a second, I doubt that such a use is going to make it into your hourly or daily routine.

Just sayin'.

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You're not seeing the forest through the trees my friend. You're focusing on a rhetorical argument that was not the point I was making...

Edit: BTW.. good points about the network infrastructural differences between EU countries and the US. And this is why the FCC really needs to step in and start regulating things a LOT more tightly.

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While I agree the FCC could regulate more, it's not going to solve the problem. The US has far more area than any European national carrier has to eve begin thinking about dealing with.

Regulation will only get you so far, when the truth is that the cost to create a network as ubiquitous as that in Europe would be so prohibitive it's not even worth it. It's the same reason the US will never have the public transit system like Europe, it's just not feasible.

You might be misunderstanding the feelings (unimpressed) you are having about it. I just played with the iPhone 4 in an AT&T store today and I wasn't jumping for joy or anything. If you have owned previous iterations of the iPhone then you will understand what I am talking about. It is still just an iPhone.

Now, I will say that I am very impressed with how the screen looks and I know I'll have a lot of fun playing with all the new features once mine arrives in the mail, but we are all familiar with the iOS already which is why the iPhone 4 kind of makes you say "I've already seen this before."