Apple has turned the iPhone into a double-edged sword
A friend asked me for advice on buying an iPhone yesterday and for the first time since the iPhone was originally released, I couldn't give a definitive answer.
It used to be easy. iPhone EDGE vs. iPhone 3G? No problem. iPhone 3G vs iPhone 3G-S. No problem again. But iPhone 3G-S vs. iPhone 4? Not so easy.
The difficulty stems from the fact that the iPhone 4 has been getting a lot of bad press lately about the new antenna design. If you haven't heard the bad press jump over to this page to quickly get up to speed: Got an iPhone 4? You may need duct tape
Whether or not the antenna issue is as big as some claim it to be is still unclear to me. But it's enough of an issue for me not to give a 100% endorsement for the iPhone 4 when someone asks me if he or she should get one
So that brings me to the previous version, the iPhone 3G-S, what I still have. It's not without some bad press of its own, including yours truly with this recent blog post: iPhone iOS4 upgrade leaves a bitter taste in my mouth
And since that blog post I've also repeatedly complained about drastically increased battery consumption and severe temperature problems when placing or receiving a call.
So it seems Apple has created a bit of a double-edged sword with the iPhone. You seemingly have to choose between the latest and greatest features with a higher chance of dropped calls or stick to slightly more reliable calls (it is AT&T after all) with an operating system that seems ill-suited for the older hardware
Anyone else out there struggling with this? I'd love to hear your advice.
Note: I didn't even mention the whole iPhone coming to Verizon issue mainly because so many rumors are going around. But it does stick in my mind as yet another reason not to get the iPhone 4—that nasty 2-year AT&T contract.
1 comment for this blog post so far...
July 21, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Adam Lane
Granted, Apple let one slip with this antenna issues in the iPhone 4. However, that said, I would still recommend the iPhone 4 because, as you said, iOS4 seems ill-suited for the older hardward. My wife and I, each, still have an iPhone 3G, and we’re really feeling the pinch with this (but we don’t get to upgrade for another year).
The solution for the antenna issue? A case that covers that part of the phone (the lower-left side). As long as the flesh of your hand is not touching it, the problem does not seem to occur. And, if I’m not mistaken, I think I remember reading somewhere that Apple is giving away their “iPhone Bumper” cases to iPhone 4 owners to help take care of it (that may have been at macworld.com).
~Adam
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