iPhone edge vs. Nokia 3G: webpage loading shootout.

[erandall38]

I have seen the same result with many other "3G" phones... the iPhone not only is usually right up to speed with the other phones, but it beats them sometimes.

Then you add in the 3G battery wasting, and it makes you wonder... why do people complain about not having 3G yet?

http://www.macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/apple_iphone_25g_edge_vs_nokia_e61i_3g_umts_website_loading_shootout/

[macintel4me]

I just read this article. That's really amazing. Yet another example of companies mixing a potpourri of the latest technologies without thinking things through from top to bottom. That's one of the great things about Apple is that 90% of the time they make the best product in the market.

[stevearm]

Sorry, but I find that rubbish.

A lack of 3G is a huge flaw in the iPhone, hence why SJ has admited to wanting to bring it into iPhone 2.

He says the iPhone is 5 years ahead of any other smartphone, well sorry Steve but its network connection is 5 years backwards compared to other smartphones.

Horribly horribly slow web browsing, coming from the N95. And one crappy video clip isn't about to convince me otherwise. Facts don't lie, and the fact is, 3G is by FAR a faster network for data.

[erandall38]

Sorry, but I find that rubbish.

A lack of 3G is a huge flaw in the iPhone, hence why SJ has admited to wanting to bring it into iPhone 2.

He says the iPhone is 5 years ahead of any other smartphone, well sorry Steve but its network connection is 5 years backwards compared to other smartphones.

Horribly horribly slow web browsing, coming from the N95. And one crappy video clip isn't about to convince me otherwise. Facts don't lie, and the fact is, 3G is by FAR a faster network for data.

Have you actually compared an iPhone's edge to a 3G phone?
I am not saying you are wrong... I mean it IS supposed to be faster.

But in my experience so far seeing it against a couple Nokia phones and vs. the Verizon Voyager I have seen the iPhone faters at times and when not faster its right up to par with it... now thats not rubbish.

Obviously your area has a big effect on the network speed. Verizon is the strongest network in my area, but I have seen the iPhone outperform and compare to other 3G networks on the verizon network here.

I would not say lack of 3G was a flaw... many people care about there battery power and I think that is one really strong point of the iPhone.

Again, 3G is supposed to be faster, but when I compare it to the edge I have never seen it outperform... and if it comes to the test and 3G does not match up then, such in the multiple situation I have checked, how can you say that it is far faster?

Maybe that is true in your area, which is great, but unfortuante if you are using an iPhone... if the speed really bugs you.

But here in most of Southern California from Anaheim to San Diego I have not found any 3G phones that have truly "outperformed" the iPhone network speed.

another point to add, I have yet to see a mobile browser that looks as good as the iPhone.

[mrtune]

3G would be a HUGE addition to the iPhone. While we may not see huge increases in page loading speeds due to things like connection strength, latency, etc, the youtube app will be a much more pleasant experience because of the difference in download size. youtube is horrible while on edge, but good while on wifi speeds. 3G would cure that problem.

Also, the biggest and most important benefit of 3G is the ability to use youtube and the web with no fear of missing a call! If you are in the middle of downloading a video or webpage, calls will not come through if you are on the edge network. The 3G network doesn't suffer from this.

[ert3]

with how few areas in the us actually having 3g coverage as their are I see no need for this battery killing addition yet. Edge is avail almost every where and at decent data rates. 3g is still young and so sparsely available that I fail to see why it would be sutch a huge plus atleast State side

[mrtune]

with how few areas in the us actually having 3g coverage as their are I see no need for this battery killing addition yet. Edge is avail almost every where and at decent data rates. 3g is still young and so sparsely available that I fail to see why it would be sutch a huge plus atleast State side

True, but the phone should simply revery back to the edge network if 3G isn't available. Once on edge, battery life will be the same as it is now. That's how it was on my last phone.

[erandall38]

3G would be a HUGE addition to the iPhone. While we may not see huge increases in page loading speeds due to things like connection strength, latency, etc, the youtube app will be a much more pleasant experience because of the difference in download size. youtube is horrible while on edge, but good while on wifi speeds. 3G would cure that problem.

Also, the biggest and most important benefit of 3G is the ability to use youtube and the web with no fear of missing a call! If you are in the middle of downloading a video or webpage, calls will not come through if you are on the edge network. The 3G network doesn't suffer from this.

I have not had to much of any problems with loading youtube and seems to be rather fast.

You made a very good point in the second part of your response. That is one reason that I would like to have 3G, then again I seem to get a lot of calls while pages are loading... it must have to be at a certain point for it to get block. Then again there have been times where I missed them, and then there are the times where I did not know I missed them.

One other thing I think we should really consider... Apple's 2.5G iPhone loads faster then some other 2.5G phones bc the processor speed and the friendliness of safari (like it states in the article). So would it be fair to say that a 3G iPhone would work exceptionally faster than other 3G phones?

[aridon]

You can't compare web browsing speeds between different phones, different browsers and make a comparison about a different speed standard.

First of all, mobile safari does an excellent job of not only rendering the full HTML versions of web pages, but it does it fast. If you were to compare 3g PIE to edge safari the differences are going to be minimal. Not because there is no difference in speed between the standards, but because the phones you are comparing are bottlenecked in different places.

[erandall38]

You can't compare web browsing speeds between different phones, different browsers and make a comparison about a different speed standard.

First of all, mobile safari does an excellent job of not only rendering the full HTML versions of web pages, but it does it fast. If you were to compare 3g PIE to edge safari the differences are going to be minimal. Not because there is no difference in speed between the standards, but because the phones you are comparing are bottlenecked in different places.


Why not?
Is 3G on other phones so much faster than the edge on the iPhone that it makes the iPhone not worth it? Thats what some people live by on these forums.

Well you compare them head to head. If other companies cant build hardware and software that uses the network as efficiently as it should, therefore causing it to load slower network speeds, then no the edge on iPhone is not making it not worth buying because of slow speeds. Thats there fault, they blew it.

[Jade Cambell]

I've noticed that if i'm in a spot of strong reception with my iPhone (downtown Seattle for instance), the EDGE is very, very acceptable. In fact, it's borderline fast! I wouldn't care for anything faster.

[aridon]

Why not?
Is 3G on other phones so much faster than the edge on the iPhone that it makes the iPhone not worth it? Thats what some people live by on these forums.

Well you compare them head to head. If other companies cant build hardware and software that uses the network as efficiently as it should, therefore causing it to load slower network speeds, then no the edge on iPhone is not making it not worth buying because of slow speeds. Thats there fault, they blew it.


Its not what other companies can do, I don't care about them its people saying 3g isn't a big deal because other devices are only a few seconds faster using it. My point is the Iphone will be even faster comparatively. Play with a WM phone on edge and then play with an iphone and there is a huge difference. The same will be true playing with a WM phone on 3g and the iphone on 3g once it comes.

It will be a pretty big difference and worth the upgrade for many.

[TurboSC]

3G or not, I'm perfectly content with the EDGE service on the phone. It's slow, yes, but when you actually need to use the EDGE it's manageable.

[page3]

I compared my Sony Ericsson M600i running Opera over T-Mobile 3G to that of my iPhone running Safari over O2 Edge. The iPhone was faster by far - so no complaints on speed. However, 3G coverage is way better than Edge.

At least I can leave my iPhone checking for email every 15 minutes on GPRS/Edge/WiFi without fear of the battery lasting 15 seconds, like the O2Exec (HTC Universal) I had previously. It might have had 3G and WiFi but battery life, usability and speed was a joke.

Like everything iPhone related, don't just compare technical specifications, as real world usage differs considerably. :)

[stevearm]

with how few areas in the us actually having 3g coverage as their are I see no need for this battery killing addition yet. Edge is avail almost every where and at decent data rates. 3g is still young and so sparsely available that I fail to see why it would be sutch a huge plus atleast State side

Since the US isn't the centre of the universe, you may wish to note how popular 3G is in Europe... which is VERY popular. Pretty much every handset out these days is 3G enabled. Why wouldn't they be, it's a better technology than EDGE.

You can watch all the 'comparison' videos in the world, the fact remains, 3G is much faster than Edge and many people have been turned off getting an iPhone for the simple fact that it doesn't have 3G (not to mention a crap camera, no picture messaging, no video recording, no radio......).

3G on my N95 is blindingly fast, with pages like amazon loading in just a few seconds. 3G would mean youtube, maps and iTunes would be able to run properly in non-Wifi enabled areas, not to mention the fact that you can have multiple connections with 3G.

Thankfully SJ has realised this flaw and releasing it in iPhone 2

[tonywob]

*

[jessica.]

I have seen the same result with many other "3G" phones... the iPhone not only is usually right up to speed with the other phones, but it beats them sometimes.

Then you add in the 3G battery wasting, and it makes you wonder... why do people complain about not having 3G yet?

http://www.macdailynews.com/index.php/weblog/comments/apple_iphone_25g_edge_vs_nokia_e61i_3g_umts_website_loading_shootout/

Because there has to be something to complain about with every release of any Apple product.
IE: moo'ing, yellow screen, no 3g, old graphics card.
Not saying it's not valid, but it's par for the course.

[erandall38]

Its not what other companies can do, I don't care about them its people saying 3g isn't a big deal because other devices are only a few seconds faster using it. My point is the Iphone will be even faster comparatively. Play with a WM phone on edge and then play with an iphone and there is a huge difference. The same will be true playing with a WM phone on 3g and the iphone on 3g once it comes.

It will be a pretty big difference and worth the upgrade for many.

I see what you mean, so you were agreeing with this idea?

One other thing I think we should really consider... Apple's 2.5G iPhone loads faster then some other 2.5G phones bc the processor speed and the friendliness of safari (like it states in the article). So would it be fair to say that a 3G iPhone would work exceptionally faster than other 3G phones?

You are definitly right about that... that plus the no missing call things gets me excited, but batery life is really important to me. I doubt Apple would come out with 3G and no god battery life.


Because there has to be something to complain about with every release of any Apple product.
IE: moo'ing, yellow screen, no 3g, old graphics card.
Not saying it's not valid, but it's par for the course.

Man, you got that right.

[macintel4me]

Right now it's a trade-off between faster internet and battery life. I'm looking forward to the 2008 event when this tradeoff no longer exists.

[stevearm]

Because there has to be something to complain about with every release of any Apple product.

Just like there has to be some mac fans having a dig at Microsoft products/services for the sake of it.

Just like there has to be die hard mac fans who are incapable of seeing anything negative about Apple products

IE: moo'ing, yellow screen, no 3g, old graphics card.
Not saying it's not valid, but it's par for the course.

I would say that a lack of 3G, decent camera, picture/video messaging, video recording, flash, photo editing, cut/copy/paste, downloadable emails, high res photo viewing, radio, flash web browsing, Java, and the (official) inability to have your own custom (free) ringtones etc etc gives people every right for people to complain or at least COMMENT about the lack of features in the iphone.

[macintel4me]

I would say that a lack of 3G, decent camera, picture/video messaging, video recording, flash, photo editing, cut/copy/paste, downloadable emails, high res photo viewing, radio, flash web browsing, Java, and the (official) inability to have your own custom (free) ringtones etc etc gives people every right for people to complain or at least COMMENT about the lack of features in the iphone.

Just to name a few... :p

[rayward]

Jobs said that they didn't include 3G because the chips were too big, ran too hot and were too thirsty; so that given the relatively low availability of 3G service it was not a need for the iPhone 1.0.

I have seen articles where these assertions have been put to the test - mostly linked from this forum - and they support Jobs' claims. A 3G chip would be very hard to shoehorn into the iPhone's sleek case, whereas the combo of EDGE and WiFi chips fits...just.

But cramming a 3G chip in there creates heat issues even before you factor in the additional heat from a 3G chip (and we've all noticed the phone getting hot when using the web features heavily - like for YouTube).

And 3G chips use more juice than WiFi chips, and much more juice than EDGE chips. In side-by-side tests, 3G phones burned up their batteries much faster than iPhones when performing the same tasks.

So, when 3G chips get smaller, run cooler, are more efficient and the service is more widely available, Jobs will stick one in an iPhone. Until then, the iPhone is still better, IMHO, than any 3G enabled phone out there.

[slffl]

Yes, a great result. We all know how usefull the iPhone is even when using EDGE. I had an EVDO phone before the iPhone and it wasn't even close to being as useful as the iPhone.

[stevearm]

Jobs said that they didn't include 3G because the chips were too big, ran too hot and were too thirsty; so that given the relatively low availability of 3G service it was not a need for the iPhone 1.0.

I have seen articles where these assertions have been put to the test - mostly linked from this forum - and they support Jobs' claims. A 3G chip would be very hard to shoehorn into the iPhone's sleek case, whereas the combo of EDGE and WiFi chips fits...just.

But cramming a 3G chip in there creates heat issues even before you factor in the additional heat from a 3G chip (and we've all noticed the phone getting hot when using the web features heavily - like for YouTube).

And 3G chips use more juice than WiFi chips, and much more juice than EDGE chips. In side-by-side tests, 3G phones burned up their batteries much faster than iPhones when performing the same tasks.

So, when 3G chips get smaller, run cooler, are more efficient and the service is more widely available, Jobs will stick one in an iPhone. Until then, the iPhone is still better, IMHO, than any 3G enabled phone out there.


And for the time being we'll be stuck with slower loading pages, and a youtube, wifi music store and google maps apps that don't work on EDGE, the former two, at all.

[sokrates]

And for the time being we'll be stuck with slower loading pages, and a youtube, wifi music store and google maps apps that don't work on EDGE, the former two, at all.

I cannot share this opinion at all..... youtube and google maps work flawlessly on EDGE, I don't know where you live and how you're edge connection is, but I was pleasantly surprised by how good it actually works, sure pages some times take longer to load, but youtube and google maps work rather fast in my opinion (of course slower than they would be with hsdpa, but still, it's usable)
And besides that, EDGE is fine for being on the road and having to check something, when you actually sit down in a café, a restaurant or a train station/airport, they always have wifi.

[sjo]

Jobs said that they didn't include 3G because the chips were too big, ran too hot and were too thirsty; so that given the relatively low availability of 3G service it was not a need for the iPhone 1.0.


maybe jobs should get better engineers then, all the other mobile phone companies are able to put 3g into thin handsets, and those handsets are not burning their users hands or ears.

[erandall38]

I cannot share this opinion at all..... youtube and google maps work flawlessly on EDGE, I don't know where you live and how you're edge connection is, but I was pleasantly surprised by how good it actually works, sure pages some times take longer to load, but youtube and google maps work rather fast in my opinion (of course slower than they would be with hsdpa, but still, it's usable)
And besides that, EDGE is fine for being on the road and having to check something, when you actually sit down in a café, a restaurant or a train station/airport, they always have wifi.

I couldn't agree more. All the internet devices work just as fast as any other phone if not faster. For example stocks widget and weather widget help me get that information faster then other phone who have to look it up on the internet. As far as page loading the iPhone is always up to par or faster with multiple 3G devices I have tested out in my area with different carriers.
Yout tube either never needs to preload or it is preloaded before I finish watching the clip so no wait time, no problem.

This guy has to just live in an area where Edge is really bad.

[aanndrew]

iphone seem better to me plus if it did have 3g it would be faster at loading the pages than the nokia the browsers different.
duh

[EvryDayImShufln]

This argument is pretty cool, since they seemed to be around the same speed. But it might as well be locked by mods, since people want to DEFEND their investment (iPhone) and will go to great lengths to pretend that EDGE is better than 3G even though it is not. Imagine, if Edge loads stuff on the iPhone this fast, how much faster 3G will be on the iPhone!

Anyway, contrary to what most people will say on this forum, probably half of them will end up buying 3G iPhones when they finally come out and ditch their old Edge iPhones.

[meagain]

This argument is pretty cool, since they seemed to be around the same speed. But it might as well be locked by mods, since people want to DEFEND their investment (iPhone) and will go to great lengths to pretend that EDGE is better than 3G even though it is not. Imagine, if Edge loads stuff on the iPhone this fast, how much faster 3G will be on the iPhone!

Anyway, contrary to what most people will say on this forum, probably half of them will end up buying 3G iPhones when they finally come out and ditch their old Edge iPhones.

Wow. You are so right on this.

[Cleverboy]

This argument is pretty cool, since they seemed to be around the same speed. But it might as well be locked by mods, since people want to DEFEND their investment (iPhone) and will go to great lengths to pretend that EDGE is better than 3G even though it is not. Imagine, if Edge loads stuff on the iPhone this fast, how much faster 3G will be on the iPhone!

Anyway, contrary to what most people will say on this forum, probably half of them will end up buying 3G iPhones when they finally come out and ditch their old Edge iPhones. The iPhone on EDGE will be incomparably slow to the iPhone on 3G. Just because an iPhone on EDGE can be faster in some circumstances than another phone on 3G, doesn't mean the conclusion that EDGE holds up to 3G isn't TRUE... its just another way of looking at it, right?

It's kind of snooty to say iPhone users that claim to be satisfied now with EDGE, will run to buy the 3G iPhone when its out. Let's be honest... if it was ONLY 3G Apple added... it wouldn't be much of a draw for MOST people who already had an iPhone (it would draw those who thought EDGE was too slow and didn't buy because of it). But Apple would never launch so limited an update to the phone would they (considering the quote about iPhone 2.0 being radically different)? The next iPhone will likely have a number of other hardware specific enhancements that make it irresistable to those early adopters who would only be too happy to sell and buy again. Implying otherwise is disingenuous.

I'd expect, at least that Apple will add a second camera for video conference (Jobs ha commented that todays phones don't fully take advantage of video 3G anyway, and he's right), it'll have a GPS (likely), and more memory (at least twice as much). Don't make safe bets. Make some real predictions.

~ CB

[Pattycerts]

I can't believe this is even being entertained!

3G BLOWS EDGE out of the water. Put your iPhone on wifi, and browse the web. Notice a difference? Of course you do, and 3G is very VERY close to DSL speeds (I had a 3G [hone tethered to a PC and tested at 1024kb/sec).

It's funny how all of a sudden MMS, 3G, and A2DP mean nothing in fanboy-land. I LOVE my iPhone but I can admit to its flaws...

[EvryDayImShufln]

The iPhone on EDGE will be incomparably slow to the iPhone on 3G. Just because an iPhone on EDGE can be faster in some circumstances than another phone on 3G, doesn't mean the conclusion that EDGE holds up to 3G isn't TRUE... its just another way of looking at it, right?

It's kind of snooty to say iPhone users that claim to be satisfied now with EDGE, will run to buy the 3G iPhone when its out. Let's be honest... if it was ONLY 3G Apple added... it wouldn't be much of a draw for MOST people who already had an iPhone (it would draw those who thought EDGE was too slow and didn't buy because of it). But Apple would never launch so limited an update to the phone would they (considering the quote about iPhone 2.0 being radically different)? The next iPhone will likely have a number of other hardware specific enhancements that make it irresistable to those early adopters who would only be too happy to sell and buy again. Implying otherwise is disingenuous.

I'd expect, at least that Apple will add a second camera for video conference (Jobs ha commented that todays phones don't fully take advantage of video 3G anyway, and he's right), it'll have a GPS (likely), and more memory (at least twice as much). Don't make safe bets. Make some real predictions.

~ CB

I wish I could say it would be a foolish assumption, but it's generally a true one: people don't realize what they need and that what they are buying is way overkill (very often). Like many people who keep upgrading macbook pros to "surf the net". Anyhow yes I agree if they added many more features which they probably will, I would be hard pressed not to upgrade myself, even though I dont use EDGE or 3G since in Canada mobile internet costs an arm and a leg.

[stevearm]

I can't believe this is even being entertained!

3G BLOWS EDGE out of the water. Put your iPhone on wifi, and browse the web. Notice a difference? Of course you do, and 3G is very VERY close to DSL speeds (I had a 3G [hone tethered to a PC and tested at 1024kb/sec).

It's funny how all of a sudden MMS, 3G, and A2DP mean nothing in fanboy-land. I LOVE my iPhone but I can admit to its flaws...

Well said

[eye.surgeon]

with how few areas in the us actually having 3g coverage as their are I see no need for this battery killing addition yet. Edge is avail almost every where and at decent data rates. 3g is still young and so sparsely available that I fail to see why it would be sutch a huge plus atleast State side

That is just not true and yet I hear it repeated frequently. AT&T 3G covers 10s of millions of people in virtually every major center in the country and it's expanding rapidly. Hell I live in Fresno and I've had 3G here for over a year.

Check the list out.


Alabama
Birmingham, Huntsville
Arkansas
Fayetteville , Fort_Smith, Little Rock
Arizona
Chandler, Gilbert, Glendale, Mesa, Peoria, Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Tucson
California
Anaheim, Arden-Arcade, Bakersfield, Berkeley, Burbank, Chula Vista, Concord, Daly City, East Los Angeles, Escondido, Fairfield, Fremont, Fresno, Glendale, Hayward, Irvine, Lake_Tahoe, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Modesto, Norwalk, Oakland, Oceanside, Ontario, Oxnard, Pasadena, Pomona, Richmond, Roseville, Sacramento, San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Ana, Santa Clara, Santa Rosa, Stockton, Sunnyvale, Vallejo
Colorado
Colorado Springs, Denver
Connecticut
Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, New London
Delaware
Wilmington
District of Columbia
Washington, DC
Florida
Cape Canaveral, Clearwater, Coral Springs, Daytona Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Fort Pierce, Gainesville, Hialeah, Hollywood, Jacksonville, Lakeland, Miami, Miramar, Orlando, Pembroke Pines, St. Petersburg, Tallahassee, Tampa, The Keys, West Palm Beach
Georgia
Athens, Atlanta
Hawaii
Honolulu
Idaho
Boise
Illinois
Bloomington, Chicago, Elgin, Joliet, Springfield,
Indiana
Gary, Indianapolis
Kansas
Kansas City, Olathe, Overland Park
Kentucky
Lexington, Louisville
Louisiana
Baton Rouge, Metairie, New Orleans
Maryland
Baltimore
Massachusetts
Boston, Cambridge, Lowell, Springfield, Worcester
Michigan
Clinton, Detroit, Flint, Grand_Rapids, Livonia, Sterling Heights, Warren
Minnesota
Minneapolis, Rochester
Mississippi
Jackson
Missouri
Columbia, Independence, Jefferson City, Kansas City, St. Louis
Nevada
Carson City, Henderson, Las Vegas, North Las Vegas, Paradise, Reno, Spring Valley, Sunrise Manor
New Jersey
Atlantic City, Elizabeth, Jersey City, Long Branch, Newark, New Brunswick, Ocean County, Trenton
New Mexico
Albuquerque
New York
Albany, Buffalo, Ithaca, Hamptons, New York, Rochester Syracuse, Watertown
North Carolina
Cary, Charlotte, Durham, Greensboro, Raleigh, Winston-Salem
Ohio
Akron, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo
Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, Tulsa
Oregon
Eugene, Portland
Pennsylvania
Allentown, Harrisburg, Northeast-Scranton, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh
Puerto Rico
Bayamon, Carolina, San Juan
Rhode Island
Providence
South Carloina
Columbia
Tennessee
Knoxville, Memphis, Nashville
Texas
Arlington, Austin, Beaumont, Bryan/College Station, Carrollton, Corpus Christi, Dallas, Fort Worth, Garland, Grand Prairie, Houston, Irving, Longview, McAllen, Mesquite, Pasadena, Plano, Richardson, San Antonio, Tyler, Victoria
Utah
Provo, Salt Lake City, West Valley
Virginia
Alexandria, Arlington, Newport News, Norfolk, Richmond
Washington
Bellevue, Bellingham, Mount Vernon, Olympia, Seattle, Tacoma, Vancouver
Wisconsin
Milwaukee

[kdarling]

That is just not true and yet I hear it repeated frequently. AT&T 3G covers 10s of millions of people in virtually every major center in the country and it's expanding rapidly.]


Exactly. Just another of many iPhone myths floating around, fed by poorly researched so-called news sites and blogs that mostly repeat each other's junk.

[Project]

The problem with the term 3G is that people seem to be lumping ALL 3G technologies and their accompanying speeds into it.


Regular, 384kbps "3G" or UMTS is not really faster than an iPhone with EDGE in reality.

HSDPA is generally much much faster though (typical speeds at the moment of 3.6 - 7.2mbps). So it is important to distinguish between the two.

An iPhone with your regular 3G speeds is meh to me. An iPhone with HSDPA is where things get interesting.

[Scorch07]

Yeah, a guy I know keep whining about this and talks about how he's not getting one until it comes with 3g and stuff. I just kind go, sure, whatever, I've still had mine for far longer and it doesn't bother me, but I snicker on the inside at his over anxiousness. I've heard so many people with 3g phones complaining about it not working, and frankly the ones I tried were not faster.

3G simply is not that big of a deal and is over-hyped, and yet again Apple was smart in knowing this and just keeping with what they know to be good technology.

[samiwas]

I can't believe this is even being entertained!

3G BLOWS EDGE out of the water. Put your iPhone on wifi, and browse the web. Notice a difference? Of course you do, and 3G is very VERY close to DSL speeds (I had a 3G [hone tethered to a PC and tested at 1024kb/sec).

It's funny how all of a sudden MMS, 3G, and A2DP mean nothing in fanboy-land. I LOVE my iPhone but I can admit to its flaws...

My favorite thing about statements such as the above is that if you aren't bothered by not having certain features, then you are automatically a fanboy. Like, if I don't care about MMS, then I am a fanboy. If, while I would rather have faster 3G speed, but EDGE is fine for now, then I am a fanboy. A2DP, well, I had to look that up to even know what it was.

Believe it or not, people, many people don't base their existence off their cell phone's features. Younger generations (damn, I sound like a parent now) seem much more "involved" with their cell phones than others. I can count on one hand the number of times I have wanted MMS for something. It might take two hands to count the number of times I've groaned with EDGE service. But, then again, I probably use my phone in one week as much as many cellfanboys do in a few hours. I got it for what it DID have. I didn't buy it THEN complain about what it didn't have. Oh, but I'm a fanboy.

Some people are hardcore phone users, most people are not.

[rayward]

maybe jobs should get better engineers then, all the other mobile phone companies are able to put 3g into thin handsets, and those handsets are not burning their users hands or ears.

Those thin handsets don't do anywhere near the stuff that the iPhone can do. And those 3G phones that come close to the iPhone are clunky and have an interface that's as advanced as a Rolodex.

[rayward]

Anyway, contrary to what most people will say on this forum, probably half of them will end up buying 3G iPhones when they finally come out and ditch their old Edge iPhones.

People who defend EDGE would not be hypocrites for buying a 3G iPhone. They aren't saying that 3G isn't an upgrade, just that EDGE isn't the dog's dinner that some make it out to be.

[stevearm]

Yeah, a guy I know keep whining about this and talks about how he's not getting one until it comes with 3g and stuff. I just kind go, sure, whatever, I've still had mine for far longer and it doesn't bother me, but I snicker on the inside at his over anxiousness. I've heard so many people with 3g phones complaining about it not working, and frankly the ones I tried were not faster.

3G simply is not that big of a deal and is over-hyped, and yet again Apple was smart in knowing this and just keeping with what they know to be good technology.

Oh please, how Apple fanboyish can you be!!!

3G is rated for up to 5-10 mb/s
EDGE is 230kb/s

3G blows EDGE out of the water.

3G simply is not that big of a deal and is over-hyped, and yet again Apple was smart in knowing this and just keeping with what they know to be good technology.

Then why is SJ talking about releasing a 3G iPhone next?

Funny for a phone that's supposedly "5 years ahead of the competition", they're mightly slow and joining the 3G revolution.

[Ryan1524]

If the EDGE speeds are close to 3G now, imagine what it can do ON 3G. Can't wait. :)

[TurboSC]

I dunno since day one I've always had trouble loading YouTube videos on my iPhone... it just seems so slow and bleh... especially when you want to show your friend a video randomly.

[Project]

Oh please, how Apple fanboyish can you be!!!

3G is rated for up to 5-10 mb/s
EDGE is 230kb/s

3G blows EDGE out of the water.



Then why is SJ talking about releasing a 3G iPhone next?

Funny for a phone that's supposedly "5 years ahead of the competition", they're mightly slow and joining the 3G revolution.

See this is where you show yourself up to not having a clue.

There are many different implementations of "3G". So you can't just say "up to 5-10mb/s". MOST 3G phones out there are limited to 384kbs. The phones that have HSDPA or EVDO can do the kind of speeds you are talking about, and have the informal moniker of 3.5G to distinguish the fact they are much faster than regular 3G. So again, the concensus that the value proposition on the iPhone is whether it is 3G or not is completely ridiculous. At least be specific in respect to which third gen implementation you are talking about.

Secondly, EDGE speeds depend on implementation.

4 timeslots = 238kbps maximum.
8 timeslots = 473kbps maximum. FASTER than your basic 3G (UMTS R99)