Apple Announces iPhone 3G

[roisin and mac]

excellent prices - now who wants an 2nd hand Touch ?

Jully 11th is iPhone 3g WorldWide Day

hehe, I do, if it's cheap!

Seriously, these things are fantastic! An iphone's not for me, since I barely ever use my current cell, be kinda like giving an L-plate driver a Porsche, but I'm sure glad it's finally here for y'all who were looking forward to it so anxiously all those months! The white one is just... I'm speechless lol, it's the bee's knees is all I can say *drool*

Ah well, be nice if they made a touch I could use outside of wifi networks, then I'd be set too!

 

[smueboy]

I'm bummed about the camera: 3-5 megapix is the standard on phones of this caliber now, many with flash and even optical zoom.

 

[gkarris]

I'm still not quite clear on this contract business. Even if they only allowed us to buy these in stores, can I go and activate through iTunes in the store even though I'm only 2 months into my AT&T contract?

For other phones, two prices are always listed, with renewal and without and those not eligible for renewals pay the higher price. But the iPhone as far as we know now only has one price so will they just tell me I can't buy any iPhone for another 16 months?

In T-Mobile, if you were subsidized, you can't get another subsidy for 2 years.

For AT&T, the old iPhones were NOT subsized, so I think you will eligible for one - the new contract starts 2 years after you get the new phone...

 

[mavis]

The Touch pricing now makes Zero sense. Why would anyone spend $299 on a 8GB Touch when they could buy a $199 8GB iPhone, hack it to work without activation, and enjoy the GPS and camera?

Because the $199 is WITH A TWO YEAR CONTRACT. It's subsidized by AT&T. The Touch is not.

 

[BongoBanger]

The Touch pricing now makes Zero sense. Why would anyone spend $299 on a 8GB Touch when they could buy a $199 8GB iPhone, hack it to work without activation, and enjoy the GPS and camera?

The iPod Touch doesn't come with an expensive two year contract.

 

[Stuipdboy1000]

It looks so shiny in the advert. Will definitely be getting one. July 11th can't come soon enough.

 

[kungming2]

It doesn't say "Coming Soon" it says to go to an actual store...

They need you in person to sign the contract....

I still don't think so. Look at how many people go to the Apple Store to buy iPhones... Imagine having to help each one of them fill out a contract.... That's impossible. Maybe not for AT&T, but certainly for Apple.

 

[alexandr]

No More Dock?

it's no longer included in the kit? Grrr..

 

[collegedu3]

They're probably using the education discount to get rid of the Touches and introduce a new, cheaper one in September. Just like last year's nano.

So apple is going to shamelessly continue to sell iPod touch's at a higher price than the iPhone all summer?

When the iPod touches are more expensive than the iPhones, Apple patrons will have little motivation to buy an iPod touch when they can buy an iPhone for 100 dollars less. So, if Apple didn't start selling the iPod Touch's at lower prices, they would essentially stop all sales of their iPod touch product for a good portion of the financial quarter. 'Clearing the shelves' is not a powerful enough of a reason to rationalize higher iPod Touch prices.

 

[scotty56]

at&t website is down for "maintenance" must be getting swamped with people trying to find out how much more expensive the iphone plans will be

 

[nicpec]

Keyboard

will the keyboard turn horizontal when writing text messages? Also, I saw something about cut and paste with MS office docs but what about cut and paste from the web?

 

[dpfenninger]

Thinner??

I've noticed that MacRumors is noting that the 3G model is thinner, but according to the specs:

2G: 0.46 in. (11.6 mm)
3G: 0.48 in. (12.3 mm)

Not that it matters much, as I will be buying the 3G one as soon as I can get my grubby little hands on one! Amazing, actually, that they managed to squeeze in 3G, GPS, and better battery life into it and only sacrificed a couple hundredths of an inch.

 

[gkarris]

Suddenly, the $299 student discount for the iPod Touch doesn't look very meaningful anymore with an iPhone for $199. Granted you don't need a cell phone plan but still.

I wonder if there is going to be a Touch discount or redesign soon.

iPhone $199, plus a 2 year AT&T contract, and probably a $200 early termination fee if you don't want the cell phone service.

 

[appleguru1]

I'm lazy and have no intention of reading the entire thread atm... but.. Any word yet on wether upgrading will be allowed, and if so, how? Presumably you'd be able to pay the $199 "subsidized" price and upgrade to the 3g iphone by extending your contract 2 more years. Any word yet on pricing without extending the current contract?

 

[milaround]

It doesn't say "Coming Soon" it says to go to an actual store...

They need you in person to sign the contract....

Stop making up words that don't exist. It's confusing and misleading. It doesn't state anywhere to "go to an actual store." Use some common sense. It would be daft for Apple to release the iPhone through retail stores only.

 

[thaitillidie]

plastic vs paper

so are these phones aluminium, or black/white plastic?

lol @ "is it plastic or aluminum?"

Dude, at $199 what do you think? I mean really!

 

[Maui]

JULY 11th??????

Is anyone as pissed about this as I am? I have been waiting for 3 months, anticipating this more than anything.

and now I have to wait another month??????

This is ridiculous. Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to get one. But come on, JULY 11TH?????????

I heard it got delayed to July 11 so they could invent a question mark key that wouldn't get stuck and repeat like crazy.

 

[babyj]

I WOULDN'T TRUST THAT PHONE!!!

...I've seen Doctor Who. That corporate corridor and display room are curiously similar to Cybermen/Sontaran corporations. The iPhone 3G is an obvious cover for techno-death.

I was thinking the same thing about the iPhone / iPod a few weeks back. When you consider how many are use worldwide, pretty much all of which are connected to iTunes regularly it is the perfect way to implement mass mind control to take over the world.

A bit scary when you think about it.

 

[extraextra]

The Touch pricing now makes Zero sense. Why would anyone spend $299 on a 8GB Touch when they could buy a $199 8GB iPhone, hack it to work without activation, and enjoy the GPS and camera?

I agree, I don't understand the logic behind it.

 

[BigPrince]

So apple is going to shamelessly continue to sell iPod touch's at a higher price than the iPhone all summer?

When the iPod touches are more expensive than the iPhones, Apple patrons will have little motivation to buy an iPod touch when they can buy an iPhone for 100 dollars less. So, if Apple didn't start selling the iPod Touch's at lower prices, they would essentially stop all sales of their iPod touch product for a good portion of the financial quarter. 'Clearing the shelves' is not a powerful enough of a reason to rationalize higher iPod Touch prices.

But the touch does not come with a contract...

 

[Twinnie]

Agreed. I wonder if a 3rd party application could offer this feature. Anyone?

MMS requires it's own radio so it's a hardware feature. There might be internet applications out there which could emulate it by routing it through a host like how you can send SMS messages for free on the net but it'd never be proper MMS.

It doesn't say "Coming Soon" it says to go to an actual store...

They need you in person to sign the contract....

They shouldn't need you in the store, I've bought contract phones over the internet before.

 

[studlybw]

Technically the first generation iPhones were subsidized because you had to sign a 2 year contract in order to activate the phone. You could buy it but you couldn't use it without a contract.
As far as why you would buy a 16GB Touch, you won't have to sign a contract with AT&T for 2 years just to listen to music and use the device.

I bought my 16GB first generation iPhone in February and I'm not at all disappointed that I did. This was one of the few times that I'm not lacking with the product after it's been updated.

3G faster speeds = great upgrade but I don't really "surf" the web on my iPhone and really only use it for email or using iPhone web apps. It's also gonna suck half of the battery life out of that thing, which can already be lacking at times.

GPS = good upgrade but if you already have a GPS in your car (and since it probably won't be talking) it's not all that useful unless you don't already have one.

New design = equal. I like the new design but it is prone to scratching and I like metal. I would buy everything in metal if I could. Seems sturdier.

2.0 software is going to be on both phones so that's a wash also.
Price is great on the new one but I've had mine for months now and I've gotten my money's worth on the phone already. All-in-all it's a good upgrade for those who don't have one already but not that big of a deal for those of us who do.

 

[Rocketman]

I just want to see Apple have a very detailed technical specification page and historical record of its "SIM ejector tool" and all its prior authorized uses.

Rocketman

 

[gkarris]

I still don't think so. Look at how many people go to the Apple Store to buy iPhones... Imagine having to help each one of them fill out a contract.... That's impossible. Maybe not for AT&T, but certainly for Apple.

The Apple Stores around here are still hiring...

 

[kungming2]

So apple is going to shamelessly continue to sell iPod touch's at a higher price than the iPhone all summer?

When the iPod touches are more expensive than the iPhones, Apple patrons will have little motivation to buy an iPod touch when they can buy an iPhone for 100 dollars less. So, if Apple didn't start selling the iPod Touch's at lower prices, they would essentially stop all sales of their iPod touch product for a good portion of the financial quarter. 'Clearing the shelves' is not a powerful enough of a reason to rationalize higher iPod Touch prices.

Perhaps not, but there's still a large amount of people who a) don't want to leave their current carrier or b) don't want to pay for a contract. Maybe we'll see a price drop soon?