AT&T Announces One Million iPhone 4S Activations

[greytmom]

That is a LIE.

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Verizon's LTE is rock solid in downtown chicago. I recently switched back to att because of work, but I routinely got 16+ down inside of buildings where att showed no service.

Dude. If someone else is not having the same experience you are having with Verizon, does that make YOU a liar?

Come on, people. Different carriers offer different experiences to consumers, depending on things like location, features, etc. Those of you who are doing great on Verizon, fantastic. Those of you who are doing great on AT&T, fantastic.

I do not understand this whole carrier-bashing thing. Go with what works best for you.

 

[djrobsd]

Yeah I'm clamoring to have 1 bar of signal in my house and dropped calls all day long... Such a treat.

 

[Young Spade]

Yeah I'm clamoring to have 1 bar of signal in my house and dropped calls all day long... Such a treat.

Switch carriers and Stop complaining? If you have lived there longer than 2 years an have upgraded within that time, then you're making the wrong decisions.

If not, do research, ask people about the best coverage in your area, and then switch.

I fail to see why people complain about such a general, broad topic that impacts each of us differently.

 

[maricc]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

4G speeds? Laughable. Networks in Canada support 42 Mbps down theoretically. It's ashame the American networks are living in 2006.

 

[NupeSkyywalker]

Dude. If someone else is not having the same experience you are having with Verizon, does that make YOU a liar?

Come on, people. Different carriers offer different experiences to consumers, depending on things like location, features, etc. Those of you who are doing great on Verizon, fantastic. Those of you who are doing great on AT&T, fantastic.

I do not understand this whole carrier-bashing thing. Go with what works best for you.

I hear what you are saying but I am in no way carrier bashing. I just had to switch from verizon LTE to att for work and I can assure you that *in Chicago* Verizon LTE is definitely faster than att 3G.

 

[mjtomlin]

Right now, Verizon has the largest LTE network in the world, which is why some people were disappointed that the iPhone 4S didn't have 4G.

If anyone was disappointed they didn't see an LTE iPhone, then they are ignorant.

There is a reason mobile phones have become so damned large this year and a lot of it has to do with the space required to support LTE - and nothing to do with people wanting larger displays, which is how the carriers are playing this off as.

Space is needed to make larger batteries and for LTE chipsets which currently require separate silicon for voice and data.

Neither of these is an option in a phone the size of the iPhone. According to Anandtech, LTE support small enough to fit in the iPhone won't start production until summer of next year... Which means the iPhone 5 will arrive sometime around September.


Link to Anandtech article on the matter...
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4925/why-no-lte-iphone-5-blame-28nm-maturity

 

[darkslide29]

If anyone was disappointed they didn't see an LTE iPhone, then they are ignorant.

There is a reason mobile phones have become so damned large this year and a lot of it has to do with the space required to support LTE - and nothing to do with people wanting larger displays, which is how the carriers are playing this off as.

Space is needed to make larger batteries and for LTE chipsets which currently require separate silicon for voice and data.

Neither of these is an option in a phone the size of the iPhone. According to Anandtech, LTE support small enough to fit in the iPhone won't start production until summer of next year... Which means the iPhone 5 will arrive sometime around September.


Link to Anandtech article on the matter...
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4925/why-no-lte-iphone-5-blame-28nm-maturity

Well said. It's purely an issue with the size of the LTE chip and battery concerns. I'm pretty sure the current LTE chip would not fit in the current iPhone casing - the case would have to be made slightly thicker.

4.65" Nexus Prime?! My goodness! Apple may go a little bigger I guess, but I hope they stick around 3.8-4.0 inches tops. I don't really want to see 4.3 or 4.5 inches.

I saw an android phone on the train yesterday that was huge. I really think I could lay my entire iPhone on their screen and still not cover up the entire screen. I was also wondering if it would even fit in my pocket. Non-issue for this owner, who placed it in her purse.

 

[acslater017]

Current 4G chipsets suck power like crazy; so I understand Apple's design choice to not include it in the 4S.

But to boast about it and say, "Customers are choosing us because we're twice as fast as the competitors" is just a load of BS. The iPhone 4S doesn't have 4G, and neither does AT&T, really. Hopefully the next iPhone has 4G/LTE, cuz I'm looking to switch to Verizon soon.

 

[inkswamp]

HAHA!!

Too bad speeds are closer to 0.03Mbps down 0.01Mbps up in the DC area...!

Over 7 tests this week, my highest download speed has been 0.88Mbps. Today, I tried 4 times and it's been between 0.01-0.03Mbps down.

Using the speedtest.net app.

Once again, those of you in the few congested, big cities where AT&T's service sucks have to understand that your experience is not typical for those of us in the rest of the country. Outside your bubbles, AT&T's service is excellent and generally the same or better than their competitors.

 

[Seiga]

Current 4G chipsets suck power like crazy; so I understand Apple's design choice to not include it in the 4S.

But to boast about it and say, "Customers are choosing us because we're twice as fast as the competitors" is just a load of BS. The iPhone 4S doesn't have 4G, and neither does AT&T, really. Hopefully the next iPhone has 4G/LTE, cuz I'm looking to switch to Verizon soon.

This is a common misconception on 4G as it has improved with the 3 latest phones. If you notice, phones like the Bionic have a longer talk time even with 4G enabled without the need of an extended battery than compared to the Thunderbolt which was initially released. It also has that very long talk time that is greater than the iPhone 4S in a difference of 10 hours vs. 8 with the iPhone.

With that being said, I own both, the new iPhone and Bionic and I can say that the Bionic does have a longer battery life. Now, if I use Teathering on the Bionic, forget about it. Drains like a thirsty marathon runner after receiving a cup of water.

 

[FreakinEurekan]

phones like the Bionic have a longer talk time even with 4G enabled without the need of an extended battery than compared to the Thunderbolt which was initially released. It also has that very long talk time that is greater than the iPhone 4S in a difference of 10 hours vs. 8 with the iPhone.

Talk time has nothing to do with 4G, though. You aren't talking on the LTE network. The Droid Bionic is half-again larger than the iPhone 4 / 4S in volume, it SHOULD have a good talk time with all that space for battery. How is its data usage time?

Drains like a thirsty marathon runner after receiving a cup of water.

Exactly

 

[MachAF]

we considered verizon but then you couldn't talk and surf the web at the same time... that's a no-go for us. In addition the AT&T peeps grandfathered us in on our unlimited data plan and $5 text plan even with our new contract for the 4S... that sealed the deal in a big way! Had the 3GS before and on the same network here in the north florida boondocks I'm easily getting 2x-2.5x the speed in network test... still not amazing speed but good enough for what I do!

Well with AT&T the call will drop anyway, so there is no point in braggin about being able to surf and talk at the same time.

 

[sdwill1978]

I think you still have a number of people who are grandfathered into the unlimited plans with AT&T. Those who were under contract with the 3G/3GS who have kept their phone w/o renewing their contract still have the unlimited plan and probably do not want to be faced with restrictions or additional fees.

 

[Gman 2007]

Pre-order hell

I wonder how many more would have been activated if they actually SHIPPED their pre-orders!!! There are still quite a few customers without their 'pre-order.' In many cases, AT&T REFUSES to cancel these FAKE pre-orders even if you are in an AT&T store with the exact phone you ordered IN STOCK! Crazy. And yet NO ONE is reporting on this.

I am one of those in AT&T’s pre-order hell and am thinking that Verizon’s customer service might be a better way to go. I can not believe how unprofessional AT&T has been. It also speaks volumes when a company favors in store traffic over existing customers - unbelievable!!!!!!

 

[Young Spade]

I am one of those in AT&T’s pre-order hell and am thinking that Verizon’s customer service might be a better way to go. I can not believe how unprofessional AT&T has been. It also speaks volumes when a company favors in store traffic over existing customers - unbelievable!!!!!!

You're overreacting and you don't know what you're talking about. Stop, think about what happened, think about what you're saying, and then state how you feel.

You didn't get a phone. On launch. Big whoop. It's what, 1-2 weeks out? And you're throwing a fit and talking about switching carriers.

I think as a community here at MacRumors, we should grow up a bit. Pre order hell? All I did was click a few times and enter my credit card info. And then drank some coffee because I ddid this at 745am on Friday, and still got my phone day 1.

 

[amberashby]

I'm a long time ATT customer that just switched to Verizon. Everyone should just get whats best for them in "their" area. The ATT network is simply overloaded in my area. I averaged 1 dropped call a day. Data would often just come to a halt (even with 3 or 4 bars) I assuming due to congestion.

Its only been a week on Verizon but no dropped calls and the data access is super consistent no matter where I am or what time of day.

 

[srowndedbyh2o]

I think we got it. Your phone has been delayed and you are being screwed. I have seen this same post from you like 4 other times.

Hey citi. Thanks for the Love. Glad to know someone is following my posts so intimately

248 pages and counting

 

[vitzr]

If not for AT&T, Apple wouldn't have as many phones activated as they do.

Apple went to Verizon first, they said no way. Apple wanted too much money and lopsided terms that heavily favored Apple.

Next they went to AT&T and worked out a deal. AT&T was willing to take the risk and accept Apples terms.

Kudo's to AT&T, they helped Apple make history.

What a success story. AT&T is one excellent carrier.

Apple is very fortunate to be partnered with AT&T.

 

[marksman]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

4G speeds? Laughable. Networks in Canada support 42 Mbps down theoretically. It's ashame the American networks are living in 2006.

Yeah I can't wait until we get 50 mb data caps and 3 year contracts. That will be awesome to be like canada.... The only country that has worse policies for cell phone owners than the US>

 

[nonunderling]

It's going to be two less activations if they can't help me port numbers from different markets to the same family plan. WTF is this, 2005?

For ATT, porting numbers is ridiculously dumb. Here's what to do:

Assume you buy an ATT phone in NYC where you live. The number you want to port in is a New Orleans area code. When you buy the phone in NYC they will assign you a local area code. SO- get ATT to change your number to a RANDOMLY assigned New Orleans number. To do this, they need a local NOLA billing address. Once they assign you a randon NOLA number, you can proceed to port your local NOLA number into your new account that was initiated in NYC.

This is what I had to do a few years ago when I had ATT. It's possible that you're average ATT rep won't know how do to this but I assure you this is how it's done, so press on.

 

[macwhack143]

So far so good...

I live in Westchester County New York ( Approximately twenty minutes outside of NYC ).

I made the switch to At&t from Verizon with the launch of the first iPhone in 2007.

Although I still believe that Verizon may have better service regarding phone calls I would say that my overall experience with At&t hasn't been bad.

Interestingly enough, I had been experience a sharp drop in the quality of phone service pertaining to dropped calls over the past six months.

In fairness I have to mention that I had been using an iPhone 3G until receiving the new iPhone 4S ( Which I am now convinced that if it were not completely the problem, certainly it was a big factor ).

I had been without a contract, and I was seriously considering returning to Verizon Wireless but I like the idea of being able carry my unused minutes over to the next month.

At&ts' customer service is very good as well.

Since receiving my new iPhone 4S last Friday I'm happy to say that I have not had a single problem regarding dropped calls or phone service in any way.

The clarity of sound during calls blows away my old 3G.

( I now regret not upgrading from the 3G to newer phone sooner ).

In any event, so far I'm happy that I have decided to stay with At&t.

 

[imola.zhp]

I'm never going back to AT&T, this is coming from a real person who was with them for 13 years and switched in May...

Terrible customer service, terrible reception, always dropping calls, just terrible all around. I was at a UT vs UofM game in Memphis last November and NO ONE with ATT had service. One idiot said "I don't care, I have an iPhone, it doesn't matter if I can't use it right now." WTF ever, I was about to flush mine down the toilet I was so pissed. Meanwhile, everyone with Verizon had perfectly capable, working, service...

I started taking a screen shot once daily of one of MANY dropped calls and posting it on ATT's FB page. They didn't like that too much. Truth hurts!

 

[Seiga]

Talk time has nothing to do with 4G, though. You aren't talking on the LTE network. The Droid Bionic is half-again larger than the iPhone 4 / 4S in volume, it SHOULD have a good talk time with all that space for battery. How is its data usage time?



Exactly

Re-read what I wrote on Data. I said teathering not actual data usage on the device. Teathering will always drain battery life. Even on the iPhone.