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i'm a bit confused iphone 3.0?
- Thread starter saccento
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jav6454
macrumors Core
3.0 is a software update.
There is also rumors of a new iPhone coming out, but its just that rumors. People nickname it iPhone 3.0.
To help differentiate between the two, I like to call the hardware revision of the iPhone, 2nd Gen iPhone 3G.
TuffLuffJimmy
macrumors G3
speculation! This is MacRumors. Although if you read the threads there is quite a bit of support for said speculation.
dejo
Moderator emeritus
acfusion29
macrumors 68040
Just curious... do you just expect a company to release upgrades to their products once every 5 years?
The Californian
macrumors 68040
Eh, that's kind of selfish of you. Are you mad that any other company makes more than one phone every two years? Motorola, Blackberry and Nokia make several phones a year.
QuarterSwede
macrumors G4
The Californian
macrumors 68040
kas23
macrumors 603
Lusting over an iPhone? I guess that applies to some on here, but jealousy is definitely at play here.
To the OP: technology (especially with cellphones) moves at a very fast pace. Apple has to keep their product relatively up to date for it to be competitive. Secondly, Apple is in the business to make money. If Apple could, they would probably put out a new iPhone every 3-4 months because there is a segment of the society that needs to have the latest and greatest. The more new models Apple introduces, the more money they will make. Look at 3G sales right now, they are running stale - Apple needs to introduce something new to keep up the hype.
kas23
macrumors 603
This is just the way the cookie crumbles. It's no different than any other phone out there. If you wanted to, you still could sell your 3G when the new one comes out and then buy the new one for full price.
Apple should have put in their exclusive contract wording that AT&T could only sign people up to 1 year contracts. This would have allowed people to re-up with a shiny new iPhone each year (just imagine the money rolling into Cupertino then). AT&T probably wouldn't have liked this idea too much though.
The Californian
macrumors 68040
Actually one could argue that the contract saves you money up front. That would be like a satellite TV provider giving you a 62" LCD for $399 when you sign up for service and you being mad that you have to pay full price for a new TV if you want one before your contract is up.
This is also why a lot of people prefer to buy their phones out right and never sign a contract. I was out of contract for 8 years with Sprint before switching to AT&T for the iPhone and I had incredible bargaining power with my monthly rate, I just always had to fork out extra dough for a phone whenever I wanted one, but ultimately I saved a lot more money.
I suspect a new phone in addition to 3.0 software. But anything is possible.
I don't quite agree. If you're producing a new phone every 3-4 months you're spending more on R&D, production costs like tooling, and potential inventory issues where you run out of some models and have excess of others resulting in the need to have "buy one, get one free" sales...
Even at once a year, Apple is still having to clear out the old through sale pricing, carrier promotions and extended refurb swap offers.
I don't quite agree. If you're producing a new phone every 3-4 months you're spending more on R&D, production costs like tooling, and potential inventory issues where you run out of some models and have excess of others resulting in the need to have "buy one, get one free" sales...
Even at once a year, Apple is still having to clear out the old through sale pricing, carrier promotions and extended refurb swap offers.
It's quite different for Blackberry or Nokia to release mutiple new phones, because iPhones are replacements for the old models. Anyone that has experienced iPhoneOS 2.x on an original iPhone knows that as each major update in iPhoneOS will make the newer hardware much more preferable. Blackberrys, Motorolas, and Nokias don't have the same, and generally they don't release two completely competing phones (like the iPhone and iPhone 3G). These companies typically produce products that appeal to different demographics (think about it, the BB Storm doesn't appeal to those who value buttons, the Curve doesn't really appeal to the younger crowd, whereas the Pearl does).
However, it is utterly unrealistic to believe that Apple would stop making a new iPhone to keep up with the demand in increasing the capability of their operating system. They need to keep increasing at least the processing power and RAM to fit the 100 new features they've been advertising.
The Californian
macrumors 68040
You should really look at what those 100 new features are, then decide if more processing power is needed, haha. Yes, I would love more power, but those features aren't THAT big.
kas23
macrumors 603
Well, of course I was exaggerating with the 3-4 month bit. But, Apple certainly can't go 2 years without a refresh. They just wouldn't make the same kind of money as a more-frequent refresh would. I'm sure Apple did their homework and came up with the best time length to balance R&D costs, a product just losing it's hype/steam, and the rate of technological advances.