Latest iPhone 2.0 Firmware Has 3G On/Off Option

[boer]

From the article: "Also of interest is that due to the higher 3G power consumption, Apple is giving users an option to fall back to EDGE speeds in order to prolong battery life. "

I have to spoil the fun but this is a standard feature in all 3G phones. It would be silly from Apple not to provide this option as the difference in battery life is significant.

 

[MacsAttack]

ok, ok, i agree on the replaceable battery stuff, but how about the other part of my post? I'm sure Apple can investigate more and produce some kind of magical battery that last more time, i mean, they could do an amazing phone from scratch...

As has been said, Apple don't make batteries. They use off-the-shelf tech (i.e. sony for the current notebooks I believe). While Apple could theoretically produce its own high performance batteries the cost would be very high very high. And that would be passed on to the customer.

Apple (like any other company) exists to make money for its shareholders. The means by which Apple has chosen to do this is by selling people things like iPods, OS X, Macs, and the iPhone. They pick a price point. Factor in a reasonable margin, and that gives them a budget for the components and costs of putting a product together. A perfect example is the status of LED backlit displays. There are some very nice 20, 24 and 30 inch panels produced by Samsung that would be fantastic in iMacs and perhaps as a refresh for the ACDs. Problem is that the displays using them are about twice as expensive as the current range of ACD. Apple could provide its customers with a stunning upgrade - but because (once you lump in that margin on top of the high price of the component) they would have an upgraded product that would blast right past their current price points and nobody would buy it. When the prices come down some Apple will go with these (or equivalent) panels. Eventually.

So - Apple could possibly find (or develop) a better battery for the iPhone form factor. But because it messes with their pricing model they will just stick with an off-the-shelf solution so that people will be able to buy their product. If you thought the whining about the iPhone's price is bad now...

The presence of the 3G on/off option is a logical one for all the same reasons why you can turn WiFi on and off. It does suggests that the power draw is higher (which would be expected - even if one of the fancy new low power 3G chips were being used). Of course it may turn out to be something that was put in for testing and development and it will not be enabled in the final release either

 

[dante@sisna.com]

If you want to get screwed then go for it. Remember, if everyone pitches in to pay the bill every month OR if you alternate on paying the bill every month there is a chance that one of your friends won't pay. OR one of your friends will run the bill up when it isn't there turn to pay.

I am sure somebody will try to convince you otherwise, but it's really just common sense NOT to get your friends in on something that can ruin your credit, or leave you without a phone.

Just think, some people do it with the rent and electric bills, think about how screwed they get.

Amen, Laughing out Loud on this one. I can see this as a fantastic way to destroy friendships for sure.

 

[PowerFullMac]

"Using 3G loads data faster, but decreases battery life."

This would be better written as:

"Turning 3G on allows for faster data transfer but decreases the iPhone's battery life."

I changed parts for clarity and eliminated the comma because the second clause has no new subject.

But you forget how Apple refers to the iPhone like its someones name.

For example "Thank you for purchasing iPhone" instead of "Thank you for purchasing the iPhone" or "Thank you for giving us your money for the next 18 months"

EDIT: And Dan9794, you need to learn about jailbreaking and pwning

 

[garybUK]

What I get from this setting is that Apple is giving you the ability to conserve power for Data only - e.g. use HSDPA (on) or EDGE (off).

However, this then poses a new question - is the iPhone 2 still a GSM phone with 3G data capability? This then would still limit the marketability of the new iPhone 2 into countries like Japan (where there is no GSM) or remote areas like outside Australian cities (where GSM is not available, but Telstra's NextG is on UMTS / WCDMA).

So, is the new iPhone still GSM, or will it support UMTS / WCDMA instead of GSM for Voice? Time will tell if Apple has really made a true 3G / 3.5G device (Voice and Data), or GSM with 3G data. I personally would be disappointed if it were the latter ...

Basically they have 2 radios, GSM 2/2.5G radio for calls et. al. and UMTS/WCDMA 3G radio, which is the European standard for 3G and is usually deployed along side the GSM networks. But most European networks are already on HSDPA also known as 3.5G (7.2mbps on Vodafone, 2.8mbps on T-Mobile, 1.8mbps on O2 & 3)

All these cheap mobile broadband packages that are being advertised now from all the mobile networks is based on HSDPA.

One thing apple is going to have to do though, in the EU & Aus we use the band 2100 for UMTS but thats not allowed in the USA so they are going to have to put a Quad Band radio for 2G and Tri Band 3G Radio in there.

 

[puercaeli]

No HSDPA?

HSDPA requires more battery than normal 3G right?

Does that mean Apple is not going to include HSDPA
since 3G itself will be too much of a battery use?

Hope Apple includes HSDPA
[I am aware of the fact that HSDPA is sort of 3G and
that Apple is planning to include the baseband chip with
HSDPA support]

 

[cisco1138]

This, no doubt is going to make Safari more snappier! no?

 

[hppy29]

The switch is good idea... in the UK i have just got o2 mobile broadband that moves from 3g, edge ect based on the best signal... but there is a few good reasons for it....

Why let your phone search for a signal in a country that doesnt have 3g and use more battery searching more often for it.

Also if you go to another country just like data roaming at the moment it cost a fortune. If you travel somewhere that has a 3g roaming agreement this too would cost huge amounts.. maybe this is another way of switching it off to ensure you just have a phone service and dont rack up huge bills.

Or maybe the switch is just a trick to get us all excited lol

 

[Zwhaler]

nice nice. But I was hoping that 3G wouldn't have too much of an effect on battery life. I guess we'll see in the tests.

 

[Matthew Yohe]

To make the button less confusing for some people, Apple should just do this:

 

[Diode]

I don't see what everyone is making a big fuss about.

They give you the option currently to turn both WIFI and edge off to improve battery life ... why not have the option to turn 3G off as well?

Furthermore what if WITH 3G on the battery life is comparable to WITH edge on now?

Then turning off 3G will just give you better life then the current iphone.

Steve's not stupid ... I will assume the new phone will get either comparable or better battery life then the current phone.

 

[joeshell383]

They pick a price point. Factor in a reasonable margin, and that gives them a budget for the components and costs of putting a product together.

You made WAY to many assumptions in your post. You have know idea what Apple is looking into or any of that. Additionally, Apple is certainly not afraid to put expensive tech in their products and pass them to the consumers that want them (SSD MBA).

Anyway, one thing I wanted to point out is that there are MANY different approaches to setting prices, and most companies do NOT use the method you described. In fact, pricing is usually one of the very last decisions made when bringing a new product to market.

 

[MacFly123]

That's a confusing switch. Does "off" means it's off now, or will be if you slide the switch to the right where the word "off" is written?

As awesome as Apple is, I think the way they word those slider switches is kind of confusing too! Even if it just said 3G ON/OFF, instead of Enable 3G, it would be much more clear.

It is even more confusing on the parental controls. Enable, Disable, On, Off, Allow, WHAT??????!?!?!

 

[Diode]

Basically they have 2 radios, GSM 2/2.5G radio for calls et. al. and UMTS/WCDMA 3G radio, which is the European standard for 3G and is usually deployed along side the GSM networks. But most European networks are already on HSDPA also known as 3.5G (7.2mbps on Vodafone, 2.8mbps on T-Mobile, 1.8mbps on O2 & 3)

All these cheap mobile broadband packages that are being advertised now from all the mobile networks is based on HSDPA.

One thing apple is going to have to do though, in the EU & Aus we use the band 2100 for UMTS but thats not allowed in the USA so they are going to have to put a Quad Band radio for 2G and Tri Band 3G Radio in there.

AT&T has HSDPA in the States so I wouldn't see why it wouldn't be included in the iphone.

 

[Boika]

All 3g phones allow you to switch between 3g and edge. Its not because of battery life etc. Its because the 3g iphone will be replacing the current iphone, SO what about the places who don't have 3g? how will they be able to have an iphone? Easy apple make a phone that can be both edge and 3g, it saves making 2 different products and money / labor etc... All 3g phones have it. Its not a battery thing its just so it can be used in any country...

 

[sebastianlewis]

Couldn't they have called a vague term like "3G" something more specific like I dunno... "HSPA" because calling it "3G" just groups it in with competing technology like EVDO, or confuses it with EDGE (at it's higher speeds).

Sebastian

 

[mickhyperion]

I'm pretty ambivalent about this whole 3G thing anyway. Even with Wi-Fi, I wouldn't exactly say the current iPhone loads Safari pages quickly, so just how fast are people expecting pages to load with the slower 3G? (Slower than Wi-Fi, faster than Edge.) I'm looking forward to other improvements with the new iPhone and if a more powerful processor and more memory (as opposed to storage!) are among them, then we may actually see some speed improvements all around, 3G or not. If not, how really worth it is 3G if it's going to suck the life out of the battery?

 

[Matthew Yohe]

Also, anyone complaining about battery life, or battery doors for replacements should just get one of these: http://www.mophie.com/collections/batteries

There is no sense in Apple building in a feature that the majority won't use.

 

[sebastianlewis]

I'm pretty ambivalent about this whole 3G thing anyway. Even with Wi-Fi, I wouldn't exactly say the current iPhone loads Safari pages quickly, so just how fast are people expecting pages to load with the slower 3G? (Slower than Wi-Fi, faster than Edge.) I'm looking forward to other improvements with the new iPhone and if a more powerful processor and more memory (as opposed to storage!) are among them, then we may actually see some speed improvements all around, 3G or not. If not, how really worth it is 3G if it's going to suck the life out of the battery?

WiFi really depends on a number of other factors, the main ones being how fast your base connection is (even with an average throughput of 76 mbps in N, your connection is only as fast as your service from your ISP, so if you have FiOS that's 30 Mbps, an average connection in the US is about 1.9 Mbps and as low as 300 Kbps) and how much interference you have (either from other WiFi networks in your area or from your own hardware).

Right now AT&T's HSPA (under the name BroadbandConnect) offers a 3.6 or 7.2 Mbps (HSDPA can offer up to 14.4 Mbps down, but I'm not sure which one AT&T has, probably the slowest one at the moment) connection but they only offer 700 Kbps down, which is fairly competitive with DSL if you have a 300-768 Kbps connection. They could theoretically boost the speed in time for the HSPA iPhone launch maybe doubling it to 1.5 Mbps down making it even more competitive with someone's own WiFi network, but as to whether they will or not, who knows, I'm guessing no since they're taking the time to give iPhone users access to their WiFi hotspots.

Sebastian

 

[Analog Kid]

Just reading these forums for a few years really gives you sympathy for product marketing types. The first iPhone comes out and everyone screams that it doesn't support 3G, and that nothing could be more important. Then the 3G rumors start and everyone screams that it's going to drain their battery faster. Half the time when there's a disagreement about features, someone jumps in saying "just make it an option". Now Apple adds a switch and people don't like that either...

i'm sure this has been said a zillion times already, but couldn't apple just make their batteries user replaceable? it's not like the design or security of the device would have to suffer

That simple change would effect just about every part of the iPhone design-- from the form factor to the software.

wow, have you ever used a lightswitch? (much less an iphone?)

Have you ever used a sideways light switch with no bulb? Certainly wouldn't give me enough confidence to lick my finger and stick it in the socket...

I'm sure Apple can investigate more and produce some kind of magical battery that last more time, i mean, they could do an amazing phone from scratch...

Apple won't be able to out do existing battery makers without a huge investment-- the kind of investment that would never pay off unless the started selling batteries to others. Once they start selling batteries to others, there's no competitive advantage in doing it themselves. Battery companies are full of experts that are going as fast as they can. Apple's better off relying on a competitive marketplace.

Can please put iPhone Rumors in Page 2. This should be it because everyone now knows the there will be a 3G iPhone. I wanna hear rumors about the Macs or the iPods.

This kind of complaint never made sense to me... It's not like MR only has a single story on the main page. There are plenty of stories I never read, and even the ones that I do never take more than a minute or two to peruse. In any event, the rumors you want are there. Use your scroll bar.

nice nice. But I was hoping that 3G wouldn't have too much of an effect on battery life. I guess we'll see in the tests.

3G will always pull more power than EDGE simply because of the amount of radio power required to push that many bits. They can make the chip sets more efficient, but they still need to put more energy into the air.

 

[Analog Kid]

To make the button less confusing for some people, Apple should just do this:

So tell me-- in the mode the switch is currently in, is 3G on or off? Up usually means on, but down would put it in the "3G" position...

I think it would be better if it really worked like house lights where your switch and the one in the GUI worked together like an XOR.

Anyway, one thing I wanted to point out is that there are MANY different approaches to setting prices, and most companies do NOT use the method you described. In fact, pricing is usually one of the very last decisions made when bringing a new product to market.

What companies have you worked for? When we set out to design something, we're told up front what price we have to hit. It trumps just about everything else. Not just the price today, but we need to know how that price is going to go down next quarter and the quarter after that, etc. Can't hit the price? Don't bother designing it.

 

[DB2k]

it would be easy to make that option only show up if the phone had a uSim in it as opposed to a normal sim card

 

[Mackan]

In the end it is only interesting to see the battery life when using 3G.

 

[MacinJosh]

I was thinking the same thing. I hope Apple either gets a better battery for it, or finds a way to increase the battery life. There is no point in having a new and advanced iPhone 2.0 that doesn't have 3G and still runs on the slow as molasses EDGE network.



You can trust your friends, it's just a bad idea to trust them with your credit or with your phone service. Especially if they are personally don't mind not paying some thing on time.

A few friends of mine wanted to get together and rent a cheap party house, and we would all pitch in for the rent.... f*c* that. So the other three could just bail and leave me with the bill, especially if it was in my name!

I don't know why Apple chose to use lithium-ion batteries when lithium-polymer batteries offer better battery life in a smaller package.

 

[ZiRo]

I expect the battery life to be poor =/ not being any better than the current iPhone's. Putting in this kind of option definitely ensures that 3G will be very consuming so Apple's reasoning for not releasing the iPhone with 3G was a lie. They could have released it now and then and the battery would have probably been the same.

I agree. They cited battery consumption of 3g chips as the reason that 3g wasn't included in v1. Now v2 has 3g and a warning saying 'will decrease battery life'.

To be honest, I'd rather have the choice in v1 - now i'm tied into a 18 month contract on my old 2g iphone and will be expected to shell out full price of the 3g equivalent.

It's a nice phone, but i've been there done that - I'm not shelling out again for 3g - I'll just buy a certain nokia next time. I might revisit the iphone when it has caught up and/or overtaken other phones on the market.

I'm sorry, but I'd expect to have paid for 3g last year. Not this year. This year i'd expect to be paying for GPS or something.

No-doubt apple will do that one next year.