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I believe the OP clearly did.

I really don't see why you don't think so. I've explained it the best that I can already, so I've got no other way of putting it.
OK then lol. For the record turning OFF 3G by definition makes a comparison of "3G life" ridiculous since one is using 3G and the other is not. I don't think you have grasped that concept.



Michael
 
I believe the OP clearly did.

I really don't see why you don't think so. I've explained it the best that I can already, so I've got no other way of putting it.

Sorry if you misunderstood but I never said that 3G is worse on the 4s than it is on the 4, that would be absurd. What I am saying is that without the manual swtich option, there is higher risk of draining battery fast. The same issue goes for the 4. As a matter of fact, when the 4 came out there were lots of complaints about battery life. All of that pretty much disappeared once you forced the phone to avoid 3g.
There is another issue that no one mentions regarding 3G. If what I read is correct, the radiation emission on 3G is significantly higher than on 2G. This could have long term consequences.

----------

So return it then. No one is forcing you to keep it. The battery life on my 4S is much better than it was on my 4. And I live in an area that switches between E and 3G all the time. I have 0 battery life issues.

Done!
I feel a weight off my shoulder!!!
 
2 points some aren't getting

Some are questioning why some of us want to turn 3G off, and two points they are not getting:

1. WiFi is WAY faster than 3G, even 4G. If you have WiFi at work and at home, turning off 3G more than DOUBLES your battery life for talk time, and with WiFi, you still can talk and surf at the same time, and have Siri work great.

2. From Apple's website, iPhone 4 battery specs:

Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter
Talk time: Up to 7 hours on 3G, up to 14 hours on 2G (GSM)
Standby time: Up to 300 hours
Internet use: Up to 6 hours on 3G, up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi
Video playback: Up to 10 hours
Audio playback: Up to 40 hours

Notice the TALK TIME is 14 hours on 2G (Edge), vs 7 hours on 3G.

THIS IS WHY IPHONE 4S GSM USERS WANT THE OPTION TO TURN OFF 3G!

Also from Apple's website, the 4S specs:

Talk time: Up to 8 hours on 3G, up to 14 hours on 2G (GSM)

But Apple took away the option to put our iPhone 4Ss on 2G.

We would like it back!! It can be done, as someone on Apple's forums has done it.
 
The iPhone has plenty of battery life on 3G, it's just an issue of coverage and network availability, especially if you are on the edge of things (pun intended).
 
Some are questioning why some of us want to turn 3G off, and two points they are not getting:

1. WiFi is WAY faster than 3G, even 4G. If you have WiFi at work and at home, turning off 3G more than DOUBLES your battery life for talk time, and with WiFi, you still can talk and surf at the same time, and have Siri work great.

2. From Apple's website, iPhone 4 battery specs:

Built-in rechargeable lithium-ion battery
Charging via USB to computer system or power adapter
Talk time: Up to 7 hours on 3G, up to 14 hours on 2G (GSM)
Standby time: Up to 300 hours
Internet use: Up to 6 hours on 3G, up to 10 hours on Wi-Fi
Video playback: Up to 10 hours
Audio playback: Up to 40 hours

Notice the TALK TIME is 14 hours on 2G (Edge), vs 7 hours on 3G.

THIS IS WHY IPHONE 4S GSM USERS WANT THE OPTION TO TURN OFF 3G!

Also from Apple's website, the 4S specs:

Talk time: Up to 8 hours on 3G, up to 14 hours on 2G (GSM)

But Apple took away the option to put our iPhone 4Ss on 2G.

We would like it back!! It can be done, as someone on Apple's forums has done it.

Correction: You can't call anyone on WiFi!
 
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)

Someone was able to force 2G on the 4s? How's that?
 
I didn't use the option much, and wouldn't now, but I tended to turn off 3g when at a concert or sporting event. It allowed texts to come through quickly (as I always got a signal on the other network), when I couldn't get any lasting connection to 3g. Also, the constant switching to 3g when it could detect a network killed the phone in under eight hours.
 
i laugh at people defending why this is no longer needed... iPhone 3G-iPhone 4 it was a great run... that option was amazing and so much it saved me a lot of times... I didn't want or need 3G certain area and wanted my iPhone to last that much longer so having the option was great... now it's just strictly 3G... I am pissed myself.
 
OK then lol. For the record turning OFF 3G by definition makes a comparison of "3G life" ridiculous since one is using 3G and the other is not. I don't think you have grasped that concept.

Michael


Hmm. It's becoming very clear to me that you didn't understand any of my posts.

Sorry if you misunderstood but I never said that 3G is worse on the 4s than it is on the 4, that would be absurd.

Looking back I can see it was mostly travis64 who was saying that, and in fact you'll see he was the one I was originally responding too. You got wrapped up in all the back and forth postings because your posts were relevant, but I can see that you didn't really make that claim outright like travis did.

Sorry to pull you into it.
 
Last edited:
Correction: You can't call anyone on WiFi!
Correction: You CAN call anyone on wifi!

But "calling" via wifi was not what he was talking about. If you are on 2G and do not have wifi you cannot call and access internet at the same time. If you are on 2G and DO have wifi you can talk and access the internet. That was the point-- had nothing to do with using WiFi for calling.




Michael

----------

Hmm. It's becoming very clear to me that you didn't understand any of my posts.
Can only go by the words you wrote . If you meant different else perhaps write something different. You wrote "Yes... but the comment made was that 3G life on the 4S is worse than 3G life was on the 4" when no such comment was made so I honestly don't see what you are debating: it never happened.



Michael
 
The 4 also switched automatically, but you could switch 3G off to force it to only use Edge, which I DO miss. Apple specs for the iPhone 4 show DOUBLE the batter life using 2G (or Edge).

I like my 4S, but if you are on a weak 3G signal for voice on the ATT model, you can't force it off to 2G like you can with the 3G, the 3GS, and the 4 (ATT model only).

There is already an extensive thread on this subject on Apple's forums here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3389295?start=0&tstart=0

It now automatically detects when it has too weak of 3G signal to be useful and switches to edge...for example at the lions game over thanksgiving where 3G signal is strong but too many people were using it, my phone switched to edge in order to work. In years past with older iPhones I've had to do this manually

And battery life is twice as long for 3G TALK TIME, not having 3G on in standby/browsing/etc. when using 3G for talk, your voice is recorded in higher quality, and larger packets are sent over the network, thus using more battery
 
Untethered JB is close, one that's out, there should be (probably already is) a program on Cydia that can choose what network. I would also be nice to have the option to force 3G only to stop the bouncing back and forth- as long as you know what you're doing. In my above anecdote about forcing 2G, I later forced 3G so it didn't bounce, and then drove 5 miles up the road. I had to look at the phone realizing it had no service to realize I needed to switch back. Then I had five bars...
 
Correction: You CAN call anyone on wifi!

But "calling" via wifi was not what he was talking about. If you are on 2G and do not have wifi you cannot call and access internet at the same time. If you are on 2G and DO have wifi you can talk and access the internet. That was the point-- had nothing to do with using WiFi for calling.




Michael

Uh, yes, you can talk and use the web without WiFi on EDGE (2G), just not on CDMA networks because they don't have EDGE.
 
Uh, yes, you can talk and use the web without WiFi on EDGE (2G), just not on CDMA networks because they don't have EDGE.

Uh, WHAT??? First of all, EDGE doesn't support voice at all, it's the data add-on to GSM. Secondly, If there's a version of GSM/EDGE that supports simultaneous data, it is either:

A) Not used by AT&T Mobility in the United States

-or-

B) Consists of two iPhones, one against your head using GSM, and one in your hand using EDGE. Or maybe an iPhone and an old RAZR or something. :)
 
Some are questioning why some of us want to turn 3G off, and two points they are not getting:

Actually, I have different reasons for wanting the switch, and it has nothing to do with battery life.

Quite frankly, there are still lots of places on the AT&T network where 3G is spotty, and EDGE is more solid. It's slower, yes, but a slow, reliable data/voice network is often preferable to an unreliable, spotty data network that is only faster when conditions are ideal.

If you're in a fringe area for 3G, the baseband of most iPhones (particularly the 4S) will try to hold on to that spotty, unreliable 3G signal for as long as it possibly can before giving up and going to EDGE. As a result: calls will drop, data will stall, and your experience will be poor.

Prior to the 4S, those people who experienced this problem enjoyed the "luxury" of being able to go into their settings and force the iPhone to stick to EDGE. This would at least ensure that the iPhone isn't grasping at a useless, weak 3G signal and causing only aggravation in the process. Now, this can't be done apparently on the 4S.
 
Can only go by the words you wrote . If you meant different else perhaps write something different. You wrote "Yes... but the comment made was that 3G life on the 4S is worse than 3G life was on the 4" when no such comment was made so I honestly don't see what you are debating: it never happened.

Michael

1) Is this thread about how battery life on the 4S (using 3G) is worse than on the 4?

2) Is it a fact that the majority of 4 users ran and run their phone on 3G networks?




IF the answer to both of those is 'yes' then we're comparing 3G to 3G, as I said.

So I answered 'yes' to both of those questions. Clearly you think one of them is 'no,' but I don't know which one. Which question do you disagree with? That must be the answer...you don't agree with one of those questions, which is why we're not understanding each other. We disagree about what the thread is about, I guess.
 
THIS IS WHY a small but vocal subset of IPHONE 4S GSM USERS WANT THE OPTION TO TURN OFF 3G!

Fixed that for you.

Yes, for people who use it, it is very important. But it used by a very small number of people. I used it very occasionally. Do I miss it? A little. Is it a big deal? Not at all.
 
Uh, yes, you can talk and use the web without WiFi on EDGE (2G), just not on CDMA networks because they don't have EDGE.
Uh, no--not without two radios or two separate phones.

And for the record CDMA is better than EDGE in this respect as call signaling still works. So while using data on CDMA an incoming call will suspend it and the call will go through. This does not happen on EDGE--calls will go straight to voicemail if you are actively assessing EDGE data.



Michael

----------

1) Is this thread about how battery life on the 4S (using 3G) is worse than on the 4
No. At the very least read the subject line of this thread. It is not about battery life under 3G on the 4S being worse than on the 4. It is about having the option to force 3G off, as was possible in the past. No one compared 3G on the 4S to 3G on the 4. You seemingly have totally missed the point.

2) Is it a fact that the majority of 4 users ran and run their phone on 3G networks?
Non sequitur.



Michael
 
Bring back option to disable 3G!

Hey there

I too definitely would like to option to strictly use edge for battery life and for when 3G is weak. Yes I understand that the 4s does this automatically but having the software option to do it manually can be a must for some, the same with the mbp graphics cards. Even though it's great to talk about on the form if we want an official solution I would encourage everyone to submit this feedback to apple!

http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

It's the best way to get it back.
Thanks again!
 
Has anyone ever considered that maybe the new Qualcomm cell chip does not allow this functionality?

You are comparing the 4S, which uses the Qualcomm 6610 to all prior iPhones, which use Infineon cell chips. It's very possible that the Qualcomm chips don't allow individual disabling of the radios, and thus is not an "OMG Apple took mah switch away!!!11" situation.
 
Has anyone ever considered that maybe the new Qualcomm cell chip does not allow this functionality?
Not only considered but also mentioned it in this thread, right on page one (emphasis added):
I'm surprised that so many people don't understand why anyone would want this.

While it is indeed a fact that turning off 3G saves battery life it's more than that. In a fringe 3G area, but with a good EDGE signal, the iPhone 4S will almost always try to stay on 3G--even if it is barely adequate. Actually it will do so when it is inadequate: there are reports of calls going straight to voicemail now whereas on prior iPhones, with 3G manually turned off, the calls came through fine.

In addition to 3G using more power it is even worse in the above scenario as it constantly switches from 3G and EDGE.

Also, while the 4S's antenna is improved it has nothing to do with being able to turn off 3G manually and why someone might want--or need--to do that.

Unfortunately, there have been reports that the 4S's baseband is incapable of manually shutting off 3G. I find that hard to accept as the 4S can certainly handle EDGE and even GPRS. So hopefully a software change can restore it.


Michael
 
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