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When is the next update coming? I need the Enable 3G switch.

P

petespendthrift

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 30, 2008
5
0
Love Apple stuff but they are becoming clumsy and lumbering (like Microsoft).

The missing "Enable 3G" switch on the iPhone 4s is a ridiculous and thoughtless omission. How could a company that is meant to be this good have made such an error in understanding so many customers needs and phone network limitations? So incompetent!

Outside of 1st world inner cities there are tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of customers (and friends who have been whinged to) who now think iPhones are useless and will probably never try one again.

How long does it take to fix this screw up? There are people out there who have had to endure months of missed and dropped calls as their phone constantly switches over from a weak and barely unusable 3g signal to a perfectly good EDGE signal and back again over and over again, all day eating the battery up.

I know this subject has been done to death here and that there is a Beta out there that fixes it but most non-techies don't know that and actually don't even know that the problem will hopefully be over on the next update. They are busy falling out of love with their Apple products. This is a PR disaster for Apple (amongst those customers who are affected) and I can't believe how long they are letting it drag on. Any satisfaction in owning the latest iPhone is now long gone and even when fixed I'll probably still be giving strong consideration to other makes of smart phone. The bond is over.

End of rant.
 
Thinly disguised racism?
Poorly thought out rant?
Excessive exaggeration about the current situation?

Man, this is going places.
 
This was probably intentional. Try using Siri without 3G turned on. When you turn off 3G its almost not possible to use that and I think that apple intentionally had hidden the switch, even on 5.1 beta 3 3G is on by default when you reset the iPhone :)
 
Thanks for the responses guys - I think I've had time to think my rant through quite carefully. You know on an internet forum we don't all have to agree. I realise some of you might be geeky teenagers and that it might be hard to take critism of your beloved brand.

However, my favourite was the accusation of racism. Really - get off your high horse, you don't know where I'm from or what colour I am!

If you think the 3G networks are widespread and reliable or that Siri works at all in the country I live in think again - data works about 70% of the time here on 3G and coverage is about 7% of the country (in just 4 cities). EDGE covers about 15% of the country and when used data nearly always works and call coverage it generally strong. GSM covers about 20% of the country. There are very few landlines here and mobile phones are important to us - as is internet and email even if slow.

At my home, 3G frequently shows a strong signal but cannot pass any data or make/receive calls. Those who can switch 3G off are lucky, those who can't have to put their sim in another phone. I don't care about Siri at all - the priority is a phone that can reliably make and receive calls for now (as my old 3G could and as the 4 can).

For those of us without a strong or reliable 3G service the missing switch is either a battery hog or where I am means the phone is frequently completely disabled from receiving a voice and data service or at best unreliable for making and receiving calls.

So Cyks and Interstella555, what I am saying is that at least on this Pacific Island there there is no reliable 3G service and if you think all developing countries have good, reliable 3G coverage then you are deluded. We have a right to complain - we paid enough money to get a phone that can be made to work on less than optimal networks without resorting to jailbreaking.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
why not go back to the 4? I mean you said you don't care for Siri and that is really the only advantage over the 4. except for the camera and faster chipset.
 
I had to stop reading your post. I couldn't deal with all the complaining. Your ranting isn't going to make the update come quicker and if you want a fix for it then jailbreak your phone and download SBSettings and turn off 3G.
 
petespendthrift said:
However, my favourite was the accusation of racism. Really - get off your high horse, you don't know where I'm from or what colour I am!
Click to expand...

Hmm. You don't get it?

You said:

petespendthrift said:
Outside of 1st world inner cities there are tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of customers (and friends who have been whinged to) who now think iPhones are useless and will probably never try one again.
Click to expand...

2 facts to know:

1) In the U.S. "Inner cities" is usually code for minority races.

2) Most cell coverage is worse in urban environments because of the tall steel buildings and the over-crowded networks.

So based on that, one would conclude that the people living in the inner city would need the switch even more than anyone else. But you said they don't need it at all. So you basically said "everyone needs this switch to get their phone to work...well, except minorities." It gives the impression that you think you have important work to do with your phone but minorities aren't doing anything important, thus the fact that their phones don't work is not a problem.

It now seems that that's not what you meant, but seeing as how multiple people read it that way (including me) I don't think we can blame them. I guess you didn't know those facts, but that's what other people had in their heads when they read your comment.
 
petespendthrift said:
Love Apple stuff but they are becoming clumsy and lumbering (like Microsoft).

The missing "Enable 3G" switch on the iPhone 4s is a ridiculous and thoughtless omission. How could a company that is meant to be this good have made such an error in understanding so many customers needs and phone network limitations? So incompetent!

Outside of 1st world inner cities there are tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of customers (and friends who have been whinged to) who now think iPhones are useless and will probably never try one again.

How long does it take to fix this screw up? There are people out there who have had to endure months of missed and dropped calls as their phone constantly switches over from a weak and barely unusable 3g signal to a perfectly good EDGE signal and back again over and over again, all day eating the battery up.

I know this subject has been done to death here and that there is a Beta out there that fixes it but most non-techies don't know that and actually don't even know that the problem will hopefully be over on the next update. They are busy falling out of love with their Apple products. This is a PR disaster for Apple (amongst those customers who are affected) and I can't believe how long they are letting it drag on. Any satisfaction in owning the latest iPhone is now long gone and even when fixed I'll probably still be giving strong consideration to other makes of smart phone. The bond is over.

End of rant.
Click to expand...
petespendthrift said:
<snip> what I am saying is that at least on this Pacific Island there there is no reliable 3G service and if you think all developing countries have good, reliable 3G coverage then you are <snip>.
Click to expand...
so you're a Pacific Island dwelling, Apple Reseller, humbled by Apple's omission of the 3G toggle on the 4S ...or that's what I'm getting anyway.

Tell your customers how easy it is to Jailbreak and install the offending toggle themselves ..or offer to do for them for a small gratuity. :)
 
Last edited:
I'm still trying to figure out why he's blaming Apple for the fact that his local carrier doesn't have good 3G signal where he lives.
 
You know, I complained about the missing 3G switch on the 4S, and even I'm annoyed by this guy's idiotic rant.

Is it an annoying omission? Sure. Clumsy and lumbering? If you feel that way, feel free to get a different device. The Motorola models, for instance have an elegant way of turning off 3G... if by "Elegant" one means, hitting some obscure keypad combination to access a hidden menu.

Or, you can wait for the update that makes it possible on the iPhone with a toggle.
 
Why?

petespendthrift said:
Love Apple stuff but they are becoming clumsy and lumbering (like Microsoft).

The missing "Enable 3G" switch on the iPhone 4s is a ridiculous and thoughtless omission. How could a company that is meant to be this good have made such an error in understanding so many customers needs and phone network limitations? So incompetent!

Outside of 1st world inner cities there are tens, maybe hundreds of thousands of customers (and friends who have been whinged to) who now think iPhones are useless and will probably never try one again.

How long does it take to fix this screw up? There are people out there who have had to endure months of missed and dropped calls as their phone constantly switches over from a weak and barely unusable 3g signal to a perfectly good EDGE signal and back again over and over again, all day eating the battery up.

I know this subject has been done to death here and that there is a Beta out there that fixes it but most non-techies don't know that and actually don't even know that the problem will hopefully be over on the next update. They are busy falling out of love with their Apple products. This is a PR disaster for Apple (amongst those customers who are affected) and I can't believe how long they are letting it drag on. Any satisfaction in owning the latest iPhone is now long gone and even when fixed I'll probably still be giving strong consideration to other makes of smart phone. The bond is over.

End of rant.
Click to expand...

Why didn't you read up on a new phone with brand new hardware and features to know what it had or didn't have before you purchased it? You could have found out about the 3G switch being removed for the current iOS iteration beforehand. Apple publishes these things. To assume that all features will remain the same is foolish and totally your own fault!! So either get a new phone, start your own phone company and be flawless or go somewhere with this silly talk!
 
Small White Car said:
Hmm. You don't get it?

You said:



2 facts to know:

1) In the U.S. "Inner cities" is usually code for minority races.

2) Most cell coverage is worse in urban environments because of the tall steel buildings and the over-crowded networks.

So based on that, one would conclude that the people living in the inner city would need the switch even more than anyone else. But you said they don't need it at all. So you basically said "everyone needs this switch to get their phone to work...well, except minorities." It gives the impression that you think you have important work to do with your phone but minorities aren't doing anything important, thus the fact that their phones don't work is not a problem.

It now seems that that's not what you meant, but seeing as how multiple people read it that way (including me) I don't think we can blame them. I guess you didn't know those facts, but that's what other people had in their heads when they read your comment.
Click to expand...

You have made about the biggest leap I have ever seen to come to the conclusion OP's comments are somehow racist.
 
Small White Car said:
Hmm. You don't get it?

You said:



2 facts to know:

1) In the U.S. "Inner cities" is usually code for minority races.

2) Most cell coverage is worse in urban environments because of the tall steel buildings and the over-crowded networks.

So based on that, one would conclude that the people living in the inner city would need the switch even more than anyone else. But you said they don't need it at all. So you basically said "everyone needs this switch to get their phone to work...well, except minorities." It gives the impression that you think you have important work to do with your phone but minorities aren't doing anything important, thus the fact that their phones don't work is not a problem.

It now seems that that's not what you meant, but seeing as how multiple people read it that way (including me) I don't think we can blame them. I guess you didn't know those facts, but that's what other people had in their heads when they read your comment.
Click to expand...

I am staggered that you managed to gather that from the OP. :eek:
 
Jailbreak your phone and install SBSettings. There
is a 3G toggle that will switch off 3G. I'm using it
right now and it works great.
 
Thanks guys - lets put this one to bed. I was just getting annoyed with waiting and have never Jailbreaked before. At some point in the next few weeks I will hopefully be able to use the iPhone 4s, in the meantime my old 3G is fine. The point of my rant was to remind Apple of the little peoples who also buy their products.

Also I'll brush up on the nuances of American English - I thought I spoke the language pretty well but no one gave me the secret code book! I stupidly thought "inner cities" were just "urban areas" (or am I not allowed to say that either)!
 
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