Is a 3G version of the iPhone coming in January?

[seulgixsays]

hey i was just wondering if anyone knows if its true that a 3G iPhone is coming out in january 08. and if so, is it in north america?

more on the story here:
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/02/23/3g_iphone_could_arrive_overseas_by_early_2008.html

 

[wjp09]

It is just a rumor. Nonone knows for sure. We have yet to get the first iPhone yet.

 

[Kabeyun]

Steve Jobs was quoted as saying that a wireless broadband iPhone would be marketed when there was enough infrastructure to justify it. Right now, 3G availability is extremely limited to major metro areas, and I guess he doesn't feel the advantages (download speed, etc.) outweigh the disadvantages (development cost, price, battery life, etc.).

-K

 

[archer6]

hey i was just wondering if anyone knows if its true that a 3G iPhone is coming out in january 08. and if so, is it in north america?

more on the story here:
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/07/02/23/3g_iphone_could_arrive_overseas_by_early_2008.html

Apple has already realized the mistake they've made by not including 3G.

Having designed the phone prior to choosing a carrier, they were simply uniformed. It was too late to incorporate 3G into the existing iPhone once Apple learned of it's importance and the high demand.

Since Apple has no mobile phone experience and tend to work in their own world, they were unaware that 3G is a current technology, not a future one.

Nonetheless the good news is they have come to terms with the issue and will resolve it by including 3G in the next version which should be sooner rather than later.

 

[ebrunn]

Apple has already realized the mistake they've made by not including 3G.

Having designed the phone prior to choosing a carrier, they were simply uniformed. It was too late to incorporate 3G into the existing iPhone once Apple learned of it's importance and the high demand

If Apple wanted to do it, they would have had time. Its just a simple swap out of the cell radios.

Apple did not make a mistake.

First off their isn't nation wide coverage of 3G with Cingular yet last time I checked. So why exclude users?

And B, Apple is not happy with the current 3G chipsets being used as they use too much battery life.

 

[wot_fan]

If Apple wanted to do it, they would have had time. Its just a simple swap out of the cell radios.

Apple did not make a mistake.

First off their isn't nation wide coverage of 3G with Cingular yet last time I checked. So why exclude users?

And B, Apple is not happy with the current 3G chipsets being used as they use too much battery life.

Well said. As much as I would like the iPhone to have 3G, I think Apple did the right thing by making battery life the priority.

 

[salto99]

Apple and hidden upgrades?

Steve Jobs was quoted as saying that a wireless broadband iPhone would be marketed when there was enough infrastructure to justify it. Right now, 3G availability is extremely limited to major metro areas, and I guess he doesn't feel the advantages (download speed, etc.) outweigh the disadvantages (development cost, price, battery life, etc.).

-K

Apple has hidden future upgrades in the past. On example is the new wifi standard being built in the intel pro laptops before the standard was issued. They just said you need to download a $5 firmware upgrade to be able to use the new standard.

My thoughts are maybe the iPhone will be 3G ready but you may need to pay to unlock the upgrade. ie Quicktime Pro?

I would love to hear from someone in the Apple Co. if this is the case so we can all buy the phone now use it for a year and have our upgrades too!

 

[ebrunn]

Apple has hidden future upgrades in the past. On example is the new wifi standard being built in the intel pro laptops before the standard was issued. They just said you need to download a $5 firmware upgrade to be able to use the new standard.

My thoughts are maybe the iPhone will be 3G ready but you may need to pay to unlock the upgrade. ie Quicktime Pro?

I would love to hear from someone in the Apple Co. if this is the case so we can all buy the phone now use it for a year and have our upgrades too!

This isn't a simple software update to unlock "N" wifi capapilities.

Their is a big difference between a 3g cell radio and the regular 2 and 2.5G cell radios. Its different hardware. You cant have a non-3G network radio and then magically update it to a 3G network.

 

[ieeefee]

iPhone won't support CDMA in the next five years. I think iPhone will support 3G in the near future.

 

[Kabeyun]

Nonetheless the good news is they have come to terms with the issue and will resolve it by including 3G in the next version which should be sooner rather than later.

That Appleinsider article suggests that Apple, for reasons stated below, will be releasing a 3G iPhone in Europe and not in North America. They're going in that direction where the market makes it practical.

Apple did not make a mistake.

And B, Apple is not happy with the current 3G chipsets being used as they use too much battery life.

I agree. Apple's decision carefuly weighed all factors, and I think battery cost and limited service availability won out.

First off their isn't nation wide coverage of 3G with Cingular yet last time I checked. So why exclude users?

Users wouldn't be excluded, since 3G phones are compatible with 2G networks. It's a matter of limited benefit versus added costs.

-K

 

[jamesdemien]

While I would like to have 3g everywhere I go has free wifi so I'll use that. All of the 3g phones I've seen eat through batteries so it's a question of speed vs use time. I'd rather just use the wifi feature and suffer a bit on speed in out of range areas

 

[EBodin4]

My feelings on the 3G and other features that Apple may not have thought of is that if there is a way to upgrade it then they will make it available to the current owners of the iPhones. They have always made stuff available in the past and I am sure they will continue to do that with the iPhone. Their online support is very helpful also. My wish list is just that they come down on the price at some point. I know it's worth it but that's a lot of $$$ for a phone. I know I will buy it anyway though. Have a great day!
EBodin4

 

[zed wheeler]

keynote

I'd love an iPhone with keynote and a connection for a projector. Wouldn't have to lug my laptop around for presentations.

 

[jtlax3]

What exactly is the difference between 2.5G, 3G and Wifi? I understand that genereally 3G is faster than 2 and 2.5 G and Wifi is faster than both of them, but what specifically makes 3G not feasible right now?

 

[wot_fan]

What exactly is the difference between 2.5G, 3G and Wifi? I understand that genereally 3G is faster than 2 and 2.5 G and Wifi is faster than both of them, but what specifically makes 3G not feasible right now?

I suggest you check out Wikipedia. Here is a link to info on 3G. You can use the menu on the right side of the Wikipedia page to get info on the other stuff you asked about.

There are two negative things regarding AT&T's 3G service that I am aware of. The first is that there is limited coverage. If you don't live in a coverage area, you are out of luck. The second is the power requirements. The current cell phone 3G chips consume a lot of power. Because of that, today's 3G enabled phones don't get near the battery life that non-3G phones do. The next generation of 3G chips are rumored to be much more energy efficient though.

 

[Kabeyun]

What exactly is the difference between 2.5G, 3G and Wifi? I understand that genereally 3G is faster than 2 and 2.5 G and Wifi is faster than both of them, but what specifically makes 3G not feasible right now?

That's a great question, and one most people probably don't know. The main difference is between WiFi and "x"G.

WiFi is strictly a local (short-range) wireless protocol. Best case with the latest version (802.11n) is about 500 feet line-of-sight, and is one or two orders of magnitude faster. Trancievers (like the Apple AirPort) are available to end consumers.

"x"G (x = 2, 2.5, 3, etc.) are industrial wireless data protocols used by cell phone companies to send and receive data over their wireless networks. They work at different speeds (see the Wikipedia link above), are currently much slower than modern WiFi, but work over much longer distances (like from a cell phone tower to your data-enabled phone). Trancievers are only industrial, as their deployment and operation are regulated by the FCC.

3G is perfectly feasible right now, but as wot_fan said, is very limited in it's availability (select major metro only). Companies with 3G networks and manufacturers of 3G-compatible devices naturally crow about their being the "fastest" and they're right, but imo that's not really relevant for most people. A Bugatti Veyron may be the fastest production car, but you're not going to drive it to work. "Work" for most cell phone users is making calls, text or sometimes photo messaging, and a trickle of data when you might want to look up something on the text-based mobile internet. More is certainly coming (Steve Jobs talks about the "real" internet in your pocket) but Apple figured that right now it wasn't worth it to use a costlier, more power-hungry chipset. Speed freaks and numbers watchers (and the very few people who really could benefit from high-speed data in their fortunate home city) think 2.5G EDGE on an iPhone is crippling, but my opinion is that Apple made the right call.

-K

 

[ebrunn]

Could this have not gone in the other "3G" thread?

 

[wot_fan]

Could this have not gone in the other "3G" thread?

Yeah, I agree. One of the downsides of EI growing so quickly is that we are getting a lot of duplicate threads. The mods are going to have there work cut out for them .