Official iPhone 4 thread

I'm thinking about letting my wife choose her phone's color and I'll take the other one: it would be an easy way to tell whose is whose :)

Some thoughts on the new iPhone.

The new screen is a watershed in personal computing. We will now be using screens producing print-quality images. Text can be displayed without requiring anti-aliasing. And unlike OLED, this is an "honest" 300 ppi resolution, with no need to massage special color or edge cases. And it should be reasonably visible in daylight, also in contrast to the OLED screens. The next big deal will be when we get an iPad-class device with 300 ppi. That would require a 2400 x 1800 screen in the 9.7" iPad. That's probably several years away.

Traveling, I have my phone and iPod and book and magazines. iPhone, no surprise, integrates the phone and iPod. But now I can consider it as an integration of my reading materials. I'm not sure; this is new territory for me. And I can still read my analog book during takeoff and landing, while the iPhone must be powered off.

720p video + iMovie on iPhone = another step away from traditional computing. I record my Toastmaster speeches on a FlipHD, import to iMovie (which takes 15+ minutes), do light editing, and watch. The new iPhone means I can record, edit, and watch sooner, easier, with no import step. This is interesting. I also fits in with my view of abandoning a conventional computer for personal use in the near future. It is getting easier to forsee doing everything I do on an iPad and iPhone. The missing steps are ...

What's still missing is removing the shackles of the computer as the home base. I want to take photos and video on my iPhone and move them to my iPad without a middleman. I want to share documents between them, and even print, and share online with no "computer" to handle the transfers. This seems to be where Apple truly, in its DNA, lags Google. And in the way that no one seems able to buy the style and deep finesse that Apple has, it remains to be seen if Google's grokking of the cloud will forever escape Apple's grasp. I hope not.

Which brings me to a final thought. Sam said that Apple has "jumped the shark". That original meaning of that phrase refers to not the moment when a show goes from awesome to aweful, but rather when it has reached its peak. It can  no longer truly get better. This may be the case for the iPhone. I say that not to impugn Apple but to marvel at what they've acheived: we have the ultimate in telecommunications devices with print-quality display, a handheld computer capable of video editing, a complete media consumption ecosystem, living-in-the-future video chat,  and a video / still camera that's probably quite good for almost everything vacation & holiday. And it will get you through the day. And it has omnipresent 'net access.

What else is there? Everything else is beyond Apple's control. More storage: up to the RAM manufacturers to produce it cheap & small enough. Longer battery life: up to the battery technology people. Cheaper, faster wireless bandwidth: dependent on the telecoms. More and cheaper media (movies, music, books): substantially dependent on the Media Co.'s.

The biggest issue I see is the aforementioned cloud-integration.

Hardware will get cheaper, faster. Next year's iPhone will be better. Heck, there will be an HTC SuperDuper in 3 months that best the iPhone 4. But, in many ways, we've achieved perfection. The iPhone 4 has everything, does everything.

We've reached the end of big jumps in abilities. Everything to follow is incremental, refinement.

Unless I'm wrong. Which would be fine. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein 

I think that comment was made during the announcement of Farmville for the iPhone.

Yup.  Just horrendous use of DEVELOPER keynote time.

Just as a counter: I believe you couldn't be more wrong.  While it may not be within apple's wheelhouse to change, 4G will completely change everything we think about phone devices.  That's not a ha-ha, that's just a fact.  Things which are from a technical viewpoint completely impossible will be a given.  iphone4 offers video chat (at 640x480,FYI.. base VGA) and it can only do it over WiFi.  4G means you could stream double the data rate without wifi.

Pitch to device?  Possible in 4G, not at all possible here, etc.

Apple took a big swing for the fences here with the new integration of Exchange 2010 teaming, their first real play in a major, major way at the business market. 

But the real next generation devices are a year away.  And Apple took their shot today with the best they can offer.. today.  And they should be commended.  Lots of great, great features.  (again, I still think the iAd integration, and the way it's being handled just screams "turkey" but that's me)

I'm glad that this really grabs hold of people.. lots of really pretty incredible announcements.  I will have to see it and play with it (again, for me the actual "phone" part is the most important, and this is the part that to me, Apple has really sucked at).  If they can make phone management.. especially speakerphone functions markedly improved over the 3GS, then this will absolutely be the phone to beat. 

That having been said, it's hard for me to "leap" into a 2 year contract when I know ATT is in the middle of a monumental nationwide rollout of LTE to get 4G compliant by next year, and I know when LTE is available I will want to switch, immediately.

If you are unsure of your upgrade eligibility, DO THIS:

http://theappleblog.com/2010/06/07/att-advances-iphone-upgrade-eligibility/

Call “*NEW#” aka “*639#”

You will get a text message telling you if you are eligible.  I bought on day 1 of 3GS and am eligible for the cheap upgrade.  You should be too if you are in the same boat.  CALL and find out for sure!

If it isn't obvious they are trying to lock you in as long as they can in the face of possible Verizon deals.  If you can wait, wait.  If you don't mind paying to jump when that happens, jump at the early upgrade!  You'll have TWO AT&T iPhones to sell in the meantime!  =)

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattCR That having been said, it's hard for me to "leap" into a 2 year contract when I know ATT is in the middle of a monumental nationwide rollout of LTE to get 4G compliant by next year, and I know when LTE is available I will want to switch, immediately.

Me too, and I will gladly pay for that privilege then.  The question is, do I want the worlds best phone on a 2nd rate carrier in the meanwhile?  I think the answer is going to be yes but I'm still not sure.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronald Epstein 

Well, we are in the same boat but I got a message that I am not eligible

for an upgrade until 2/11

OK, did you call that today or earlier in the week?  many peoples changed today.  The difference may be that you werent a new iPhone customer for the 3GS, you did an upgrade to get that from an earlier one...

Hands on demo:

http://www.slashgear.com/apples-latest-iphone-4-innovation-0788737/

The FacePlant, er FaceTime, movie is up and Sam Mendes earned his pay:

http://www.apple.com/iphone/features/facetime.html#facetime-video

Actually apple are now saying that's not the Mendes video.  Huh.

Gruber weighs in:

http://daringfireball.net/2010/06/iphone_4

Quote:

Originally Posted by mattCR 


Just as a counter: I believe you couldn't be more wrong.  While it may not be within apple's wheelhouse to change, 4G will completely change everything we think about phone devices.  That's not a ha-ha, that's just a fact.  Things which are from a technical viewpoint completely impossible will be a given.  iphone4 offers video chat (at 640x480,FYI.. base VGA) and it can only do it over WiFi.  4G means you could stream double the data rate without wifi.

You both agree and disagree with me. Apple has perfected the device within their control. Even with a next-gen network, what will change with the device? Video chat over the cell is a refinement of what we see today. It's better, faster, cheaper than what we have today, but it's a refinement of what we have today.

But as you know, rule of thumb is every order of magnitude of network speed increase brings in new usage and business paradigms. We've seen this for wired broadband. We're seeing it for cell-wireless. 4G could give us new uses, new tools, new businesses that are currently impractical or even unimagined.

As for Farmville: isn't that like the most popular game in the world? Housewives are playing it and spending money on it. That's a market every developer would kill to have. It seems that's the *only* choice for such a keynote: the guys making big money on big new markets with massive growth potential.

Sidenote I found at Engadget: 802.11 n !!! My home network is slowly moving to n. I need a Tivo Premiere to complete the transition.

Everything you need to know:

http://www.tested.com/news/everything-you-need-to-know-about-apple-iphone-4/394/

Engadget has an interesting summary of all phones:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/iphone-4-vs-the-smartphone-elite-evo-4g-n8-pre-plus-and-hd2/

Thinking about the 64GB issue...no one has it yet. The EVO looks like the strongest competitor to the iPhone 4, and it comes with a paltry 440MB built in memory. You need a microSDHC card for more. These currently max out at 32GB with an MSRP of $199. That makes a 32GB EVO $100 more than a 32GB iPhone. That will drop as these uSD cards drop in price. So...will there be a 64GB microSDHC card before there's an iPhone 5 with 64GB?

I have a couple of images from the phone that Apple has on their site and wondered what the areas I pointed out are.

What is this on the side of the phone?

Is this a second headphone jack on the side of the phone?

What are prices going to be without a contract on the phones? I was thinking that it would be cool device to get without a contract, use my mobile Wifi with it and Skype for the phone.

Parker

Microsim card slot.  2nd Mic for noise cancellation.  $599 and $699 without contract.

So you will be able to add additional memory with a microsim card? Or what can it be used for?

No, that's for the ATT service card.

Has AT&T ever done this early upgrade thing before?

I ask because the first thought that popped into my head is that they wanted as many iPhone users as possible to extend their contracts because they know they won't be the only iPhone carrier in the not so distant future.

-Keith

DaveF - really nice writeup. I agree the lack of wireless sync on Apple's i-products is their Achilles heel. Hopefully, all these rumors about a free version of MobileMe and the upcoming massive data center in North Carolina are indicators that they're going to get serious about this relatively soon. 

As for iPhone 4... I like it. My major disappointment is no capacity bump to 64GB, but as has been stated a number of places that's probably an engineering problem waiting on smaller, higher-capacity flash RAM modules. 

Having bought the 3GS last year, I wasn't going to upgrade this year, but the Retina screen in combo with AT&T's early upgrade offer (I checked - I'm eligible) may push me over the edge. I'm not worried about AT&T lock-in - I've been happy with AT&T's service in Houston. Never had a dropped call, and I get strong 3G wherever I go. My main problem with AT&T is the $40 minimum voice plan. I wish they had a cheaper option. I never come close to using my minutes - I have 1000s of rollover minutes! But I will go down to the $15 data plan. Looked at my usage on the AT&T site and my heaviest month was just under 100MB. I use the iPhone every day, but it's mainly for mail, light web use, etc. I'll happily take the $15 a month savings. 

Now that the iPhone has 720p video capability, I'll definitely sell my Flip Mino HD. I'll likely get rid of my Canon point & shoot camera as well. Add in selling the 3GS, and the new phone is more than paid for. 

One thing I'm worried about with the Retina screen - it will probably make our iPads look like crap in comparison! 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Parker Clack 

What are prices going to be without a contract on the phones? I was thinking that it would be cool device to get without a contract, use my mobile Wifi with it and Skype for the phone.

 

Parker

Parker, you might want to hold-on three months until Apple updates the iPod Touch line in September. It's very likely that the redesigned casing and improved screen will show up on the iPod Touch, and surely they'll add the camera this year as well. You're likely to be able to get an iPhone-like device that will do what you want, with more memory (64GB), and probably for a couple hundred dollars less.

Isn't the reason for the case design in the 4G iPhone because it incorporates antennas into the frame? If it is also more expensive, I wouldn't expect to see it carry over to the iPod Touch.

One thing I didn't see addressed, I assume that any bandwidth used by iAds in a app comes out of your data cap. I would imagine the amount of bandwidth would be small but I am sure at some point, someone will start to complain that iAds pushed them over their data cap.

-Keith

Quote:

Originally Posted by Keith Plucker 

Isn't the reason for the case design in the 4G iPhone because it incorporates antennas into the frame? If it is also more expensive, I wouldn't expect to see it carry over to the iPod Touch.

 

...

 

-Keith

 

Fair point, but the iPod Touch does have WiFi - I believe the WiFi as well as 3G antenna are part of the new iPhone 4 frame. Also, I think they may see economy-of-scale type savings by pushing the iPhone 4 HW upgrades (A4, frame, glass, display) to the iPod Touch line.

Just my opinion. We'll see in September.
 

wireless N on the iphone is only in the 2.4ghz band

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shane D 

wireless N on the iphone is only in the 2.4ghz band

win some, lose some :) Still an improvement.

Talked with my wife: she told me to get the phone color I wanted. She wasn't going to have me moping for the next two years about how she chose my color and now I'm stuck with the other one :D So I'll be ordering two 32GB black iPhone 4's.