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5 Reasons Not to Upgrade to the New iPhone 3G

by: Thomas Hawk August 07, 2008 | about stocks: AAPL    
Thomas Hawk

Thomas Hawk

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I've had my new 3G Apple (AAPL) iPhone for about a month now and I thought I'd take a few minutes to write some of my thoughts and reflections on the experience for people who might be considering upgrading to the new 3G iPhone. First a little background though.

I've been critical of the new iPhone ever since first learning the details about it. I felt that after existing iPhone users had shelled out $600 for original iPhones less than a year ago, that Apple should have done more for existing early adopters via an upgrade path. I'm not saying that the company had any obligation to do more, but just that I thought it would have been the right thing to do.

The easiest thing that Apple could have done was simply allow existing iPhone users to migrate to the new phone on the same plan rather than requiring them to adopt a new more expensive plan from AT&T (T). I do recognize that Apple made a gesture in the form of a $100 store credit for early adopters, but at least in my case after going through the work of securing my credit online, the Emeryville Apple store refused to honor it, turning the positive gesture into more of an insult than anything.

Originally I was not planning on upgrading to the new phone. But when my old phone was dropped and broken this provided the entry to try out the new iPhone 3G. My experience with the new phone so far is that it is very similar to old phone. But for people with a working first generation iPhone I do not feel that upgrading is worth it after a month of hands on experience and here are my reasons why.

1. AT&T's 3G network sucks. One of the main reasons to upgrade to the new iPhone is for the alleged faster speeds associated with AT&T's 3G network vs. the first generation iPhone's Edge network. Unfortunately, when you can get a 3G connection (and surprisingly in a major city like San Francisco this is probably less that 50% of the time) the page loading speed is barely noticeable over the old AT&T Edge network. I just loaded my Flickr Recent Activity on my iPhone on AT&T's 3G Network and it took over 90 seconds to load. This is simply unacceptable. By contrast, my Verizon (VZ) EVDO card on my MacBook can load the same page in less than 5 seconds.

2. The battery life on the new iPhone sucks. On my old iPhone I could always get at least one day's use out of the iPhone on a full charge. Several times when I've been using my new iPhone the phone has died before I've had a chance to recharge it again at night. Using the web seems to drain the battery the most, but then again using the web seems to be one of the main selling points of the new iPhone. It sucks when I need to call my wife to pick me up from the BART station at the end of the day and have to boot up my Mac, EVDO and skype to make a telephone call because my iPhone is dead.

3. Wifi is becoming more ubiquitous and will continue to become more ubiquitous over the next two years. Even if you felt that you were going to get better speeds from 3G and have a better experience than I have with wifi becoming more ubiquitous over the course of the next few years, you may find yourself with less and less of a need for 3G anyways.

Tuesday's top story on Techmeme was that Delta Airlines (DAL) was going to begin offering wifi on all of their flights. On Monday I signed up for the new AT&T Uverse fiber internet connection at home. Along with that service I was told that I'd have free access to all AT&T wifi hotspots. On the AC Transit buses that run to the East Bay where I live they already broadcast wifi. BART is currently running an experimental wifi program and already has a beta wifi program available where users can use free BART wifi at some stations.

Wifi is only going to get more available and when using wifi the new iPhone really has no advantage in terms of internet speeds over the old iPhone.

4. When you upgrade from your old iPhone to a new 3G version you no longer get any free SMS messages. The plan with the original iPhone offered you 200 free SMS messages per month. With the new iPhone you have to buy a seperate SMS plan. These new plans run $5 per month to $20 per month.

5. $10 more per month for the new iPhone's data plan is a rip off. Given that the 3G network is inaccessible at least 50% of the time with AT&T in a major city like San Francisco, the $10 more per month to pay for your new iPhone is a ripoff. People like to point out that the new iPhone is a lot cheaper than the old one. $199, but when you do the math over time it will actually cost you much more. Because you are going to be required to keep AT&T as your service provider with the new phone for at least two more years, you are committing (between the extra data plan charges and a $5 per month SMS charge) to pay a minimum of $360 more for your phone service over the next two years. Because there is a chance that you might keep the phone longer than two years you could end up paying even more -- about $540 more for three years. It would be one thing if the new iPhone was that much better, but unfortunately it is not.

So there you have it. My advice? Only upgrade if you break your old phone like I did. Otherwise stick with your first generation iPhone. It's almost every bit as good as the new one and a heck of a lot cheaper. One positive note for the new iPhone -- the headphones do tangle a lot less than the old ones.

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This article has 55 comments:

  •  
    Aug 07 05:16 AM
    When are Americans going to realize that their is more to the world then the good ole USA. The iPhone is in more then 20 countries. And your article can be read globally. How about you title the article "5 Reasons Not to Upgrade to the New iPhone 3G if you live in the USA". I have the iPhone in Austria. T-Mobile's 3G network works quite well. And for 60 bucks a month I get 1000 minutes, 1000 SMSs and 3GB of data. So the plan is perfect for me. Your only product related comment is about the battery. I agree it needs improvement, but if you shut off 3G when not surfing the web I find it can last 2 days without charge with minimal use.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 06:02 AM
    Way too many people think that they are entitled to free or cheap products. It's simple-if you want it at the time & can afford it, buy it. If the price goes down tomorrow, that's life. I waited to buy the 3G since the first one came out & I love it. I have quickly learned some battery conservation techniques. This iPhone is like having a laptop in your shirt pocket & no laptop battery lasts 4 hours.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 06:12 AM
    While it may be a reasonable consideration to stick with original phone, there are clearly a few more things that got improved on the new one. The call quality appears to be significantly better and it has much loader and nicer speakers. You also did not even mention the GPS, cell phone triangulation simple is not accurate enough. And I honestly cannot imagine that Apple did not honor the $ 100.00 store credit, they sure honored mine and guess at what Apple Store.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 06:43 AM
    What a nice long whine. I suppose you should have done some thinking before you upgraded. Most astute folks knew these limitations going into the deal but wanted the greater speed and lived with the tradeoff. Sorry to say, but you just come off as kind of a sap. By the way, the battery issues aren't Apple's fault - that's the state of the art for 3G and, as a matter of fact, Apple's battery life is among the best given the technology. That much has been made plain by reviews in PC World, etc. Maybe you should read a bit more and write less.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 06:46 AM
    RE: "AT&T's 3G network sucks."

    It works really fast for me. The web page download speeds are worth the price increase alone. My time is worth SOMETHING and why should I wait with the original 2G iPhone. In addition, independent tests have shown that the 3G download speeds are FASTER than other 3G mobile phone manufacturers.

    RE: "The battery life on the new iPhone sucks."

    Steve Jobs told us this over ONE YEAR AGO. Yet, he was crucified for not putting 3G on the first iPhone. Again, independent tests have shown that the Apple 3G iPhone battery has the LONGEST BATTERY LIFE of 3G mobile phones.

    RE: "Wifi is becoming more ubiquitous and will continue to become more ubiquitous over the next two years"

    I don't have two more years to wait. You just complained (in #1 and in #5) that 3G networks aren't always available. How can you wait two years for WiFi when you can't wait for the 2008 rollout of AT&T 3G?

    RE: "When you upgrade from your old iPhone to a new 3G version you no longer get any free SMS messages"

    You, finally, said something that is correct.

    RE: "$10 more per month for the new iPhone's data plan is a rip off."

    I would like to get much faster service for free or for the price of slow service, but the 3G iPhone speeds are NOTICEABLY faster. I am much more productive and get my answers faster. However, you seem to have a lot of time on your hands. Buy another 2G iPhone on eBay and downgrade your service plan.

    Oh, developing nations have $10 mobile phones for pennies a minute of service time. Have you considered moving to one of these countries?
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 07:17 AM
    This article popped up from Motley Fool Wednesday. I think you are both on to something.
    www.fool.com/investing...
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 07:20 AM
    First of all, this is a PHONE. Why focus solely on web performance and data access cost? As a phone, this is a revolutionary device that easily beats all competition and is reasonably priced. Who said 2G users have to move up the new phone anyway, the 2G model is a great phone so why move up? Why all the complaining?
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 07:31 AM
    Jeeze, Thomas, you Americans do still think you're the centre of the universe. I agree with Sac Tanko. Here in Europe telephony is light years ahead of the US. Moreover, we have usage plans that blow yours away. So, as Sac says, as the internet is a universal medium you should preface your remarks accordingly. And stop whinging. Caveat Emptor, baby.

    Personally, I think every writer for Seeking Alpha is shorting AAPL, along with Kramer and Dvorak!!
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 07:35 AM
    Be aware of reception issue with at least the 1st gen iPhone. My friend just replaced hers with a Blackberry because the iPhone would only work, barely, in one spot in her apartment (in a large town west of Boston.) She had it replaced, same issue. The Blackberry and previous Nokia works everywhere in her apartment.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 07:40 AM
    I just read your reasons. Man you are truly an idiot.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 07:44 AM
    Good info, I have an older IPhone, which I love. Wondering whether now was the time to upgrade...I think I'll wait....thanks:)
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 07:44 AM
    Good info, I have an older IPhone, which I love. Wondering whether now was the time to upgrade...I think I'll wait....thanks:)
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 08:08 AM
    A lot of the smaller towns do not have 3G but many have free WiFI - I have the old Iphone and find free Wifi all over the place,
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 08:08 AM
    Not impartial.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 08:11 AM
    With the exception of the battery life 'issue', which has been well flagged by Apple, your entire whine relates to AT&T rather than Apple.

    Worse still, the final three of your wheezes are matters that you had plenty of opportunity to assess BEFORE your signed a service plan. Don't you research stuff before you commit to contracts?

    Someone does suck but it isn't Apple and it may not even be AT&T. I think we all know who it really is, now don't we Thomas?

    Regards,
    %$#@!
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 08:12 AM
    did you know when in wifi mode you use the battery charge faster--i keep it off unless needed--i have both old and new --for me new is better
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 08:26 AM
    Good article!
    I live in an area were there is NO 3G network. So a bunch of my friends are all excited for getting their new improved iPhones but I don't think they truly understand that their paying extra for a service they can't use. I think it is a scam because the local At&t stores are not fully disclosing the limitations of the cell phone plans they are selling.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 08:29 AM
    class-an article read throughout the world with a bunk of "sucks" in it, how eloquent.

    I bought a mac book air in February and then they dropped the price by $500 last month...whine, whine, whine, apple and all other technology should just stand still for a year or two or until people decide they've "got their money's worth" on a product, so when something new comes out they don't have to scream like a spoiled child "what's in it for meeeeeeeee?" meeee meeee meeeee meeeee meeee. I should be rewarded a an "early adopter" I paid more than him, wahhhhh wahhhh wahhhh.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 08:37 AM
    as much as i wanted an iphone, the battery issue alone was enough to put me off - there'll be better, cheaper, soon enough :-)
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 08:53 AM
    What a pathetic, clueless whiner. You must be an Eric Savitz, Toni, Toni, Toni, wannabee. Go back to the rotary dialer telephone in your cave.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 08:54 AM
    I think I'll still dump Sprint and my Palm Treo for the new iPhone.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 08:56 AM
    I've had my iPhone 3G for several weeks now and initially had battery problems although my wife did not. Then I noticed that a background task was continuously running since the usage and standby time were nearly identical. Once I followed the suggestions on Apple's support site and reset my phone I have found that I have about 4 days between charges for light usage and two days for moderate to heavy usage. I initially did not want an iPhone but now I don't know how I ever got along without one, it is truly amazing.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 08:57 AM
    While the iPhone does have the longest 3G battery life, I am waiting to purchase one until there is a way to use a spare battery or the battery life is extended. I currently carry an ordinary cell phone and don't care about the price or terms related to the iPhone. It's purely a matter of being able to use it when I need to, and I'm willing to wait 6 months or a year to see what sort of improvement there is in the battery area. Other than that, nextworks are imporving over time and I'll pay the extra couple of bucks a month for text. That's all chump change for me (and I'm not a rich dude).
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 09:14 AM
    Thanks for wasting my time - your problems seem to be with AT&T not Apple. As for the battery life - it seems you don't know how to manage your amps.

    Also, looking back the last year all your posts have been NEGATIVE on Apple - fair n balanced - just another iShort.

    HH
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 09:15 AM
    I'd make him stay with a Nokia or Moto if all he can do is whinge and whine...
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 09:21 AM
    All analysis are only concern what they see and feel in USA, why they try out different systems from different countries for iPhone 3G before they make the conclusion. They cannot find any new items and reasons to write about. How long have they been using 3G system?

    I have been using 3G touch screen smart phone since 2003 from Motorola, the second touch screen phone was first version Apple 2.5G unlock model.

    The latest is the iPhone 3G touch screen which just works great in all area. I never want to go back to half screen push button models. The clean flat large screen display clear and sharp data and images.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 09:26 AM
    "The easiest thing that Apple could have done was simply allow existing iPhone users to migrate to the new phone on the same plan rather than requiring them to adopt a new more expensive plan from AT&T (T)."

    NO. The early adopters ALREADY have the option for a low-cost plan: stick with the early iPhone. If they want the iPhone 3G with the 3G plan, they should pay for the 3G plan.

    Which isn't to say that a cheaper 3G plan wouldn't be nice - but whatever the price, it should be the same for everyone! Otherwise, you have Apple and AT&T trying to maintain two separate prices and two separate customer lists, for the same service. I'm glad these companies aren't wasting energy on something boneheaded like that.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 09:43 AM
    This rant is mainly geared toward AT&T, the title of the article should reflect your complaints to AT&T, not AAPL. Also, you use the word "ubiquitous" three times in two sentences, how about a little diversification Thomas?
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 09:50 AM
    To all you guys complaining about the battery life: Just like your iPod, your phone can be charged from any desktop computer. All you need is any iPod, or iPhone USB cable. Personally, I have access to a computer anywhere I go. In addition to that, the head unit in my car has a USB connection, meaning I can charge it as I drive as well as play music from it as I drive.

    I realize that I may have more access to power than some, but I’m sure many people have more ability to charge their iPhone than they realize.


    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 10:00 AM
    there is a world out there i agree with the first comment this is a US centric comment and should be ignored by the other 6.4 billion people in the world.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 10:19 AM
    Many others have already pointed out the flaws in this article, but I thought I'd throw in my two cents as well.

    1: AT&T's network works fine for me, and I live in a small city of barely 70 thousand people. I ALWAYS have at least 4 bars of 3G everywhere in town, indoors and out. When I do hit the road, I'm covered throughout almost the entire I-5 corridor. The few places where 3G is week, my iphone switches to edge very quickly. I know that AT&T's coverage isn't perfect, but your complaint doesn't apply if you live in a well-covered area like me. As for data speeds on 3G, I hardly notice any difference in speed between 3G and Wi-fi

    2: I'm sick and tired of hearing about battery life. I charge my iphone every night. My old phone (on which I never used data or GPS or listened to music) also had to be charged every night.

    3:Wi-fi may be more common, but it isn't everywhere, and I want to be able to access the internet (at speeds that I can tolerate) anytime throughout my day. With the iphone 3G, I can.

    4 and 5: AT&T plans offer UNLIMITED data. I'm sorry, but that is a good deal whichever way you look at it. Most international plans have a data limit.

    If iphone 3G doesn't suit your needs, well and good, but in an article entitled "5 Reasons Not to Upgrade to the New iphone 3G," you should really take into account the fact that not everyone else will share your user experience and/or (unreasonable) requirements in what a phone should do. Someone with little knowledge of the iphone could come across your article and make a choice against the iphone 3g even though many of your complaints may not apply to them.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 10:42 AM
    Just google Mophie Juice Pack and you'll have a good solution to any battery complaints you have. Everything else is AT&T related, not Apple at all.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 10:47 AM
    $10 increase complaints really bothers me. $30 per month for 3G data service on AT&T is same across all other devices. In fact, Blackberry users have to pay extra for push email service which iPhone users get for free. $10 extra for much improved speed is worth it. I am paying extra for my DSL over dial-up. Even in DSL, you pay different price for different speed.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 10:49 AM
    Title: SELLING OLD EDGE IPHONE POCKETING $200 AND BUYING THE SHINY NEW 3G IPHONE IS A NO BRAINER!

    when you sell the old iphone online and get the new much better iphone, please take a small amount of time to learn how to use it. there are many adjustements you can make to save battery life!
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 11:18 AM
    i wondered how this columnist could possibly make a living with this standard of reporting, until i realized he doesn't
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 11:26 AM
    All across the globe, now people have only one reason not to read any more articles by Thomas Hawk: life is too short.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 11:27 AM
    You sound like the perfect candidate to:
    1. Sell your 3g iphone on Ebay

    2. Use the proceeds to buy yourself a blackberry or whatever and move to a service like Verizon or whoever and,

    3. Go bother THOSE people with your whines.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 12:00 PM
    Poor guys in USA. What you really need there is a solid 3 G network. It is hard to understand for none USA citizen that a High Tech country like USA has still such a poor network. So, beside the battery point, the other 4 points have nothing to do with Apple 3G iPhone.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 01:05 PM
    AT&T did give you an upgrade path for old iPhone owners. Owning an old iPhone with an AT&T plan, QUALIFIED you to get the subsidized price of $199 or $299 for the new iPhone 3G. If you didn't qualify, ie own an old iPhone, you'd have to pay $200 more. Got it?

    Also, it's nice that the Apple Store didn't honor your $100 credit, but everyone else seems to have gotten to use theirs. Did they recognize that yours was fake? Also, if you had been really smart, you'd have used an AMEX Gold card or other credit card with price protection. I did, and got $100 back from AMEX too. So, I paid $300 for my iPhone.
    Reply
  •  
    Aug 07 02:33 PM
    This is what I "love" about the Internet. Mr. Hawk dares to give his opinion about upgrading to the new 3G and so many folks have to spew their venom & attack him personally. I think his observations are valuable. Of course for those who can't stand another point of view - not so much.
    Reply
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