So this is how the new iPhone will handle 3G: a manual on-off switch. Seamless automation would be nice, but at least the choice here is given. 3G chipsets are notorious for being battery-draining monsters, and Steve Jobs has cited that as one of the reasons 3G wasn’t included in the first iteration of the iPhone. I’d like to see just how fast 3G networks are—it can’t really be worth a 50%+ decrease in battery life, can it?
Via AppleInsider.
I haven’t had an iPhone long, but my one gripe has been battery life. It’s smart that Apple is giving users the choice of whether or not they want 3G instead of rocking it out on the phone with no choice and draining batteries unnecessarily.
That being said: I don’t need faster Internet on my phone; I would much rather have serviceable speed — which the edge network offers — and be able to freely chat and text than have to worry about charging my phone all the time. I’m not downloading music or streaming video, (well, sometimes I do that on the phone) so as long as I can get into my gmail and read some blogs/sites, check the weather etc. and it comes up in a reasonable amount of time, I’ll be OK.
Did I just make an argument against faster Internet? I think I just made an argument against faster Internet.
I have a feeling this won’t be as much of an either/or problem as you think. That’s kind of the whole point of a new version of the iPhone — building it to support 3G without killing the battery immediately. The 3G-enabled battery life will probably be somewhere in the middle: Not as long as the regular iPhone, but not as short as the regular iPhone with 3G would have been. If that makes any sense.
Anyway, I’m buying one regardless.