iPhone Model Differentiation Getting Ridiculous
Posted on 10 June 2009, at 8:30 am, by Raymond Ser
Apple has said in the past that from the iPhone 3G onwards, the iPhone product range will be segmented, based not on hardware, but on software. The iPhone 3G S gives an idea of how Apple is working towards this. The iPhone 3G, when upgraded to the new iPhone OS 3.0, lacks the voice-dialing and video recording features of the iPhone 3G S. Apple says that this is because the current iPhone 3G doesn’t have a powerful enough processor to handle these features; when jailbroken, the 3G is able to record video, but at 15 fps instead of the 30 fps of the iPhone 3GS, so we’ll accept Apple’s excuse that it doesn’t want to compromise the iPhone experience. These excuses fall flat with the discovery that the numerical battery life indicator will also be restricted to the iPhone 3G S.
Umm… seriously? Are we expected to believe that the iPhone 3G’s hardware can’t even handle that? iPhone 3G users who have upgraded their phones using the iPhone OS 3.0 GM are reporting that the battery percentage life indicator isn’t present, and this has been confirmed by the official Apple support pages. Bizarrely, the indicator was present in the beta versions, so hopefully Apple sees the light and restores this feature.
iPhone Battery Percentage Life Indicator via MacTalk and Whirlpool Forums. iPhone screenshot from Boy Genius Report.
Related posts:
- Apple lists ways to extend iPhone battery life – don’t use any of the new 3G features
- Apple unveils iPhone 3GS – due out June 19, 2009
- Apple iPhone OS 3.0 Preview Overview
- FlipSwap and Amazon: A quick way to sell your 8GB iPhone before the 3G model renders it worthless
- A quick Thought About iPhone Issues
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June 14th, 2009 at 11:09 pm[...] account to get cheap new phone AT&T opening early on June 19th Differences between 3G and 3G S More-battery Most iPhone users are older than you think What to do if you just bought the iPhone 3G Apple to [...]
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June 10th, 2009 at 9:49 am
This currently works on iPhone 3G under 3.0 OS betas as well as the GM release that was released Monday. I don’t think this is a 3GS feature only.
June 10th, 2009 at 9:52 am
Hm, are they taking their cue from Microsoft and their byzantine OS model structure?
June 10th, 2009 at 10:09 am
That’s strange, I just did the update myself and there’s no sign of the battery percentage meter. Are you on the 3.0 GM as well? If you’ve updated from a jailbroken iPhone with the battery meter hack it apparently carries over, but not if you had a stock iPhone before the update.
June 10th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Write this off as a fan-boy comment but…
I’m reading all the complaints about the pricing of the 3Gs and some of the 3Gs-only features and can’t help but think we have all become more than a bit spoiled.
Like others on the site I have a 3Gs coming and paid a pretty penny for the device. (Others, JUDIE, got off cheap because they were due for an upgrade. She’s lucky but she also passed on the 3G last year.) While I’m not thrilled with the price I had to pay I do understand it. I got my 3G last summer for $299 when the actual device cost is much much higher. AT&T ate the bigger portion of the cost in exchange for my agreeing to pay out the nose for two years. While I have no love lost for AT&T they owe me nothing at this point. If I want to upgrade the device prior to my two years of commitment that is my choice and is my expense.
The same goes for OS updates. Apple doesn’t OWE us any update at all. When they moved from OS 1 to OS 2 they gave iPhone owners an essentially new device for nothing with the only significant difference being the lack of GPS due to hardware changes. They don’t NEED to update either of the first two generations of the iPhone to OS 3.0. That they are doing so is gravy. And while I love the idea of there being NO differences between the OS when it runs on a 3G vs a 3Gs Apple has every right to have differences that will make the newer device more attractive.
Personally, my only real issue with this entire thing is that they give a nonsense reason for it rather than simply saying- “as a courtesy we are updating the first two generations of the device but our new flagship is the 3Gs and THAT is the device that gets ALL the bells and whistles.”
June 11th, 2009 at 2:57 am
Well said Dan. I’m not happy I can’t get the lower pricing on the 3gs but you are correct.
And software upgrades?!! Apple is AWESOME. I remeber back in my first pocket of days, they were being sold with ‘flashable rom’ so the user could perform software upgrades and run the latest Windows mobile OS. Unfortunately, upgrades were at the discretion of the manufacturer of the device. So there were very few upgrades. Most companies thought it was more profitable to make new devices to sell with the new is than to offer upgrades.
Thank you Apple. While some of there business tactics are restrictive, they have made me become loyal to their phones, and because if that iPods and I’m very tempted by their laptops. I haven’t had a mac in years, but they look tempting. But that is for another post.
June 11th, 2009 at 3:01 am
Damn iPhone auto correction I meant “pocket pc days” and “sell with the new os”. Funny how it doesn’t like the word pc.
June 11th, 2009 at 11:04 am
Very good point, thehotrod! Several Pocket PC devices used flashable ROM as a selling point, then did nothing when upgrades became available. My 1st gen 32GB iPod Touch might be missing a few features, but with the 2.x and soon 3.x software for $10, it is amazingly current!