Aug 26
iPhone 3G Problems - The Source
Only a few days ago, the iPhone 3G entered a bunch of new countries, and this was a very good opportunity for a new wave of iPhone 3G problems to arise. Anyway, it's still to early to talk about those new problems that could appear, so I think we should take a look back at those problems we already know about, especially since we already know what's causing some of them. As for the new problems, I think we'll have two big ones: user manuals with poor translations leading users into dead ends, as well as users moving to the iPhone from a completely different phone and, sometimes, frustrated by the change.
Since we heard about various iPhone 3G problems over and over again, I think today the time has come to do more than just talk about their source, so here's the detailed list of the most frequent problems encountered by iPhone 3G owners, including those caused by the design of the phone, as well as most popular user-related ones...
1. The price of the iPhone 3G can go really high in some countries, and if you combine lower income than US citizens and more expensive iPhones, you surely can get the picture. Also, in countries where the iPhone is expected to sell in smaller quantities, the local carriers are offering pretty expensive service plans, but that depends...
2. The battery is a problem for everyone - you can't replace it, you have to charge the iPhone on a daily basis, but at least it doesn't blow up...yet!
3. The camera in the iPhone 3G is far beyond the ones used in cheaper mobile phones, remaining at 2MP, while other smartphones are already passing by the 8MP barrier!
4. No MMS - I never used MMS, but some people are surely using it, I have no doubt about that. Anyway, since you have a fully featured email client on your iPhone...why send MMS messages? Considering the Internet capabilities of the iPhone, not being able to send MMS messages is no big deal, but this becomes a serious problem when you try to view such messages you received!
5. No 32GB option, and no memory slot - some people may simply need more than 16GB of storage, so what about them?
6. Poor reception - some consider this issue to be related to the quality of the signal provided by the carrier, but according to Richard Windsor, analyst with Nomura Securities, "these issues are typical of an immature chipset and radio protocol stack where we are almost certain Infineon is the 3G supplier." Well, at least "almost certain" is a bit different from "absolutely sure," so let's hope this is not a chip-related problem.
7. The plastic back - do I have to say more about it?
8. No cut and paste? Well, this is still missing from the features list, despite the fact users have been asking for it since the early days of the first iPhone generation. While various third parties claim to have solutions, Apple still didn't come with anything to solve this.
At last, I should get back to the two new problems I mentioned in the beginning - poor translations for the user manuals and iPhone owners not really ready for it are two sources of new iPhone 3G problems, but this remains to be seen. If you have anything to add, please do! I am sure I missed something, so feel free to share with the rest of us your problems, or - even better - your iPhone 3G's strong points!
3 vote(s)
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August 26th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Oh oh oh! It looks sheit too.
August 26th, 2008 at 9:50 am
hi,i was thinking about buying a new iPod 3g in my country (Czech republic),but the price here is awfull-about $800 .-.wow..
August 29th, 2008 at 12:54 am
mine keeps freezing up, and restoring it is a pain in the butt. it takes forever to synch, i constantly lose calls, and many apps are corrupted(leading back to my first issue) i can only assume all of these issues are shared by many, but in the end its worth it when it is working. youtube works very well, and now that i am used to the keyboard, even with my fat sausage fingers, typing is easy. as far as looks, i think its very sexy, and the price in the u.s. is very low in my opinion.(att sux) when its not working(bricked) i have the urge to throw it at my lcd screen, but have resisted so far.(i have had to buy the entourage soundtrack album 3 times now because of restore issues and itunes won’t refund which is lame) in conclusion, assuming all new hard/software has bugs nowadays, the 3g iphone is the coolest peice of tech currently available.
September 9th, 2008 at 11:08 pm
One cause of the freezing up of the iphone G3 are the many apps that can be downloaded. Some of them are just not ready for prime time and cause the iphone to freeze up. So if you want to minimize the freezing, it’s probably best not to download brand new apps that seem to be available daily.
September 11th, 2008 at 7:43 am
AT&T took a week to convert my business land line to the G3 iPhone. Every, I said “Every” call over two minutes was dropped no matter how many bars I had. I turned the iPhone in for a Motorola phone at the recommendation of an AT&T tech. After two weeks of iPhone hell and lost clients, AT&T was not willing to compensate me in even a small way until I screamed!
“I scream, you scream, we all scream at the i-not-a-Phone.”
September 11th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
I tried out the AT&T I phone 3g 16 g for 19 days. I was a Verizon customer so all the areas of no service and the dropped calls were what finally made me turn it in. I am now a Verizon customer again. I didn’t like not having voice dial. I like spoken turn by turn directions, so I can look at the road, not my phone. Also it is NOT the real internet. I have AOL & I am a bad speller. The phone would not let me go to the send mail site (that has spell check) my lap top goes to even if I spelled out site. (Yes I rechecked my spelling) If it’s the REAL internet, then why not? Right now I am on the phone with ATT trying to find out why it is cost me $190 to find out that the Iphone was not right for me. (30 restocking fee, activation charges for my phone & my girl friends’ regular phone, etc. etc.
I just got off the phone the second time, they say they have refunded 104.74. If this is true, then it pays to complain. I’m a skeptic I am waiting for that last bill.
September 21st, 2008 at 2:22 am
well the iphone would work if ppl would take time and understood them and didnt go on th iphone and start messing with things and f–k it up and blame att-apple its not out fault its the customer stop being dumb and read directions
November 5th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
ATT has never refunded the money they said they would refund me. I have spoken with them more than four times. I have now disputed their whole $200 charge on my credit card. It’s a shame Apple didn’t choose to work with a more reputable company than ATT. I can lose $200 if I have too. What makes me mad is that if they are doing this to me I know they are doing it to the most vulnerable in our society. I know it isn’t the people I see or talk to at ATT it is the people at the top. Guess that’s an example of why I bought a Toyota, it was made by Americans that were allowed by their Japanese CEOs to make a quality product.
November 6th, 2008 at 4:33 am
What what AT&T’s reason for not refunding you the money?
November 10th, 2008 at 2:40 am
The last person I spoke with mentioned something about ATT being such a large company it is difficult to get the correct department to credit my card?