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June 14, 2008

3G iPhone secrets Apple has yet to address

The burning questions we've got for Apple

Harry McCracken

While we learnt at this week's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) that Apple's high-speed 3G iPhone is arriving next month, precious little else was released about the phone apart from UK pricing and the fact that it has GPS.

But we're still curious about a number of things, so here's our list of the questions that we'd love to know the answer to.

What's with the plastic back?

As Steve Jobs ticked off the design achievements of the iPhone 3G at the WWDC keynote, he mentioned its 'full plastic back'. I think that this change may indeed be a virtue. The shiny metallic backs sported by first-generation iPhones and most varieties of iPods are maddeningly effective magnets for scratches, fingerprints, and grime.

But Apple usually upgrades its products by replacing plastic with metal; it's hard to imagine the company going the other direction unless it had a motive unrelated to aesthetics. Was it able to shave a millimetre or three off the required thickness by using plastic? (Cramming everything in was clearly a challenge. Despite Jobs' claim that the new iPhone is "even thinner" at the edges than its predecessor, Apple's official depth spec for the iPhone 3G is 12.3mm, versus 11.6mm for the original iPhone.)

Maybe the metal would have interfered with GPS reception? Or did Apple simply have to go with cheaper materials when it cut the cost of the iPhone in half?

When will we get 32GB and 64GB iPhones?

For some of us, an iPhone can't function as a first-class iPod until it has enough memory to hold every song and video in a fairly large media collection. It's safe to assume that Apple will boost the phone's memory as soon as it can cram enough storage into its case and sell the resulting device at a price that a sane person might spring for.

Since the iPhone-like iPod touch already comes in a £329 32GB version, I'd be surprised if a 32GB iPhone is more than a few months away.

But I'd be equally surprised if a 64GB iPhone showed up before mid-2009 or so, given the still-imposing cost for that much flash memory. (Apple charges a £650 premium for a 1.6GHz MacBook Air equipped with a 64GB solid-state drive instead of an 80GB traditional drive.)

NEXT PAGE: Will we ever be able to use an iPhone as a modem?

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Comments received

gary said on Saturday, 14 June 2008

good article but I think if you check the dictionary, you will not find the word, "learnt" - maybe spell check would help?

ty said on Saturday, 14 June 2008

good article and if you check the oxford english dictionary, you will find the word "learnt" (alternative form of the past tense and past participle of the irregular verb learn). alas, will these englishmen never learn to speak proper american :)

JKN said on Saturday, 14 June 2008

What's with the plastic back?
Metal attenuates radio signals and since
there are now more radio transmitters in the iPhone 3G (WiFi, GPS, Edge, quad-band GSM, tri-band WCDMA, Bluetooth) a change was called for.

Walt French said on Saturday, 14 June 2008

I never understood the rationale of putting a radio -- and with GPS, two -- inside a metal box. It means that more of the talk energy gets transmitted towards your head. Not a medical issue, perhaps, but not the way you'd want to design an efficient radio. Betcha the plastic back just works better; maybe the better transmission means lower talk power and better talk time, too.

Liam Bresnahan said on Saturday, 14 June 2008

I should imagine by now that you know of a few answers to your questions, if not here are the ones I have come across;

Plastic Back - due to the amount of antennas in the phone - GPS, 3G, GSM tri-band, Wifi, Bluetooth - these all need easy access to the ether

turn by turn directions - this will almost certainly come in the form of software - tom tom are already said to be working on their offering

Will MobileMe be worth £50? - completely subjective surely, however I would quite like a close up of this.

Constable Odo said on Saturday, 14 June 2008

People had been complaining that the reception wasn't all that good on the metal-backed iPhone. If changing the back to completely plastic increases reception, then I think that's a good solution. If you're so worried about keeping the iPhone 3G in pristine condition and safe from scratches then I'd suggest you purchase a protective skin for it.

If plastic is less expensive than the aluminum it would only make sense to do so to keep the costs down. Look, the iPhone 3G is going for a low of $199. It's almost getting into the disposable price range. It's a world of compromises. You give some, you get some.

MicMac said on Saturday, 14 June 2008

My burning question is what will happen with the iPod Touch price, as it is $199 now...

MJC said on Saturday, 14 June 2008

Agree about radio reception with a plastic back. Everywhere we go, my wife's plastic MacBook shows 2 to 3X the WiFi signals as my metal MacBook Pro.

svinto said on Sunday, 15 June 2008

Plastic backing is better for reception. 32 and 64 GB phones is what yyou will get when all the others are sold out... Silly :)

fredrick haan said on Sunday, 15 June 2008

how fun! This comment is censored! Are you afraid your writings will get bad press?

Dco said on Sunday, 15 June 2008

The back casing was because the aluminum interfered with reception quality.

prak said on Monday, 16 June 2008

learnt is the past tense of learn. (like burn/burnt)
learned is an adjective meaning showing, requiring, or characterized by learning, or having much knowledge acquired by study. For example, "My learned professor never learnt to set the clock on his VCR."

Sadly, Americans got into the language and their brains couldn't grok the irregularities of English. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before "teached" and "buyed" become the past tenses of "teach" and "buy" respectively.

Brad Thompon said on Friday, 20 June 2008

Shiny metallic back? What shiny metallic back? The first-gen iPhone has a matte-finish aluminum (aluminium) back. Mine hasn't taken a single scratch in the last 7 months I've owned it. If it were shiny, like the iPods, it would have been scratched in the first day, and you'd be right. But it doesn't, and you're not.

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