Two years ago, Apple revolutionized mobile phones, and the competition is still scrambling. So far, the only real contender is the just-released (and still immature) Palm Pre. The new iPhone 3GS lengthens Apple's lead.
When we first used the original iPhone, we were amazed at how much a little phone could do, and how well it did it. Over the ensuing years, we've gotten used to these capabilities, and a subtle shift has taken place: When it was new, we looked at the iPhone as a phone that did a lot of neat things, but two years later, we see it as a handheld, networked computer that happens to have phone service. So we've become more demanding. Our previous iPhone started to feel slower, but it hadn't changed; our expectations did.
The iPhone 3GS is a phone (and computer) for the impatient. The previous 3G still works fine, and the new 3.0 software brings it great features, but the iPhone 3GS works faster. And the iPhone 3GS also has extra features — video recording, Voice Control, compass and VoiceOver — but its main benefit is raw speed. Everything you do happens faster: Spotlight search results, app startup, switching to email, loading web pages, making notes.
If you already have an iPhone, should you upgrade? It depends on what you need, and what AT&T and Apple will charge you.
For original iPhone owners, this is a good time to update: the new phone is faster, has a compass-assisted GPS, has up to four times as much storage for your music, has much better voice call quality and a louder speakerphone, and offers compelling new features like video recording, autofocus and Voice Control.
The free OS 3.0 update brings an original iPhone many new features, such as copy-and-paste, voice memos, Spotlight, voice memos and landscape keyboards. But if you want MMS or Internet tethering (when AT&T is ready), stereo Bluetooth or Bluetooth peer-to-peer gaming, you need new hardware — either a 3G or the newer, faster, more feature rich 3GS. As a two-year (or more) AT&T customer, you'll probably qualify for heavily discounted pricing if you're willing to renew your service contract.
If you already have an iPhone 3G, however, you may have to pay full retail price ($599 or $699), plus AT&T's upgrade fees, plus tax. Check with AT&T to see what it would cost you — they're offering discounts to some customers.
If you make heavy use of your iPhone every day, or if you will benefit from the improved photographic hardare, the faster 3GS may well be worth the premium to upgrade. Its imaging is a major step up, and its speed boost is real; it's especially noticeable when multitasking. Switching apps could be slow with the first two iPhones; each time you switched, you had to launch an app again, and those seconds add up. The 3GS's speed really minimizes this effect. We used to limit our task switching due to launch overhead, but in the past week, we have been bouncing among apps with abandon.
New customers, choosing between the $99 iPhone 3G and the $199 iPhone 3GS, should just get the 3GS. It's twice as fast, has twice the storage, offers amazing voice control and has a much better camera that does video, too. There's just no good reason to cheap out.
Last year, we said that those with a traditional mobile phone would find iPhone 3G compelling. This year, it's more of the same: the iPhone has great features and the best user experience around, and it benefits from two years of steady improvements and maturation, plus the huge advantage of a well-understood