Apple's next-gen, dual-core iPhone could debut in April - report - Page 3

You may rethink that once you hit your 400 recharge cycle on your phone. Sent mine in Dec. 22 and I am still waiting to get it back (which is ~480 days from purchase). I won't buy another iPhone. A month without a phone every year and a half with the additional 100 bucks of "didn't get a phone with a replaceable battery tax" isn't worth it when the apps I use are available on other platforms...

Fair enough. I agree with that. Just sounded like you were implying removable batteries were a gimmick.

iPhone 4G should have multitasking for radio applications. A tiny hardware light to signify missed text or phone calls. An LED flash for the camera. An OLED screen. And 4G internet connectivity options.

A friend is in a similar boat with his 1st gen iPhone. Battery won't last more than 10 minutes of talk time now. $80 to replace the battery; but you can get a newer better phone for $99, can't you?

On the other hand, aren't replacement batteries for smart phones pretty expensive? The last one I had with replaceable/spare batteries was a Palm Treo. IIRC the batteries for that were somewhere around $50. (My point only being that spare batteries for these devices aren't the same story as throwing some rechargeable AAA batts in your pocket.)

Am I the only one who thinks the removable battery is BS?

I just hope Apple finally fixes Bluetooth on the iPhone. At least follow the spec.

Not believable in the slightest. Pffft!

The couple of dozen posts made earlier in the thread by several others that call this rumor BS because of the battery part would suggest that no, you are not the only one...

Yea, especially since the Macbook has a removable battery and hard drive.

Battery for the iPhone out of warranty is around $60-$70 last time I checked. Every experience with the battery in any device is going to be different. I have owned the 2G iPhone since the original price drop (4g, $299) and the battery is the same today than it was then. So for me spending $300 for over 3 years of use by the time I update in June (hopefully) is remarkable. Previously I would get a new phone every 6mo to a year simply out of boredom with the model.

Dual core? What about the battery life?

Not since it went unibody.

Are you sure about that?

I only want this if it comes with improved overall power savings.

Can you get new one for 99 bucks without burning an upgrade? We bought in early and have nearly retrofitted the entire company from Blackberries. However, I am thinking we jumped too soon. We are either going to have to become adept at servicing them ourselves or have backups waiting to go. At this point, I think we'll wait to see what comes around the corner for the 4th gen. If it has a replaceable, or easily serviceable battery, we would like to stay with the Apple platform.

We've had this discussion over and over. The removable battery option allows virtually unlimited working time if you want to lug around a couple kilos of spare batteries. The non-removable battery option offers more initial charge because it can be larger due to not having space wasting latches and shape restrictions. Also internal batteries are safer and less prone to failure.

A lot of people were pleasantly surprised how long their iPhone battery actually performed on a single charge which made the worries of a non-replaceable battery pretty much a moot point. Same for the MBP. The internal battery lasts quite a bit longer than the old style removable ones did. Very adequate for my needs anyway. YMMV.

Whooosh! (as they say on /.)

Why do you keep going on about this?

If you were as good looking as me, obviously it wouldn't be an issue.


***Disclaimer:- the above post may contain traces of sarcasm***

Well, Apple does watch user satisfaction surveys very closely. And most of these show that battery life is the iPhone's weakest point by far (while e.g. only a very small minority is complaining about the lack of third party app multi-tasking).

As there is no real progress in battery technology and power requirements do not really get any lower (whatever OLED could save will easily be eaten up by faster CPUs and GPUs and more RAM)... I would not really rule out a replaceable battery forever. At least I rather see them making the battery replaceable then making the device thicker. Maybe not this time around though.

I checked on this about 6 weeks ago for my friend and $80 was what I recalled. I was a bit off, though: from Apple's website: If it is out of warranty, Apple offers a battery replacement for $79, plus $6.95 shipping, subject to local tax. Apple disposes of your battery in an environmentally friendly manner.

So, in Los Angeles, it's $79+$7.71 (tax)+$6.95 = $93.66! Damn, you might as well upgrade to a newer $99 phone (if you want to extend the contract).

Agreed with the upgrading out of boredom comment. I used to go 6 -12 mos max. iPhone has kept me in their world for 30 months now, and it's getting a bit stale/boring to me, even having forked over for a 3G and then a 3G[s] when they were available. I just watched the 18 minute Technobuffalo comparison of the 3G[s] to the Nexus One I found on another blog. Seemed pretty fair comparison, and the Nexus One looks to be a serious challenge to the iPhone.

The only thing the iPhone does that keeps me chained to it at this point looks like the whole MobileMe/iDisk/iTunes ball and chain (a very comfortable ball and chain, but a ball and chain none-the-less!). There are alternatives to all of those but the seamlessness with my Macs is just so sweet. Still, my desire to test drive the Nexus One isn't being quelled by looking at the latest rounds of comparison. Apple's got some real competition out there.

My 3G is 551 days old today, no sign of any issues with the battery, if anything does happen before I can renew my contract in a few months I think I'll buy a $20 replacement and do it myself OR use my plug-in spare battery.

For me and my friends who have iPhones, the Apple Store has always replaced our phones for free when we have battery issues within the first year, with few questions asked. After my 3G broke and I didn't want to use my upgrade for a 3GS, they took my old battered iPhone 2G in and gave me a brand new one for 80$, along with a 90 day guarantee on the replacement phone. I'm pretty happy with the way the system is now, I find their system more than fair to the consumer.

A fix to the notification system in general would be nice. It should be like the WebOS implementation (and Android) it doesnt swallow your screen or pause apps it simply just shows you what it was, and gives you the option to answer or just let it fade out and you can continue on. LED Flash is a given.

I always figured Apple fans had a hard-on for bashing OLED for being not as good as the LCD, especially when its in competing products, but that seems to have changed significantly now.

I doubt we'll see 4G connectivity until next year when the market will be growing for it.


You can get a new 3G for 99 bucks...on contract. But some people dont hop on the newest thing instantly, and lets take your friend for example. If the only thing thats wrong with his phone is just needing a new battery, on other phones this is not even a 30 dollar fix and you can enjoy your phone for years more.

Battery life differs for everyone, so to make a blanket statement (not you but other die-hard apple fans) that user replaceable batteries are pointless is just ignorant. I keep a spare battery for my Bold in the car, and it gets used probably once every 2 or so weeks, even though i am text/email heavy i have chargers everywhere but if im out and about for extended periods during the day i take it with me.

I doubt it.

A call to Apple or AT& would be easy enough to confirm.

There were rumors a week or two ago that the $99 iPhone 3G was going to be replaced by an 8gb iPhone 3G[s] for the same $99, but I don't know details on upgrade pricing. Most of the time, cell companies aren't very friendly to the upgrader who is upgrading early. Even the Nexus One and Tmobile getting slammed by current TMo users because of the greater cost of upgrading for existing companies.

I believe the Removable Battery is just wishful thinking and plain BS. The first thing to happen would be many of the Village Idiots would buy iPhone batteries from eBay etc. and they would be cheap knockoffs. They would not last long and possibly ruin the phone. My preference is that Apple changes the battery when needed and whatever the price is that's what I pay.

Thanks for not lumping me in there.

I'm a heavy user and can't make it through the end of the day without either docking or an external battery, but I am comfortable with the situation...I'm not opposed to replaceable batteries, I'm not demanding them either. I don't think Apple will go that route.

My friend's jailbroken and on TMobile, so that's why we didn't opt for the $99 contract upgrade. I suggested a Mophie Juicepack, but I think he said they didn't make them for the old phones any more. I'm not sure what he's done, or going to do.

Many -- perhaps most, if the bills are paid on time -- subscribers are upgrade-eligible a few months before the actual end of contracts (e.g., I can upgrade to a 3GS this month, even though my 2-year contract does not end until July).

I agree. I travel a lot. With the iphone, I can't watch movies or ... without ensuring I have a dead phone when I land (just when I need a phone). I could carry around a charging brick, its extra cable and/or charging cable, etc. or do like I used to do (pre-phone), swap the battery 8 hours into the flight and just pop it back into the phone before the return trip to charge it. Out of pocket cost, I don't remember, but it couldn't have been too far from 20 bucks for the spare battery...

Honestly, Apple has never had a removable battery in an iDevice and has no moved to internal batteries in their notebooks due to inherent benefits and yet people actually think Apple’s going to take such a huge step backwards?


Welcome to AI, but this argument is just as bad as iFail’s. Let’s examine what you’ve stated...

You’re saying that having a battery you plug into the bottom of the iPhone to charge it less convenient than opening up your phone taking out the old battery, then replacing the new battery.

You needing an extra cable makes no sense in this example and you haven’t addressed the issue of charging the extra battery. You have continually swap batteries to charge them, possibly even getting up in the middle of the night to do it and you may have to carry a pack of stickers with you to keep that battery door secure.

AWESOME! On the other, more logical hand, buying one of the many external batteries that plug into any iDevice and come in multiple capacities and styles, including a built in case. All allow you to charge multiple batteries at the same time, even charge and sync through a single cable. You can set it before bed and not have to wake up in the middle of the night to change batteries and “securifying” stickers while also getting a thinner, stronger device out of the deal.

PS: If you don’t want to buy any additional batteries and you travel with a notebook but use your phone/PMP for entertainment then you can charge your phone/PMP by plugging it into your notebook. I can get at least 5 additional charges out of my phone that way and still have notebook battery life left. I forget the exact stats as it’s been over a year since I last incorporated this method.

Absolutely Apple has competition! I have yet to handle the N1 but I have spent some time with the Pre and the Droid and can honestly say I was impressed with the speed (Droid) and the OS (Pre). The keyboard on both were awful. The Pre's keys were too small, and the Droid's was just odd in its layout. In my neck of the woods, Sprint is awful (I have a friend who consistently gets text messages DAYS after they were originally sent, they have swapped the phone but the issue remains) and Verizon does not have a single phone they could trap me for 2 years with. Tmobile has not introduced 3G to our area so they are out. AT&T has never let me down, despite all of the bad press it gets, I have not one issue with them.

I really hope for a overwhelmingly great iPhone this year and would love to see a design refresh as well. I hope they find a way to make the aluminum work with the 3G and 3G(s) curves. This is the year I update, hope its an iPhone killer.

First; it is very likely that Apple would give one the option of turning the RFID on and off just like the other radios in the unit. So Right off the bat you have displayed a ridiculous position

Second; RFID have an extremely short range. In fact the whole technology wouldn't work otherwise. This is also ridiculous because the other radios in an iPhone have far greater ranges, even Wifi is significantly stronger and can just as easily identify you!

Third; being an over bearing idiot will not ingratiate you with either your family or your employees.

Fourth; RFID can be used for a number of things at times having nothing to do with personal information. You jump to condemn before you even know if and how the RFID will be implemented.


Dave

ATTENTION. I've checked out all news reports on 4G iPhone written in Korean. NO articles have reported the following:

1. Removable battery
2. Dual core processor
3. Release to the market in April
4. AMOLED display

All articles that I've read said 4G iPhone would have battery of twice-improved capacity and be released to the market in JUNE after 4G iPhone for "test" will come to Korea. According to those reports in Korean language, KT said, it is possible for the 4G version to be released to the market in August because of the remaining stock of 3GS, but KT will try to introduce it as early as in June. One big feature of 4G version is it supports "screen conversation (?)" using a front camera. Those are the only things reported regarding 4G iPhone. I think the above article in Korea Times is simply wrong about the above four things because there is no other report in Korean claiming them, and the writer of the article must have written it based on those other reports in Korean.

Multitasking needs to be more general than just radio apps. The reality is that Push notifications simply don't work for many apps I could conceive. Importantly I'm not that much of a dreamer, so there are likely hundreds of apps out there that need a general purpose multitasking solution.

As for missed texts and phone calls a stronger vibrator might help too. Along the same lines the Calendar program needs to support multiple alarms requiring acknowledgment. What I mean here is an alarm type that goes off, and then repeats every 1 to 5 minutes until acknowledged. This repeating alarm would especially be useful for those of us in high noise environments from time to time. This should be easy to add to iPhones calendar as a different type of alarm.

An LED flash is nice as it would save many pics but I do wish that would introduce an iPhone with a high end camera. The problem is quality of those little cameras in general. Yeah I know this means a bulkier device but we are not talking about the current iPhone, rather an additional model. Oh one more thing camera related, a dedicated mechanical "shutter release" button would do wonders for the device.

In any event I'm really starting to believe this model won't be replacing the iPhone but rather will be an addition to the family. In effect the 3GS would become the low end device and this new iPhone model would offer additional distinctive features. I'm imagining a larger screen for one.


Dave

I liked the way I don't even have to turn my iPhone off or even interrupt what I'm doing in order to plug in my Kensington battery pack.

I can pull it out of my pocket and plug it in while still on a call and it gives me another full charge.

Juggling bits and pieces on your knees as you fiddle about with spare batteries is not the best way.

Removing a phone's battery will often wipe some of it's memory making getting back to what you were doing that much harder.

forget the removable battery
what about an april release, i can understand that SJ said they will respond in an agressive way if need be
does apple need an april response to competition? or as i think a june/july release
that to me is the titillating aspect of this whole announcement

you really are tripping, mac tripper. i put an anti-glare film on my iphone as soon as i purchased it 6 months ago, it doesn't peal, hasn't worn out, is actually better in terms of fingerprints and smudges and cleaning.

oh yes, and the touch screen still works!!!!1!

3rd party solutions are far better and simpler than apple trying to build something in, when it is a subjective issue.

I don't think Apple will create an iPhone with removable battery.

OMG- an iPhone with a swappable battery? Why would anyone ever need that?
Especially when the iPhone's charge, when used as a multitasking device, barely lasts half a day when out and about.

Right and remember when people used to put a color film over a black and white TV and pretended they had real color?

Good points, but a replaceable battery means when battery died on 12/22/09, I would have had a usable phone 12/22/09. I am still waiting for my phone. That is a big difference, regardless of swapping batteries, which I happily did two years ago... Everybody has a preference, but holding a charging brick to my phone so I can use it is not appealing in any sense of the word. Pulling a battery out and swapping it means I now have another 10/12 hours of cord free phone use, no cables....

How about, give me a replaceable battery, and let me make the choice over brick or spare battery. Then everybody is happy, provided they can follow the google team and design a nexus style case where you don't have an ugly situation like your picture.