On Thursday morning my friend and I got in line at 3:00am at the Apple Store for the iPhone 4. I had made my reservation at my local Apple Store; consequently, due to AT&T’s server debacle, I was only able to reserve one iPhone 4, when I needed two. That’s why I was there so early in the morning to jockey for a spot in the first come first serve line. My plan of attack was that I would go in the reserve line while my friend waited in the first come first serve line. Long story short, I was able to get my reserved iPhone 4, plus I was able to get my wife’s iPhone 4 at the same time. So, by 8:15am I walked out with two iPhones, and my friend was happy we didn’t have to wait. However, this is not about my experience waiting in line for the iPhone 4, but my initial impressions of the iPhone 4.
I would like to preface the following by telling you that my impression of the iPhone 4 is based off of my experience with the iPhone 3G. I did not own the iPhone 3GS, so I can’t really compare that to the iPhone 4.
Table of Contents
Performance
First off, I just want to say how impressed I am with the performance of the iPhone 4. Everything is so much faster on the iPhone 4, from websites loading incredible fast, to the apps simply responding with little to no wait time. A good example of this is the “We Rule” app. On my iPhone 3G, it could take up to a minute for the app to load, and once it did, it would take forever to move around on the screen. I also noticed that typing on the iPhone 4 is like typing on the iPad. It is so responsive with no lag time.
Battery Life
The battery on the iPhone 4 has exceeded my expectations. On my iPhone 3G, the battery would last till about lunch time, at which time I would have to charge my iPhone 3G so that it would last the rest of the day. My iPhone 4’s battery by lunch time showed that it still had 70% of the battery remaining. I know that the iPhone 4’s battery is larger than that of the iPhone 3G, but I will not have to worry that my iPhone will die on me half way through the day. Since we’re talking about the battery, I would like to now focus on the iPhone 4‘s antennas.
Antennas
Apple has done an excellent job with placing the antennas on the outside of the iPhone 4. I am getting better 3G signals in places where I got either poor or no 3G signal, which is a plus in my book. However, since the iPhone 4 launched on Thursday, a lot of people have been complaining of dropped calls when holding the iPhone 4 in their left hand. Personally, I haven’t experienced the drop call issue. I noticed in certain weak signal areas when I hold the iPhone 4 in my left hand that my signal will decrease; however, it increases quickly when I move my hand away. Also, in stronger signal areas, when I hold my iPhone 4 in my left hand and cup the antenna, I get no 3G signal loss at all. Apparently, Apple will be releasing iOS 4.0.1 as early as Monday to address this issue. I’ve been reading a lot about this issue, and it appears to be a hit or miss thing. There are people like me who are not experiencing this issue at the same level as other people are. In any event, I would be an un-happy camper if I were having these antenna issues. With that said, let’s move on to the iPhone 4’s cameras.
Camera
The iPhone 4 has two cameras — a rear 5-megapixel still camera as well as a front-facing camera. The rear camera is a video camera as well. The one thing that I am very excited about on the iPhone 4 is the same thing that has left me somewhat disappointed. I’m talking about FaceTime. I’m excited for the fact that I can make a video call with FaceTime and have some great video quality. However, I’m disappointed that I have to use Wi-Fi to achieve this. The initial call is made with your 3G connection, but then it switches to Wi-Fi when you activate FaceTime. I put the blame for this squarely in AT&T’s lap. In the past four years they have not been able to keep up with Apple’s iPhone customers’ data needs. I know if any other cellular company had exclusive rights to the iPhone they would be experiencing the same issues. However, I feel that they would have done something about it by now. Anyways, I digress. I find FaceTime to be a great feature added to the iPhone 4. I also like the fact that I can record a video from my iPhone 4, and then edit it in iMovie and upload it to MobileMe or YouTube.
I have only had the iPhone 4 for three days, but I am more than pleased with it. As I said earlier I had the iPhone 3G and it was slow and outdated. The iPhone 4 is a breathe of fresh air.
Photo Credit: New iPhone 4 Details, Features & Specs
