“Without a doubt, current 3G implementations do require more space and consume more power than simply outfitting a phone with support for EDGE. Using the Samsung Blackjack as an example, turning on 3G reduces battery life by around 25% under web/email use. The biggest impact of all is, surprisingly enough, talk time; with 3G enabled, the Blackjack’s talk time is cut in half, with absolutely no benefit realized from the higher bandwidth standard,” Anand Lal Shimpi reports for AnandTech.
“At the same time, Apple’s choice to include 802.11b/g support in the iPhone makes a lot of sense. Battery life actually increases with Wi-Fi over EDGE whenever the data connection is being used, not to mention that performance goes up tremendously as well,” Lal Shimpi reports.
“Apple had to make a number of tradeoffs with the iPhone, and without a doubt its power hungry screen was not worth sacrificing, even for better network performance. The iPhone’s biggest selling point is its UI, and Apple seems to have made the right tradeoff by embracing Wi-Fi for the first generation – as frustrating as it may be for users,” Lal Shimpi reports.
“The long term solution however isn’t simply to rely on Wi-Fi hotspots for faster net access, as 3G deployments become even more widespread and technology improves you can expect to see lower power and more tightly integrated 3G chipsets available. We’d venture a guess that a 3G iPhone is at least 12 months out, but until then keep an eye out for 802.11 hotspots – you’ll get a better usage experience and better battery life on your iPhone,” Lal Shimpi reports.
Full article, with tests comparing physical size and power consumption between 3G and EDGE, as well as Wi-Fi and EDGE,, here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “gzero” for the heads up.]
I just wish more people would keep their wi-fi networks unlocked… Ha..
What “spec sheet people” don’t realize is:
1) In big cities where 3G is available, EDGE is actually reasonably fast
2) Where 3G is common, Wi-Fi tends to be common also
3) In more rural areas where EDGE is really slow and there is no Wi-Fi for miles, 3G isn’t available anyway.
3G – an improvement for some users, some of the time.
Surprise surprise – Apple knew what they were doing!
This does not surprise me, Apple knew about the 3G power consumption and made the right decision.
To be honest, 3g is totally overated anyway. Until the 3g networks are better 3g isnt worth using regularly.
In the UK, Carriers charge a premium for 3g services and I havent really come across anyone who actually uses it to its full capacity anyway.
For 3g to be viable in the iphone battery technology and efficency must improve.
Afterall, who wants a phone with no battery life to make calls on it?
My battery only lasts till noon. Then it’s gotta get back on the wire. Kinda sucks, not to mention the phone service coverage is the worst I’ve ever had. I can hold the iPhone out in front of me and watch it go from 5 bars to No Service in the course of a minute or two. It’s a shame since the the WiFi side and the rest of the device is awesome. ATT has some work to do!
MDM: account as in, I wish I could transfer my account to a different carrier.
To be honest, 3g is totally overated anyway. Until the 3g networks are better 3g isnt worth using regularly.
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Hmmm, I disagree.. I understand the reasons that Apple chose to go with EDGE. But that being said, in OC California I tested my iPhone connection speed with EDGE from home and got 119K, while my partner tested his Motorola Q with Verizon’s 3G and got 556K.
That’s a huge difference in real world usability.
What I’m saying is that my experience with EDGE is so pathetically slow, that I’d be willing to trade off battery performance for 3G as long as I had the ability to turn it off when I wasn’t using it.
Hmmm, I disagree.. I understand the reasons that Apple chose to go with EDGE. But that being said, in OC California I tested my iPhone connection speed with EDGE from home and got 119K, while my partner tested his Motorola Q with Verizon’s 3G and got 556K.
That’s a huge difference in <u>real world usability.</u>
I hesitate to call any experience in California “world“….
So, 25% reduction in battery life–from 6 hours to 4.5. Web pages load 9 times faster–from 100Kbps to 900+Kbps.
Not sure I’d make the same trade-off.
That said, the effect on talk time is surprising and, if that would extend to the iPhone, I could definitely see 3G being a big problem.
Still…I think I’ll wait for 3G. If that means waiting a year, so be it.
“… in OC California I tested my iPhone connection speed with EDGE from home and got 119K, while my partner tested his Motorola Q with Verizon’s 3G and got 556K.”
Did you compare these to Wi-Fi? Just curious? Wannabe’s comments seemed pretty rational.
Dunno what happened there, but that should have been:
“I hesitate to call any experience in California “real world”…”
Besides the enhanced “edge” that AT&T is using is rated as a G3 service anyway – call it the best of both worlds!
For the life of me, I can’t understand why every one is making this G3 thing such a big deal in the first place…
Unless your in the middle of Kansas – your iPhone is going to naturally home in on the nearest WiFi connection anyway and that’s a hell of a lot fast than the G3 service or even G4 service…
I don’t think 3g is overated. However, 3 hours of talk time is NOT acceptable.
“What I’m saying is that my experience with EDGE is so pathetically slow, that I’d be willing to trade off battery performance for 3G as long as I had the ability to turn it off when I wasn’t using it.”
I wouldn’t–and I’m waiting for 3G.
One of the great things about Apple products is that they “just work.” The idea that I would have to turn on and off 3G is a non-starter–it definitely destroys the whole experience because whatever state I’m currently in is bound to be the wrong one.
I pull out my iPhone and bring up Google maps to see where the seafood restaurant is. But first I have to tell the iPhone whether or not to use 3G? Worst yet, I then have to tell the iPhone to stop using the 3G when I’m done? Yuck!
The problem with this is that it always leads to regret. “Why is Google maps going so slow? Oops! Forgot to turn on 3G!” followed by going to make a call and, “Hey! What happened to my battery?! Oops! Forgot to turn off 3G!”
What other cellphone companies do is offload these tasks to the user–“Well, it’s your fault! You forgot to turn on/off 3G!” Battery life too low? “Well, go buy another battery!”
So I appreciate what Apple does, even though I don’t always agree with the the tradeoffs. Yeah, for 25% less battery life, I’d still rather have 3G. But if Apple can’t “get it right” due to technological limitations, I’d rather they don’t do it than offload it onto me.
“…Did you compare these to Wi-Fi? Just curious? Wannabe’s comments seemed pretty rational.”
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No, I don’t even think his Q has wi-fi.. Does it?
Anyway, my tests with my home wi-fi network is around 800k on iPhone, while my PowerMac and MacBook get around 1.5 mbps.
The problem with wi-fi is that the networks the iPhone always finds are locked (other than home or office.) But when I’m at home or at the office, I’m using my computers for internet. It’s when I’m in the car or on the weekends when I use my iPhone for internet, and in those cases I rarely find an open wi-fi network..
“….But first I have to tell the iPhone whether or not to use 3G? Worst yet, I then have to tell the iPhone to stop using the 3G when I’m done? “
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I understand your point, but honestly, I’m already doing this with bluetooth to conserve battery when I’m not using it.. If I could save myself 5 minutes while navigating through a couple of links on a web page in my car by turning on/off 3G, it would be well worth it IMO.
But no point in beating a dead horse, the reality is that iPhone doesn’t have 3G and i still love it. But for me EDGE really does suck for the web… Maps are fine.
A note about Google Maps – they’re fast. Very fast, in my experience (unless you’re looking at a lot of satellite photos). I have no problem getting a traffic report on EDGE in the Seattle area, and it comes up faster than any web page. Not a problem.
As stated above – “Just Works” trumps “Install It Because We Can” with Apple, so hence no 3G manual setting.
But if I were to pick a “turn-it-on-manually-battery-waster” feature, it would not be 3G, it would be GPS.
If Apple does add 3g the iphone will be able to detect the network and switch to edge or wifi without even the user realising.
There will be no manual changing from 3g to other networks.
I believe this is the 3g solution that Apple is working on, in a way similar to the edge and wifi currently built in to the iPhone that is available now..
Geez, folks, I switched from Sprint to get an iPhone, and I actually think the EDGE service is a bit faster than Sprint’s data service. Now that might be skewed a bit because I can actually see and use the web pages I download, but surely EDGE is, at the very least, in the same range as Sprint’s service was. I am not disappointed at all, especially considering that I use WiFi most of the time I’m not actually on the road.
I don’t see what the big deal is about 3G. I have been using Edge and while it’s slower than wifi, it’s still quite useable.
There is NO WAY I’d give up battery life for a 3G connection at this point. I get by just fine on my iphone with Edge.
When 3G is more prevalent and the technology is better, I’ll be interested.
@Boshuda “….I don’t see what the big deal is about 3G.”
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Yeah ummm, like I said, in Southern California, my iPhone speed with EDGE from home is 119K, my partner’s Motorola Q with Verizon’s 3G is 556K.
The “big deal” is about 5x faster performance.
The 3G item is a big deal! I’m glad to hear that there is a good reason the iPhone doesn’t have 3G, but that doesn’t mean that users don’t miss it any less.
I must say, though: it is very nice to be able to use my Sprint phone as a near-broadband, wireless (Bluetooth) modem for my laptop. Shame the iPhone can’t do the same.
Geez. Shut up about what the iPhone isn’t already. No-one cares that you think it sucks because it doesn’t have this, that, or the other thing. You’re comparing your own geek porn fantasies in your mind to a real world device. So the only question becomes “Is this real device worth using?”
I love the iPhone, but I just will always hate AT&T and their lousy service. At some point in the (perhaps distant) future, someone else other than AT&T will eventually provide iPhone service, and that’s the day I’ll switch.
“Yeah ummm, like I said, in Southern California, my iPhone speed with EDGE from home is 119K, my partner’s Motorola Q with Verizon’s 3G is 556K.”
Perhaps, but the browser sucks so bad on the Q that you don’t realize most of that 3G speed advantage in the end. I’ve actually seen web pages load just as quickly on the iPhone under EDGE as they do on a Q running on a 3G network. There are also YouTube videos out there that show the same thing.
@SJR “…Perhaps, but the browser sucks so bad on the Q that you don’t realize most of that 3G speed advantage in the end”
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Perhaps, but I’m not defending the Q or it’s browser. I’m simply stating the difference in 3G vs. Edge speeds at the very same location. My home.