PC Magazine reviews Apple iPhone 3G S: Raises the bar for smartphone computing; Editors’ Choice

“If you like apps or the Internet, go buy the iPhone 3G S right now. The new model’s improved processor and graphics chipset significantly boost the speed of everything from Web browsing to games, cementing the iPhone’s role as the nation’s most flexible handheld computer,” Sascha Segan reports for PC Magazine. “No, it still isn’t the world’s best phone. But that’s never been the true goal of the iPhone line: Apple is devoted to bringing handheld computing to the masses. And it’s succeeding brilliantly.”

“Apple has made it clear this phone is faster than the 3G, but not really how much faster, or what that means. According to various independent analyses (because Apple isn’t saying), the 3G S is only the second phone (along with the Palm Pre) to use an ARM Cortex-A8 processor, a significant architectural step beyond the ARM11 used in the iPhone 3G and most other high-end smartphones. The graphics chip has been similarly boosted,” Segan reports. “The results are very impressive.”

Segan reports, “The Apple iPhone 3G S raises the bar for smartphone computing, and is thus our Editors’ Choice [and] puts the rest of the world on notice: This is what handheld computing can do.”

Full review here.

MacDailyNews Take: It boggles the mind that Segan can bestow an “Editor’s Choice” on a device lacking a built-in media card reader.