Upgrading to iPhone 3GS = you will pay more

[Sargeras]

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/ ... grades.ars

Apparently if you're a new customer, you get this baby at the price they spoke about at the keynote. But if you're already a paying customer, you'll be required to pay an additional $100-$200 more to "early upgrade" to a 3GS.

What the fuck?

[Winnow]

yeah, makes the 32 GB version pretty expensive. 500-600.

That's ok. I'm going to wait until the new hardware can be jailbroken. 3.0 is already broken but that's for existing hardware (3G and older)

I'd still buy it at the higher price but no need for now. The new graphics and powerful processor make it worth it for me.

[Sargeras]

I'm hoping after June 19th they'll offer a normal upgrade deal.

[Siji]

It looked to me like they're doing the normal phone purchase plan that applies to all other phones.. If you're eligible for a phone upgrade or are a new customer you get the best pricing.. if not, well.. you get fucked.

I don't see myself upgrading anytime soon unless I start finding important apps that won't run on the current version.

[Ashur]

I concur w/ Siji. I don't understand the "outrage". This is normal. Hot new phones are ALWAYS first offered to new customers to lure them away from their current providers and get them under contract.

[Funkmasterr]

Yep... I paid $375 for my G1 on release date, I only had my phone for a year so I got a $75 credit (would be $150 after 2 years). New customers were getting it for like 175-200.

[Siji]

Sometimes, the $150 early termination fee is more than made up for by what you'd save in a new high priced phone as a "new" customer.. it's kind of funny actually.

[Winnow]

Yeah, I paid 200.00 to get out of my Sprint contract and don't regret it at all.

I use the iPhone so much (and almost never actually make or receive calls). Best 79.00/month ever for time I use it.

[Boogahz]

http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/06/iphone-3gs-tax/

Some "tricks" on how to avoid the cost of upgrading!

[Winnow]

For all you paranoid folks, here's the rundown on upgrading:

* BACKUP, BACKUP, BACKUP. Of course everything will go smooth and safe, but IF something happens, you want to make sure you've backed up your contacts, photos, important SMS, etc.

* You WILL lose all Cydia apps. This is the same with EVERY firmware upgrade - iTunes has no idea you've got 'em on there, and sure isn't going to politely put them back for you after you upgrade. This includes all Cydia app settings, etc. Backup your stuff from those too if you haven't yet and need to.

* 3.0 WILL have an official PwnageTool jailbreak (yup, including Cydia) shortly following the release of the 3.0 firmware (which just happened), according to MuscleNerd when he demoed the 3.0 unlock.

* That being said, 3.0 will NOT BE UNLOCKABLE UNTIL FRIDAY. The DevTeam has already unlocked both the iPhone 1G and 3G running 3.0 with the new unlock tool, ultrasn0w, but they will not be releasing the tool until Friday. We'll let you know as soon as it happens, but for now - if you NEED to be unlocked, do NOT upgrade until Friday. Otherwise, you can upgrade just fine today and still unlock on Friday.

* You DON'T need to wipe your device, go to stock 2.2.1 first, or anything - whether you're jailbroken or not, unlocked or locked, you can simply press "Update" in iTunes to upgrade to 3.0 - and you'll be fine.

* Like you really need a list of features first, but we've got em detailed here.

* iTunes 8.2 is required and fine to use. Jailbreak, unlock, all that will work fine in 8.2!


New features include:

*MMS (iPhone 3G and 3GS only) (Available later this summer for AT&T users)
*Tethering (iPhone 3G and 3GS only)(Available later this summer for AT&T users)
*Stereo Bluetooth
*Landscape Keyboard in all apps
*Cut & Paste
*Spotlight Search
*Voice Notes
*Upgraded Calendar to include Exchange sync
*Buy/Rent movies and shows directly on your iPhone
*Enhanced Stocks
*Increased speed
*Shake to shuffle for the iPod.
*Mobile Me improvements including Find My Phone and Remote Wipe.

[Canelek]

Thanks for the info.


I thought MMS was axed altogether....guess I had read that wrong somewhere or heard a rumor.

[Winnow]

3.0 jailbreak update:

Update 2 (Thursday morning):

* We have two issues that we’ve been trying to resolve:

1. There are new 3.0 complications with YouTube.app if you’re on a hacktivated (unofficially activated) device
2. There’s a bug in Apple’s new version of asr that our custom IPSW’s are tickling and causing crashes on, on some devices. (For the nerdy or curious among us, the details of that bug were tweeted by planetbeing a month ago.)

* As of Thursday morning we now have a workaround for #2. For #1, we’ll try our best to get it fixed but we may end up releasing a preliminary jailbreak in which YouTube doesn’t work for hacktivated devices, and then follow that up with a more complete jailbreak when we can.

[Winnow]

This doesn't sound good:

http://www.toptechnews.com/news/Hot-iPh ... 1007L4I61J

News reports Relevant Products/Services have cited overheating problems with the iPhone 3GS, but are the reports justified? Or is Apple's latest device headed for a major recall?

Le Journal du Geek, a French technology Web site, posted a story and a photo describing one consumer's issues with the iPhone 3GS. The story says the consumer purchased an iPhone 3GS and the phone got very hot while using the GPS service. The consumer later noticed reddish marks around the circumference of the battery.

The posted photo shows a white iPhone 3GS with a rectangular glow on the backside. Nowhere Else, another French site, posted a series of photos of the iPhone 3GS with the same marks. It isn't clear if this is the same phone photographed multiple times.

Overheating iPhones

Apple's discussion forum is also beginning to see complaints from iPhone 3GS users citing overheating. Some are calling the trouble proof that Apple needs to fix iPhone OS 3.0 power Relevant Products/Services-management issues. Others are blaming the 3G capability.

"I've had my iPhone 3Gs running on 3.0 for a week now, and it still overheats. I've rebooted, restored, drained my battery, and switched chargers, and still it burns. I know I'm not alone; I've seen photos of white iPhones with pink heat marks on its back. Additionally, my battery life only last about four hours of use," wrote a forum user named jcampos1908.

Although there are only a few posts on the topic on the Apple forum, apparently the overheating issue isn't new. iPhone 3G users previously reported some overheating. Some users reported getting burned by the device, while others reported problems charging the battery without the device heating up.

Battery Recall Coming?

Is Apple in for a major recall? Michael Gartenberg, a vice president at Interpret, doesn't think so. "So many of these things become overblown Internet legends. Who knows what the circumstances were or how the person [in France] carried the device," Gartenberg said. "I just wouldn't begin to see a pattern here based on these reports that may or may not have occurred."

Apple has witnessed issues with the iPhone in the past. Last summer there was ongoing speculation and finger-pointing in the wake of dropped calls, abrupt network switches, poor reception, and service interruptions on the iPhone 3G. The glitches are reportedly related to a chip inside Apple's music-playing cell phone.

Apple tried to remedy the woes through a software upgrade. But the update release that was supposed to address bugs caused new issues among iPhone 3G users.

Some point to potential battery issues with the iPhone 3G and 3GS. Apple is no stranger to battery recalls. In 2006, Apple launched a major recall program on some of its 15-inch MacBook Pro batteries. Companies like Hewlett-Packard and Dell were also been plagued by faulty batteries that same year.

Apple has not yet publicly responded to the issue.

[Fash]

could be total bs.