I bought the iPhone 3G last summer and am currently ineligible for the upgrade to get an iPhone 3GS for $199/$299. It would cost me $499/$599 to buy it now. To be eligible I need to renew my contract with AT&T for another 2 years. You can't renew your contract until 6 months before your current contract expires, which means I could re-sign in December and get a cheap iPhone 3GS. But if I were to get the new iPhone 3GS in December, I would feel like a pretty big dumbass when June rolls around and there's a new iPhone coming out, the iPhone 4.
Now I know it would seem natural to call the next iPhone the iPhone 4G, but if Apple keeps their current convention of releasing a new iPhone every summer than the next one will not have the 4G LTE network (if you'd like to know more about 4G networks read this article). Basically 4G networks are going to give us 70 to 100 times faster speeds, the current dilemma is that our phone and laptop batteries won't be able to last on the network. Throw a 4G chip into an iPhone 3G and expect to be only to browse the web for a half an hour.
Now I find it very hard to believe that Apple will call their next iPhone the iPhone 3GES (Even Speedier), so I went with just 4 being that its the 4th generation iPhone. Now if Apple waits to release their next iPhone during the holiday season next year, there are slim chances it would have 4G, but it is possible. Below are two fan made concepts of what the next iPhone will look like:
Which of these two are my favorite? Definitely the second one, but only if the thick part were at the bottom or it was the same thickness all the way through.
Now to the features. What will separate the current iPhone 3GS from the iPhone 4? Here's a list of things I think it will add to the 3GS's feature set:
- Same form factor as the 3G and 3GS
- Front facing 1.3MP camera supporting video chat
- 5.0MP camera supporting video recording
- Slighty improved battery
- Low power OLED screen
I would expect 4 of these 5 features to be implemented. It's time for Apple to make a big change. The difference between the 3GS and the 3G doesn't really compare to the difference between the iPhone 3G and original iPhone. The original iPhone was a revolutionary product, the iPhone 3G was what the original should have been, and the iPhone 3GS was merely released to keep Apple on top. I think the time has come for Apple to make a revolutionary product... again.