Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPod Family, iPhone
iPhone crosses the puddle. 3G missing in action.
There are few things pundits agreed on but a 3G iPhone launch in the UK and Europe seemed a pretty sure move. This morning, the Steve announced the November 9th iPhone launch. And, as you may surmise from the title of this post, there was no 3G on offer. 8GB with EDGE--the same model sold in the US.
Of course between now and 9 November there's plenty of room for change but count me among the disappointed who had hoped for something better east of the Atlantic.
The costs seem incredibly high as well. The £269 iPhone clocks in at US$538.43 for today's exchange rate. The cheapest £35 plan is US $70 per month + "Special Roaming" rates--with no hint of prepaid/contract-free service. How do you British TUAW readers feel about the contract rates and the lack of 3G? Let us know in the comments.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Fraser Drew said 3:34PM on 9-18-2007
Annoyed at lack of 3G, but always knew the plan would be at least £30+ (most are here)
The thing is, there is more 3G here than there is edge... so it's gotta be the battery :(
So the lack of 3G means I'm holding out for 3G, no early adopting here
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potato said 3:36PM on 9-18-2007
Blame the VAT. Everything is consistently more expensive in the UK because of that tax. I don't expect Apple to sell things at a loss (or at a severely reduced margin) just to match American pricing levels.
If Brits don't like paying so much for hardware, they should petition their government to improve the VAT.
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river0 said 3:39PM on 9-18-2007
ERICA--
Where can I find a link to download a zip file of the 1.0.1 version of anySIM?? Every link I try (including the IPhone Dev Team's) results in a 1.0.0 version of anySIM. Is it possible that some anySIM files ARE version 1.0.1 but still marked as version 1.0.0?
Thanks.
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craig said 3:46PM on 9-18-2007
I wouldnt mind paying more technology taxes if my government paid for my healthcare...
seems like a fair trade off to me.
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Dazaroonie said 3:49PM on 9-18-2007
As much as I love Apple, the UK iPhone is over priced and under specced.
I have been using 3G phones (SE K800i & Nokia N95) to access the internet and e-mails for years and would be very reluctant to downgrade to the EDGE system with it’s 30% coverage. Here in the UK a 2Mp camera which is not even capable of recording video is considered out of date (3 & 5 Mp being the norm for high-end phones).
It seems Apple designed the iPhone from the ground up for the rather backward US phone market, if they think UK users will be happy spending £269 on a non 3G smartphone which does not support MMS or video they are mistaken.
The latest European handsets and networks already support HSDPA (3.5G), Asia is deep into 4G, while Apple isn't even on 3G yet. Compared to Nokia’s N95 which supports HSDPA, MMS, video, 5mp camera, GPS, FM tuner and at a lower price I believe the iPhone will struggle. You simply cannot dismiss the lack of MMS, MMS is huge here in the UK.
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Craig said 3:51PM on 9-18-2007
Not gonna buy one yet, waiting for the 80 day price drop!
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The Grand Master said 3:52PM on 9-18-2007
The prices are insane, I won't be getting one unless you can get it unlocked, sans price plan.
What's the point in having unlimited EDGE when O2 only has 30% O2 coverage?
Not bothered about 3G but 16GB would be nice.
I'm seriously considering not getting an iPhone, and getting a Touch and a phone I can easily add my own freakin ringtones to.
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The Grand Master said 3:53PM on 9-18-2007
Sorry, that should be, ' sans 18 month contract' and '30% EDGE coverage.'
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Tony said 3:58PM on 9-18-2007
Lack of 3G is a big sore point. Lack of MMS is a killer. Being locked in to O2 is a total deal-breaker (worst customer service in the country).
The service plans and unit price seem reasonable, though.
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Carl Davies said 3:59PM on 9-18-2007
Disappointing that we do not get a higher spec model, as so many people over here get caught up in the specification competition between handsets.
There will be a large selection of sony ericsson and nokia handsets entering the market in q4 that O2 and others with subsidize so you can have the handset for free. Also the plans will not be as pricey as the iphone ones.
But all in all I am delighted that O2 have the iPhone and I will definitely be picking mine up on the 9th November.
Part of me loving apple products is the niche and exclusive value it has, so with that in mind I'm happy its expensive so that not every man and his dog has one!
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mnit said 4:00PM on 9-18-2007
The price difference is highly usual for an apple product over here, it's just this is the first UK release that the predominantly US gadget media have ever considered thinking about, so its the first time they notice.
Me? I'm not waiting two months for this phone. Now I know it's gonna be the same hardware as the US version I've ebayed a US model. Now I'm wondering which provider to go with. Three for the cheap data (but no EDGE), or o2 for the (30%) EDGE, but extortionate data rates... difficult choice. Anyone know what Orange's EDGE coverage is like, their data rates aren't quite as painful...
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Schlaeps said 4:05PM on 9-18-2007
Prices in the UK are usually double no matter what vendor you go through (For example, McDonalds 99 cents menu is a 99 pence menu in London, making everything nearly $2).
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Tony said 4:06PM on 9-18-2007
Apple will still sell iPhones by the million over here, but people will moan. A lot. The second-generation iPhone might get a pretty harsh reception accordingly.
The general public will not even think about what’s missing from the iPhone’s technology. They’ll just think the phone is broken or rubbish when they realise it doesn’t work like they imagined, or even like their old, free, phones.
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Steve said 4:09PM on 9-18-2007
After sitting through this morning’s announcement I cannot believe we have been fobbed off!!
Basically we get the USA version for more money! Aren't we Lucky!!
No 3G
No MMS
No Video recording
No Starbucks WiFi (As it’s run by T-Mobile)
So £269 plus the base contract of £35 pm gets you 200 mins and 200 txt's! SHOCKING!!
For £35 pm on T-Mobile you get 3G, FREE Weekend Calls + 900 mins or 1800 txt's. Plus a free Nokia N95.
Disappointed just doesn't quite cut it!
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ian said 4:11PM on 9-18-2007
"Blame the VAT. Everything is consistently more expensive in the UK because of that tax."
Someone can't do basic maths. $399 plus VAT at today's exchange rate equals £238, which means we're paying an additional $60 or so. No big deal, but pretending that it's somehow all the fault of the tax is silly.
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Jamie said 4:13PM on 9-18-2007
I don't think the cost of the plans are a surprise to anyone here. To be honest with unlimited data the monthly cost would probably come in under what I pay currently. The cost of the actual phone didn't really shock me either. The 30% edge coverage is a concern though, haven't seen where this 30% is but I'm guessing it's not in leafy West Somerset! Also if you're paying your £269 for a iPhone with 18 month contract and 6-12 months in apple bring out V2 what's the score? Can I just buy the new v2 phone? Does that reset the 18 month contract back to zero? The price of contract phones here has (in my experience) always depended on how long you have left on your contract.
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James Wilson said 4:14PM on 9-18-2007
To be honest I'm in absolute shock, I (like many others) was sure that Apple had to release a 3g version to compete in the UK market.
I personally won't be getting one (although severaly tempted). It is ludicrously backward compared to phones we currently have here in the UK. I currently pay £35 a month with more minutes and unlimited data now, and I have a subsised phone with more featurs which I paid £0 for.
I don't understand how O2 would let Apple have their cake and eat it. We're buying an over-priced phone, and tied into an 18-month contract where we effectively pay apple for the pleasure of owning an iphone.. we're not really getting anything more for it, yeah we get wi-fi on the cloud, but with 3G who needs it? I don't understand it. I'm disappointed in Apple for not following the normal conventions and releasing phones to all operators, and I'm also shocked at O2 for not standing up to Apple (which I presume the rest of the networks here did).
I can understand Apple wanting to get a slice of the network operator pie, but I really don't get how they can justify getting any. Yeah they made a phone, but they don't put any money into the infrastructure, etc which the networks do.. it's not like they have to do this for the iphone to be profitable (anyone heard of a little phone company called Nokia ? I don't think they've been doing too badly out of the phone business).
One aspect which the iphone beats all other competitors on is user interface, it looks as if its a beautiful phone to use. However i don't think this will cut it with the jaded and cynical UK phone users. Although I am tempted to buy an iphone because of its one outstanding feature (the user interface) I don't think I will, I'm too scared that a new and better one is going to be out any day, or that due to poor sales Apple are going to drop the price or something.
lets hope no-one buys it and Apple has to have a rapid rethink on how it sells these phones and the prices and feature list for these over-priced and over-hyped phones. Although I'm sure there'll be droves of people outside stockists on November 9th.
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Cromwell said 4:14PM on 9-18-2007
I would love to have access to over 7,000 wifi hotspots here in the US. Why couldn't Apple have negotiated something like that here?
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Billy K said 4:17PM on 9-18-2007
Hey...maybe, just maybe Steve wasn't lying. Maybe it really just isn't possible right now to get decent battery life from iPhone with 3G.
Sorry, my Brit friends. I'm not sure why you're so upset at getting the same product we Yanks got. (Hint: don't worry, it'll be a lot vheaper very soon...)
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Ganza said 4:22PM on 9-18-2007
There are two Hopes of me taking up this deal - and one of them isn't around anymore...
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