Study: iPhone 3GS more reliable than 3G

Poor little iPhone 3G. You are my first iPhone, my first smartphone, my first "I got it the day Apple released it" device. I love you so, and yes, I will miss you when you are gone, replaced by the shiny iPhone 4.

Apparently, I was one of the lucky ones.

First off, the iPhone 3G is forsaken by several of iOS 4's new features (wallpaper, multitasking, etc.). As an added bonus, warranty provider SquareTrade has released a report showing their repair rates on the iPhone 3G and how it compares to the 3GS. In short: the iPhone 3GS is more reliable than the 3G across the board. I'm guessing this is because the 3GS was an evolution of hardware, so they had a second "model year" to make refinements and changes.

However, the 3GS had more power and battery related issues in the first year than the 3G did, so it wasn't flat-out superior hardware. But the 3GS did have less overall trouble in year one the the same period in the 3G's history.

[via Macsimum News]

Another piece of the report was about damage: More than two-thirds of accidental damage is from dropping iPhones. Mostly I was considering what the rest of the accidental damage would entail. Water? Wood chipper? Bludgeoning after showing off a new vuvuzela app?

As a company that provides warranties on all sorts of electronics, I'd guess SquareTrade has seen all manner of techno-tragedy. They do state that Apple has designed a device that stands up to day to day use and abuse, even with all of the problems. So while this was interesting, I think a far better read would be the report detailing the stories attached to items sent in for warranty repair.
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