Apple's iPhone 4: Thoroughly Reviewed
by Brian Klug & Anand Lal Shimpi on June 30, 2010 4:06 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Apple
- iPhone 4
- Gadgets
- Mobile
Final Words
The iPhone 4 is a tremendous improvement over the previous phones from Apple. Battery life alone is enough to sell a brand new notebook, there's no reason the same shouldn't apply for a smartphone. Being able to deliver real world battery life use of between 5.5 and 10 hours on a single charge is quite impressive. And if you aren't using the phone nonstop? Expect even longer battery life.
On top of the battery life improvements Apple finally plays catch up and surpasses the technological advancements in its Android competitors. The 4's camera is as good as it gets today and the screen is a beauty. I don't believe this advantage will last for the lifetime of the iPhone 4. The phones that are in development today at least surpass the 4's specs in terms of raw CPU speed. Given that Apple's retina display is in high volume production already I'd expect other manufacturers to pick it up in due time.
And believe it or not, even if you upgrade to the iPhone 4 today in another 12 months it'll most likely be replaced by a dual core version that you'll want even more.
HTC EVO 4G (back) vs. iPhone 4 (front)
The main downside to the iPhone 4 is the obvious lapse in Apple's engineering judgment. The fact that Apple didn't have the foresight to coat the stainless steel antenna band with even a fraction of an ounce worth of non-conductive material either tells us that Apple doesn't care or that it simply doesn't test thoroughly enough. The latter is a message we've seen a few times before with OS X issues, the iPhone 4 simply reinforces it. At the bare minimum Apple should give away its bumper case with every iPhone 4 sold. The best scenario is for Apple to coat the antenna and replace all existing phones with a revised model.The ideal situation is very costly for Apple but it is the right thing to do. Plus it's not like Apple doesn't have the resources to take care of its customers.
As for the iPhone vs. Android debate, the 4 doesn't really change much. If you're not a fan of iOS 4 or Apple then the 4th generation iPhone isn't going to change your opinion. If you're an existing iPhone user you'll want to upgrade. It's worth it. The 4 simply makes the iPhone 3GS feel dated, which it is. It's a mild update to three year old phone vs. the significant redesign that is the iPhone 4. If you're married to Android, in the next 6 - 12 months we should see feature parity from the competition. And if you're a fan of Palm, let's just see what happens when the HP deal closes.
There's another category of users who are interested in the iPhone but simply put off by AT&T. While enabling HSUPA and the improved baseband make the iPhone 4 more attractive from a network standpoint, if you hate AT&T's coverage there's nothing Apple can do about it. I do get the feeling that the AT&T exclusivity will be over sooner rather than later. The iPhone and iOS are soon to be a mobile advertising platform, which means Apple needs as many users as possible. This is in direct contrast to the Mac strategy which purposefully didn't focus on volume to maintain high profit margins. Ultimately it means that AT&T either has to grow to be much larger than Verizon, or Apple has to embrace both carriers in order to fend off Android.
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Mike Wadner - Saturday, July 3, 2010 - link
Well then you're in pretty bad shape. Anyone who considers Microsoft not far behind Apple has their head up their F**KING ass. May be a nice review but I have doubts about their overall knowledge of whats going on out there.websitetrafficchecker - Wednesday, February 5, 2020 - link
If you want to check website traffic for free, visit https://seowebsitetraffic.net/check-website-traffi...jorpoka - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link
People seem to making a big deal about the increased ram in iPhone 4, but I think it was almost required.The graphics chip shares memory with the system (just like in previous models) so you have to consider the fact that the screen resolution has increased by 4. How is the system going to deal with the higher resolution grahpics... the 512 MB of ram.
For now not every application on app store uses the updated resolution, but as more and more apps are updated for iOS 4 and the retina display i think the additional 256 MB ram benefit will decrease.
solipsism - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link
The surprise wasn't that 512MB wasn't deemed needed, it was simply unexpected after the iPad with a higher resolution, faster processor and generally higher chance for more complex apps to run on the 8x larger display only being shipped with 256MB, like the 3GS, when 512MB was expected. On other words, if the iPad didn't get 512MB RAM, few expected the iPhone 4 being shipped just a couple month later to get it.John Sawyer - Thursday, July 1, 2010 - link
Not higher resolution on the iPad, but more pixels (but we get your meaning).Snotling - Thursday, July 1, 2010 - link
that's the point I'm trying to make since the iPad's release... it was not a planned product, it was ruched out just so they would not be assassinated by the press and the fanatics, my full conspiracy theory is on my blog:http://cyberpeste.blogspot.com/2010/01/letter-to-s...
Now with the iPhone 4, we see what Apple was actually working on before rushing out the iPad and its a very good product. superior in every way to the iPad.
tkoyah - Sunday, July 4, 2010 - link
Um, the iPad wasn't rushed. The iPad project actually pre-dated that of the iPhone. But when it became aparent that this would be the perfect interface for a Phone, the iPhone project began, and was given a higher priority.I expect this first iPad wasn't given more RAM: a) to keep the price-point under $500 b) because there was no pre-existing iPad software, so having less memory available wouldn't break any apps.
tipoo - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link
The big deal is that the iPad, their tablet, has half the RAM of the phone they released shortly after. With a bigger screen and more pixels, people naturally would have expected the iPad to have the technological edge, but with only half the RAM of the iPhone that is not the case.AMDJunkie - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link
Begins after this post.Zokudu - Wednesday, June 30, 2010 - link
Wonderfully written article I love this line of high end smartphone articles you guys have been releasing. I love the quality of the writing at Anandtech.Just a few questions I have.
Doesn't AT&T have a 5 year exclusivity deal for the iPhone meaning they would still have around 2 years remaining before an opposing carrier could offer the device?
Also several of my friends with iPhones both 3G and 3GS constantly complained about AT&Ts coverage within New York and blamed the carrier. However several of them have gotten iPhone 4's and are reported fewer dropped calls if any at all. I have been using a Blackberry on AT&T's network for several years now and have had no issues with their coverage. Do you feel the dropped calls within hot spots such as New York should be blamed on the iPhone itself or the network?
Also where do you feel that Windows Phone 7 fits into the future of smartphones. Do you envision it taking center stage against both iOS4 and Android or falling to the wayside such as webOS ended up doing?
Once again thank you for the wonderful read and keep up the quality work.