Apple unsheathes Jesus Phone 2.1

Apple has released a software update for the iPhone, saying it will cut the number of set-up failures and dropped calls while providing "significantly better" battery life. The iPhone 2.1 update also patches eight security vulnerabilities, including the seven Apple mended on the iPod touch earlier this week and an extra bug …

[Anonymous Coward]

So many flaws and still a 5 star rating from launch?

So many technology and mobile phone sites/mags have given the 3G iPhone a top level rating and now we find in reality there were many many flaws with it. Like it is actually not a very good phone! Apple sure know how to market their products and even fool so called experienced reviewers - all of them. I have not seen a single objective and critical review of the iPhone. All the people I know (about 6) with the 3G iPhone say they do miss MMS, they do want cut'n'paste and they do want to send the same SMS to multiple people and finally they do want Profiles. Basic phone functions. The Apple money making machine rolls on....

[Richard Hodgson]

Jesus...

That's a lot of issues for one piece of hardware. If I bought a phone that was dropping calls like that, I'd be complaining to my provider and replacing it with another model. How the hell does Apple get away with this?

More importantly, how can I cash in on this depressingly dim demographic?!

[Tim Compton]

Better

I followed your final advice (tbh, I'd already done it, sorry for not waiting for your approval) and have since found the phone generally more responsive. It's also good seeing in iTunes the amount of memory taken by apps, why has no-one mentioned this yet?

Still really poor on 3G, but is it Apple's fault i live in the middle of Wales? I suppose that's the trade-off for living in the happiest part of the UK.

[Robert Oakes]

Great update!!!!

I have updated my phone to 2.1 and it's improved my phone! The phone even seems much faster. Even the iPod has improved and the wireless has improved. And yes I have wrote the off my 'JesusPhone'

[Professor Quatermass]

iFine in London, but outside ...

I received my iPhone one week after the launch and it has worked just as well as a phone my previous cheap mobile on O2 and Virgin. I don't drop calls within the M25, though data coverage outside the capital can be spotty.

But that's the case with most mobile operators, no? I've NEVER had very good coverage in Kent or East Sussex. The coverage between Tottenham Hale and Harlow Town on the train is atrocious as well (but then again what would one expect for that lovely part of the country).

That said, the update resolves the deeply annoying lag-bugs with text entry as the address book. All in all - huzzah!

[Anonymous Coward]

"shows Apple's new direction to focus on revenue over quality"

There are lots of commenters to that "DJRumpy" post and elsewhere on the support site suggesting that while v2.1 usually shows 4 or 5 bars, browsing is no faster, because the signal strength isn't actually any stronger, and still falls back to zero at the slightest provocation.

It'd be good to try to pin Steve & Co down on this - does 2.1 ever draw more bars than previous versions, for the same signal strength?

[Samsara]

Seems a good update..

Can't believe i'm the saddo that's first to comment.

Anyway...Yes, the 2.1 update does to seem to make the battery last longer, the gprs available where it wasn't before, & the interface (contact browsing & typing) more responsive.

Good stuff.

Now just give me cut & paste, & i'll be happy with it until next July's Mark III Model.

[Anonymous Coward]

iSavior or iFlop?

More like iCouldn'tGiveAToss ...

[Rupert Stubbs]

2.1 is good

No, it doesn't eliminate all the possible issues people might have with the iPhone - mostly caused by their own ludicrous expectations - but for me, anyway, it's a solid update that has fixed many of the niggling little annoyances.

It's precisely because Apple are undoubtedly going to keep improving/adapting the OS that I don't mind being a relatively early adopter. And my battery life has definitely gone down recently - but only because I'm using the damn thing so much, instead my desktop. And check out X-Plane 9 (http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=290619945&mt=8) in the App Store. Sodding unbelievable.

[John]

Text Input

I haven't tried it yet but the slow response when editing txt is my biggest concern especially on web pages. But then again that's normally on web pages that are quite intensive.

I don't really see why this is necessary either as surely the keyboard could operate in a higher priority process.

[Richard Cartledge]

Wowsers!

""I even have 3-4 bars in places where there was no signal before "

and the volume of the tinny internal speaker now goes up to 11 ! YAY!

[Mick F]

Mac FanBoys

The silly thing is, if you mention a problem with any piece of Apple equipment on an equivalent site you will be shot down in flames within seconds. Apple keep releasing crap and and the Fanboys just lap it up.

[Anonymous Coward]

Dimmer

I installed it, and immediately noticed that my screen was dimmer.

I'll bet it saves battery.

[Anonymous Coward]

"iPhone" 2.1 borks on install

I connected my iPod Touch and was told "iPhone 2.1" was available. I chose to install and guess what... iPod got completely screwed up (again). It seems every time you do an update Apple don't want you to be able to use any of your old data on your updated device. Lost all my settings, my music/videos/photos were wiped and all my apps were uninstalled. The iPod then wouldn't boot up. I eventually had to go into DFU mode and restore the firmware which worked.

Another great day for Apple lovers everywhere.

[Glenn Gilbert]

Too early to tell

Need to try it a bit before dissing the upgrade.

So the news is: iPhone crashes just like all other smart phones. Well slap my thigh.

One really good enhancement in this build is the ability to wipe the phone after 10 wrong guesses of the password/pin. Given that the phone does an automatic backup (which does appear to be a bit faster in this build), it's just an inconvenience to restore it if someone plays with the phone and it gets wiped.

Once you've discovered the phone's missing -- presumed stolen -- you can contact O2 to disable the iPhone's IMEI. Nice.

Nick it and brick it. That's nice.

[Dana W]

@ anonymous loser

You mean you accidentally hit restore instead of update when you plugged it in and its all Apple's fault. Either that or you skipped the 2.0 update and didn't bother to read the pop up that TOLD you the device required total backup when going to 2.0 or above.

It always amazes me when the PC folk cant use simple software, and I do mean SIMPLE.

[Anonymous Coward]

@ Mick F re: Apple Fanboys

you really don't have anything to complain about, cause for every Apple fanboy there is one Apple hater and the two always cancel each other out, thus, the Apple space is perfectly in balance, only fanboys and haters take fanboys and haters seriously, so if you do, then you are one of them, which side you're on doesn't even matter because both are equally evil.

[Jon Hume]

2.1 x better than before ....

The only problem I had with my iPhone 3G was the lag when opening contacts. 2.1 update has fixed that so now I will continue to be a happy customer. O2 Signal at my place in West Sussex is much better than my previous N95 8GB on Vodafone which only worked in one place in my whole house.

[ZM]

@Simon Ward

If you truly didn't "give a toss", you wouldn't have posted.

[Will]

jeepers

If i was making 50 calls a day, I'd probably choose a phone made for calling.... i.e. something with a good battery, and maybe a key pad, but that's just me.

[Anonymous Coward]

50 calls eh

Who would make 50 calls a day on an iPhone... oh hang on.. My wife springs to mind.

[Anonymous Coward]

LolNo

First, I'm waiting for a windows jailbreak for 2.1. I don't really want to loose all the additional functinality I'm getting out of my Touch in exchange for...a terrible automatic playlisting service and some most likely non-existant stability improvements.

Second: Has ANYONE had an update actually APPLY PROPERLY WITHOUT NEEDING A RESTORE since 2.0?

I brought 2.0 like a good little apple consumer and it wiped the device, just like it said it would. I updated to 2.0.1: Update failed, restore. Fine. I updated to 2.0.2: Update failed, restore. After that, I just jailbroke it. At least I'm getting something in exchange for the 2 hours it takes to re-sync all my songs this way.

[Jessica Werkz]

Dropping calls.....

I've had both versions of the iPhone and have never had a call dropped, nor have I had trouble with 3G, Wi-Fi access, GPS, updating firmware, backing up, restoring or understanding iTunes. Either I have been very lucky or there are a lot of very unlucky people out there who have a lot of trouble with technology. Maybe they need a more basic phone that they can get working....

[peter ashworth]

2.1 is A BAD UPDATE

since having updated to 2.1 i have been unable to successfully sync, repeatedly getting "unknown" error 13213 - result

there is often no PHONE LINK LET ALONE AN INTERNET LINK

this is total rubbish, and it makes me feel MAAAAAD

[Keith Spencer]

Works for me

Eh. It's still amusing that so many people get so worked up by the iPhone. To be honest it's not perfect but it's still the best phone I've ever had. 2.1 seems to do what it says on the tin. All in all I'm still quite smitten with it. It's a phone, it's an iPod. That's all I want.

[Ascylto]

@ Dimmer

The update restores a medium screen brightness. You can change this in settings. It's a feature, baby!

Oh ... one for the moderators et al ... would it be possible to show where the posts originate (e.g. UK/USA etc.,) as many of the problems discussed here I don't seem to experience in the UK?

[Stephen Bunt]

@Jessica Werkz

"Either I have been very lucky or there are a lot of very unlucky people out there who have a lot of trouble with technology. Maybe they need a more basic phone that they can get working...."

I must agree with Jessica, I have had both generations of the iPhone and only had 1 update cause a restore to be needed and the contacts but apart from that the phone just works. Never had a call dropped that wasn't a coverage problem.

Is it just windows users having problems or is it mac users to? Just out of interest.

Steve

[Anonymous Coward]

No issues with updates

I have to admit that I've never suffered from an update failure, nor dropped calls, sync failures etc. When I first got my iPhone3G it had an annoying issue where the browser window wouldn't rotate, however, after accidentally dropping the phone it started working! My main problem was that a 3rd party IM app crashed regularly but to be honest, it didn't bother me as I never bought my iPhone for it's IM capabilities!

2.1 applied perfectly and the app that used to crash hasn't done so yet. What can I say, I'm happy with my iPhone3G!

[M A Walters]

Solved lots of issues for me

I've had an iphone for 2 months now and the app crash that developed after 2.0.2 was driving me mad. 2.1 sorted it out. Yes, it's not the solution to all problems but at least I can now play solitaire on it. :-)

[Anonymous Coward]

@Jessica Werkz

'Maybe they need a more basic phone that they can get working....'

With all the common features missing from the iPhone, it isn't easy to get a phone that is more basic than Apples offering.

[Tony Paulazzo]

Hand up

I'm an Apple hater. I hate itunes, iphone, quicktime (what media player puts itself into automatic startup so it's always running?), macs, and probably safari (never used it so just guessing).

Postcount +1

Comment on the article, well, just Apple doing what it does so well - arrogance before the fall hopefully. It's a phone, if it's not doing phone things well then it's a fail, or an overpriced ipod / internet surfer; with a nice interface.

Yea, I hate Apple, but they do give good interface.

[Rob]

Ironic

Apple issues updates for it's phone like MS issues them for it's desktop, yet hardly any for it's phone OS.

[Anonymous Coward]

Works for me

I love reading fan-bois forums like this where a number of people assume that because it, "Works for me", there can be no problems on the device at all. Other notoriously buggy devices work for a lot of people. Vista works for a lot of people (me included), but it doesn't mean these things aren't fatally flawed.

[Rick Brasche]

But it still doesn't RING!

if the iPhone is on a wifi network, the bloody handset doesn't ring until the caller has heard four rings-and it goes into voicemail after ring 5. What good is a phone if it doesn't work as a phone until I turn off all the fancy shite that my company paid up the @rse for in the first place?

I suppose it's better, under 2.02 it often didn't ring at all and went into voicemail more than half the time. Still, if I gotta turn off wifi just to know when someone is calling...that's an egregious oversight.

[Zantor]

@Rick

There is something wrong with your phone. I have never heard of anyone who has the problem you describe, and I certainly have not. I checked just to be sure.

[Danny Thompson]

2.1 worked fine

I have updated to 2.1 as have at least 8 friends and associates, all without a single hitch. Having a read of the Macrumors and other forums is depressing. Most of these people should not be trusted with a pair of rocks to bang together, let alone an item of modern technology.

There is great variability in the O2 network - yet they want the problem fixed in software! If O2 could be arsed to put together a decent 3G network battery life, call quality and other such issues would be history.

Clearly there are broken iPhones out there - people should just get them replaced. Its not a difficult process.

None of this is to say that there aren't problems with the iPhone, or shortcomings in what it will and will not do. But with everyone I have spoken to so far that has or has used one, they have all commented on how it has driven up their use of mobile data use. My own experience is that I have never been so "connected" before. You might not want to be of course. But thats one of those horses for courses things.

You don't have to be a fanbois to appreciate an iPhone, it is clearly head and shoulders above much of the opposition. But then again, if it weren't for the iPhone there wouldn't be much for you lot to be continuously bitching and moaning about. Although I suppose you all could always sit it out and wait for Android to hit the streets, having sharpened your claws on the iPhone already.

Stop - because it really tiresome, we all know that there is nothing that Apple can do right in your eyes. You can stop beating that particular drum now, we get it.

[sleepy]

It's a very small minority with problems

There may be thousands with problems, but 5-6 million iPhone 3G's have been sold in under 2 months. They are used more heavily than other smartphones (eg 30 times as much web access per phone) and the onslaught on 3G networks has been huge and unprecedented.

Not surprisingly, upgrades are need in all three of: the phone firmware, the networks, and user understanding of the "bad" user experience changes 3G itself brings.

This is all just evidence of how fast Apple is changing the world. (iPhone is primarily a personal computer, rapidly burning a very large hole in the PC/cellphone/carrier network/entertainment/games markets).

[Simon Says]

Updated fine for me - and impressed with results.

I updated to 2.1 without a hitch (as I have done with all previous firmware updates). Never had to do a restore on my handset (aside from when I first got the iPhone 3G as I was restoring my original iPhone's backup onto it rather than setting it up as a new phone - but that was thouroughly intentional and WAI). Oh and this is on a Vista 64bit PC.

Overall I am very pleased with the update - I've only ever occasionally been hit with the laggy keyboard bug but that seems to be fixed now. Also really liking the Genius playlist feature - much better than a regular shuffle mode and saves me having to trawl through my extensive music collection trying to think of songs that work well together. Quicker app installs is definitely noticeable, as is the speedier backup process when syncing with iTunes. I've not yet had a chance to determine how my battery life has been affected.

Looking forward to the next update too which will hopefully bring push notification for app's (a feature that was supposedly pulled/disabled/postponed from 2.1 in one of the latter beta candidates). I'd still like to see a cut/paste implentation at some point, as well as better SMS management (including an option to forward, selective deletion of messages, and being able to send contact information by SMS), but then again no phone is perfect and I still prefer my iPhone over previous handsets that have had those features.

[Jared Earle]

Worked perfectly

I wasn't going to comment as it was a breeze for me. Plug in, hit the button, wait an inordinately long time for the backup, get told it's done, enjoy.

However, I feel with the number of people saying no-one can get it to work without deleting everything, I felt I should add my voice to the usually silent crowd for whom things just work. I suspect there are millions like me reading this on their working iphones trying to work out what the fuss is about.

Good update, it's the one we should have had with the iPhone 3G release.

[Pete Sowerby]

Better 3G

Whoo better 3G signal, what would be nice is if O2 actually had any 3G masts in the north west of england to start with!!!

[bygjohn]

Another fully operational and improved 3G

Just thought I'd add my voice to the others that have had no major problems with their iPhone, including now 3 firmware updates which have all worked without a hitch. The latest has speeded up contacts loading and app installation, and iTunes 8 has speeded up backups and syncs (not that mine were horrendously long, but they occasionally seemed to stall for a minute or two - now they don't).

Yes, I get a occasional app crash, but it's no worse than my previous phone in that respect (p910) and I use it more. I've had the low signal on 3G until 2.1, but no dropped calls - it just switched seamlessly to 2G. All in all, very pleased with it, as with other Apple kit. I can understand it not being suitable for everyone: what I don't get is why so much hatred for it? Or Apple in general. They make good stuff on the whole - is that such a sin?