So now that some of the initial hubub for the Apple iPhone has died done I’ve been pondering the iPhone. It’s definately a drool worthy device, and I’m very interested in it. But there are a few things that right now would prevent me from running out to get it:

  • Battery Life- Who knows just what the battery life for this phone will be? I’m on my second PDA based phone, I love the functionality to death, but compared to your average Razr or Samsung flip phone the PDA based phone has a dramatically shorter battery life. I’m used to dropping my phone on charge every night now, but what happens if I forget for some reason? My first PDA phone would loose all it’s data when the battery died, and it couldn’t go much more than 24 hours on a charge. I don’t know what my current phone would do if the battery died, I’ve never gone much more than 36 hours between charges and haven’t completely drained the battery, and I’m not inclined to test it to see what would happen. But what about the iPhone, how long will the battery last? What will happen when the battery is drained?
  • Functionality- It look fantastic at the keynote, but what Steve Jobs was using was very much a pre-release device… We’ve got 6 months until this phone hits the market, nobody knows if the production version will perform as well or look as good as the device we’ve seen. Just how good will that screen look? How will it look once its been held to your sweaty face for 10 minutes while you take a phone call in 85+ degree heat? The screen on my current phone looks grungy after such a call, how with the iPhone hold up? Plus, will is sync up with my PC or my Mac as well as a Windows Mobile device syncs up with my PC?
  • Speed- Just how fast is this thing? From what I’ve seen the demo device has only been used on WiFi networks for demonstration, since it hasn’t received FCC approval it has been used on a cellular network yet. The reports so far are that the device has been slower than expected to retrieve data on WiFi networks. Not terribly slow, just slower than expected. Combined that with the startling omission of a 3G radio for cellular connectivity and you’ve got to wonder how well the production device will perform in real life. I love my current phone, I use the heck out of it. It doesn’t have 3G data, and while I don’t use my net connection on the phone often, part of that is because even with Cingular/at&t’s EDGE network internet browsing can be a chore.
  • Price- Lets face it, the iPhone is crazy expensive. It’s gorgeous, it’s appears to be quite functional, but it’s also not cheap. Oh, and the prices quoted so far have been with a 2 year contract with Cingular/at&t, Oh and Apple has prohibited Cingular/at&t from discounting the phone. Which just begs the question of “so I need to be on a 2 year contract for what reason?”
  • Storage- With the iPhone running OS-X, I’ve got to wonder, how much of the storage on the phone is available to the user?

    • As much as this phone still has quite a bit of time before it comes out of development, with all that this phone can do I’m also a little concerned about the first generation of the iPhone. I’m not sure I want the first generation iPhone because of this. Plus, I’d be surprised if gen 2 of the iPhone didn’t include 3G data…