One month into the two-year marriage many have made with an iPhone 3G, and the honeymoon is definitely over in some quarters. While I am not as angry as others, when I see this kind of bubbling frustration, it’s usually an indicator of one type of ending. Ever heard of Mt. Vesuvius?
Within a day of use, it became obvious that the 3G service stunk. San Francisco is supposed to have full 3G coverage, and I had no problems with my prior 3G phone at all. It was a very different story with the iPhone. Calls were dropped and the battery drain was unacceptable for a cell phone. On disabling 3G, service improved immediately. There were no more dropped calls. Audio quality was fine. Battery life was much better.
As it turns out, I wasn’t the only person to notice this. AT&T denied their network was dodgy by pointing out they have plenty of other 3G phones with no such problems. Turns out they were right. The culprit, it seems, is turning out to be the Infineon chips used in the phone.