2 years. Thats how long it’s been since my buddy Felix & I waited in line at 6 AM in front of the AT&T store to get the iPhone 3G. I held off from getting last year’s model; I guess the $699 price tag was enough to keep me at bay, but just barely. So two years later, with a new job across town, I find myself once again standing in line at 6 AM with my buddy Felix to get Apple’s latest toy. But instead of 20 people ahead of us, this time there was roughly 500.
I knew there was a lot of hype for this phone, but damn. I didn’t know that many people could get up so early in L.A. Even with a reservation, we didn’t get in to the Apple store until 9:45. I felt bad (only slightly) for the people in the non-reservation line, which had close to 1000 people in it, snaking around the entire Grove shopping center. But honestly, just like before, it was worth the wait. This new phone looks almost too nice to be slinging around in your pocket all day. All glass on the front and back, with an aluminum ring around the outside; it’s definitely svelte. It’s also lot thinner than I thought it would be, and feels extremely solid in your hand.
Things I’m digging: The camera is great. It shoots fast (pretty much instantly) and the pictures look great for 5 megapixels. It also does a solid 720p video, and decent videochat with the front camera. The best feature has got to be the screen, AKA the “Retina Display”. I know that sounds like marketing speak but you will have a hard time seeing pixels when you have this in your hand. I’ve never seen a phone that looks so crisp. Also, the overall speed is really impressive. It flys compared to the 3G.
Things I’m not digging so much: Glass on the back? Come on, Steve! You know how many times I dropped my last iPhone right? A lot. Even with the claimed helicopter windshield-grade glass, the odds of seeing this phone cracking somehow are not low. Also there are some claimed signal issues depending on how you hold it but luckily I haven’t been able to replicate them with mine.
2 replies on “iPhone 4 is finally here”
How's the battery life?? How often do you have to charge?
Much better, thankfully. With the 3G iPhone it would be dead by like 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Now it holds a charge all day, even with good use.