Should I upgrade to iPhone 3G?

July 16, 2008 5:07 AM

Should I upgrade to iPhone 3G now or wait for increased capacity models?

I have a deal with my UK cellphone provider, O2, through which I can break my iPhone contract early (before the 18 month contract period expires) in order to upgrade at low cost to iPhone 3G. The deal is open to me until October.

Eventually I do want to move to 3G but my primary requirement is increased capacity for extra songs, video, etc.

Should I upgrade to iPhone 3G now, or should I wait? I would likely wait if an increased capacity model was to be released before the October expiry of the special upgrade deal. Are there any rumours around when increased capacity models will be released?

posted by Lleyam to Computers & Internet (7 answers total)

No rumors (or rumours, as case may be) that I know of. Whether a 32GB model will appear any time soon is a matter of pure speculation and total guesswork (it's obviously inevitable over a longer timeframe.) Personally, I'd bet against it, and if you're going to buy, buy now. I'd peg a bigger model at 6 months out at the very soonest, and more likely closer to a year - but there's no basis for that, just a very-fallible gut feeling based on a few years of watching Apple upgrade cycles.
posted by Tomorrowful at 5:20 AM on July 16, 2008

Response by poster: Thanks Tomorrowful. Cheers from the UK :-)
posted by Lleyam at 5:56 AM on July 16, 2008

You've got until October? Why not wait a month or two and see if anything's announced or rumored to come? There's a strong possibility that a new revamped Macbook line will be announced sometime in the late summer or fall, and they may announce a larger capacity iPhone at the same time. Keep your eye on sites like Macrumors or Appleinsider, in the meantime. If you get close to the October deadline without anything being announced, then hey, buy the phone as it is.
posted by middleclasstool at 6:24 AM on July 16, 2008

YMMV but I've seen several complaints on battery peformance of the latest 16G iPhones so personally I would want until all the kinks are worked out. Apparently battery life has gone from 1 week to 1 day, and that is with 3G turned off.
posted by zia at 7:42 AM on July 16, 2008

oops I would wait ...
posted by zia at 7:43 AM on July 16, 2008

My guess is that there won't be a larger capacity iPhone until January. That's when the 16gb was released this year. If it were any earlier, I would think November to be ready for the Christmas season.
posted by Good Brain at 7:55 AM on July 16, 2008

That would be my guess as well - evaluate the deal on what you would get that you don't have right now (3g and gps basically) against the extra money you pay (longer contract, etc).

There will probably be a similar deal in januari.

I won't upgrade my iPhone, and I'm waiting for the pwn tool or iLiberty to unlock before I upgrade to software version 2.0.
posted by DreamerFi at 9:35 AM on July 16, 2008