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I'm a 32GB 3GS owner on a lapsed ATT contract, and I'll be pre-ordering a Verizon 32GB 4S model on Friday. Two things bother me, but weren't deal-breakers: 1)

I'm a 32GB 3GS owner on a lapsed ATT contract, and I'll be pre-ordering a Verizon 32GB 4S model on Friday. Two things bother me, but weren't deal-breakers: 1) It sucks that it still has the iPhone 4's flawed design, with glass going right up to the edge of the front and back, requiring a case so it can survive a fall. I've always preferred to keep my iPhones naked. 2) $400 for the 64GB model with two-year contract? Really? No storage capacity upgrade since last year's model (the entry level $200 model still ships with 16GB storage), with memory capacities ever-increasing and prices falling, feels like nickel-and-diming. I guess I didn't really need 64GB after all. Other than that, the new Siri Voice Assistant looks sweet, the 8MP/1080p camera also looks nice, and I'm looking forward to the improved performance.

gte910h 15y ago
>requiring a case so it can survive a fall. I never really understood this position. First off, I've dropped my phone several times, somehow it's not even scratched that I can find Secondly, gorilla glass is considerably harder than most internal components. I can't imagine what you'd be doing to the inside of a plastic phone you're dropping that hard.
- WiseWeasel 15y ago
  While it may survive drops on relatively soft surfaces like wood or carpet, I can only assume that materials such as ceramic or concrete will win over glass. I say that as someone who has worked with glass, albeit not with Corning Gorilla Glass in particular. My naked original iPhone and 3GS phones have been dropped many times on hard surfaces (like concrete), and have only had minor dents and cracks in the plastic and metal, which I'm totally fine with. Having the glass shatter is not OK, hence the need for it to be recessed behind a protective rim, or failing that, the entire phone enclosed in a protective case, which adds to the device thickness and makes it ugly.
  - gte910h 15y ago
    While I've certainly dropped it on hardwood floors for most of the drops, I've dropped in into ceramic, shut a car door on it, dropped it on concrete, on asphalt, on granite, and even onto my macbookpro, which was on the floor. (I'm not especially klutzy, I'm an iOS developer, so am constantly handling the phone and plugging and unplugging it from the cord) That little sucker is hardy.
tptacek 15y ago
I drop my iPhone onto hardwood floors at least once a week. I have a small visible scratch in the middle of the front and that's it. I know the phones do shatter, and I've seen it happen, but I'm rough on mine and it has not been fragile. The 64GB pricing is nickel-and-diming; storage is their pricing segmentation mechanism, so taking the highest storage option is never going to feel good; you're opting for the "I'm price insensitive" bucket.
- WiseWeasel 15y ago
  Wood is softer than glass, and it's normal that the glass doesn't shatter in that case.
krishna2 15y ago
The cost of 16GB memory is apparently $8. They are making a killing out of this.
r00fus 15y ago
I'm in your shoes. I'll be going for 64GB, as I've maxed out my iPhone storage for over a year (Apps alone are 8GB), and have had to put quotas on my media just to get some stuff in there. $100 more over a 2-year TCO is a small fraction of the total. If you assume just the data plan alone, 24mo x $20 (VZ 1GB) = $480 and with voice, all told, it's over $2k... Yeah, I'll pay 5% more over 2 years for double the storage.
- WiseWeasel 15y ago
  I hate to give them the satisfaction, but I'm still debating. I'll see how much I can get for my 3GS; maybe that'll influence me. The fact that I can now stream all my music to myself with iTunes Match frees up a good deal of space. My current 32GB 3GS is also filled to the brim, but there are a lot of apps that I never use which could be cleaned out.

gte910h 15y ago

>requiring a case so it can survive a fall. I never really understood this position. First off, I've dropped my phone several times, somehow it's not even scratched that I can find Secondly, gorilla glass is considerably harder than most internal components. I can't imagine what you'd be doing to the inside of a plastic phone you're dropping that hard.

WiseWeasel 15y ago
While it may survive drops on relatively soft surfaces like wood or carpet, I can only assume that materials such as ceramic or concrete will win over glass. I say that as someone who has worked with glass, albeit not with Corning Gorilla Glass in particular. My naked original iPhone and 3GS phones have been dropped many times on hard surfaces (like concrete), and have only had minor dents and cracks in the plastic and metal, which I'm totally fine with. Having the glass shatter is not OK, hence the need for it to be recessed behind a protective rim, or failing that, the entire phone enclosed in a protective case, which adds to the device thickness and makes it ugly.
- gte910h 15y ago
  While I've certainly dropped it on hardwood floors for most of the drops, I've dropped in into ceramic, shut a car door on it, dropped it on concrete, on asphalt, on granite, and even onto my macbookpro, which was on the floor. (I'm not especially klutzy, I'm an iOS developer, so am constantly handling the phone and plugging and unplugging it from the cord) That little sucker is hardy.

tptacek 15y ago

I drop my iPhone onto hardwood floors at least once a week. I have a small visible scratch in the middle of the front and that's it. I know the phones do shatter, and I've seen it happen, but I'm rough on mine and it has not been fragile. The 64GB pricing is nickel-and-diming; storage is their pricing segmentation mechanism, so taking the highest storage option is never going to feel good; you're opting for the "I'm price insensitive" bucket.

WiseWeasel 15y ago
Wood is softer than glass, and it's normal that the glass doesn't shatter in that case.

krishna2 15y ago

The cost of 16GB memory is apparently $8. They are making a killing out of this.

r00fus 15y ago

I'm in your shoes. I'll be going for 64GB, as I've maxed out my iPhone storage for over a year (Apps alone are 8GB), and have had to put quotas on my media just to get some stuff in there. $100 more over a 2-year TCO is a small fraction of the total. If you assume just the data plan alone, 24mo x $20 (VZ 1GB) = $480 and with voice, all told, it's over $2k... Yeah, I'll pay 5% more over 2 years for double the storage.

WiseWeasel 15y ago
I hate to give them the satisfaction, but I'm still debating. I'll see how much I can get for my 3GS; maybe that'll influence me. The fact that I can now stream all my music to myself with iTunes Match frees up a good deal of space. My current 32GB 3GS is also filled to the brim, but there are a lot of apps that I never use which could be cleaned out.