Is the iPhone reliable enough to depend on?

I find this comment difficult to believe. You “somehow” voided your warranty? Was that “really” they only explanation explanation you received? If so, you accepted that?

R C-R wrote:
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My concern is that the iPhone:

a) May not be among the best in weak signal areas, possibly because of the internal antenna, the inclusion of so much other circuitry, or whatever.

My office is in a terrible location for Cingular/ATT access. My iPhone is equivalent to my Razr v3 in its ability to make and receive voice calls. Unfortunately I don't know if the Razr is considered a good or bad GSM phone for sensitivity! But the iPhone and the Razr v3 seem the same.

b) May lock up or otherwise misbehave because of corruption of the software, the general complexity of the device, etc. -- especially anything that requires a computer to fix, runs down the battery, or makes it impossible to use the touch screen to place calls.

I had a problem with 1.0.1 where callers could hear me but I could not hear them. The problem has not occured since 1.1.1 but that could be coincedence. Not sure if this is software or hardware -- some speculate that the headphone jack could cause it.

I experienced one occasion when calls that I tried to make were not being connected with 1.1.1. I rebooted the phone and calls were placed normally. Dunno what caused this and it hasn't happened again.

c) Has an non-user-relaceable battery so I can't use a spare as a backup or replacement should the provided one run down or lose recharge capacity from (for example) accidentally leaving the phone in a freezing or overheated car.

Just use an iPod car charger and you never have to worry about this. Kind of a non-issue IMHO. Plus you can charge the iPhone from any high-power USB outlet and these are not hard to find.

My current phone is ancient (almost 4 years old!) & has essentially no cool features -- not even a camera -- but it has never locked up & has survived all the abuse I have given it, including a tumble down a flight of metal stairs.

With all this in mind, how would you rate the iPhone? Another way to put the question: if your life or that of your loved ones depended on reliable phone communications, would you pick the iPhone or some other cell phone?

Well, no cell phone can promise to save your life in all situations. If you have no signal you have no signal. But barring that, the iPhone is fine.

But you still may not want one. I can't tell what you really do with your phone but the iPhone is a multifunction device and because of this the user-interface isn't optimized just for telephony. For example the virtual keypad is not as convenient as a real one when you have to key in a code during a call. Why? Because there are extra steps to access the pad and they take time. Same thing is true about speed dials. There are no true speed dials on the iPhone. If these things matter to you, keep your old phone. If not, then the iPhone is a great device.

You well know that asking these questions in a forum where the predominant membership is composed of users who have experienced problems with the device, that you are going to get predominantly negative comments which may well be far from an accurate reflection of the user experience of the iPhone as a whole.

Sure, but a solely Happy Joy-Joy website would be no place to investigate an investment 🙂

That's why for example, before I buy a car, I go to model-specific websites. Where yes, you often get an earful from honest owners about potential problems.

Before I buy presents for my kids, I visit Amazon.com or other sites where there are lots of open reviews. Ditto for traveling with tripadvisor.com etc. Other people's open, uncensored opinions, have saved me many times from making an expensive mistake. It's quite easy to pick out the bogus reviews.

But yes, that this is a help forum, as you said, should be factored in.

FWIW count me as one of the many happy users. ATT reception at my home office has been literally non existant for years. My last few phones where Sony Ericcson and I found if I stood on my head and twirled around a few times and recited some ancient Celtic rite I might get one bar!

Since the iPhone I have from 3 to full bars in nearly every room. I also notice that I get full signal strength when the iPhone is in it's dock.

Leo

My wife is a Nurse Practitioner and administrator of a large cardiac cath lab. She takes call several times a week and must be constantly in touch with her facility and doctors.

She uses her iPhone as phone, pager, data device, text messaging terminal, and to access such things as online drug databases and parts of the hospital intranet (without having to peer at some tiny screen on an otherwise bulky smartphone.) It works flawlessly. She appreciates being able to exchange information on incoming cases with the resource nurse, discretely via text messaging, and the iPhone's silent and easy to use keyboard interface. BTW, her iPhone replaced a Palm/Treo.

As we live in a very rural area, too far from the hospital to take call from home, she stays in the metro area when on call. Connectivity is never an issue. When traveling to and from home via mountain canyons, AT&T is the ONLY carrier that is reliable in our area.

Depend on it? She would tell you she couldn't live without it.

I love my iphone, that said it does have to be carefully kept. Fortunately, I have never had it " lock up" on me. It works very well. I don't think I could drop it like I have dropped Cingular RAZR I had for many years. But I'm very careful with my iphone. BTW, I have had the RAZR "lock up" as has been described...and there was nothing I could do about it...just wait. Not good in a life or death situation. The iphone is what it is. if you don't want or need all the fluff buy something else. I do think it's an great phone. 😉

{quote:title=kmosh100 said}{quote}

I think that your emphasis on the physical failure of the iPhone may be somewhat unnecessary with the exception of the issues you brought up concerning the battery but that is somewhat remote. Of course you would have the same problem with carrying a second phone, perhaps even more so due to its secondary role.

I thought that my statement regarding the unstable nature, at this time, of the Apple supplied software covered my concerns outside of the physical characteristics of the iPhone.

My concern at this time would be failure due to the fluid nature of the iPhone's software functionality, i.e., the current unstable nature of the software. That should decrease as time goes on with future updates that I am sure will be forthcoming.

What I did say that at THIS TIME there are some areas in the software environment that make the use of the iPhone a risk. I also said that with time, these would be cleared up through future updates that I can only assume are forthcoming.

My phone and it's service are very critical to me probably much more than most people. I've had a cell phones since the time they were in the few thousand dollar price range. Up until the iPhone I had service with Verizon for a number of years. For me changing one of the two let alone both at the same time was a very bold move. I've had the iPhone since July 4th. I can't speak for everyone but many issues were resolved in service pack 1.1.1. I have to say that my iPhone is currently as reliable as any of the phones that I have owned in the past. From a phone standpoint it's great. I still would like to see cut & paste and a few other minor things added but I have to say that I would trust my iPhone as much or more than any phone I have owned in the past. I think there are many users here on the discussions that don't understand what unreliability used to be and back in the day there was no such thing as a service pack which is going to be the saving grace for the iPhone and many future devices. I was a beta tester for digital service for Cellular One before they rolled out digital cell phone service to the public. Back when I had my first truly portable phone after the bag phone, a Motorola PTC750 on analog service I used to keep 3 batteries with me just to make it through the business day. Right now unless I do alot of You Tube or something that requires extended time using EDGE, I can probably make it two days on a charge with a reasonable about of phone usage even though I put the phone on charge at night until I get up in the morning. I'll take that or even getting a quick charge in the car or off my computer any day compared to where technology used to be. So, yes, I feel that my iPhone is reliable.

That's interesting and helpful, to say the least. It wasn't a concern that you might perhaps be courting a controversy by posting - aside from the fact it's apparent you, like many of us, had your fill of those already, the very nature of the thread would get it yanked quickly if it were not constructive in nature as it developed. But it did seem peculiar that from your angle of approach you'd even be considering an iPhone since you describe a set of conditions which clearly do show it to be deficient.

In the end, the funny thing is that the iPhone attracts potential buyers who are clearly not at all happy with it from the outset due to a range of issues (as we've regularly seen repeated here). Yet there seems something about it that defies common sense. People dislike the features, lack of functionality, absence of resources that 'even basic cellphones have', but they still want one or use one. You and I both really know why. That despite it's shortcomings, it is something quite special. It breaks what have become the traditional approaches to mobile telephony. It isn't a flip, doesn't have a slide, doesn't have tiny buttons that make fumble-fingers out of everyone but the most expert texters. It doesn't use a tiny screen that once you've applied anything but the basic wallpaper makes everything else indistinct. I doesn't have multi-function buttons that change purpose so often that before you can select anything you have to check to make sure the button does in this mode what it was labeled for in the last. It doesn't have a menu structure that makes finding the most basic setting a chore of polar-expedition proportions. It doesn't have idiotic features included like they were afterthoughts grafted on by manufacturers intent or treating us like children, appealing to our instinct for anything that looks cool.

Instead, it's a distinct, complete, seamlessly unified product, which works like a charm out of the box, and where the only time you'll ever really need the manual is to download a copy of it just incase. It is simplicity and a real joy to use it, and it makes what tools it has so accessible that every other cellphone manufacturer should be kicking themselves all the way to Taiwan and back for not thinking of doing it this way 5 years ago if not 10. And what's more, the very fact is doesn't have the old, tired, feature set of toy functions thrown in because they were an easy sell is another reason it seems so incredibly popular.

So, I certainly understand the interest. There are other devices - less seamless, less intuitive, less accessible, less.... well, less functional in the user sense - which are probably also worth consideration as you replace the old cellphone. First on my list would be a Blackberry. I have one, and it's a work of genius considering when the design originated. They are tough, have removable batteries, flexible tools, lots of functionality. They are a bit awkward to use, rather dated in UI and more expensive on data plans than the iPhone, but for serious -must work- users, there's little to touch them for viability and use.

That said, as someone who is dependent for much of each day on cellphone connectivity, on being able to deal with email and messaging, distribution of such things as photos and documentation, I've found the iPhone invaluable and completely reliable. I have not lost any call or had no service available, nor has the device misbehaved in any real way. I use it, and part of why I like it is that I never have to give it the slightest thought.

There is a legitimate concern over how robust it really is. The glass screen is tough, but not indestructible, and the casing can be damaged by dropping or otherwise abusing it. This is not a device you can buy and thoughtlessly chuck around like a pack of ham sandwiches. That said, it's sturdy and while modern flip phones are smaller, they are also more flimsy, more likely to burst at the edges if flexed or more likely to crush if sat on.

If you actually have AT&T service in your area, then the only real drawback in the iPhone in your situation as you describe it now is the lack of ability to swap out batteries. Battery power is not something you can be flexible about if you are not in reliable reach of power. The iPhone is by no means bad - I charge mine every day, but after 24 hours it's only down about 1/3 of a charge, so with a number of short calls each day, a fair amount of email work, use of the camera and some web browsing, not to mention the occasional audiobook playback or access to YouTube or the iTunes store if I have little to do (and no iPhone thread to reply to!) it would last a couple of days without charge. But no more than that, and by the end of the second day when the charge level was getting low, I'd be getting nervous about calls and usage.

If there were a portable add-on battery for charging as there has been for iPods (there may be but I haven't seen one that is assured for iPhone use) then that would be far less of an issue, but in your situation I'd be far less concerned about reliability and far more about that aspect of it.

I have to say that I like mine a lot. As you'll have gathered, I have little good to say regarding the state of cellular services these days, and the iPhone is a breath of fresh air. In 2 years time this is going to be an awesome, matured, product. At the moment it's like a bit of a wayward child with a mind of it's own. I like that though and I can live with that.

My advice would be to look around for an add-on charger/battery to see if there is one and it would help assuage your concerns over battery life, but not give too much thought to reliability, because I don't think that's been much of an issue for the majority. For posters here, certainly, and I don't mean to belittle their problems with it in any way, but this is an awfully quiet forum for their being well over 1 million of these things in use.

Ultimately though, if you can't be sure, check out the Blackberry models instead. They're not so cute, and far less seamless and transparent, but awfully competent devices.

Here's my $0.02

1) In my area, AT&T is known for having the worst coverage and most dropped calls. I got rid of Nextel/Sprint (one of the best in my area) so I could have the iPhone. My wife had AT&T. Upgraded to the iPhone. Both of us have had excellent coverage and no dropped calls. I had heard a rumor that AT&T has iPhones on a priority as part of the Apple deal. I don't know if this is true or not, but I can say that my wife has been very pleased with the coverage and service. I have not noticed any difference between my excellent Nextel coverage and the AT&T coverage.

2) Neither my wife or I have had the phone lock up to where it was non-functional. I had the keypad freeze on me only once. I turned the phone off and back on again and have not had a problem. My wife's iPhone had a mechanical problem with the volume switch out of the box. We took it to the Apple store where the Apple "Genius" replaced the phone on the spot. Great service.

3) I had my previous cell phone for a couple of years and my wife had hers for about three years. We never had to replace the battery. I was concerned about the inability to change the battery, but then I always seem to replace the phone before I would need to replace the battery. The battery life is very long for this phone. It lasts longer than any other smart phone I've ever had, and I've had a few.

If you want only a cell phone and nothing else, then the iPhone may not be for you. My wife just wanted a phone, nothing more. I bought her an iPhone anyway. She loves it. Watch the video on Apple's website about the iPhone. See if it has features you would like. I'm very happy with mine.

I have used my iPhone all over the US and Europe for the last three months. I have had ZERO problems with it anywhere there is GSM service. All major metropolitan areas have GSM. All of Europe has GSM. It is 100% reliable, and there is absolutely no difference between the iPhone and any of the older smartphones I have used.

I have been with ATT (and all it's name changes over the years) for 12 years and have never had a cell problem anywhere...the only exception is the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, areas around Vegas, and in LA -- those are known areas where little to no signal exists -- although they will most likely be improved over time.

With a smartphone (iPhone included) there is always the risk of breaking a screen or things like that. The battery issue is totally overblown - the battery life lasts longer than any other smartphone I have ever used and I still have a good 40% charge left at the end of the day even after a heavy day of usage with calls, data, e-mail, and music or video.

In choosing a cellphone (including the iPhone) those types of things always have to be taken into account. If you are someone who throws your phones around, drives a jeep over open terrain, splashes through mud or snow all day, dips your phones into water, or other assorted oddities, then the iPhone (nor any PDA phone) are for you. If you are a normal user, and the areas that you go from day to day have GSM service, then you will have no problem with the iPhone as to reliablity.

That being said - I must add that ALL SMARTPHONES (except for the Treo 650) have their antennas inside the casing, most at the bottom of the phone -- they DO have weaker antennas than standard phones with external antennas. There are no antenna boosters for the iPhone, or most other smartphones. If you are in a weak signal area, you are much more apt to lose the signal with the iPhone or any other PDA phone, than with a standard external antenna cell phone.

Let's not forget that the Treo 700wx has an external antenna, as well as several Smartphones that I have owned; including the ATT's first Smartphone. Other Smartphones can be cradled in car kits that boost their signals. With the iPhone you don't have that option. My Treo 700wx had much better battery life than the iPhone...still does after nearly a year of use; and I used it a lot more since I could play games on it. 100% reliable...come on. Now if you would have said 90% or 98% it may have been believable. Where I live, Verizon service was much better and now with ATT I experience an increasingly amount of dropped calls. But let's just call that an ATT thing.

As far as the iPhone goes, it's not reliable. I don't think I could say that any Smartphone (which the Apple is NOT) is 100% reliable; they all need to be reset now and again. What I can say is that the Treo was more reliable - less resetting and fewer issues where I couldn't answer a call. I have lost more calls due to the iPhone locking up on the slider, or while answering a call with a BT headset, or just freezing up. I think it is fair to say that the updates have minimized this, but it still has happened.

I would say that the iPhone is pretty hardy. I have dropped it, and it came through all right. It's just so hard to hold - slippery. They should have designed more grip into the case. At any rate, I'd say it's probably as hardy as most Smartphones.

Overall, it's not super reliable. If you need this, you should look at a standard phone; they make some that are quite robust. If you own an iPhone you need to take special care handling it and operating it. It's just the nature of this kind of device. Apple's iteration of this technology is not revolutionary; it's an evolutionary step using current technology with a cuter interface. I like it, but won't get rid of my other devices. Hope this helps.