iPhone 4S unable to turn off 3G?!

ok I tried to look and got this

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That's correct. The post was removed by admin. Look above. ^^

Please, please get the word out about not being able to turn 3G off. The toggle switch is gone on the 4s. Apple is aware of the battery issue but seems to be baffled. Guardian is running tests and contacting consumers.

In the announcement, "Let's talk iPhone." Phil Schiller goes through battery life and talk time on 2G (aka EDGE for ATT). Guess what? WE DON'T HAVE THAT OPTION!!!!! We cannot manually turn off 3G. The only way to get 2G is if the phone chooses it for us.

I'm getting more mad by the day. I would have NEVER bought the 4s had I known Apple decided to take a decision away from us. The speech about 2G is fraudulent since we can't CHOOSE 2G. I don't know of anyone who can only stay on 2G.

I've written to Apple and Engadget. We need to write to all the others to get coverage about this. Apple cannot ignore this!

The PHONE in iPhone is useless if we can't make calls or have people hear us due to static, crackling and dropped calls. On my 4, I ONLY used EDGE to make phone calls. It was the ONLY way to have a CLEAR call and very few drops.

In this thread, people are already returning their 4s' due to the lack of not being able to turn 3G off. Apple is losing consumers.

I urge you guys to make a report with Apple and to write to the major reviewers of the iPhone.

In numbers, we can be heard!

I'm not disagreeing with the spirit of what you are saying, I've filed my complaint with apple for this issue, but static and crackling? Is your iPhone an analogue version from the 80's??? Static and crackling are not features of a digital communications system!

Plus I don't think you really mean that you are making voice calls on EDGE unless it is VoIP, as EDGE refers to GPRS modulation and coding schemes MCS1-9, they have nothing to do with GSM circuit switched voice. Just because you are sat on a cell which has GPRS timeslots on an EDGE capable carrier does not affect the nature of the voice services you will use.

static/crackling

You think static and crackling on a phone call can't happen because it's digital?

Also, are you saying that before 3G existed, people couldn't make voice calls on 2G? I do believe cell phone calls wouldn't have existed then. Have you read this thread in its entirety? I'm not sure you understand the difference of switching between 3G and 2G (aka EDGE for ATT). EDGE most definitely does have an edge over 3G for voice calls for many of us.

Yes, over the GSM air interface, there is no static or crackling. Every 20ms of speech is encoded into a frame that gets channel coded and sent over the air. If the frame is not recoverable at the receiver then these days it is EXTREMELY likely that this fact is detected by the receiver (in the early days of GSM there was a 1 in 8 chance that complete rubbish could be misinterpreted as good frame). When frames are detected as bad the the process of substitution and muting kicks in. This attempts to sneakily 'smear' over the gap with a repetition of the previous frame while also slowly fading out if the gap in good speech continues.

Also speech frames are divided up into several classes of data bits. Some are strongly protected (the ones that really encode the major element of the voice), and some that are not really protected much at all (fine details).

So there is no static or crackling, but just slightly mechanical noises where some of the unprotected speech bits get corrupted and then drops to silence.

I don't think you followed what I was saying about EDGE. EDGE is an enhancement to GSM. Like a bolt on feature. It is a feature that solely lives in the packet switched side of GSM, and doesn't affect the legacy circuit switched stuff (like voice calls). So when you make a voice call on your 'EDGE' network, it is just a plain old GSM EFR or AMR call.

Contrary to what you are saying, there are many, many posts stating static and crackling is occuring. Regardless of the data you are spitting out in non-layman terms, static and crackling exists. To say it's not, is to say the people who are experiencing static and crackling are lying.

I'm not interested in getting into the technicality of EDGE/2G/EFR/AMR. I'm not sure what your point is except to argue for the sake of arguing.

The EDGE network is the data network used by Apple and AT&T in thefirst-generation iPhone. It allows iPhones to send and receive data such as emails and web content, in addition to making phone calls.

Bottom line: The toggle switch to turn 3G off is no longer there on the 4s. This is affecting MANY people.

Bring 3g toggle back, PLEASE!!!

As BlueFlowers says, I too am having the weirdest problems with my 4S - crackling, static, echoes, double audio where I can hear my voice and someone else's. At dusk today I was trying to place a call and the phone would not let me disconnect even though I couldn't hear that the call had connected. I ended up turning off my Bluetooth, but that didn't work, then connected the phone to the charging cable, and that didn't jog it, and then had to reboot the phone just to disconnect from a call that I couldn't talk on anyway! What is up with that?

This is in addition to the 2G/3G edge toggle thing, and the battery drain issue.

Come on, Apple...figure this out! Get one of the engineers to call me and put an app on my phone.

I've made a Genius Bar appointment for tomorrow late afternoon, to discuss all of this stuff, possibly to get a NEW phone, and to get their help setting up iCloud, which makes me nervous, as I've read of problems transitioning from Mobile Me to iCloud, and by golly, they can give me a hand doing it. So I'm bringing my iPhone 4S, my iPad 2, my MBP, and even my iPhone 4 (which I restored to factory settings in preparation to passing it on to a family member), just in case I end up needing to return my 4S, and give up on it for now. This is my third iPhone and I've never, ever had any trouble with the other two..

Please let me know how it goes! I was going to sell my 4 but now I'm holding onto it too. All connectivity problems I've ever had was when I was on 3G. I learned my lesson early on to turn 3G off to make phone calls.

I cannot talk on the 4s in buildings or elevators any longer and the spotty area I drive through almost daily is still very much spotty on 3G. It's a guaranteed disconnection if I'm on 3G. I can't talk on the phone while driving through that area on the 4s.

Where are you located, BlueFlowers? I'm in San Francisco. From the very first iPhone, my 3G, I learned to turn off 3G (no pun intended) and use the 2G/Edge. I've never, ever experienced anything like this with either of my other two iPhones.

I've read about problems all over the US and the UK. There must be thousands and thousands of us who are having these troubles. And there there are so many areas where 3G is so dang spotty yet the phone won't give up looking for it.

It is so embarassing to be on a call and have it just "fail", and repeatedly. In the two weeks I've had this phone it has become something of a joke. My brother has one and has had NO trouble.

I've got the

1. 2G/3G toggle missing problem

2. the battery life problem (though that is quite a bit better since I deleted my mail accounts, rebooted by phone, and reinstalled my mail accounts (and I do not use Exchange currently)

3. The horrible crackle/static/feedback that I get on some calls

4. The dropped calls, sometimes 6 during one call, seems worse at dusk, and in my own home but since I spend a fiar amount of time here it is hard to know for sure...

5. Apple Support told me that once I'd upgraded to iOS 5 on my iPhone 4 I couldn't go back to 4.x and while some people seem to still have the toggle on their iPhone 4s running iOS 5, mine didn't, so there seemed little point in going back to the iPhone 4.

I'm hoping and praying that the more of us that squawk, talk, complain, plead, etc the more quickly they will solve these problems...

I think that the best thing to do right now - short of getting ahold of someone with any sort of real power within Apple- is to fill out a feedback form.

They claim they read them. How closely they read them, and how seriously they take them, I have no idea. But I think it's worth a shot. I filled one out, and I suggest that everyone upset about this do the same:

http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

I'm in the L.A. area. Lots of congestion like you.

I have been into the apple store once for a restore when my photo albums didn't sync and "other" usage was high.

"Other" usage is sitting at 3.2gb right now. I've had to restore my phone twice. Sync and unsync photos twice. The latter of the two was when I clicked on a photo and it would take me to another photo in another album repeatedly. I had to completely remove all photos from my phone and try again. My only other thing is that all my calendar events have been duplicated and I don't know what setting caused it.

ec1244, I have submitted feedback. I urge everyone to.

Ah, yes, but we have the famous SF hills to complicate the transmission of cellular signals. The lousy AT&T coverage is even legendary up here.

Not sure what you mean by "other usage is at 3.2gb right now"

I do not want to deal with duplicate calendar events. I've had to adjust to no more syncing with Lion and Outlook 2011, so I make new manual entries in Outlook's calendar and contact list. I'm just not going to go down the iCloud route without some Apple wonk's guidance...

Will submit more feedback again.

When your phone is connected in iTunes, it lists your space on iPhone for apps, music, photos, etc. One usage is called "other."

wiredzen wrote:

Really? You're complaing about using 3G over Edge? Do you complain about having to use a Macbook instead of a typewriter? High-speed ethernet instead of dial-up? Apple is progressing with the tech and times; 2G is growing obsolete. At some point they stop supporting old tech. Deal with it.

Oh, and support pages are not for emotional counseling to help you overcome spoiled temper tantrums. It's tech support - write to Apple with your grievances. We can't changes this for you. Quit wasting server time with your gripes.

Also, using wifi is not going to run down the battery like 3G. So either someone isn't on wifi, or they've got a flawed iPhone. When wifi is available, I use it, and my battery life is outstanding.

What nice reply. Are you a psychotherapist?