What’s the iPhone? On January 9, 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced what he called a revolutionary device - one portable product combining a widescreen, touchscreen iPod, a GSM mobile phone, and Wi-Fi-enabled portable Internet communications functionality. Roughly the size of a 30GB fifth-generation iPod, but slightly taller, iPhone is designed to capture 1% of the nearly 1-billion-unit-per-year mobile phone market by 2008, appealing to potential iPod, smartphone, and wireless data users through a futuristic but simple integrated interface. The device has sensors that detect ambient light levels, proximity to your face, and turning motions, enabling iPhone to automatically brighten, dim, turn off, and rotate its screen for various functions. Organized from A to Z - well, W, at the moment - our All Things iPhone article is designed to provide all the factual information you’ll need to make an informed decision about whether the new device’s features and limitations are right for you.
Accessory Compatibility: Thanks to a mostly standard headphone port on the left of the top surface, iPhone is said to work with all iPod-compatible headphones; the port is novel in that it has a pin for microphone use, as well. Because of a 30-pin Dock Connector on the bottom, iPhone will work as an iPod with all iPod-compatible docks, speakers, chargers, and other audio devices, except those that are physically too small to accommodate its larger-than-iPod body. However, it will not work in phone mode with past docking accessories, apparently because of “TDMA sounds,” the high-pitched beeps you hear in (most) speakers when a cell phone is making a call or receiving data. New accessories with better shielding - and Apple authentication chips - will be needed.
On June 3, 2007, Apple released advertisements depicting the top of the iPhone with a concave headphone port. It is as yet unknown whether this headphone port will be fully compatible with all standard, previously released headphones. However, as both Apple’s iPhone Stereo Earphones and the recently unveiled V-moda Vibe Duo third-party earphones include a microphone, it is obvious that there is a microphone input pin on the headphone plug, and quite probable that Apple prefers iPhone-ready earphones to include this feature.
Apple Accessories: Apple has announced three self-developed accessories for iPhone. One is the iPhone Stereo Headphones (tentative title), a pair of customized Apple iPod Earphones with a thin in-line microphone box at neck level in the cabling. The box also has a button or switch to let you accept or disconnect phone calls. Pricing has not been announced, but will likely be $29 based on past Apple pricing trends.
Second is a Bluetooth earpiece, possibly called the iPhone Bluetooth Headset, and presumably to be compatible with the phone’s newer Bluetooth 2.0+EDR standard rather than the older and more widespread Bluetooth 1.2 standard. The clean black design features only a single, top-mounted button, capable of connecting and disconnecting phone calls in progress, and according to Apple both pairs with iPhone and turns on and off automatically. Four pins on the bottom are likely used for recharging. Pricing is presently unknown, but assumed to be in the $70-100 range; neither battery life nor its ability to be used as a wireless listening device for iPhone audio are known, either.
Additionally, Apple has shown a photograph of iPhone in a white Dock similar to the ones previously sold for iPods, minis, and nanos. Past iPods sold at the $499 and $599 price points have always included Apple’s Docks; it’s unclear as to whether iPhone will come with the Dock or require a separate purchase, but past iPod docks have always been available as spares for $29-39, depending on their features.
Applications/Widgets: The good news is that the standard suite of applications looked just like the demos, which is to say that they’re cleanly designed, Mac OS X widget-like programs. Apple’s current suite of non-core applications includes SMS Text Messaging ("Text"), Calendar, Photos, Camera, Calculator, Stocks, Maps, Weather, Notes, and Clock, plus a Settings menu, and four core applications: Phone, Mail, Web, and iPod.
When the iPhone was announced, Apple said that users will not be able to add applications to the device on their own, and that third-party software developers would not generally be able to write iPhone-ready applications for distribution to the general public. The restriction was imposed in the name of safety - to prevent third-party applications from creating problems with AT&T’s network - and a desire to keep iPhone simple, rather than PC-like. Apple said that it would make rare exceptions for third-party developers it approaches with specific needs, such as Google, which worked on the back-end for Google Maps while Apple developed the iPhone interface. On April 25, 2007, Apple announced that it will update the iPhone with additional applications and features during its lifespan (see Updates, below, for more details), and in late May, 2007, the company said that it was planning to permit third-party application development by the end of 2007, once it had figured out certain security issues.
AT&T/Cingular: The first-generation phone is locked, and apparently aggressively, to AT&T (formerly Cingular Wireless) - as the sole U.S. phone services provider, a deal that will apparently run through 2009. Apple representatives have stated that you will need to agree to a full two-year cell phone contract in order to get the phone, which is different from standard phones that can be purchased with one-year (+$50) or no contracts (+$100) at higher prices. Unless Apple chooses to reach different deals with overseas partners, you will not be able to use competitors’ SIM cards in an iPhone. Also, the device is electronically incompatible with the Verizon and Sprint/Nextel networks, so even if an iPhone was hacked, it would not work on these networks. (See also International Partners.)
Battery: On June 18, 2007, Apple announced updated battery performance statistics for the iPhone. Originally, the company stated that iPhone’s battery would run for 16 hours of audio playback, or 5 hours of video, phone, or Internet usage before requiring a recharge. Now, the company has increased those numbers to 24 hours of audio playback, 6 hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback, and 8 hours of phone talk time before a recharge. The phone also has a standby time of 250 hours, or over 10 days. It is not user-replaceable, however, and will require you to send the phone back to Apple when it fails to properly hold a charge. This is widely considered to be a potentially major problem with the iPhone, as an extended interruption in phone service could be fatal for some customers. However, supplemental battery pack accessories will most likely be offered as somewhat of an offset.
Bluetooth: iPhone supports the Bluetooth 2.0+EDR standard. In addition to its practicality for monaural wireless headsets, Bluetooth 2.0+EDR is capable of supporting advanced stereo wireless broadcasting, and potentially data synchronization as well. As of June 3, 2007, a Bluetooth icon now appears to be nearly ever-present on the iPhone’s screen when in vertical orientation, alongside the battery icon in the upper right corner.
Body: As is apparent from photos, the design is inspired as much by Danger’s Sidekick 3 on its front - a black slate with polished and anodized metal accents - as by a Motorola Q in back (metal). Despite the fact that it packs an incredible amount of cutting edge technology, it felt cool to the touch, comfortable in hand, and roughly the same as a 30GB fifth-generation iPod (see Size, below). It’s obviously a product developed to appeal to the smartphone user niche, rather than the cell phone mass-market, which traditionally has demanded iPod mini- or nano-styled candybar or flip phones.
Buttons: With several exceptions, all of iPhone’s user input is handled through the Multi-Touch touchscreen rather than physical buttons. Bringing yourself out of any menu, and back to the unit’s main menu, requires only one button press - the Home button, which is found on the unit’s front bottom. A Sleep/Wake switch is found on iPhone’s top, like the Hold switch of an iPod. Apple has placed a large volume up/down toggle on the unit’s left side, and a smaller ring/silent button right above it. Volume for most applications can be changed on the unit’s screen; the toggle is there for when you’re using iPhone next to your face, as a phone.
Calendar: A simple Calendar application was demonstrated for iPhone, with an interface that looked like a slightly evolved, less colorful version of the Calendar found in fifth-generation iPods. Unlike the iPod Calendar, which merely displays synced content from your Mac or PC, iPhone’s Calendar can be updated in the device.
Camera: A two-megapixel camera is found on iPhone’s upper left back corner. Like most cell phone cameras, this one uses a fixed lens and has no optical zoom capabilities. It permits full-screen framing of your photos, but is presently a still camera only, not a video recorder.
Capacity: iPhone will be sold in 4GB and 8GB versions. According to recent reports, around 500MB of the storage capacity will be consumed by iPhone’s OS X operating system, leaving users with around 3.5GB or 7.5GB of space for music, videos, photos, and other data.
Chips: Reports on iPhone’s key components have varied. An Italian Intel executive has said that the CPU is partially based on Intel’s XScale technology, which was sold to the Marvell Technology Group in mid-2006. Processors from the XScale family are used in Blackberry, Motorola Q, Treo, and other smartphones, and can be read about
here; other reports suggest that Marvell’s part enables iPhone’s Wi-Fi (802.11) functionality. Similarly, Broadcom’s Chairman has confirmed that Broadcom provides at least one chip inside the iPhone, which is believed to be its video decoding processor, but could also include other features, such as Bluetooth and/or Wi-Fi. Samsung is believed to be providing an audio processor and memory for iPhone, while ARM Holdings has reportedly indicated that three ARM-licensed chips from other companies (possibly Marvell, Broadcom, and Samsung) will be found in the device. The accuracy of these reports will not be known until after the device’s release.
Compatibility: Works with any Mac or PC capable of running the version of iTunes Apple releases in June.
Contacts: In addition to synchronizing all the basic text details from Address Book or Outlook, as iTunes does with the iPod, contacts also have the same on-screen photo icons we’ve seen in iChat AV and Apple’s Address Book. These icons don’t appear during SMS chat, however.
Customization: The unit’s first screen background - displayed when it’s locked and waiting for a call - can be set at any time from any picture on the unit - a really nice feature, but other menus do not use this image as their background. As of early June, it appears that at least some of the main menu’s icons can be rearranged by the user, but this is not as yet known for certain.
Data Speeds: All known data testing of the iPhone took place indoors on a Wi-Fi network set up by Apple, rather than on AT&T’s slower EDGE network, so it’s unclear how iPhone will fare when outdoors. With Wi-Fi, demonstration web pages such as The New York Times and Google Maps loaded quickly - not lightning fast, but more than acceptably for a handheld device. Some, but not most of the pages we tested appeared to be cached.
E-mail: On the e-mail front, which looks nice, you can receive and most likely forward rich HTML messages, but you apparently can’t compose them on the device - only simple, unstyled text and photos can be sent. One free E-mail account - with “push” service to automatically forward messages to iPhone no matter where you are - is provided by Yahoo, and iPhone is also said to be capable of syncing with POP3 and IMAP accounts, meaning that you can receive most of your e-mail wirelessly while you’re on the go, or connected to a Wi-Fi network. However, iPhone can’t open Office (Word/Excel) documents, or sync directly with Microsoft Outlook, but it can open PDF files. Contact lists from Outlook and Apple’s Address Book are managed and synchronized through iTunes. In addition to a full-screen mode, a paned (split-screen) view is available to let you quickly scroll through message headers at the top of the screen, while e-mail contents are displayed at the bottom.
In early June, minor updates to the e-mail application were shown in Apple ads for iPhone, including two-line Inbox previews of message content, and an on-screen indication of the last time of e-mail synchronization.
Games: As originally announced, iPhone was not intended to play games developed for the fifth-generation iPod. However, companies other than Apple - including the iPod’s leading game publisher, Electronic Arts, have suggested that they believe the phone will play games. If that is true, the only question is whether Apple will provide a virtual Click Wheel for input, reprogram the games for the new device, or develop entirely new titles.
GPS: Not included. Could be added via an accessory; maps might well consume 1 or more GB of storage.
iChat/SMS: Despite obvious visual similarities to Apple’s iChat AV program - a Mac client for the Internet-based AOL Instant Messenger - iPhone’s messaging system communicates over the cell phone-based SMS network, and does not appear to enable you to reach AOL Buddies. This could (and likely will) change in a future application upgrade; Apple has already advanced its SMS software by allowing you to have multiple SMS chat sessions going on at once. Contact icons don’t appear on screen when you’re in SMS mode, despite the fact that it looks otherwise just like iChat. This is most likely to fit more text on screen.
Interface, Generally: Apple uses the center of the screen for the bulk of the action, with context-appropriate buttons placed largely near the screen’s edges. This enables you to scroll, pinch, and tap in the middle of the display; only errant motions near the screen’s edges will trigger other features. During iPod menu navigation, new icons for Playlists, Artists, Songs, Videos, and More (...) appear on the screen’s bottom, with a full alphabet listing on the right hand side if you want to jump around more quickly. In portrait (tall) display mode, the Now Playing screen includes standard iPod control icons (backward, play/pause, forward, and volume) on the bottom, with a Star Ratings bar around the top of the screen, near a back (Menu) arrow and track details. When the iPod is rotated on its side, the iPod browser automatically searches to Coverflow, an album cover browsing interface, which can be scrolled through using swiping finger gestures. Any album’s track list will display automatically when you press on the album cover, flipping it around.
Scrolling feels very good, but not perfect. It will take a tiny amount of user training, comparable to your first time with an iPod, before it feels perfectly comfortable. That’s mostly because icons are now in unfamiliar places on the screen, and you need to make sure you touch the right place on the screen in order to activate them. According to Apple, gestures such as pinch aren’t angle-dependent; our initial impression that they might be may just be attributable to the brief user learning curve, and your need to place enough pressure on the screen to have the pinching motion properly recognized.
International Partners: Subsequent to Apple’s announcement of a partnership with AT&T for the United States, Canada’s Rogers Wireless has publicly claimed that it will offer the iPhone to Canadian customers. A leading car industry web site has reported that BMW is working to become the first company to offer a complete iPhone car integration system, following the BMW Your iPod promotion for iPod models. This report has since been disclaimed by certain sources, so its accuracy is unclear.
iPod Implications: Though Apple doesn’t speak about unannounced products, iLounge’s editors strongly suspect that iPhone’s widescreen and touchscreen technologies will appear alongside a hard drive in an upcoming update to the full-sized iPod, with the possibility that limited wireless functionality will also be included. We’d expect to see such an iPod announced after the iPhone, rather than before it, so as to avoid cannibalizing initial iPhone sales. Subsequent flash-based iterations (nano-sized) are, of course, also possible.
Keyboard: Doesn’t require thin fingers for typing, but does require a little practice, especially since it appears to only recognize finger input, not stylus, fingernail, or clothing input. If your entry is sloppy, the software attempts to figure out the words you’re likely trying to type, and lets you hit the spacebar to accept them. Unlike the Nintendo Wii, which uses rumbling controllers with an on-screen pointer to simulate the feedback you get from pressing keys on a keyboard, iPhone’s flat touch screen provides no tactile feedback. In phone mode, though iPhone is designed to be highly Contacts-based and eliminate the need for dialing, its QWERTY keyboard shifts to a large-buttoned numeric keypad for dialing when necessary.
Lawsuits: The iPhone faces an unusually high number of actual or potential lawsuits prior to its release. Several companies, most notably including Korea’s LG (Lucky-Goldstar), have suggested that they are considering lawsuits based on claimed physical or technical infringements on their designs, including cell phones and touch-sensitive technologies. A trademark infringement lawsuit filed by Cisco Systems immediately after the iPhone’s introduction has been settled by the two sides, enabling both to use the iPhone name for their products. Additionally, as numerous companies are now attempting to duplicate the look and feel of iPhone, Apple may be forced to take actions of its own, as well.
Modem: Apple has made no comment about the iPhone working as a wireless modem for computers; we get the sense that it will not, as the feature would place greater demands on AT&T’s data network.
(Mac) OS X: When asked whether the iPhone is really running truly OS X under the hood, Apple executives have repeatedly said yes. However, as we’d expect, it runs a customized version of OS X - not a full Mac version of the operating system - so developers couldn’t write a Mac app and have it run straight without modification. Apple has said that this was because of the user interface and needs to match the iPhone’s unique screen features.
Phone Quality: It appears that most if not all journalists invited to try iPhone were limited to a single test call. iPhone sounded very clean on the receiving end, but we didn’t have the ability to test this feature anywhere near as much as we’d wanted, and the phone has not been subjected independenty to real-world testing outdoors.
Photos: In addition to displaying 20 square thumbnails at a time - 4 wide, 5 down - iPhone can display full-screen photographs in either widescreen or portrait mode, filling as much of the display as possible, and leaving black letterboxes in the gaps. Photos are synced from iTunes, just like with the iPod, and can be added to with the built-in camera. Stripped down but otherwise iPod-like photo slideshows even have music, though they lack for any transition effects save the default. You can skip through photos with finger swipes.
Pricing: As originally announced, Apple intends to sell a 4GB version of iPhone for $499 with a 2-year AT&T contract, and an 8GB version for $599. We wanted to know what it would cost to actually operate the data services on these phones every month, but Apple didn’t have an answer. This will be answered closer to launch, said the company’s Greg Joswiak, and we consider it - along with the fact that AT&T is the only provider - to be a fairly major potential sticking point. There is a possibility that iPhone’s price will drop prior to release.
Release Date: Apple has said that iPhone will be released on June 29, 2007 in the United States. Other regions will see iPhone later, depending on deals reached with other countries’ cellular providers, and updates to the iPhone’s technology (see Sequels). Target dates listed by Apple are the fourth calendar quarter 2007 in Europe and Asia in 2008.
Ringtones: Ringtones cannot be set based on your iTunes Music, according to Apple, a limitation based on “rights issues” (read: the music industry). This is pretty surprising. However, from what we gathered after the show, Apple executives provided different answers on the ringtone topic, and has not entirely foreclosed the possibility.
Screen: Overall, the screen quality was very, very impressive; everything looks very, very crisp. That’s partially because Apple has picked a 3.5” diagonal, 320x480 display - twice the resolution of the fifth-generation iPod, at 1” larger size - with an effective PPI (pixels per inch) rating of 160 PPI. In our brief hands-on test, the screen was bright, capable of ambient light level adjustment, and evenly lit from edge to edge - except for its very top, where the lighting was a little uneven. A counter-clockwise rotation - available only during certain applications, such as photo playback - shifts the screen from portrait mode into landscape mode. Proximity sensor turns it off during a call. Smudges do show up on the screen - you can see them on camera during Steve Jobs’ keynote speech - but the screen is more mark-resistant than the iPod’s, and easy to clean. On June 18, 2007, Apple announced that it had replaced the screen’s original plastic cover with a new optically superior and more scratch-resistant glass surface. This surface covers the iPhone’s entire face.
Sequels: Apple and AT&T have stated that iPhone follow-ups are coming soon, but the specifics and dates are only speculative at this point. Some are expected to be compatible with advanced 3G (HSDPA) data networks, once those networks are widespread, or customized for popular cellular networks in foreign countries. Others are expected to be cut-down, less expensive versions of the iPhone made for less demanding users.
Size: The iPhone is a little taller than a fifth-generation 30GB iPod, but otherwise very similar in size and weight. While the 30GB iPod measures 4.1” by 2.4” by 0.43”, and weighs 4.8 ounces, the iPhone weighs 4.5” by 2.4” by 0.46”, weighing the same 4.8 ounces. It’s lighter and thinner than 60GB and 80GB fifth-generation iPods, and feels sleeker thanks to the shape of its edges.
Speakers: iPhone has two speakers. One is right above the screen in a narrow slit, and optimized for close-distance cell phone use. The second is used for both iPod audio playback and speakerphone mode, and built into its bottom surface, next to the Dock Connector port. We tried to turn the second speaker up close to its peak volume level, and found that it sounded quite good, and clear by speakerphone standards.
Traveling: With rare exceptions, the iPhone is designed to work all over the world. It’s a Quad-Band GSM phone, relying on the older EDGE standard for its data communications, which makes it compatible with AT&T’s partner networks found in most parts of North America and Europe, and certain parts of Asia. iPhone will not work on Japan’s popular DoCoMo network, but it will work on the Softbank GSM network. All international phone use of a U.S.-purchased iPhone will require payment of additional service fees. Like most music phones, iPhone can also operate in a non-wireless Airplane Mode, enabling you to use its iPod portion - and more - while in flight.
Updates: During its second-quarter 2007 financial results conference call, Apple announced that it will offer both feature and application updates to the iPhone during its lifespan, a decision which forced the company to adopt a subscription-style revenue accounting system for the device. According to the company, these new additions to the iPhone’s capabilities are designed to surprise and delight iPhone owners, who are believed to be the product’s most likely advocates. Not surprisingly, Apple has not disclosed the specific features or applications that might be added to the iPhone in the future.
Video, Generally: When in iPod mode, all stored video types are now collapsed onto a single menu, which has all categories - TV shows, movies, etc. - all placed on one scrollable screen with icons for each video item. This is most likely because you won’t be able to fit enough video on it to need multiple screens for this. Video playback is totally smooth, and clearly at a higher resolution than the 5G iPod. Apple told The New York Times that video downloads, such as those offered by YouTube, might be supported by iPhone, but suggested that the company would need to “deal with YouTube” to make this happen.
Video Output: It’s currently unclear as to whether iPhone will be able to display iPod-style video on external displays; however, if Apple’s claims about accessory compatibility and iPhone’s “widescreen video iPod” functionality prove fully accurate, iPhone should be capable of this, too.
Voice Command: Not included. Dialing and navigation are handled through touching the screen.
Voicemail: A new feature called “Visual Voicemail” not only provides access to all of your voicemails at once, so that you can select which message to play, but there’s also a scrubber on the screen to let you scrub through each piece of voicemail just like an audio file.
Web: Based on Apple’s Safari web browser, but not quite as fully-featured, iPhone’s Web application permits multiple pages to be open at once, albeit not on screen at the same time, and skipped through only at the user’s request. The initial view of any page is fully zoomed out. Double tap any spot to zoom in to a readable size - Photoshop-style checkerboards appear until the graphics and text are fully loaded. Use pinch and expand gestures to zoom in and out of content with greater precision, a feature that replaces the need to hit the plus or minus signs on Google Maps, or the Zoom In and Out menus on Safari, over and over. Currently, neither Flash nor Java is supported, and in an interview with The New York Times, Apple discounted the possibility that Java will be added before iPhone’s release. Javascript, however, is integrated into the browser.
Wi-Fi: iPhone supports 802.11b and 802.11g Wi-Fi connectivity.
