Comments on: AT&T breaks sales records with iPhone 3GS launch

Carrier sells more phones the first day the iPhone 3GS went on sale than it ever has, even on the two previous iPhone launch days, according to an internal memo.

[Splashes]

I'm in Mr. Osei's corner on this one. There's no bigger Apple fanboie than me -- I'm happy to shell out for top quality. And that's exactly why I don't have an iPhone -- I refuse to give AT&T $70+ per month for mediocre quality.

[ellebhr]

I have an iPhone G3 and I totally adore it but definitely AT&T is not up to par, the quality of the calls is terrible, with dropped calls every day. I call my husband who is on my family plan and can't get through to him. I swear that if the iPhone were available on other carriers like T-Mobile I would change in blink. On the bright side I do enjoy being able to use all the wonderful applications but this is thanks to Apple and the wonderful people who are creating these amazing apps.

[ecotopian--2008]

I am a total Apple user, but still haven't bought the iPhone because of my reservations about AT&T. I sure wish it were possible to get an iPhone in the USA without supporting AT&T. Apple would have my money right now.

[lkrupp]

For every at&t hater there's an at&t lover. For every Sprint hater there's a Sprint lover. For every TMobile hater there's TMobile lover. And so it goes. So please spare us the diatribes about which carrier is the best or worst and why you won't get an iPhone because of at&t. It's all in the eye of the beholder. They are all ,in the end, the same.

[ikramerica--2008]

Exactly. I've had no dropped calls in the time I've had the 3GS, and call quality is so good that sometimes I think the call has dropped because there is zero background noise. I ask "are you still there?" and they always say yes.

And I was an existing ATT customer, so this is comparing the iPhone to my previous phone.

But that's Los Angeles, where service is good. It varies from city to city, and people just don't seem to digest that. "My experience is the only experience anyone can have!" Hardly.

YMMV. :)

[tavake71]

Amen to your comment. I bought the iphone 3G last year because it was the coolest phone. I had Verizon before and had no issues switching to AT&T and to me, I'm getting the same service. As long as I can make calls, I'm good. Now I can surf with my iPhone & AT&T which is icing on the cake. I love my phone and can't wait to upgrade it.

[professionaladventurer]

Don't really have problems with AT&T but I don't live in regular America. I pretty much stick to going between Alaska and Hawaii. 3G rolled out last month and I just got the iPhone 3G for $99 (yeah I got hooked up by an ATT rep) and it seems a little slow, but otherwise it is ok. No dropped calls really.

[alawaiblowfish]

I also live in Hawai?i and don't seem to have any problems with my iPhone whatsoever. In fact, AT&T has the best coverage in the islands, bar none. Verizon is the company with crappy reception issues. Coupled with their horrible customer service and lackluster hardware, I wonder why anyone would choose their services.

[ikramerica--2008]

Again, because it varies from region to region, city to city. While ATT was great in Hawaii when I visited, try taking your ATT phone to Santa Fe. Spotty at best, and the mountains are worse, but people say Verizon is the service of choice there.

One day, maybe the whole country will unite under the same 4G network using a lower frequency that is more reliable, and everyone can finally choose companies based on price, phones and customer service only, but until then, we have to trade off too much in some places and can't get what we want.

[canex2007]

Iphone is really an amazing gadget but lacking with respect to the very feature I wanted most....a phone can make a phone call. Whhile Iphone 3G keeps dropping calls, my Nokia E71 always starys strong and reliable. Don't blame AT&T. Iphone is the cultprit for the bad receiption.

[cnetpre]

So you're suggesting you have both phones on AT&T and that your Nokia E71 stays strong and reliable while your iPhone runs into occasional dropped calls for the same geographic location? If that's true..you could have a point.

[ikramerica--2008]

Or a bad phone. Most have not experienced your issue. iPhone is like any other electronics product, and there will be lemons. That's why there is a warranty.

[canex2007]

Same location, different results. Mine and my colleagues' Iphones suffered the same issue.

http://www.appletell.com/apple/comment/iphone-3g-has-a-bad-3g-chipset/

[epgomez]

I agree with you. Me and my wife were in a restaurant. My iphone has no signal but my wife's phone has full bars of signal. That's the time that I got rid of the iphone and bought something else. And there are a lot of restrictions done by apple on the device and also I keep on charging every now and then because the battery sucks which made it so totally unusable when you go outside strolling for a long time away from you car and computer. I don't like this! It's crap.

[pintos-n-cheese]

Have you heard the possibility of Sprint's business floundering to the point they must sell? And that Apple could BUY Sprint and own their own phone carrier? Think of the possibilities.

[markredf150]

lol that would be a great scene in the next Apple commercial...Sprint's CEO Dan Hesse getting out of that cab (from that commercial we've all seen), and Steve Jobs waiting for him on the sidewalk. Steve rips away Dan's laptop and says you're fired! Then Steve pulls out the iPhone 3G S S (second S for "Sprint") :) ahhh the possibilities are endless!!!

[useful_worms]

I'm a big Apple Fangirl and I love my iPhone. The worst thing about it is AT&T; any/all problems I have with the phone are due to network issues. When I travel to Europe, no dropped calls and perfect reception. Imagine that!

I justified the expense by getting rid of my landline and using it for business and personal use.

[lpal730]

I would love to have an iPhone. I have tried AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and others, and I refuse to leave Verizon's great connection and call quality. AT&T's network was a dissapointment, too many important business calls dropped. The network is the difference for me.

Waiting for a Verizon/iPhone marriage

P.S. Verizon Android phone a definite possibility

[steel36]

I'm with you on that. I've held out for the iPhone on Verizon so long, that it's given them time to finally launch an Android device, which I'd prefer anyway I think. We'll see if one gets here in the next few months.

[markredf150]

AT&T is working on upgrading their network (http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10271450-94.html)
But we shall see what this madness gives iPhone users
Sure, beefing up the network is a great idea...on paper...but let's see what happens. It honestly sounds like a good idea, because the lower spectrum can go through walls and travel further than the higher spectrum

[bubbiegeek]

I recently left Verizon for ATT and an iPhone 3Gs. I couldn't be happier. I have not had a dropped call. The connections are crystal clear. I can actually talk on this phone. Maybe the cheap phones that Verizon was giving out were bad. But I never actually wanted, to or could have a comfortable phone conversation on my Verizon phones. Now I actually want to talk on the phone. I also like the fact that ATT has a family plan of fewer than 700 minutes, and rollover minutes for unused time. I have had to call ATT to correct some billing issues causes when I my husband joined me on ATT. I was able to connect with a real person very quickly. They promptly and politely addressed all issues.. Maybe the ATT wireless network does not have the broad coverage of Verizon, but for where I live and travel it is more than adequate.

[ikramerica--2008]

When comparing plans, people always leave out the rollover minutes. I'd personally take rollover minutes and 9PM nighttime over no rollover and 7PM nights. And the good thing about rollover minutes is that when you have a problem, one of the first things ATT will offer as compensation for your trouble is extra rollover minutes. Costs them nothing, but can save you money. When it took overnight to activate my iPhone 3GS because the SIM card wasn't properly registered, they offered to give me 500 rollover minutes as compensation. I said it wasn't necessary, as some of mine were expiring anyway. Then i looked at my account, and they had added 1000!

[fredropro]

the dropped calls thing must be everywhere but south Fla..... Ive never had one yet ....Ive owned the 3G since jan 2009

[ikramerica--2008]

The only time I ever get dropped calls is when talking to my brother and he drives over a certain hill in Austin. He's on Sprint. For a long while, my Sony ATT phone did not do well calling Sprint in Austin. Lots of reception issues, especially if he was on speaker. Nobody else has this problem with his speakerphone, and now my iPhone 3GS doesn't, either. That same Sony phone would sometimes have an issue talking to another ATT customer in Florida, where for no reason, they could hear me but I couldn't hear them. Again, the iPhone isn't doing this.

The point? Call quality, reception and dropped calls is regional but also more than simply due to one company. Some people who say "I can never keep a call with XYZ person" might simply have a situation where, for whatever reason, the phones of the two people don't like each other and one or the other phone disconnects part or all of the signal.

[ewelch]

Verizon sucks, T-Mobile sucks, Sprint Sucks, AT&T sucks. I've seen better service in the mountain passes of Colombia that I see here in the States. So get over it folks. I'm very happy with my iPhone and have very FEW problems with AT&T. Their customer service is WAY better than it used to be when Cingular was a separate company.

[ikramerica--2008]

True, but I've also seen poor reception in France and in Australia with my GSM phone, so it could just be the crappy handsets...

[CyStarkman]

Australia no problems. Great reception, call quality and network speed. I live in one of the most remote populus places here, 27000 people. The 3G and now the 3GS have been no trouble, even battery life has been comparable to my old nokia and motorola 3G phones and when I consider what I do on the iPhone Compared to them and how big it's screen is, the battery life is actually really surprising.

Not sure what I would do in the USA, but it sounds all pretty scrappy and that's sad. I hope Apple sees fit to make it carrier neutral for u mob like it is here. Actually in oz Apple now sells the iPhone unlocked direct from it's website, maybe the same will happen in the USA.

[cp256]

Nothing could make pay a cent to those AT&T thieves, I don't care how good the freaking phone is. If all the sheeple didn't put up with the telcos C_R_A_P we'd have some choices in this country.

[CrashPad63]

Iphone sucks, why all the fuss? Dropped calls. Overheats and discolors. No true multi tasking. Security like swiss cheese.
PT Barnum was right there is a sucker born every minute. And ole Jobsy knows this!!!

[Electronic_Dreamer]

Iphone 3g s customers sheep hearded by apple, no crappy at&t reception, lack of removable battery, discoloration, weak upgrade of battery life,barely adequate camera, and high monthly costs. can keep these ignorant people from buying nope i guess the world is just to ignorant to realize any better.

[brmarsh]

I am returning my 3GS. The signal reception is very bad. With other phones I had 3 bars of 3g at my house. With the 3GS I get 1 or 2 bars of Edge. Apple has a problem with this phone. Thousands of people all over the world are having the same problem. Why isn't CNET reporting it? Apple is scrambling to fix it but what if its hardware? Recently out of 30 cell phones at a family reunion, 29 worked. My IPhone 3Gs never found any signal. This isn't AT&T. Its the phone.

[brmarsh]

I am returning my 3GS. The signal reception is very bad. With other phones I had 3 bars of 3g at my house. With the 3GS I get 1 or 2 bars of Edge. Apple has a problem with this phone. Thousands of people all over the world are having the same problem. Why isn't CNET reporting it? Apple is scrambling to fix it but what if its hardware? Recently out of 30 cell phones at a family reunion, 29 worked. My IPhone 3Gs never found any signal. This isn't AT&T. Its the phone.

[shores11]

I agree that network coverage varies from region to region. My old (Verizon) phone was essentially a brick when I visited family in rural Missouri and Illinois. (I live in Atlanta) I switched to the iPhone 3GS and have had no problems with coverage. For the first time ever - I'm able to check my email on my phone while visiting. Verizon may have better service in some areas, but that V-Cast business was all but unusable as far as I'm concerned.