Comments on: iPhone users say the 2.1 software update delivered

The results are in and according to iPhone 3G owners, the 2.1 software brought improvements and fixed problems.

[infernalman7]

I sorta agree with some of the comments you have collected.

First, 2.1 did fix SMS keyboard lag. However, I still want my contacts to be snappy as it previously has been on 1.1.x.

About battery, I found turning on "3G" and frequent e-mail fetch (e.g. every 15 minutes) drain a lot of battery. The other thing I found out is that after I moved to Thailand where there is no iPhone 3G compatible 3G frequency I'm always on EDGE and my phone did last for 3 nights (on Stand By) compared with back in Australia (with 3G on) where it lasted 1 day and a half on the same settings.

[jmpetersen]

The 3G signal affects the battery life. The weaker the signal, the more juice the phone uses to acquire and retain the signal. Some folks are going to notice a difference, some aren't going to have better battery life until they get a better signal in the areas they spend their time.

Radio signals can act like waves, which bounce around and converge in certain areas, so yes, you can move a yard or so in any direction and find a much different signal. There's a battery tip for folks that don't have a good signal, find a place in the house where it does get a good signal, and that's where you leave your phone.

Perhaps the 2.1 update affected the "Fetch New Data" option in the Settings menu? If folks notice a difference in fetching mail, check that setting, and the "advanced" setting in that menu, to see what accounts are fetching, and which accounts are pushing.

-diclaimer - long time cell user, but no iPhone for me. I've got a Touch, and a p.o.s. Sprint phone that I only use as a (gasp) telephone.

[chris68rt]

One thing that has been overlooked I think is the fact that the phone can now be used with UCONNect on the Chrysler vehicles. That was the kicker for me. When the update went to 2.0 then the Uconnect system did not sync with the phone. Now with 2.1, it does.

[solu1978]

Well i have not noticed any improvement in 3G speed the only thing that has changed is it shows more bars now on my iphone display ... i guess apple did not cheat users because if you read apple update release notes .. it clearly says "Improved accuracy of 3G signal strength display" means more bars but same result.

[crosbyjr]

The update drastically helped out with the dropped calls. Prior to the update I was seriously considering my options as the Iphone 3G was close to useless to me. I live in downtown Atlanta and could not make a call from anywhere within a block of my building without the call dropping at somepoint during the converation. The update solved the issue almost completely. Backups are much faster as well.

[AXG]

The battery life with 3G iPhone is a serious issue. The battery life reduces drastically even with latest firmware when 3G is turned on. The battery dropped to below 50% within a matter of two hours. If the 3G signal is weak, the battery drains so fast that it is better to keep this option off. Battery life is a serious issue even when viewing video. I have reduced the brightness to a notch lower than the default. I still have to keep a charger handy.

[Lerianis]

Well, they warned you that 3G was going to be a 'battery hog'. That's the reason why they didn't include it in the FIRST iPhone.... it wasn't ready for 'prime-time' then and it isn't really ready for that NOW.

[myles taylor]

You know, this is why Apple didn't put 3G in the first iPhone...battery life. GPS too. Now it has both of those, and the customers were clamoring for them, and now people complain about battery life. Well, the phone is very advanced, has a huge screen, and if you're running applications on it, is constantly working. That's going to drain the battery. Until the battery technology catches up, we're going to have those problems.

Apple just needs to put those solar panels that it patented on it's iPhones and Laptops. Maybe next year. :)

[surfnscience]

how about interchangable batteries (duh !)

[pdennison3]

my battery life has improved to needing a charge every other day sometime every three days from every nite.My 3greception has increased alot..i now have full signal where as before it showed 1to 3 bars.And yes sync is so much faster now.

[abishar]

My friend's iPhone is all kinds of messed up now from the update. His contacts are getting switched around and when one person calls another's name shows up instead. His battery life is extremely short and he isn't getting as good of service now.

[deanste]

The iPhone is an amazing device when it is working well. Unfortunately, this a rare occurrence. I still have a significant number of dropped calls or incoming calls going straight to voicemail. Very poor 3G and GSM reception. I was recently at a meeting in an area with admittedly poor coverage. While my Blackberry-using colleagues were sending and receiving emails even with only 1 or 2 bars of coverage, I was stuck with the No Service sign. Fetch only works intermittently. Location services seems to work only with 3G and even then not always. Battery only lasts a day and only if you are very careful about power management (i.e. turn off push, 3G and WIFI, etc). I have started carrying around my old Samsung for when my iphone acts up. Even if these problems are not affecting all iPhone users, there are enough problems that someone needs to take Apple to task for this.

[bilharri]

I do have to admit that the 2.1 firmware upgrade fixed all the problems that I was having. I used to spend hours every other day restoring my iPhone 3G. My applications crashed constantly and locked up my phone. I almost sent my phone back. Anyway, I haven't had a single issue since the 2.1 upgrade.

[reinked]

Since the 2.1 update, I have had no issues at all. The phone works great, all apps run as they should, 3G reception is always good and NO dropped calls since the 2.1 update. My battery is double what it used to be. I now only have to charge it every other day and I leave the phone on all the time. This phone is absolutely incredible and I'm glad I got one.

[amygdala123]

Dropped calls have decreased but not completely - i average 10-20calls/day through san francisco, peninsula and marin - it drops 5-10% of the time on calls >10min. This is in areas where my Nokia on AT&T does not drop calls (often standing or sitting in an office)

I still have the call straight to vmail, but that has now become very rare.

Finally, the problem of the call continuing even after you have hit end call still happens, less often, but it does still happen

I returned my last iphone @ 28 days, and will probably hold onto this one in the hope that they will do an incremental fix, but will likely return it as well.

[webre123]

My iPhone 3G with the latest update doesn't fetch new email often enough and battery life hasn't noticibly improved...

[emmaopie32837]

I love the iPhone 3G. I am bummed about the battery, but i live in Orlando and the 3G reception isn't as great as it is in Detroit, Chicago, San Francisco.... But, I do have to say, I am very impressed with the call reception, the speed of txt mssg, and the e-mail apps. So far, I am very happy I got it!

ps. i still hate AT&T and would gladly sign a class action lawsuit against them for making us have the data plan....

[yves_k]

I wish it would fetch email at the interval that I specify. There are a few things about Apple that I do not like, and one of those is their belief that they know better than the user what the user needs. Well, I need the iPhone to fetch email at least every 30 minutes and I do not care if that drains the battery faster and I end up having to recharge the iPhone nightly (which I do anyway).

[sroussey]

Backup takes 12 minutes instead of 12 hours, but Safari crashes ALL THE TIME. Just go to marketwatch.com from time to time. Crash.

[acvmd03]

Battery life- I spend a lot of time on a train (2hr. each way daily). I noticed that battery life improved. I listen to the ipod while searching web, reading news, or playing games and I can do that for 4 hours with no problem.
3G network- HUGE improvement. I used to get so frustrated with not being able to use 3G that I actually turned it off. After the update, I haven't had a problem
Dropped calls- I haven't had a dropped call since update
Dropped applications- still happens but much less often

[catulo]

Battery lasting longer? I could LOL of that, if lasts a full day ...we are REALLY lucky!
APPLE must RECALL ALL THE iPhones! Reason:? Baterry issue......

[hariramreddy]

Now even Safari, Maps crashes as well..Good Job! And cant turn on location services from apps anymore, do they really want me to go to settings each time and turn it on!!! or keep it ON always and kill my battery? 3G seems to work better though.