I don’t have an iPhone

I have never touched, or even seen a real life iPhone

But based on all the comments out there, I’m going to offer my personal opinion anyway 🙂

At a high level Apple have done an amazing job. It looks like a killer iPod, and the slickest phone I’ve ever seen. But for me, the devil is the detail. Many of the details below come from this great Macworld article and Engadget’s review

Annoying things I could live with:

• 2 megapixel camera
• No video recording – a silly omission these days
• No 3rd party apps
• No landscape keyboard – hopefully there will be a software fix soon
• No support for memory cards
• No Flash support
• Non-standard headphone socket – what was the point of a non-standard 3.5mm socket?
• No MMS – this is 2007, not 2003
• No VOIP – annoying, but understandable
• No instant messaging – taking things too far in my view
• No GPS – if Apple add this, please make a good chipset. Fast acquisition really matters on a phone
• No MP3 ringtones – I want to at least be able to upload MIDI and WAV files. Why should Apple force me into some walled garden? It’s like deciding to stop supporting MP3 music. So much for no DRM Steve

Critical issues:

• No 3G – needs to be fixed before it arrives in the UK, otherwise the iPhone is dead to me
• Network restricted – if I can’t have it in the UK on a decent unlimited 3G data tariff (Three, or T-Mobile right now), I’m not interested. Ideally I’d like it sim free. And, yes, I’m prepared to pay a premium. O2, or worse Vodafone, will not be considered unless there are massive changes to their data tariffs
• Limited bluetooth support; no A2DP or OBEX – this lock really cripples the iPhone for me. I need the ability to transfer files and sync over bluetooth. My N95 is great at this, and it’s a non negotiable feature. A2DP would be nice as well
• Can’t be used a modem – not acceptable

The good news is that all the issues above are fixable. The question is will Apple fix enough to tempt me away from my N95?