iphone 3gs lcd module price in india made in china

From the outside, nearly everything about Apple"s iPhone 3GS seems nearly identical to the iPhone 3G released last year. Even Apple"s TV ads make light of this fact: The phone looks the same as before, the company says, but it does so much more. Still, all the new features in Apple"s million-selling new phone have to come from somewhere, and there have been some important changes inside the new iPhone, according to an Apple iPhone 3GS teardown analysis by the market research firm iSuppli.

The company routinely takes apart popular consumer-electronic devices in order to determine the identities of key suppliers and also to estimate the costs of components. Last year a preliminary iSuppli analysis pegged the cost of the previous iPhone, the 3G, at $174.33. These estimates help financial analysts make better-educated guesses about the profit margins manufacturers make on each unit sold, though there are many costs that a teardown doesn"t address, such as software, research and development, and patent licensing costs.

Often the cost to assemble a new generation of a product is lower than it was for the previous generation. However, the 16-gigabyte iPhone 3GS actually costs slightly more to build than last year"s iPhone 3G���$178.96, a difference of $4.63. However, that is much lower than estimates for the first-generation iPhone, which pegged the cost at $220.

The main reason that costs may have gone up is that the price of NAND flash memory���the chips used to store music, video, and applications on the iPhone���have, after years of falling, started to go up just when Apple started packing more memory inside the phone. The 3GS comes in 16- and 32-gigabyte varieties, whereas the prior model topped out at 16 gigabytes. "It used to be that Apple could plan on doubling the amount of memory each year for the same cost," says Andrew Rassweiler, iSuppli"s teardown manager. In the 16-gigabyte model of the 3GS, the cost of the NAND chips is $24, he says, and $46 in the 32-gigabyte version.

Apple (AAPL) is one of the world"s biggest consumers of NAND flash memory, and has cut strategic supply deals since 2005 with chipmakers like Samsung and Hynix, among others, though in the unit used for the teardown the flash supplier was Toshiba (6502.T). "Apple has been one of the key players in driving the cost of flash memory down," Rassweiler says. "In doing so, they"ve also benefited from the price erosion over time." But with demand for flash declining amid a recession, manufacturers have cut back production to the point that prices have started to rise, though demand has yet to pick up. ISuppli is forecasting that overall the market for NAND flash memory will contract to $11.5 billion from $11.7 billion in 2008, before growing again in 2010.

Some components of the new iPhone are cheaper, even though they"ve gotten better. Take the multitouch display. While Apple has improved on the screen by adding an oleophobic coating that doesn"t attract fingerprints and cleans more easily, the cost of the screen and related components have over the past year come down by $1, Rassweiler says, to $16.

Some parts have disappeared completely from the 3GS. A $1.60 Broadcom (BRMC) controller chip connected to the display found in the second-generation iPhone is missing, Rassweiler says, and seems not to have been replaced by anything else. Its function may have been integrated into another chip, either the main applications processor, or a chip from Texas Instruments (TXN) whose precise function in the 3GS hasn"t yet been determined.

Broadcom, having lost one slot, however scored an important win: a $6 chip that handles the iPhone"s WiFi and Bluetooth connections. The same chip, interestingly enough, also includes a tiny FM radio receiver on board, though the iPhone has no FM-receiving features. The chip is used in the Renoir wireless phone from LG Electronics, which does support FM radio.

But before you get excited about your iPhone becoming an FM radio, Rassweiler says there"s no evidence that the FM portion of the chip has been enabled or that it even can be enabled, say, by a new application. However, it"s not uncommon for chipmakers to sell a single chip with several functions and then charge their customer only for the functions that are enabled. Apple had no comment on the chip nor on iSuppli"s estimate.

The main chip that drives all the applications bears an Apple label, Rassweiler says, but was probably made by Samsung. At $14.46, it costs a dollar more than the Samsung chip used in the iPhone 3G, Rassweiler says, in part because it"s made on a more advanced 65-nanometer manufacturing process than the one used in the 3G. But like the other chip, its core���the chip"s central brain���is based on technology designed by ARM Holdings (ARMH), a British chip design company in which Apple used to be an investor. More recently, Apple has bought its own chip company, PA Semi, which is working on chips for use in future versions of the iPhone.

Meanwhile, German chipmaker Infineon (IFX) retained its position as an important supplier to the iPhone, selling Apple the $13 chip that handles the connection to AT&T"s (T) wireless phone network, as well as two others, one that receives signals from GPS satellites and costs $2.25, and another priced at $1.25 that handles power management.

Other suppliers include Cirrus Logic (CRUS), which supplied an audio chip, and Dialog Semiconductor, which provided a power management chip that works with the Samsung applications chip. STMicroelectronics (STM) supplied the accelerometers that detect when the iPhone has been rotated, and they work closely with a silicon compass supplied by AKM Semiconductor, that drives the new compass feature.

Landing a component, even a small one, in the iPhone is important for chip companies because it helps them with marketing to other device manufacturers, Rassweiler says. That often means that Apple gets the best price possible. "When you get a part in the iPhone, there"s a recognition that goes with it, and that can be good for business with others down the road," he says.

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The iPhone 3GS (originally styled iPhone 3G S)smartphone that was designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the third generation iPhone and the successor to the iPhone 3G. It was unveiled on June 8, 2009WWDC 2009 which took place at the Moscone Center in San Francisco.

This iPhone is named "3GS" where "S" stood for Speed (Phil Schiller had mentioned it in the launch keynote).performance, a 3-megapixel camera with higher resolution and video ability, voice control,HSDPA downloading (but remains limited to 384 kbps uploading as Apple had not implemented the HSUPA protocol).

The iPhone 3GS runs Apple"s iOS operating system. It was succeeded as Apple"s flagship smartphone in 2010 by the iPhone 4. On June 24, 2010 an 8 GB model was released, discontinuing the 16 and 32 GB models,iPhone 5 was announced.

The iPhone 3GS was released on June 19, 2009 in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.AT&T in the United States and a three-year contract on Telus, Rogers, Bell and Fido Solutions in Canada. This was a departure from Apple"s previous trends, in which only two phones were sold.

The iPhone 3GS features iOS, Apple"s mobile operating system.user interface of iOS is based on the concept of direct manipulation, using multi-touch gestures. Interface control elements consist of sliders, switches, and buttons.swipe, tap, pinch, and reverse pinch, all of which have specific definitions within the context of the iOS operating system and its multi-touch interface. Internal accelerometers are used by some applications to respond to shaking the device (one common result is the undo command) or rotating it vertically (one common result is switching from portrait to landscape mode).

The LCD display on the device was designed by Apple and made by LG. It features a capacitive touchscreen with a pixel density of 163 pixels per inch (ppi) on a 3.5 in (8.9 cm) 480-by-320 display. Improvements over its predecessor"s screen include 24-bit color emulation (18-bit color display plus dithering)capacitive touchscreen is designed for a bare finger, or multiple fingers for multi-touch sensing.

The iPhone 3GS features an improved 3-megapixel camera manufactured by OmniVision. In addition to the higher pixel count, it also features auto-focus, auto white balance and auto macro and is capable of capturing VGA video.

The iPhone 3GS"s camera app features a slider which allows users to switch between capturing photos and recording videos, a tap-to-focus feature which allows users to tap on an area of the camera image to auto-focus on, 5x digital zoom (iOS 4 or later), autofocus and auto exposure lock when holding an area down (iOS 5 or later), and gridlines for composition (iOS 5 or later).

The iPhone 3GS is powered by the Samsung APL0298C05 chip, which was designed and manufactured by Samsung. This is the first iPhone with a system-on-a-chip. This system-on-a-chip is composed of an ARM Cortex-A8 CPU core underclocked to 600 MHz (from 833 MHz), integrated with a PowerVR SGX 535 GPU.

As on previous models, all data is stored in flash memory and not in the SIM and it does not offer any options to expand storage. Initially, it was only available in 16 and 32 GB though an 8 GB model was later released, with Apple discontinuing the 16 and 32 GB models, forcing those needing more storage to select an iPhone 4, or buy an older model 3GS.

The iPhone 3GS is powered by an internal 3.7 V 1220 mAh rechargeable lithium-ion polymer battery and is designed to retain up to 80% of its original capacity after 400 full charge and discharge cycles. A battery life indicator in percentage was also exclusive to the iPhone 3GS.

Apple claims that the 3GS can last for up to ten hours of video, nine hours of web browsing on Wi-Fi, twelve hours of 2G talk time, or five on 3G, 30 hours of music, or 300 hours of standby.

A magnetometer is also built-in the iPhone 3GS, which is used to measure the strength and/or direction of the magnetic field in the vicinity of the device. Sometimes certain devices or radio signals can interfere with the magnetometer requiring users to either move away from the interference or re-calibrate by moving the device in a figure 8 motion. The iPhone 3GS also features a Compass app that was unique at the time of release, showing a compass that points in the direction of the magnetic field.

In addition to the iPhone 3G"s Tri-band UMTS/HSDPA radio and quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE radio, the 3GS also adds support for 7.2 Mbit/s HSDPA allowing faster downlink speeds though upload speeds remain the same as Apple had not implemented the HSUPA protocol. Other updates include the addition of a built-in Nike+iPod sensor which eliminates the need for an external sensor and allows native Nike+iPod support. The Bluetooth server on the iPhone 3GS has also been slightly improved adding support for Bluetooth 2.1 specifications.

Voice Control was introduced as an exclusive feature of the iPhone 3GS and allows for the controlling of the phone and music features of the phone by voice. There are two ways to activate Voice Control: hold the Home button while in the home screen for a few seconds; or, change the effect of what double-clicking the home button does so it will activate Voice Control (only on iOS 3.x; on iOS 4 or later, double-clicking the Home button opens the multitasking bar).

VoiceOver, Color Inversion, and Text Zoom were introduced as exclusive features to the iPhone 3GS. VoiceOver is a feature that dictates music details, system menus, text, and other things that were first introduced on the third generation iPod shuffle. Color inversion reverses the color scheme from black on white to white on black, while Text Zoom allows users to zoom into a text on the screen.

The reverse of the iPhone 3G (left) is almost identical to that of the 3GS, except for the latter"s reflective silver text which now matches the silver Apple logo, replacing the 3G"s grey text.

The iPhone 3GS retains the design of the 3G, with a glossy plastic back with tapered edges and metal buttons. The 3GS has reflective silver text on the reverse side which matches the silver Apple logo, replacing the 3G"s grey text. The iPhone 3GS was available in white and black for 16 GB and 32 GB, although the 8 GB model was only available in black.

The 8 GB version received more favorable reviews mainly because it comes pre-installed with iOS 4. Jason Snell of Macworld praised the iPhone 3GS, saying that "the device"s internal changes shines in the iOS 4 update, making the iPhone 3GS a worthwhile upgrade compared to its predecessor although a little too late compared to the iPhone 4."

Shortly after the release of the iPhone 3GS, some users reported overheating of the device while in heavy use, and others reported discoloration of the device due to heat (particularly on the white models). The discoloration issues were largely discounted as being as a result of iPhone covers rubbing against the back of the iPhone.

Apple responded to the heat issue reports by warning users against leaving their iPhones in a car on a hot day, leaving it in direct sunlight for extended periods of time, and refraining from heavy usage while in a hot/sunny environment.

After the release of the iPhone 4, the iPhone 3GS received an update for iOS 4. Unlike the iPhone 3G, it received support for features like home screen wallpapers, multitasking, and Game Center.

The iPhone 3GS received the iOS 5 update, adding support for on-device setup and over-the-air updates, among other features, but it is incompatible with Siri.

On September 9, 2009, Apple launched an updated model of the iPhone 3GS that patched a segment overflow in the SecureROM of the Device that had allowed loading an unsigned LLB.

After the release of the iPhone 4S, Apple updated baseband hardware from an Infineon Baseband chip to a Toshiba Baseband chip in week 2 production in 2011 which removed the end-user"s ability to change basebands. Although the new chip uses the same modem firmware as the Infineon chip, it cannot be updated to iPad baseband 06.15.00 that is still vulnerable to the AT+XAPP exploit.

The 3GS received iOS 6, making it the first iOS device to receive updates for four major iOS releases. Although the 3GS was still supported, some major features of iOS 6 were not supported.

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How many of us still remember the ten years old iPhone 4 and iPhone 4s? Probably, not many of us were smartphone users at the time but these devices were top-notch at the time. In fact, the iPhone 12 inherited some patterns from the iPhone 4. As a result, these smartphones are back in the market but only as specimens. According to a Chinese merchant, the price of Apple iPhone 4 specimens ranges from 800 yuan ($120) to 1,000 yuan ($150). In contrast, the iPhone 4/4s currently sells for 40 yuan ($6) to 80 yuan ($12) in the second-hand market.

The technical threshold of this specimen is low. For this reason, the merchant has to disassemble, arrange, and fix the device. According to the merchant, the specimen is made of second-hand or partially scrapped models with good appearance. It may take half an hour to disassemble the machine

As we all know, iPhone4 is hailed as one of Apple’s best iPhones. The iPhone 4 is the fourth-generation sequel to Apple’s iPhone (the predecessor is iPhone 3GS, and the follow-up model is iPhone 4S), which was released on June 7, 2010.

Apple iPhone4 introduced a new hardware design for the series, and Apple’s then CEO, Steve Jobs, called it the thinnest smartphone in the world at the time. It was composed of a stainless steel frame with internal components placed between aluminum silicate glass.

iPhone 4 also introduced Apple’s new high-resolution Retina display with a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch while maintaining the same size and aspect ratio as its predecessor.

In addition, iPhone4 also introduced Apple’s A4 chip and iOS 4, which introduced multitasking and Apple’s new FaceTime video chat function. iPhone 4 is also the first iPhone to include a front lens, and it is also the first iPhone to be released as a CDMA network version.

For a couple of reasons, many iPhone fans especially the older fans still miss this amazing device. However, no matter how amazing it is, it is still ten years old.

The smartphone industry has been consistently developing and the rate of development in recent times is rapid. Back in the day, phones were minute devices with a small display. We can not say the same of today’s smartphones. Apple’s iPhones have come a long way since Steve Jobs unveiled the maiden iPhone on Jan. 9, 2007. After that, we saw the commercialization of the 3G network. To this end, Apple skipped the iPhone 1 and released the iPhone 3G in 2008. In June 2009, the company announced the iPhone 3GS. A few months later, we had the iPhone4 and the rest is history.

Video formats supported: H.264 video, up to 1.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Low-Complexity version of the H.264 Baseline Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; H.264 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Baseline Profile up to Level 3.0 with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps per channel, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats; MPEG-4 video, up to 2.5 Mbps, 640 by 480 pixels, 30 frames per second, Simple Profile with AAC-LC audio up to 160 Kbps, 48kHz, stereo audio in .m4v, .mp4, and .mov file formats

Language support for English (U.S.), English (UK), French (France), German, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Korean, Japanese, Russian, Polish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Arabic, Thai, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Malay, Romanian, Slovak, Croatian, Catalan, and Vietnamese

Keyboard support for English (U.S.), English (UK), French (France), French (Canadian), French (Switzerland), German, Traditional Chinese (Handwriting, Pinyin, Zhuyin, Cangjie, Wubihua), Simplified Chinese (Handwriting, Pinyin, Wubihua), Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Korean, Japanese (Romaji), Japanese (Kana), Russian, Polish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Estonian, Hungarian, Icelandic, Lithuanian, Latvian, Flemish, Arabic, Thai, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Malay, Romanian, Slovak, Croatian, Bulgarian, Serbian (Cyrillic/Latin), Catalan, and Vietnamese

Dictionary support (enables predictive text and autocorrect) for English (U.S.), English (UK), French, German, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Dutch, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese (Brazil), Portuguese (Portugal), Danish, Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Korean, Japanese (Romaji), Japanese (Kana), Russian, Polish, Turkish, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Lithuanian, Flemish, Arabic, Thai, Czech, Greek, Hebrew, Indonesian, Malaysian, Romanian, Slovak, Croatian, Catalan, and Vietnamese

Viewable document types: .jpg, .tiff, .gif (images); .doc and .docx (Microsoft Word); .htm and .html (web pages); .key (Keynote); .numbers (Numbers); .pages (Pages); .pdf (Preview and Adobe Acrobat); .ppt and .pptx (Microsoft PowerPoint); .txt (text); .rtf (rich text format); .vcf (contact information); .xls and .xlsx (Microsoft Excel)

All battery claims depend on network configuration and many other factors; actual results will vary. Rechargeable batteries have a limited number of charge cycles and may eventually need to be replaced by an Apple service provider. See www.apple.com/batteries for more information. For more details of iPhone performance tests for talk time, standby time, Internet use over 3G, Internet use over Wi-Fi, video playback, and audio playback, see www.apple.com/iphone/battery.html.

Owners of iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac, or Apple TV products may obtain service and parts from Apple service providers, including Apple Retail Stores and Independent Repair Providers, for a minimum of 5 years from when Apple last distributed the product for sale.

Service and parts may be obtained for longer, as required by law or for up to 7 years, subject to parts availability. Additionally, Mac laptops may be eligible for an extended battery-only repair period for up to 10 years from when the product was last distributed for sale, subject to parts availability.

Apple discontinues hardware service for certain technologically-obsolete products. Your device is supported by ongoing OS updates and backed by a network of more than 5,000 Apple-certified repair locations that you can count on if something unexpected happens.

Apple devices are designed to be long-lasting. They are made of durable materials that are heavily-tested in our Reliability Testing Lab. The longer you use your device, the better it is for the planet. For more information about Apple and the environment, go to https://www.apple.com/environment.

For products purchased in France, see Statutory Warranties of Seller and Spare Parts. Owners of new iPhone or Mac laptop products purchased after December 31, 2020 in France, may obtain service and parts from Apple or Apple service providers for 7 years from the date the product model was last supplied by Apple for distribution into France.

Products are considered obsolete when Apple stopped distributing them for sale more than 7 years ago. Monster-branded Beats products are considered obsolete regardless of when they were purchased.

Apple discontinues all hardware service for obsolete products, with the sole exception of Mac laptops that are eligible for an additional battery-only repair period. Service providers cannot order parts for obsolete products.

A number of regulatory hurdles previously blocked Apple’s access to China, including restrictions on Wi-Fi functionality. With those problems solved, Apple offers the iPhone 3GS to the country’s 1.3 billion people, most of whom do not yet own smartphones.

However, October 2009 marked the first time Apple’s smartphone became easily available on a local Chinese carrier (Unicom). The device cost up to 6,999 yuan ($1,025) for the top-end 32GB iPhone 3GS. That price came in fractionally higher than a typical black-market iPhone at the time.

The legal iPhones labored under another disadvantage as well: a lack of Wi-Fi functionality. Beijing, wanting to promote a rival Chinese system, banned the technology. The country relaxed its stance in May 2009, after Apple began manufacturing custom iPhones — without Wi-Fi — for the Chinese market. (Later Chinese iPhone models included the technology.)

As a result, iPhone sales in China didn’t become a massive game-changer for Apple until a few years later, when Cupertino finally closed a deal with China Mobile. That brought the iPhone to the world’s largest carrier.

Today, despite reservations from some, Apple remains incredibly keen to embrace the Chinese market, as illustrated by the astonishingly rapid expansion of Apple retail stores in the country. China is now Apple’s leading market for App Store revenue. And Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company designs new products specifically with the Chinese audience in mind.

As 2022 winds down, Apple faces new challenges in China. The trade war that erupted during President Donald Trump’s time in office seems to have cooled. But tensions remain during President Joe Biden’s administration. Concerns over Apple’s response to Chinese censorship and allegations of forced labor in Chinese factories continue to make headlines.

As a result, Cupertino continues to make efforts to diversify its supply chain, with more manufacturing taking place in India, Vietnam and other countries.

However, Apple continues to court Chinese business for good reason. It remains a gigantic market (as well as a manufacturing powerhouse). And Apple likely thinks it can function as a “force for good” in the authoritarian country.

Yes, we"re really reviewing the iPhone 3GS 8GB, Apple"s other huge smartphone release for 2010. It went on sale the same day as iPhone 4, in many more countries around the world than iPhone 4 did, and importantly -- in the US it"s now $99 on AT&T contract.

Let that sink in for a moment. A couple weeks ago iPhone 3GS was still one of the best smartphones on the market. Since making it"s debut in June 2009 (when we reviewed the original), it"s stood the test of time against the Palm Pre, BlackBerry Storm 2, Motorola Droid, Google Nexus One, Palm Pre Plus, HTC Droid Incredible, and Evo 4G. Sure, other phones began pulling ahead in terms of raw specs and feature sets, but iPhone 3GS maintained its edge through a combination of overall elegance, usability, and ecosystem.

The only other thing that"s changed between then and now -- aside from the price drop and reduction of storage that came with it is -- the arrival of iPhone 4.

For many people who want an iPhone, iPhone 4 will be the easy choice. But just like last year when Apple dropped the iPhone 3G to $99, it"s not the only choice.

Total cost of ownership (TCO -- what you pay including the phone and the carrier contract) be damned, some people want a budget smartphone. Some people want to walk into the store, drop not a penny more than $99, and walk out with an iPhone. This year, those people can do just that and what they"re leaving with is not only an iPhone 3GS, but an iPhone 3GS running iOS 4.

In almost every way the 2010 iPhone 3GS is identical to the original 2009 iPhone 3GS. The only difference is that, while the original iPhone 3GS came in 16GB and 32GB, and in black and white models, the 2010 iPhone 3GS comes only in 8GB and only in black. (And it no longer indicates the size on the back of the device).

A snappy ARM Cortex A8 CPU and PowerVR SGX GPU power iPhone 3GS. This is essentially the same guts as iPhone 4 but not wrapped up in Apple"s special speed-boosting, power-sipping A4 system-on-a-chip.

What that means is performance is still very good. It"s not quite as fluid as the latest, greatest iPhone, and it doesn"t get quite as much battery life, but it"ll get you through a day of light to moderate use, and there are tons of battery packs and chargers on the market to handle even hardcore road warriors.

RAM is 256MB, half what"s in iPhone 4, but aside from the number of web pages and apps it can keep in memory at one time, you"d be hard pressed to tell the difference in daily use.

A 3 megapixel camera with VGA-quality video recording tops out iPhone 3GS. That"s the bad news. No 5 megapixel, big, back-illuminated sensor with 720p HD recording like iPhone 4. The good news is, iPhone 3GS still takes better pictures and records better video than it has any right to.

Outside iPhone 3GS still has the same look as last year as well, which was also the same look as 2008"s iPhone 3G, but if you"re in the market for a budget smartphone you"re no doubt aware that having the same form factor means you can use all the same accessories everyone has been making, buying, and reselling for the last 2 years. That"s a huge market and a cheap aftermarket right there.

As to the design itself, it might seem a tad dated compared to the double glass and stainless steel slab of iPhone 4, a little chrome around the edges and rounded along the back, but it"s still nicer looking than many more modern competitors. It"s got that Apple aesthetic while others are looking more like our old 1980s Hasbro toys but with little of the transforming fun.

The 2009 iPhone 3GS shipped with iPhone 3.0 software. the 2010 iPhone 3GS ships with iOS 4. On the surface, that difference might just seem like a new name and a few new features, but as is often the case with Apple updates, it ends up being more than the sum of its parts.

We"ve done a massive iOS 4 walkthrough on the iPhone 3GS and aside from hardware specific features like FaceTime, Retina Display, and gyroscope support, the bottom line is iPhone 3GS users are getting the same software that makes iPhone 4 great.

Multitasking is the big new feature here. Apps have to add support for it, but when they do you get fast app switching so you can leave a game, answer an SMS, then go back and keep playing right where you left off. You get task completion so you can start uploading your pictures to Facebook or Flickr, go check your Twitter feed, and they"ll just keep going while you"re gone. You get background audio to listen to Pandora while you surf the web, background location to get TomTom directions while you take a call, and background VoIp to answer a Skype-like call even when you"re not in the app. You get local notifications for alarms. And you get widget-like controls for orientation lock and background audio playback.

Folders let you organize your apps into groups of up to twelve. That means app fanatics are no longer constrained by the 180 available slots on the 11 home screens. 2160 is now the limit. Drag and drop folder creation and addition and smart folder naming (using App Store categories as the foundation), make it super simple to use, even if it will ultimately prove too simplistic for power users.

Expanded data detectors that recognize package tracking numbers, spell check and correct, Bluetooth keyboard support, Spotlight search now includes Google and Wikipedia, tap-to-focus for video recording, search suggestions and increased HTML5 support in Safari, and the list goes on and on.

And Apple"s not stopping. Coming later this year, Game Center is supposed to be Xbox Live! for iOS with leader boards, achievements, and a social network tying you together with all your friends.

Most importantly, iOS 4 on iPhone 3GS performs well. We"ve had almost no lag, almost no freeze. Everything from transitions to typing, app launch to game performance has been smooth and snappy.

At $99 iPhone 3GS 8GB isn"t competing against other high-end smartphones. It"s not going up against whatever"s the best Android phone of the week or taking on BlackBerry"s flagship in the Enterprise.

It"s competing against low end Windows Phones, BlackBerry Pearl and older Curves, past-their-prime Androids like Hero, some of which better serve niche requirements but none of which really match iPhone 3GS in terms of the whole package. Still capable hardware running iOS 4 is a tough combination to beat, especially at $99.

About the only other interesting phones at that price point are the currently deeply-discounted Palm Pre (Plus) and Palm Pixi (Plus). They"re pretty much last year"s hardware with this year"s OS, like iPhone 3GS, and they"re excellent products but they don"t have the ecosystem iPhone and iPod has. They don"t have iTunes media or the huge App Store. If you"re on Sprint or Verizon, they"re a great alternative. If you"re on AT&T, they"re a carefully considered choice.

(Note, we had a whole paragraph here about the value of iPhone 3GS vs. Micosoft"s new KIN platform at the budget price point, but Microsoft went and canceled it already. The only take away from that sometimes it pays to invest in a device and ecosystem you can reasonably expect to be around for a while.)

If you had an older iPhone, however, or you"ve been using an iPod touch or iPad and want to get in on the iPhone, a lot of the accessories (cables, headsets) and likely all the apps and media you"ve already bought will just work with iPhone 3GS. That"s a huge savings on ecosystem.

So, if AT&T is a good carrier for you, $99 for an iPhone 3GS is almost too good a deal to pass up. About the only thing you need to consider is that pesky total cost of ownership (TCO) we mentioned at the beginning. Unlike cheapy messenger phones, iPhone 3GS requires a real data plan. Even with AT&T"s new capped, tiered plans, a 2 year contract on both data and voice, with SMS and other options will run you a couple grand. $99 up front sounds great, but the difference between $99 iPhone 3GS and $199 or $299 iPhone 4 over those two years is tiny.

If the plan isn"t a problem but the up front cost really is, iPhone 3GS 8GB ($99) is half the price of iPhone 4 16GB ($199), and a third the cost of iPhone 4 32GB ($299).

If you want a second or third (or even fourth) phone for the family, if your tween wants to move up from the iPod touch, if you just want another iPhone as backup or for development, the up front savings could well be worth it.

You can also get the iPhone 3GS 8GB SIM-free and unlocked directly from Apple around the world, even in countries where iPhone 4 won"t be available until the end of July or September.

If you"re getting an iPhone and up-front cost isn"t an issue, get an iPhone 4. The small difference in price is more than made up for by the step up in hardware, and features like FaceTime. If you"re not convinced, read our iPhone 4 review and talk about it in our iPhone Forum before you decide.

If $99 is really the limit for you, iPhone 3GS with iOS 4 is an amazing budget smartphone, arguably the best on the market when you take hardware, software, and ecosystem together.

SAN FRANCISCO—June 8, 2009—Apple® today introduced the new iPhone™ 3GS, the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet, packed with incredible new features including improved speed and performance—up to twice as fast as iPhone 3G—with longer battery life, a high-quality 3 megapixel autofocus camera, easy to use video recording and hands free voice control. iPhone 3GS includes the new iPhone OS 3.0, the world’s most advanced mobile operating system with over 100 new features such as Cut, Copy and Paste, MMS*, Spotlight Search, landscape keyboard and more. iPhone 3GS customers get access to more than 50,000 applications from Apple’s revolutionary App Store, the largest application store in the world where customers have already downloaded over one billion apps. iPhone 3GS offers twice the capacity for the same price with a 16GB model for just $199 and a new 32GB model for just $299.** And beginning today, iPhone 3G is available at the breakthrough price of just $99 for the 8GB model—a huge milestone for the high end smartphone market.

“iPhone 3GS is the fastest, most powerful iPhone yet and we think people will love the incredible new features including autofocus camera, video recording and the freedom of voice control,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of WorldWide Product Marketing. “And with a breakthrough price of $99, we are thrilled to get iPhone 3G into the hands of even more users who want them.”

iPhone 3GS offers incredible speed and performance, on average up to twice as fast as iPhone 3G, so you can render web pages quicker and launch applications faster. iPhone 3GS takes advantage of the OpenGL ES 2.0 standard for stunning high-quality 3D graphics, making mobile gaming and other graphic intense applications better than ever. iPhone 3GS is not only faster, but with longer battery life you can watch more videos, listen to more music, browse the Internet or keep using your favorite apps even longer. The new iPhone 3GS also supports 7.2 Mbps HSDPA for faster networking speeds.***

iPhone 3GS features a new 3 megapixel autofocus camera that takes amazing pictures and video, making it easier than ever to capture, edit and share those moments instantly with family and friends. The new autofocus camera adjusts focus, exposure, color and contrast for the best possible image and includes an automatic macro focus for extra close up shots. With the new “tap to focus” feature, you simply touch the display to select an object or area of interest and the camera automatically re-adjusts focus and exposure. You can record incredible high-quality video clips and edit them right on your iPhone 3GS by simply trimming the start and stop points. With iPhone 3GS you can send photos and video by email or MMS and post them to MobileMe™ or YouTube with just one tap.

The voice control feature in iPhone 3GS offers hands free operation for both iPhone and iPod® functions. Simply speak the appropriate commands into the built-in microphone or headset microphone to dial by name or number. With voice control you can play your favorite music by artist, album or playlist and activate the Genius feature by saying “play more songs like this.” You can also tell iPhone to pause the music, play the next track, turn on shuffle or ask, “What’s playing right now?”

iPhone 3GS features a new built-in digital compass for instant navigation.**** The Compass app shows you which way you are headed and rotates as you change direction. You can orient yourself to true north or magnetic north, and iPhone’s built-in GPS automatically displays the coordinates of your current location. The new built-in digital compass is also integrated within Maps, so it automatically orients any map to the direction you are facing.

iPhone 3GS provides new accessibility features including VoiceOver, a screen reader that speaks what appears on the iPhone 3GS display, enabling visually impaired users to make calls, read email, browse web pages, play music and run applications. The new universal Zoom function magnifies the entire screen, and the White on Black feature reverses the colors on screen to provide higher contrast for people with low vision. iPhone 3GS also supports Mono Audio which combines left and right audio channels so that they can be heard in both earbuds for those with hearing loss in one ear.

iPhone 3GS includes the new iPhone OS 3.0 software with more than 100 new features including: Cut, Copy and Paste; MMS; Spotlight Search to search across iPhone or within Mail, Contacts, Calendar and iPod; landscape keyboard for Mail, Messages, Notes and Safari®; expanded parental controls for TV shows, movies and apps from the App Store; and the ability to capture and send audio recordings on the go with the new Voice Memo app. iPhone 3.0 software also includes a new Find My iPhone feature that works together with MobileMe so you can locate your lost iPhone on a map, send a message that will appear on the screen or play a sound to help you find it even if your phone is set to silent. If you cannot find your iPhone, you can erase all data and content on your iPhone with the new Remote Wipe feature. New iTunes® features available with iPhone 3.0 software include wirelessly downloading movies, TV and audio programs as well as iTunes U so students can download learning materials on the go.

iPhone 3GS gives users access to the revolutionary App Store, the largest application store in the world with more than 50,000 applications. The App Store allows developers to reach tens of millions of iPhone and iPod touch® users around the world. To date, customers have downloaded more than one billion apps from the App Store. And with more than 1,000 new APIs available with the iPhone SDK, developers can create even more innovative applications using In-App Purchases, a new Maps API and Push Notifications.

iPhone 3GS also features built-in Nike + iPod support making it an incredible workout companion. Users simply place the optional Nike + iPod sensor ($19) in their Nike + shoe to seamlessly connect with iPhone 3GS to track miles run or sync with the latest generation gym equipment.

iPhone 3GS will be available in the US on June 19 for a suggested retail price of $199 (US) for the 16GB model and just $299 (US) for the new 32GB model in both Apple and AT&T’s retail and online stores, Best Buy and Wal-Mart stores. iPhone 3GS requires a new two year contract with AT&T for qualifying customers. iPhone OS 3.0 software will be available on June 17 as a free software update via iTunes 8.2 or later for all iPhone customers. iPod touch customers will be able to purchase a software update for $9.95 (US). Beginning June 8, iPhone 3G will be available for just $99 (US) for the 8GB model. New MobileMe features for iPhone require iPhone OS 3.0. MobileMe is available for an annual subscription price of $99 (US).

iPhone 3GS will also be available in more than 80 countries in the coming weeks. For further information about US and international pricing and availability visit www.apple.com/iphone.

*MMS messaging is available only on iPhone 3G or iPhone 3GS; fees may apply. MMS may not be available in all areas. MMS support from AT&T will be available in late summer.

Ever since the iPhone launched four years ago (to the day), the question on everyone’s mind has been: When will Apple expand the portfolio to reach into all market segments? I remember thinking in 2007 whether it would be in six months or a year that they would create a “mini”, “nano” and “classic” line-up which served them so well with the iPod.

Apple however took a different approach. To their credit, they focused on the platform and built a consistent experience around a fixed screen size to nurture an ecosystem. They also improved the power of the device so that experience would improve to be better and more robust. In other words, they treated every iPhone as not being good enough, needful of every megahertz of power, every pixel of screen and every minute of battery life. They polished the OS constantly and added APIs by the thousands.

In other words, they acted like a computer software company, not like a “device vendor” or like a handset manufacturer which was everyone’s (including mine) frame of reference.

Having expanded from iPhone to iOS and built the platform into non-cellular centric computers like iPad and iPod touch, they clearly showed a nonchalance about the operator channel and the amplification power it offers (an amplification which comes with a hefty price of dependency and strategic illusion.)

But the mind always wonders back to the question of portfolio. Now that the product is maturing, the hardware is getting nearly “good enough”. Perhaps even Apple might now consider letting go of the “frontier” of what’s technologically possible and consider expanding its reach to the broader audiences it has willfully kept out of reach.

Based on data published by Deutsche Bank and the ITU, we can calculate roughly how many customers Apple’s current iPhone positioning has left unserved. I chose to use pre-paid/post-paid split as a proxy for unaddressed/addressed. This is an imperfect proxy but a pretty good one as most pre-paid subs see a full price for the iPhone (retail around $700 to $1000) vs. post-paid customers seeing a price of $200 or below. The $200 happens to be an important psychological price inflection point where volumes increase dramatically.

The first chart shows the global split between pre-/post-paid subscribers as of 2010. Roughly 1.5 billion are post-paid and 3.7 billion are pre-paid. That means that nearly 70% of the world is not being addressed by the iPhone as it currently stands. Put another way, a shift in positioning might result in a 250% increase in addressable market.

Tim Cook alluded to this in the last conference call when he said pre-paid markets, especially in China, are huge with share figures “starting with a nine“. He also said separately that they would not be ceding any market–a hint if there ever was one, given the broadening of Android into previously feature-phone price bands.[1]

You can visualize the iPhone having spent the last four years penetrating into the blue areas of the chart through the expansion of carrier agreements. With half the US & Canada area being finally filled in this year, most of the blue is now more-or-less within reach.

Given the constraints on production, and given the improvements in the product and the improvements in the hardware (learning curves and price points) it may mean that Apple could finally be turning its attention to those orange areas.

The time may be soon at hand that maturity coupled with limits of organic growth are leading the four-year-old iPhone to finally be re-defined as more than a post-paid skimming entrant. It may be time for the iPhone to more than just grow. It may be time for it to grow up and take on the whole market. Five billion people are waiting.

Contrary to a commonly held belief, Apple does not shy away from market share. In the case of the iPod and even the original Apple 2, the company sought and obtained the top share ranking. In fact, the decision to pursue share vs profit is “context sensitive”. Steve Jobs, at least, thinks so.

Apple CEO Tim Cook sat down for an interview with NPR on Monday and discussed the ongoing trade tensions between the US and China, while also addressing lowered iPhone prices across Greater China.

When asked about reducing iPhone prices in China to better reflect US pricing models, Cook replied with a simple “We’ll see how that works out for us”.

The United States and China have until March 1 to reach an agreement regarding intellectual property rights among various other issues before the Trump administration implements potentially detrimental 25% import tariffs — a killer uptick from the current 10%. Any response from China would most definitely punish Apple should no deal be reached.

Cook spoke of current negotiations by highlighting ongoing communication between the two countries, as the CEO is set to travel to Beijing this week for a meeting with local officials.

Both sides are talking and I always think that is always the essential thing to reaching an agreement. It’s in both parties’ best interests to come together.

Because the local currency devalued over the course of the year, our prices did go up there, more so than did in regions that are U.S. dollar denominated.

The CEO also took time to speak about Apple’s recent Health partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs, allowing vets to view their medical history digitally.

Cook’s most recent interview proceeding Monday’s NPR talk was with CNBC from early January, when the CEO teased a new service from the company coming in 2019, while also declaring health to be Apple’s ‘greatest contribution to mankind’.

The iPhone 13 was announced on September 14 with a handful of new features. Year-over-year, the update brings design changes, camera improvements, and much more. Read on for our full roundup of everything you need to know about the iPhone 13, including naming details, the smaller notch, and more.

In terms of design, the 2021 iPhone lineup looks nearly identical to the existing iPhone 12, though slightly thicker and heavier to accommodate larger batteries. Apple has also shrunken the size of the notch by 20% in terms of width.

While the iPhone 12 mini has reportedly experienced weaker-than-expected demand than Apple had expected, the form factor sticks around for another year, with Apple officially introducing the iPhone 13 mini.

The iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max all feature OLED displays. This year, however, the Pro models have a notable distinction: a new ProMotion display technology.

The ProMotion display gives the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max an adaptive refresh rate technology, allowing it to range from 10Hz to 120Hz based on what you’re doing.

Finally, what about the notch? Every year, there is an expectation that the notch and Face ID cutout will get smaller, and it has finally happened with this year’s iPhone 13 lineup…sort of.

The iPhone 13 lineup features a notch that is around 20% smaller in terms of width, but is actually ever-so-slightly taller because Apple has relocated the earpiece speaker to the top bezel. Regardless, the overall appearance of the iPhone 13 will be sleeker as the total notch reduction is visually apparent.

Apple says that the iPhone 13 and iPhone 13 mini include a “massive leap in camera design” with a new Wide camera that gathers 47% more light for less noise and brighter images. Apple has also added sensor-shift optical image stabilization to the iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13, and iPhone 13 mini, a feature that was previously exclusive to the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Apple says that this “stabilizes the sensor instead of the lens so shots are more steady, while the custom-designed Ultra-Wide camera with a new sensor captures images with more detail in the dark areas of photos and videos with less noise.”

The iPhone 13 also introduces a new Cinematic mode feature, which records videos of people, pets, and objects with a depth effect and automatic focus changes. This is similar to the Portrait mode feature that has been available for still images. Apple says that users can change the focus during and after capture, and adjust the level of bokeh in the Photos app and iMovie.

Apple is also introducing something it calls Photographic Styles, which it describes as customized preferences and filters that intelligently apply the right adjustments to different parts of the photo to ensure the important elements, like skin tones, are preserved.

The iPhone 13 Pro and Pro Max do have their share of exclusive features. Both models feature an Ultra-Wide camera with a 92% boost in low light performance, f/1.8 aperture, auto-focus, and 6-element lens. The Wide camera packs an f/1.5 aperture and up to 2.2x improvement in low light performance. Finally, the telephoto camera includes a new 3x optical zoom sensor for the first time.

Macro photography – Users can capture sharp, stunning images where objects appear larger than life, magnifying subjects with a minimum focus distance of 2 centimeters

The iPhone 13 lineup is powered by Apple’s newest A15 Bionic processor, but more details on performance improvements compared to the iPhone 12 are unclear as of now.

While rumors had indicated that Apple was exploring low-earth-orbit satellite commutation technology for the iPhone 13, this did not actually come to fruition. Rumors had also suggested mmWave 5G support would expand to new countries outside of the United States, but this also did not happen.

For the iPhone 13 mini and iPhone 13, Apple has doubled the base storage configuration from 64GB to 128GB. This means the iPhone 13 is available in 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB configurations.

Battery life on the iPhone 12 took a hit due to 5G adoption and other changes. This year, Apple is touting significant battery life improvements with the iPhone 13 versus the iPhone 12.

Apple has reportedly adopting new space-saving designs inside the iPhone 13 such as integrating the SIM card slot with the mainboard, reducing the front optical modules’ thickness, and more. This frees up internal space for larger batteries.

The iPhone 12 launched later than usual due to delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The iPhone 12 launch was also staggered, with Apple releasing the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro first, followed by the iPhone 12 mini and iPhone 12 Pro max a month later.

This year, however, things are back to normal: the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, and iPhone 13 Pro Max will each be available for pre-order on September 17 and the first orders will arrive on September 24.

The iPhone 13 isn’t a major upgrade compared to the iPhone 12, but there are still multiple quality of life improvements. The design has remained largely the same, but expanded camera features, drastic battery life improvements, and more still represent notable

The rumor mill certainly indicates that there are a variety of potential changes in store for the so-called iPhone 14 next year, but for now, the iPhone 13 is the best of the best.

News that Steve Jobs was stepping down as CEO led to a drop not only in Apple"s stock, but also in the shares of many of Apple"s suppliers and partners.After all, Apple dominates in the tablet space, is the second biggest player in smartphones and sells one out of five new personal computers in the U.S., according to the latest research from NPD group. In fact, Apple"s revenue has beaten Wall Street expectations for nine straight quarters, according to Reuters.But behind Apple"s successful busin

News that Steve Jobs was stepping down as CEO of Apple led to a drop not only in the company"s stock, but also in the shares of many of Apple"s suppliers and partners.

After all, Apple dominates in the tablet space and is the second biggest player in smartphones. It also sells one out of every five new personal computers in the U.S., according to the latest research from NPD Group. In fact, Apple"s revenue has beaten Wall Street expectations for nine straight quarters, according to Reuters.

Behind Apple"s successful business lies a web of suppliers and distributors. These companies have profited from Apple"s phenomenal success. Some of these firms have released statements commending Steve Jobs and voicing confidence in new Apple CEO Tim Cook and his management team.

Some companies are more reliant on Apple than others, but one thing binds them all together—in one way or another—they profit from Apple"s continued success.

AT&T is one of Apple"s closest business partners and was the sole U.S. carrier of the iPhone between 2007 and 2011. In February this year, competitor Verizon also began selling the iPhone 4.For AT&T, the iPhone has been a major hit. The company, for example, had 3.6 million activations of iPhones in just the first three months of 2011, 23 percent of whom were new subscribers to AT&T. In the first half of this year alone, AT&T has had 7.2 million iPhone activations.After Apple announced Steve Job

AT&T is one of Apple"s closest business partners and was the sole U.S. carrier of the iPhone between 2007 and 2011. In February 2011, competitor Verizon Communications also began selling the iPhone 4.

For AT&T, the iPhone has been a major hit. The company, for example, had 3.6 million activations of iPhones in just the first three months of 2011, 23 percent of whom were new subscribers to AT&T. In the first half of this year alone, AT&T has had 7.2 million iPhone activations.

After Apple announced that Steve Jobs would step down as CEO, the chairman and CEO of AT&T, Randall Stephenson, released a statement saying Jobs "is one of the industry"s most gifted entrepreneurs, visionaries, and creative minds." The wireless provider also said it looked forward to collaborating with the new CEO Tim Cook and his team.

Verizon initially lost out on the iPhone when Apple went with AT&T in 2007.But in February this year, the largest U.S. telco carrier ended years of anticipation by launching its first Apple product, the iPhone 4. Verizon and Apple had reportedly been in talks since 2008 and spent a year testing the iPhone on Verizon"s CDMA network.About one million Verizon iPhones were sold in just the debut weekend, with 60 percent of the sales coming from pre-orders. In total, 4.5 million new iPhones connectio

But in February 2011, the largest U.S. telecommunications carrier ended years of anticipation by launching its first Apple product, the iPhone 4. Verizon and Apple had reportedly been in talks since 2008 and spent a year testing the iPhone on Verizon"s CDMA network.

About one million Verizon iPhones were sold in just the debut weekend, with 60 percent of the sales coming from pre-orders. In total, 4.5 million new iPhones connections were sold by Verizon in the first six months of the year.

Foxconn Technology Group is the world"s largest electronics manufacturer. Foxconn is the trade name for Hon Hai Precision Industry, which is the largest exporter in the Greater China region.The Chinese tech giant assembles Apple"s iPads, iPhones, iPods and Mac computers in manufacturing plants across China and Taiwan. Foxconn came under fire last year for working conditions in its factories after a string of suicides at its Shenzhen factory. The company has responded by setting up suicide hotlin

Foxconn Technology Group is the world"s largest electronics manufacturer. Foxconn is the trade name for Hon Hai Precision Industry, which is the largest exporter in the Greater China region.

The Chinese tech giant assembles Apple"s iPads, iPhones, iPods, and Mac computers in manufacturing plants across China and Taiwan. Foxconn came under fire last year for working conditions in its factories, after a string of suicides at its Shenzhen plant. The company has responded by setting up suicide hotlines, offering counseling, and installing safety nets at its plants.

Foxconn has also been trying to cope with rising labor costs in China. To meet the challenge, the company is planning to switch to using robots and reportedly will deploy one million of them within three years up from about 10,000 currently in use.

TPK Holdings is the world"s largest touch panel supplier by volume, with 30 customers in total from the U.S., Japan and South Korea. The Taiwanese company is the largest supplier of touch panels to Apple for iPads and iPhones.More than 70 percent of TPK"s revenues of $1.12 billion in the second quarter of this year came from Apple. Robust sales of Apple"s products helped TPK post record profits in the latest quarter.Analysts have been bullish on the stock, with UBS forecasting a 40 percent upsid

TPK Holdings is the world"s largest touch-panel supplier by volume, with 30 customers in total from the U.S., Japan, and South Korea. The Taiwanese company is the largest supplier of touch panels to Apple for iPads and iPhones.

More than 70 percent of TPK"s revenues of $1.12 billion in the second quarter of this year came from Apple. Robust sales of Apple"s products helped TPK post record profits in the latest quarter.

Taiwan"s Quanta Computer manufactures the iMac and Macbook line of computers for Apple. The Taiwan based company"s relationship with Apple dates back to the second generation WallStreet PowerBooks of 1998.Quanta is the largest manufacturer of notebook computers in the world, supplying brands such as HP and Gateway. In fact, one out of every three laptop PCs are manufactured by the firm.But the company has been under pressure lately, reporting a month over month drop in sales in July. The company

Taiwan"s Quanta Computer manufactures the iMac and Macbook line of computers for Apple. The Taiwan-based company"s relationship with Apple dates back to the second-generation WallStreet PowerBooks of 1998.

Quanta is the largest manufacturer of notebook computers in the world, supplying brands such as Hewlett-Pack