iPhone 2.1: What Should Have Been iPhone 2.0
You may remember July 11, the day I bought my beloved iPhone 3G, as the day Apple had a lot of applesauce all over its face. The company had a really, really bad day.
Between the simultaneous launch of the iPhone 3G, iPhone 2.0 Software, the App Store, and MobileMe, quality control went into a tailspin and smoked the Earth, leaving a stinky, black crater. iPhone activations were slow, the App Store was full of buggy apps created on a beta SDK, MobileMe was a complete mess (and its features are still incomplete), and the iPhone 2.0 Software was extremely glitchy.
Compared to the original iPhone launch a year prior, the iPhone 2.0 felt poorly designed. Many, including myself, think Apple just bit off more than it could chew, and when the dealine hit, Apple choked.
One week ago, Apple released the iPhone 2.1 Software. When I wrote my first review of my iPhone, I waited a month, hoping things would get much better. Well, I only needed a week with iPhone 2.1 to know my verdict. This is what Apple should have released on July 11.
The iPhone works much better as a phone. Granted, I didn’t have dropped calls prior to 2.1, but I often had noise interference—which is now gone. Bug fixes? Heck yes! Scrolling long lists (like playlists or contacts) is completely smooth now. My apps (even 3rd party) either don’t or rarely crash anymore. In the past week, I have only had one app crash, and I am pretty sure it did so because I tried forcing it to do more than it was capable of.
Here’s the unexpected fix, at least in my opinion: Improved battery life. My battery life was pretty good before 2.1. It was better than my old Motorola RAZR. And the iPhone even does web browsing! After 2.1, though, my battery life became outstanding! I’m very impressed. I no longer feel like I have to give my iPhone a quick charge in the early evening.
I still think Apple rushed the 2.0 software out the door before it was ready. 2.1 is the caliber I expect of Apple, and I expected it on July 11. iPhone 2.0 wasn’t completely terrible, but it definitely didn’t have the “Apple Polish” I’ve come to know and love throughout the years.
Now the iPhone lives up to being the best mobile phone ever created.
