iPhone 2.1 Update – Big Promises

I’ve loved my iPhone so far. It has some awesome features, keeps me connected to work, allows me to not carry an iPod and a phone, and the AppStore is killer. But there are some well documented issues from many users. The battery life is horrific. I cannot get through half a day of normal without having to charge it. Apple’s solution … turn off WiFi, location services, bluetooth and 3G. Um, OK. That’s like buying a Ferrari and going 10MPH in it to save gas. Come on Apple, get serious!

So Jobs comes out and says that with the 2.1 update that was released today that it promises to fix a lot of bugs and address some big concerns such as:

improved battery life
fewer call drops
less crashes
less time to synch with iTunes

These are the 4 biggest problems I have noticed so far. I would put them in the order I listed them above, too. Battery life is just horrible. A mobile device has to get through a day’s use. And for someone who uses the mobile device a lot, especially when traveling I am lost without a mobile device. Sometimes its just not practical to whip out the laptop. I can get through a day if I do nothing on the phone but check email every 30 minutes. That’s just silly.

Call drops … you know, if they can limit them, that’s great! But I don’t know if I believe they can do this. Most call drops I chalk up to poor reception in my area as it toggles between EVDO and 3G with 0 bars to 5 bars.

My iPhone does not crash often, probably once a week. But my first iPhone crashed several times in the week I had it. I returned it for this reason (and so I could get the 16gb device). But my wife and father both have an iPhone and they experience more crashes than I do. So less crashes is a good thing we are looking forward to.

Time to synch with iTunes … its a hassle for sure, but I don’t really mind it too much most of the time. I just let it run in the background. The backups can be very long … a few of them took about an hour for my phone, probably due to all the music and videos on it. So if that can be decreased, then that’s good.

So I just updated to 2.1 while I wrote this post. It took under 10 minutes from start to finish. I’ll post more on the results of these promises from Apple as I test it out this weekend. But man, I am looking forward to the possibility that Apple may deliver this time. <crossingfingers/>