Well, automatic trade-off between the two might be harder to implement, so in the meanwhile, they're just sticking a basic "enable/disable" option in there as a placeholder until they can get the automatic system in place in a future update.

So does this mean that I dont need to buy another iPhone to get 3G Data speed? Or does this mean that future 3G iPhones can toggle between 2G/3G?

The question is, when is it going to be released? This Tuesday, perhaps?!!!!!

Show me a slicker iPhone apple!!

my SE P1i also has a manual selection.

Wait. I thought they were going to release an entirely new iPhone that was 3G capable, because the current one isn't?

I guess it doesn't help that I have no clue what 3g is. Help, anyone? :\

I think the automatic switching would be bad, because it would probably fire too often. If that happens, your battery life will actually get eaten up faster. This is because the process of connecting to the network and a specific base station involves frequency scanning and a bunch of other operations, which use a lot of power. So, the manual switch is probably better, so long as you only switch when you know you won't be switching back for a good while. (This is similar to how you use your computer. If you're not going to use it for a few minutes, you'll probably leave it on before you come back. But if you're going to be out for a few hours, you might turn it off).

I think they don't want to loose the control-freaky constituency.

@man_in_gauze:

u were right before

3G needs knew hardware

but

the new software and all its feature will be available for free to current iphone users

just hardware features like 3G or real GPSwill require a new phone

@man_in_gauze: They are. This won't work on the current iPhones.

i meant new not knew

@man@man_in_gauze: look for Giz's "Guide to Cellular Acronyms"

The thing about an "Auto-toggle" is that it would only toggle when an application was opened, or if it was on WiFi. It could be an auto-toggle if it worked based on network usage. Even better would be a way for an app to tell the iPhone to turn off 3G data for it (ex:AIM) if it used a constant data stream.

Every 3g phone I've ever owned has had a manual switch. It's my understanding that the battery drain is from actually downloading, but rather the constant "polling" the phone does to see if 3g is available. For what it's worth, I've seen very little difference between 3g and no 3g in the past, so I just leave it on for convenience.

ORRR, they can just keep the toggle switch and let us decide when its appropriate to be using 3g or not. What if you had low battery and wanted to browse the net or watch a youtube video real quick... and would take slow over a dead phone..

since when was giving users more customizable options a problem?

Only way I think auto toggle would work is if it gave you customizable options such as "don't switch to 3G when battery level is lower than X%" etc.

so is there going to be a new version of the iphone coming out?

@Elusivelattice: How about "On/Off/Auto" >

Can phones switch between 3G and 2G? I didnt know that was possible. The technology is backwards compatible like using WiFi G technology with a N WiFi router?

@irfan: genius!

I would only want to see automatic as a choice. Automatic selectors done correctly cater to a lot of people, but never to everyone. A 3 position selector for On, Off, Automatic would be wonderful.

Ahem. Didn't read the otheres. irfan beat me to it. Seconding Elusivelattice's comment.

@ocha: I thiiiiiiink routers aren't backwards compatible, per se, they just put antennas for each speed in there. That's why the high end ones have the crazy space-ship style explosion of anntennae, no?

The word Automatic on a phone scares me. Please let it be manual so one can choose their own way of operating their own device. Automatic means it will work for some people, not others.

All I hope is that this isn't a warning that the 3G iPhone is going to have a 2 hour talk times with 3G. I can buy a Nokia if I want that!

there are many other benefits to 3G namely HSPDA\HPSUDA and EvDO Rev A over GSM\GPRS\EDGE and CDMA\1xRTT.

Increased speed and simultaneous voice\data are the two biggest differences. For the business user the ability to continue a voice conversation and sync ones mailbox (Inbox and Calendar) or receive a file, message with attachnment or use an IM client can be very convenient as well as productive.

Battery life is still important but until we see the nexgen battery that lasts for several days and or charges in a fraction of the time now, those who use 3G simply are like Boy Scouts and come prepared with an AC or USB charging cable.

I think it would make sense if this option just turns it on all the time, and when switched off, 3G is activated by application-request, and closed after quitting the app.

@ComradePhate

About the antennas..
Look up MIMO.

if the 3g iphone is coming out next month, then doesnt that mean that apple has already submitted it to the fcc?

You don't want it auto... you'd be surprised at how often you want to force 2G.

No , wouldn't make sense. How would it know that I'm expecting a huge file coming in. What if I want to browse websites that don't have any text on them at 2G speeds. Why do Europeans still drive manuals and americans drive automatics?

You can't auto switch, you either use it or you don't. 3G networks will be givin higher priority over GSM networks, but as we hopefully know in many place in the US, 3G can be spotty. So you actually want to use GSM over the 3G network at times.

I'm pretty excited for the 3G iphone. Got the iphone when they had the refurb discount. Now I can't live without it. With 3G for browsing and GPS it will be nice. But most of the time I'll probably have 3G off until I need to do heavy browsing (outside of a wifi network), or of course I'm in Japan (where there is only 3G).

I find it funny that you guys in America are finding it hard to understand what use a 3G switch like this has.

On Nokia's 3G handsets (since 2004 at least), there is a very similar option 'Mode: Dual, UMTS, GSM' being the options available to you.
Selecting Dual Mode will auto seek between the two; UMTS will only look for 3G networks; GSM will only look for 2G network.

Now in my opinion this '3G on/off' option simply means that you can shut off 3G and make the iPhone only look for 2G - if you leave it 'on' then I'm sure it will still fall back to 2G networks if there is no 3G available in your area. Simple.

I think 3G should only need to be used when you're sending multimedia messages or accessing something online (browsing web or if an app uses the Internet). I have a Nokia N95 and I always have to turn it to GSM to conserve battery (the difference is pretty staggering). I only turn it to 3G for browsing the web or viewing Sling Player.

but will it have video call?

@essjay: Yeah I was about to say that. My freind had 2 HTC's with 3G and both of them had a toggle switch. Think a lot of consumers were pretty ignorant to the "3G" market and were just complaining about the old iPhones lack of it without even evaluating it. People who live outside of most major cities wont even see 3G coverage, but that will probably just lead to more complaining.

@dcdttu: Don't be scared! My Treo 650 had a daily AUTOMTIC daily refresh sensor. It was great cuz the device always had a fresh batch of memory.

The "On/Off/Auto" feature might be useful is some backwater countries (USA), but my phone is 3G 100% of the time with no option to turn it off up here in Canada.

what kind of battery drain are we talking here? i suppose as long as it lasts from a wake up to a bed time, i'd be ok with it.

@photophile: "...backwater countries (USA).."

Pfffft - still sore that you share the same continent with us? ;-P

Anyone with a 3G Windows Mobile phone should be using this option already. I do. You can add a shortcut to your start menu and then just create a speed dial number for it. It's not too difficult to manually toggle on and off to save the battery. Well worth the extra 1-2 days of battery life IMHO.

Does 3G live up to its hype? I have a Sony Ericsson 3G handset here in Switzerland for about 2 years. I have attempted to make video calls several times to colleagues, but it has not worked yet. We supposedly have TV as a 3G option as well. It stops,stutters and quits.
I have wifi at home, wifi at work, and the city of Lucerne has a wifi network that covers the downtown area. Starbucks, McDonald's and others have wifi. It is hard for me to get very excited about the 3G iphone unless it mit has other features.
On the rare occasion that I need to download emails, or open google maps when a wifi is not available, I would say that edge is not near as bad as most here portray it.

Not only should it be Auto, like ALL phones in the EU, but it should enable video calls as well, like 90% of ALL phones in the EU. Video calls is the most important new feature of 3G, as speed can be achieved with wi-fi. They sell on hype alone in the EU, and I guess they don't care about Japan at all, because if they're stone age in the EU, they're a fossil in Japan. I mean, MMS? Come on!

@photophile: sounds to me like you might be one of those Canadians that lives in a city that humps up on the US (then complains about the US) and hasn't actually been to huge portions of Canada. i am fairly certain the majority of land-mass in Canada lacks 3G. as most Canadians are actually quite frightened of large portions of their own country.

look at a population density map of Canada sometime and it sure seems like most Canadians like huddling up as close to the US as physically possible without actually going into the US.

hell... huge portions of Canada still have mechanical gas pumps with the little numbered wheels that roll around.

"Why do Europeans still drive manuals and americans drive automatics?"
americans are confident enough to let the car shift itelf.

@pacopaco or it could be that half of Americans are too fat to 'drive stick'...sorry I'll retract that; half of Americans are not too fat... ;-p

Seriously, until the last 18 months, automatics have been slower and less economical than their manual equivalents. The new double-clutch autos are...sorry off topic!

I would say that Americans drive automatics because 1: they love anything conveinent and 2: they don't pay $10 a gallon for gas.... yet.... :-)

My house, in the middle of Austin, gets only a 2G signal. AT&T's buildout is a little sad, relying too much on half-rate (AMR-HR) GSM and 1900-only W-CDMA to get by. They really need to build out 3G here, esp with T-mobile turning theirs on very soon...

I want a manual switch so I can find what works best for me. TDMA (GSM) and W-CDMA also have inherently different properties other than data speeds. I for one am hoping call quality is noticeably better with 3G.

Hopefully people know that the 2G/3G switch is more than just data speeds. You're actually switching form a likely 850mhz TDMA signal to a 1900mhz W-CDMA signal. Very different... That's why I don't want 'automatic.' It's not just data.

@dcdttu - you got it!

For those of you afraid of (or don't understand the differences) HSDPA or HSUPA 3G networks then get to learning! j\k...kind of.

As long as the battery lasts at least a day (preferably 2-3 days) of frequent 3G use, that is great. Charge up from your notebook or car --there battery issue done, move on.

For those in non 3G coverage areas, I know your pain because 20 miles up the road in the foothills, it is still EDGE. There are many benefits to 3G over 2.5 or 2.75G. Move forward.

This screen shot is a photoshop. Although Chronic Productions Blog did indeed find the string which proves the existence of an "Enable 3G" option, the author himself admits to not knowing how to implement this string.

It seems that the image originated on Mac Rumors and then made it's way all over the internet.

www.ismashphone.com

@eVader:
Good job evader - looks like you were the only one to comment on this!

Even for the non business user the ability to use internet to google something, or to have your phone teathered to your laptop while you chat with someone is awesome, and completely unavailible in 2G.

Also from all my conversations i've never seen a call trade up to 3g when you took in while in edge, I would assume an "automatic" switch would function the same way and not trade up on a phone call, meaning you would have to hang up and wait if you needed to use your data while on the phone