iPhone 4: Three big cons beneath sleek design Tom Kaneshige, CIO (US)
Apple CEO Steve Jobs heralded the new iPhone 4 as, "beyond a doubt, the most precise thing and one of the most beautiful things we've ever made." To be sure, die-hard Apple fans will rush out and get one when the iPhone 4 becomes available on June 24. iPhone 4 will cost $199 for a 16GB model and $299 for 32GB model, which requires a two-year contract with AT&T. The deal extends to existing customers with contracts that finish up this year. But are the hardware upgrades enough to move the masses to an Apple Store? Apple stock actually fell on the iPhone 4 unveiling Monday, dropping $5.02 per share to $250.94.Here are the key hardware upgrades: a slimmer design, front and back glass panels, a metal rim, a new screen technology called retina that boasts four times as many pixels as the iPhone 3GS, a gyroscope, an improved camera, a front-facing camera for video chat, a bigger battery, and an Apple A4 chip.All sounds pretty impressive, right? Let's take a closer look at the pros and cons.(I'm not including software features in iOS 4, formerly known as iPhone OS 4.0, or coming apps such as iMovie and iBookstore since they'll be available for the current iPhone 3GS.)
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