I bought a new iPhone 4s–on Verizon
Finally putting my bias against CDMA aside–something 10 years of working at Nokia was responsible for–I bought an iPhone 4s–on Verizon. That means CDMA.
Of course, it’s well known the iPhone 4s actually speaks both GSM and CDMA. That’s one of the benefits of this particular device, and quite frankly, the only reason I am willing to give Verizon a try. That and Apple refuses to let Verizon (or any other carrier) load their crapware on the device, so I know it is exactly as Steve Jobs intended.
You might wonder why I bought a new iPhone. Especially when WWDC is really soon and Apple will probably release yet-another-new-iPhone later this year. The reality is, I couldn’t wait any longer. I certainly don’t buy every new phone out there and I like my gadgets to last for as long as possible.
The AT&T service in my neighborhood has become increasingly unbearable, either because of the service itself or because of the phones I had (a couple of Nokia’s and my nearly 3-year-old iPhone 3GS with iPad baseband). I needed to buy a new phone anyway, even if I stayed with AT&T.
Meanwhile, I tested the Verizon service at home using a $20 Samsung Gusto I bought at Target for prepaid service. It’s not a 3G device like the iPhone–it’s a dumbphone at its finest–but the service passed the test. Didn’t drop a call–unlike AT&T which does this all the time–and, other than the occasional (brief) signal fade, works like a champ.
So I pulled the trigger. My new phone arrived today. Apple’s packaging is surely impressive as always. The retina display is quite amazing. I had seen it before, albeit briefly. But looking at it for more than a few minutes when sitting beside my older iPhone 3GS, the difference between the displays is like night and day.
I’ll (eventually) unlock the GSM portion through Verizon so I can use international SIMs in it when I travel, though I’ll never be able to use it with an AT&T or T-Mobile SIM unless Verizon has a change of heart about their unlock policies (fat chance). I’m going to avoid the whole jailbreak thing this time around, given all the issues I had with that on my iPhone 3GS, which will still likely see use as a phone when I am traveling internationally once my AT&T number has been ported.
Meanwhile, while I’ll miss being able to use 3G and talk on the phone at the same time–something I’ve done on more than one occasion–I will be happy to be able to use my phone as a phone when I need to. At least I hope that will be the case in the long term (initial testing is very positive).
