Apple shows 16GB/32GB iPhone 3GS

By Tom Bramwell Published 9 June, 2009

And cuts price of iPhone 3G immediately.

Apple has unveiled a new iPhone with an improved camera, better battery life and more memory, and cut the price of the iPhone 3G immediately.

The iPhone 3GS will launch on 19th June in the US and the UK, where exclusive carrier O2 will charge GBP 440.40 for 16GB and GBP 538.30 for 32GB pay-and-go models.

Monthly plans lock you in for 18 or 24 months and reduce the price of the hardware accordingly.

The existing 8GB iPhone 3G will now be sold for GBP 342.50 on pay-and-go and under GBP 100 on the two lowest 18-month tariffs, or for free on any of the higher or 24-month versions.

Speaking at the 2009 Worldwide Developer's Conference in San Francisco, Apple said the iPhone 3GS - the "S" stands for "speed" - introduces a 3-megapixel autofocus camera that also captures video at 30FPS, and uses OpenGL ES 2.0

It also has a built-in digital compass (er), support for 7.2Mbps HSDPA, and voice controls that allow you to dial numbers without dialling.

More significantly, Apple says the battery life has been improved to five hours talk time, nine hours on Wi-Fi and 30 hours of audio playback. The current iPhone 3G lasts about seven minutes doing anything.

19th June is also the launch date for the new iPhone 3.0 firmware, which is compatible with existing iPhone 3G and iPod Touch models.

Apple said yesterday that it will also introduce push notification options for developers, make Google Maps available in-app and allow for peer-to-peer networking for paid applications.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (54) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • LazyDan #1 3 years ago

    humungous meh.

    The camera still isn't good enough for a phone this expensive.

  • Widge #2 3 years ago

    Didn't know the iPhone did HSDPA.... found that out recently. Makes it a more enticing phone.

  • UncleLou #3 3 years ago

    Do people still make the mistake of judging a camera's quality by the number of Megapixels?

    It's not the number, it's what you do with them. And the lens. I am not saying the iPhone has a good camera, but looking just at the MP number is, frankly, rather silly.

  • bad09 #4 3 years ago

    "where exclusive carrier O2 will charge GBP 440.40 for 16GB and GBP 538.30 for 32GB pay-and-go models. "

    Not that I'd get one anyway but christ that's a lot for a bloody mobile phone no matter what bells and whistles it has. I could buy a PS AND 360 for that!

  • dpb135 #5 3 years ago

    Isn't the 8gb £99 already on a contract since the 3g version was released last year??

  • Floppy #6 3 years ago

    @ bad09

    That high number is the price of the phone if you just want to buy it. Most phones actually are well over £200 if you just bought the unit without any sort of phone contract. Naturally the new iPhone 3GS will remain at £99 (or whatever) and a £35 a month O2 tariff, tied to a 12mth contract. Which is why all operators offer cheaper SIM-only contracts for those who don't want to elevate their monthy tariffs to pay for the new 'free' phone they're using.

  • Matthew_Hornet #7 3 years ago

    "It also has a built-in digital compass (er)"

    What's with the '(er)'? That is a big deal, and the thing I felt was most missing from the old iPhones (aside from a proper camera). With the GPS and accelerometer, you had position, motion and inclination; all that was missing - a BIG thing that was missing - was orientation! They didn't put it in for boy scouts. With this, if you want to, say, determine where the iPhone camera is pointing at in realspace, you have all the data necessary. We are talking about augmented reality here! Think big!
    Edited by 1 at 09/06/09 @ 09:24

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #8 3 years ago

    I suspect the (err) is for the HSPDA rather than for the compass.

  • optimusprym8 #9 3 years ago

    if you click the {pay and go} link above in the article and *read* before posting you will see the price structure for buying the phone out of contract and for upgrading and new contracts... /facepalm

    but as ever, UK gets screwed with technology currency conversion where USD/EUR price = GBP price, when it really should be cheaper. But O2 are shit and the phone's over-priced but then this is Apple so what do you expect.

  • kangarootoo #10 3 years ago

    "I suspect the (err) is for the HSPDA rather than for the compass."

    In which case, it really should have been placed after the comma :)

  • systems #11 3 years ago

    The apple website says 17th June for the update, not 19th:
    http://ww w.apple.com/iphone/softwareupdate/

  • Emth #12 3 years ago

    "The existing 8GB iPhone 3G will now be sold for GBP 342.50 on pay-and-go"

    That's how much I paid for mine 9 months ago, so it's not a drop at all.

    Once again rip off Britain lives up to it's name. Surely they can't expect many people to pay 538 quid for a PAYG phone? I was right on the limit with 350.

  • skillian #13 3 years ago

    Why is HSDPA any more worthy of an (er) than a digital compass?

    Anyway, I'm probably not the best person to ask as I don't own an iPhone, but didn't this announcement feel a little underwhelming? Not really much there to get excited about, not even the matte black back that had been rumoured.

  • penhalion #14 3 years ago

    OpenGL ES 2.0 support.....so it has a new graphics chip then?

    What the heck is the point of that. As a developer, I can't create anything that directly supports GLES 2.0 because it will not run on any other iTouch or iPhone except the new ones. I guess it will speed up existing apps considerably but, I'd have to write my apps to check for which version of opengl is supported and then scale up. The whole point of the app store and it's success, is that the apps are simpe and easy to produce.......sigh

  • skillian #15 3 years ago

    @penhalion

    It has a faster processor too apparently. You can't expect the tech specs to stay the same forever I guess.

  • GreasyWeasel #16 3 years ago

    £500-600 is usual for this type of high end smartphone nowadays, it's just because the carriers sub them that everyone thinks this is a lot of money.
    As for the question of why we £500+ and the US pay $299, you are not comparing like for like. The £500+ price in the UK is 'pay and go' ie not subsidised where as the $299 US price is on a 2 year contract (so will be subsidised). If you compare it to the UK price on a 2 year contract you see we actually get a fairly good deal since it costs £175.19.

  • penhalion #17 3 years ago

    @skillian

    Yea I know. It's just that it now makes it stupidly hard to write a game for it. Optimising the games was hell on the old iPhone and iTouch. The bar has now moved so, although it makes a few of my previously impossible projects possible. If I do create them, then my audience is going to be miniscule! I'm going to have to start writing a scale-up system but, that introduces it's own balancing issues with gameplay!

    ahhhhhhh!

    Still I guess I'm happy that we get MORE POWER as Tim from that comedy show home improvements would say.
    Edited by 1 at 09/06/09 @ 10:14

  • penhalion #18 3 years ago

    @GreasyWeasel

    The hardware goes to retail for less than half that price. It's a rip off pure and simply. Taking into account stocking fees etc. etc. the end consumer is still paying double what the hardware is worth. From what I hear, people are also getting royaley fed up with the limited carrier choice thay have. Especially as the carriers Apple have partnered with are sometimes the worse of the bunch.

  • AgentCool #19 3 years ago

    "The existing 8GB iPhone 3G will now be sold for GBP 342.50 on pay-and-go" That's still an absolute rip-off in my book. I mean, you could buy a brand new 8GB iPod Touch for almost £200 less and all that's missing is the phone antenna, the GPS receiver and the crappy camera. With the money saved buying the Touch instead of the iPhone, you could go out and buy a pretty decent mobile. All you're essentially paying for is the convergence which, if anything, should make it cheaper.

  • GreasyWeasel #20 3 years ago

    @penhalion

    I'm not trying to justify the price here although you haven't taken into account how much these sorts of things cost to develop and design up front. They have to get that r&d money back somehow, everything would be so much cheaper if we only had to pay what the parts cost and the wages for the man that puts it together. Don't get me wrong though, I fully understand that they make a lot of money out of these sorts of devices.

    I was simply trying to show the people that scream about us getting ripped off compared to the US where not comparing the same things.

  • slave23d #21 3 years ago

    nope not good enough, small improvements for an awful lot of money. Ouch.

  • AphoticCosmos #22 3 years ago

    "GBP 538.30"

    Fuck off.

    I'll keep my iPod Touch until Apple realises that, as good as it's phones are, that doesn't give them carte-blanche to rape the wallet of the UK consumer senseless.

  • skillian #23 3 years ago

    I'll keep my iPod Touch until Apple realises that, as good as it's phones are, that doesn't give them carte-blanche to rape the wallet of the UK consumer senseless.

    Have you seen how popular the iPhone is? It seems that is exactly what it gives them :)

  • superdelphinus #24 3 years ago

    "the end consumer is still paying double what the hardware is worth."

    it's "worth" what people will pay for it, not the value of its constituent parts

  • xandoodle #25 3 years ago

    As I'm in Denmark and O2s site flat out refuses to work, is there any upgrade costfor current iphone 3g users?

  • skillian #26 3 years ago

    @xandoodle

    Yes, there's a cost. If you've got 6 months left on your contract, you'll have to pay £200 to end the contract and a further £275 to upgrade to the 3GS on the same tariff.

    [link url=http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/shane_richmond/blog/2009 /06/09/iphone_customers_angry_with_o2_over_iphone_3gs_upgrad e_cost
    ]http://bl ogs.telegraph.co.uk/shane_richm...[/link]

  • CannonAnBall #27 3 years ago

    I'm glad someone has mentioned the camera. I too am sick of people banging on about mega pixels. The current iPhone that i have might not be packed with mega pixels but i cant believe the quality of the pictures it takes. I've a couple of phones that have had 5 mega pixels that have been rubbish and nowhere near the iphone.

  • jambo74 #28 3 years ago

    Palm Pre anyone?

  • Scoops #29 3 years ago

    There is no upgrade path as such as there was for the 3G coming out. You will have to buy out the rest of your contract and then buy the phone and start a new one. It depends how long left you have on your contract, I have another 12 months so I would only need £420ish to end my current contract and then buy a new 32GB iPhone which would be another £274. So that would make a fairly hefty £694 to get a new phone now. Oh yes, and as good as the tethering implementation looks, the fact you have to treat it as mobile internet means you pay £15 for the privilege.

    It isn't cheap at all but then what did you expect? From a gaming point of view I hope the faster processor will lead to a more ambitious titles being produced. I think the upgrade is quite good from a hardware point of view - interesting to see how the battery performs in the real world.

  • superdelphinus #30 3 years ago

    it takes ok pictures when there is great light. anything less than that and you generally get blurry pixelated messes

  • LazyDan #31 3 years ago

    When I say the iPhone has a crap camera, I'm not talking about the megapixels.

    And it may be 'good enough' from person to person, but it's not 'good enough' for the price compared to what other phones have managed for much less. At this price point they should be front running with this, and it's below average at best. Talking end result picture quality and video camera quality. And before anyone comes out with the predictable response, I'll re-iterate what I just said - other phones are doing it much better for much less, so the stock "if you want a camera get a camera" response is irrelevant here.

    The other additional features are so miniscule in significance to make the amount they're charging for upgrades or the phone itself absolutely laughable.

  • xandoodle #32 3 years ago

    @skillian & scoops

    Thanks, was having massive issues trying to find out, I was in Holland last year as well so same issue. Looks like I'll sit out this release then...

    @lazydan - ALL phone camera's are terrible. I shoot mostly on a Panasonic Lumix LX3 mostly, and no camera phone will come close to that for a while (let alone shoot RAW), so not really bothered about how 'bad' the iPhone camera is, it does the job.

  • superdelphinus #33 3 years ago

    the last sony Erickson camera i had took great pictures to be fair

  • Floppy #34 3 years ago

    @ jambo74

    Palm Pre? A worthy alternative... but will also exclusively be on O2. On that basis alone, they can suck my balls.

  • dubdivision #35 3 years ago

    The new iphone is worth what the idiots here are willing to pay for it.

    I'd love one but am not prepared for the financial rape that goes with it.

  • skillian #36 3 years ago

    I really hate this whole exclusivity thing that's happening in the phone market right now.

  • Quak #37 3 years ago

    Fuck off.

    I'll keep my iPod Touch until Apple realises that, as good as it's phones are, that doesn't give them carte-blanche to rape the wallet of the UK consumer senseless.

    Your aggressive stance was impressive until you let on that, in fact, you have already happily accepted Apple's cock in your arse on a previous occasion. It's people like you who were happy to pay up for the first models that convince Apple that they can just keep raising the price, and for as long as people keep buying, they'll continue to do so.

  • local_celebrity #38 3 years ago

    If you buy this, then you're a rich, pretentious cunt. And a crass one too, given the Current Economic Climate (TM).

    I despise you. And envy you, obv.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #39 3 years ago

    I'm going to get one :)

    185 nicker on their lowest contract price seems quite reasonable to me. It's about 50 quid cheaper than a PSP go will be.

    Also OpenGLES 2 means programmable and pixel and vertex shaders. Which in terms of console generations is Xbox 360 and PS3 stuff (PS3 actually uses OpenGLES 2), although I'd expect considerably lower polygon counts, obviously. At any rate, this thing should be capable of better graphics than the Wii.

  • stampax #40 3 years ago

    "our aggressive stance was impressive until you let on that, in fact, you have already happily accepted Apple's cock in your arse on a previous occasion. It's people like you who were happy to pay up for the first models that convince Apple that they can just keep raising the price, and for as long as people keep buying, they'll continue to do so."

    I bought the first model - it was crazy expensive no doubt about it at all - but it's also the best electronic device I have ever bought by far, and in terms of value for money far better than any other phone I have ever bought. It makes me laugh how angry people get when they are jealous and can't afford something.........

  • optimusprym8 #41 3 years ago

    "At any rate, this thing should be capable of better graphics than the Wii."

    as do the skid stains on the bottom of my toilet.

  • Blackthorned #42 3 years ago

    "Yes, there's a cost. If you've got 6 months left on your contract, you'll have to pay £200 to end the contract and a further £275 to upgrade to the 3GS on the same tariff. "

    Woah. I really like Apple products but that is very expensive indeed - but then again 02 don't really do loyalty rewards.
    I'll stick with my pigeon.


  • Xerx3s #43 3 years ago

    "It makes me laugh how angry people get when they are jealous and can't afford something......... "

    Yes because people who don't buy apple can't afford it. Furthermore, apple fans are allowed to invade any thread and spew their bs but the moment somebody criticises apples products, they are haters and jealous.

  • stampax #44 3 years ago

    " Yes because people who don't buy apple can't afford it. Furthermore, apple fans are allowed to invade any thread and spew their bs but the moment somebody criticises apples products, they are haters and jealous."

    Well ok point well made - i just dont get the sheer anger about the price that some people seem to have. I mean, i think some things are expensive, and i either lump it and buy them or choose not to. I don't usually get furious and call a company eveil etc - which is what many people seem to do. Not everyone i admit - but i imagine an awful lot of the anger is simply because people really want it, and can't afford it.

    I don't really get how people can have a go at Apple - they make a great product, so obviously they charge a fortune for it. If nokia could get away with charging double with their phones they would.

  • Wyrm #45 3 years ago

    They are wonderful pieces of kit, but just not affordable to me :o(

  • Vin #46 3 years ago

    500 notes for a fucking phone?

    Jesus wept.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #47 3 years ago

    Lets tally up shall we?


    100 notes for a portable games console
    [link url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Pink-Base-Unit-Console-PSP/dp /B000LPDBMI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1244570675& sr=1-1
    ]http://ww w.amazon.co.uk/Pink-Base-Unit-C...[/link]

    100 notes for a portable video player
    [link url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/New-Apple-iPod-nano-16GB/dp/B00 1E97GGM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1244570839&sr=1 -1
    ]http://ww w.amazon.co.uk/New-Apple-iPod-n...[/link]

    100 notes for a pocket camcorder
    [link url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Flip-F260B-UK-Vide o-Digital-Camcorder/dp/B0018RUCG6/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=elect ronics&qid=1244570716&sr=1-4
    ]http://ww w.amazon.co.uk/Flip-F260B-UK-Vi...[/link]

    100 notes for a GPS
    [link url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/TomTom-ONE-Classic-UK-RoI/dp/B 001XCWNMC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1244570800&sr =1-1
    ]http://ww w.amazon.co.uk/TomTom-ONE-Class...[/link]

    100 notes for a 'web tablet'
    [link url=http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nokia-N810-Internet-Ta blet-Silver/dp/B000ZN8AK4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&q id=1244570576&sr=8-1
    ]http://ww w.amazon.co.uk/Nokia-N810-Inter...[/link]


    the phone's actually free!
    Edited by 1 at 09/06/09 @ 19:09

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #48 3 years ago

    The iPod/iPhone is barely a "portable games console". If you play games on it, the battery dies while you're still waiting at the bus stop.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #49 3 years ago

    That's precisely why the console I described it as equivalent to is the PSP!

  • Rev.StuartCampbell #50 3 years ago

    L0LZ0R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • septimus #51 3 years ago

    Well, 02 and Apple are utterly raping current iPhone3G owners. Thanks for that. Bastards.

  • joey_j #52 3 years ago

    will i be offered this new phone during my current iphone contract or at the end

  • YourMessageHere #53 3 years ago

    It continually amazes me that people get angry about iPhones. It's a shiny shiny gimmick toy made by the tech company most famous for, basically, taking any competing product and adding Industrial Design Tax and Status +1 Tax to the price. Please, technology world, realise this: Apple will always charge more than is reasonable, and there will be equally effective alternatives available for a less or even a fraction of the price. Nothing will change this.

    For example, instead of a digital compass, try...a compass. Get one down the pound shop. Won't run out of batteries, ever. Or get a map and learn to read it, instead of dicking around with GPS; you'll never get lost for long and easily find your way again when you do. You'll not run out of batteries for that either. Learn the skills to help yourself, instead of relying on unnecessarily complex technology to do it for you.

  • local_celebrity #54 3 years ago

    @YourMessageHere

    Aaaamen!