OK, we’re not engineers or experts on mobile phone components so we’ve had a look at a couple of comprehensive technical reviews. If you’re interested in learning more about the components used in the iPhone, we suggest you have a look at some great product teardowns on Semiconductor.com and iSupply.com.  We won’t attempt to repeat what they cover in great detail but instead just give you our layman’s interpretation.

Let’s face it, in the past Apple have been criticised a few times for coming out with sub-optimal launch versions of their products. Sure, they have usually addressed issues pretty quickly, but we were worried that the same thing might happen with the iPhone. In the rush to launch this hugely-hyped product as quickly as possible, could Apple have sacrificed the build quality somewhat? Well the good news is that the consensus from experts seems to be that Apple have done a pretty good job in balancing cost and quality when it comes to the components used inside the belly of the iPhone.

From what we understand, the iPhone’s processor is designed by ARM and the memory resembles pretty much what is used in the iPod Nano. Overall, the consensus seems to be that all the components used in the iPhone (e.g. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, power management) are frequently used in mobile phones and reputed to be of sound quality. Given that they are mature components for mobile phones, this allows Apple to bring the overall cost of the iPhone down whilst reliably maintaining a good quality build throughout. That means that you shouldn’t have any major issues with the iPhone’s hardware – except perhaps for the battery, but we cover that further below.

 

 

Let’s be honest: the standard white headphones your get with the iPod aren’t great. In fact, we think they’re pretty useless and we’re assuming most of you had to replace them with something better eventually. Sure, by now thanks to Apple’s fantastic marketing the white headphones have become iconic and completely associated with the white iPod and Apple branding. You recognise them immediately in ads and in the street from afar. Yes, the sound quality is satisfactory overall - don’t get us wrong, no real complaints there (although the bass could be stronger). The issue we have is that they simply won’t fit in our ears. Every time you move your head to the left or to the right, they fall out. We don’t think we’re the only ones to think this isn’t great. And another thing: living in a big city like London, it doesn’t seem like a good idea to advertise to the world that you’ve got an iPod in your pocket, which is pretty much what you’re doing given how familiar they’ve become to everyone (OK, this is perhaps a minor issue, but we’ve heard of people targeted by muggers for this very reason!).

As expected, the iPhone comes with the same standard white headphones as the iPod, with two modifications given the extra features. The most significant addition is a small mic / music toggle which you’ll find on the right channel. This allows you to pause and skip songs as well as to switch from listening to music to the phone if someone calls. If you’re listening to a song on the iPhone, just click it once to pause the track; click it twice to go to the next track. If someone calls you, just click it once to pick up and once you’re done, click it again to end the call. This works in the same way as most standard headphones you’ll find on Nokia and Sony Ericsson music mobile phones so should be familiar to most people.

The mic feature works very well overall. The person on the other line can usually hear you clearly and you won’t find have any interference issues with the cell radio (a problem with some older mobile phones). For those of you who pay attention to detail, we should mention that the second small difference you’ll find with the standard iPod headphones is that the iPhone’s earbuds don’t feature the small cable separator that helps keep the cables from tangling together. Yes, we agree: not an issue at all. One small oversight however, probably to do with cost: Apple didn’t include a volume switch with the mic / music toggle, which is a bit of a shame (and is pretty standard for other advanced music mobile phone headsets.

In terms of length, most people won’t have any problem with the iPhone’s headphones. At around 42 inches long, they allow you to put the iPhone in your pocket without enough cable to spare. This is important given that – we mentioned this already – if you’re like us, any small movement will result in at least one of the earbuds falling out every couple of minutes otherwise. Most people won’t face any issues unless they are really tall – in that case, we suggest putting the iPhone in your jacket pocket instead! One thing’s for sure however: don’t even consider going jogging with your iPhone, you won’t get very far.

Unlike the iPod, as we mentioned when describing the look and feel of the iPhone, you will struggle to change the headphones without buying an adapter given how recessed the headphone jack is. Of course, you would also have to find a headphone that also features a mic / music toggle that works with the iPod function on the iPhone. We think that means that most people are probably going to stick with the standard iPhone headphones and simply have to get used to them. Not a big deal, but a bit disappointing given how expensive the iPhone is at the moment, especially if you bought great quality headphones you were hoping to use instead.

 

 

Here’s the good news: the iPhone’s battery life is great given how many multimedia features are drawing on the power all the time. We used ours from 7:30am to just after midnight and just left it in standby when we went to sleep, no problem. When we woke up, the iPhone was still switched on. That’s great performance given how intensively we used our iPhone from the moment we took it out of its box! Overall, the times quoted by Apple are pretty reliable: up to 8 hours talk time; up to 250 hours standby time; up to 6 hours internet use; up to 7 hours video playback; and up to 24 hours audio playback. Note however that the battery meter isn’t very reliable, especially as only a quarter or so of battery life is left. You notice a distinct fall in battery life beyond this point so it’s worth having a charger to hand within the next hour or so at that point.

The bad news is that unfortunately, just like the iPod, you can’t change the battery on your iPhone yourself. And this has been a real headache for many users in the US who found that the battery capacity was so low when they first purchased their iPhone that they had to change it for a new model. Apple must be aware of this issue because they have been diligently replacing the faulty devices without complaining, as long as you can convince the salesperson that the battery is bad. In any case, this type of problem is covered by the warranty. Ignoring for a second how frustrated you would be if you had to change the iPhone you queued for all those hours for in the cold, you don’t want this to happen one year down the line when you have to pay for the battery change yourself (at a cost of say £40-50).