By: Hillel Fuld

Now that WWDC is behind us and we have become acquainted with the next generation iPhone dubbed iPhone 4 (iPhone HD sounded so much better), I can safely say that this is thing is going to be a huge hit. I remember thinking when the iPhone 3Gs was announced that it is basically just an iPhone 3G with a little more power and speed. I decided that if I was going to make the transition from BlackBerry to iPhone, it was going to take a lot more than the 3Gs to convince me.

When it comes to the new features in iPhone 4, the list is definitely long enough to create some new iPhone users, and convert 3Gs users to iPhone 4 users. Any Apple lover will not be able to resist the beautiful new design and the extended battery, enhanced camera, and the long awaited front facing camera.

However, as a person who missed the beginning of the WWDC and only tuned into the live blogging of the event approximately 45 minutes in, I have to say that my first emotion was disappointment. Now, I think I am pretty much alone on this judging by the reactions on social media and a simple Google search of the words “iPhone 4 disappointments“. Having said that, I intend on buying the new phone as soon as it becomes available, but that does not change the fact that they could have done more with it.

The following is a list of iPhone 4 disappointments:

• No Surprises: I know we cannot blame Apple for the whole Gizmodo story, and while I was happy to read and watch all the coverage of the next gen iPhone when it was released on Gizmodo, I have to say, the whole story was kinda a spoiler for me. I don’t think there is anyone out there that debates Steve Jobs’ unique talent to own the stage, and us geeks look forward to Steve’s WWDC presentations and his “Oh, and there’s one more thing” all year. This year, as a result of all the leaks, the suspense was absent from the WWDC keynote. Now, only Jobs is good enough to announce a product that we all knew about and still manage somehow to get excited cheers and enthusiasm from the crowd, but I think everyone was a little disappointed that Gizmodo did in fact manage to ruin it all for us. It did not help that Jobs himself wrote an email response saying that WWDC will not disappoint when asked if he has some tricks up his sleeve. I, for one expected there to be something, some one feature that Gizmodo did not reveal, that would blow us all away. Someone I know asked why Apple did not change the iPhone 4 after is was leaked, just so that it would be a surprise. I don’t know if I would go that far, but a little native tethering or Micro SD slot would have been a nice surprise.
• Capacity: This is strange to me. I seem to be the only one bothered by the fact that the capacity of iPhone 4 has not increased from last generations. Let’s say it as it is. Today’s biggest iPhone competitors are phones that can reach capacities of 48Gb (like the Samsung Galaxy S seen below) and eventually more with new high capacity SD cards, and Apple is still stuck on 32? I was very surprised by this, but no one seemed to bothered besides me. Gizmodo thought there would be a 100Gb capacity iPhone I remember reading, which at the time got me very excited. So maybe 100Gb is pushing it a little, but 64 would have been nice. With the iPhone claiming to be the ultimate media device combined with the new stunning display, I want to store movies and pictures on the iPhone, but I am very limited with 32Gb of storage. Not sure what the thought process behind this was, but like I said, seems a little strange to me.
• Video Calling: On the one hand, I think everyone is a little excited to try out this new Facetime feature, but Apple did not come through on this feature like they could have. For starters, let’s talk about the hardware of the front facing camera. VGA? Really Steve? You do know that the Evo 4G has a 1.3 mega pixel front facing camera, right? VGA is so 2009! Putting that aside since in reality, VGA does the job, what is up with the iPhone to iPhone only support? On every other phone you can make video calls to anyone who has a second camera, but on the iPhone 4, you can only video call someone who has an iPhone 4? How typical!! Lastly, only over Wifi? You got to be kidding me!! AT&T can’t handle it? Ever hear of Verizon? There ARE other providers in the world, you do know that, right Steve? Besides, the iPhone 4 will be sold globally and the 3G in other countries can handle video calling, so why disable it? Once again, confused and disappointed, but not surprised!

In conclusion, I will say there is a reason this is the only blog post I could find about the letdowns of the iPhone 4. People are excited about it, and so am I. All in all, Apple managed to put together a superb product like only Apple knows how to do. However, it does seem to me sometimes that Apple operates in a vacuum. They seem to pay very little attention to what is going on around them in terms of competition. “The EVO 4G has 4G connectivity? Eh, we’ll just stick to 3G!” “The HTC Incredible has a 3.7 inch display? Eh, 3,5 works for us”.

Apple defies the model of the open market and competition causing improved products and lower prices. Apple seems to do things at their own pace, but you know what? It seems to be working.

Are you getting the iPhone 4 or does the open Android platform speak to you? Please let us know in the comments!