Author: Staff, May 12 2008, View Comments
Categories: apple | Tags: iphone, tech news

Still doubt that the 3G iPhone is coming soon? This settings screen with a 3G toggle switch (see image) was found in the latest beta release of the iPhone’s 2.0 firmware.

Why would you want to turn off 3G? Because 3G drains cell phone batteries very quickly. In this screenshot, Apple has included a toggle setting to turn 3G off, and use AT&T’s slower but more battery friendly EDGE network instead. Probably a very useful feature if you are almost out of juice.

In April, Apple released beta version 3 of its iPhone SDK. Hackers found that the new firmware contains references to an updated chipset—namely, the SGOLD3H from Infineon. This chip adds support for 3G networking, including WCDMA – the 3G flavor used in Japan and Korea.

So according to Apple’s SDK and Firmware updates, a 3G iPhone is definitely coming very soon.

Apple’s stores are also indicating that a new iPhone is coming soon. While the Apple stores have been having a shortage of iPhones for a couple weeks now, the Apple website now is also saying there is no ship date available.

Also AT&T employees have already suggested a release date of June 15th.

Add all these clues up and it’s a pretty safe bet to say that the new 3G iPhone is coming out either late May or early June.

How much will this new iPhone cost? The 3G iPhone has been rumored to have a starting price even higher than the original iPhone at $599 for the 8GB and $699 for the 16GB. No word on whether the data plans will remain the same with the new 3G data speeds.

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