Thinking about getting yourself an iPhone 4, or perhaps you have the iPhone 3G S and aren’t eligible for your upgrade yet, here’s a tip for y0u about an important issue that Apple doesn’t seem to want to share (or atleast make it visibly public). Simply put, your iPhone can be charged 400 Times, a charge being each time you plug in the power cord… so if you charge your iPhone through the night, use it during the day, then charge it in the car on the drive home, you’ve just used 2 of your precious charges. Do this every day and the battery in your device (which is not swappable) will provide optimal power for about 200 days.

When the iPhone battery charges are used up, users will soon notice of considerable lack of battery sustainability with a “full charge” lasting only several hours and getting progressively worse. As an example, my 9 month old iPhone 3GS currently lasts about 3 hours after a full night’s charge. I spent some time with Apple support – luckily my one year factory warranty is still in place. Apparently this is a very well known issue and Apple has the solution for you – BUY THE $69 PROTECTION PLAN when you purchase your device… or, if you don’t have it go add it to your account now. Apple informs me that those who possess the protection plan with their account can receive a “free” replacement battery, although I believe that by replacement they actually will replace your iPhone with a new one and discard your old device – after-all, the battery is not swappable so simply replacing the battery is likely not an option.

I’m guessing that with the new, iPhone 4 this issue will likely continue and even get worse (not confirmed) the reason – multi-tasking. With iPhone iOS4 users can run several tasks simultaneously, thus adding to the drain on power and result in the need for more frequent charging. And so I urge you to grab yourself the extra $69 protection, otherwise the cost will be $100 when you eventually have to address this matter… and you will! Hey Apple, thanks for telling us.

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