Reasons To Sit Tight

iPhone 3.0 software: The iPhone 3.0 software will be available free to users of existing iPhones on June 17. You don't need to pay to get many of the best new iPhone features, including support for push notification, so Internet-connected applications such as instant messaging can notify you of updates even when those applications aren't running. iPhone 3.0 software also supports copy, cut, and paste, and user interface improvements including system-wide search of data and applications.

Feature delays: A couple of the more interesting features in the new iPhone are multimedia messaging service (MMS) and the ability to use your iPhone as a wireless modem for your laptop computer, which is called "tethering." Those features will be available all over the world when the iPhone ships -- except in the United States, because AT&T isn't ready for them yet.

AT&T says the services will be available this summer. But deadlines like this often slip. Don't buy products based on features that vendors promise to incorporate in the future, because often vendors don't deliver on those promises. If you're an American, and MMS and tethering are important to you, wait until they're available in the United States.

Upgrade penalties: The iPhone 3G S isn't a good deal for iPhone 3G customers. The $199 and $299 pricing only applies to new customers, or people who bought their iPhone a long time ago. The most loyal customers, ones who rushed out to buy the iPhone 3G when it first became available last summer, will pay a $200 penalty for upgrading early, plus (insult to injury) an $18 fee. Apple and AT&T haven't clarified criteria for the $218 surcharge; I bought my iPhone 3G when it first went on sale, 11 months ago, and Apple tells me I may be eligible for an upgrade in December. Maybe. They won't make a commitment.

So if you're an iPhone 3G user, you'll probably just want to hold off and wait until this situation sorts itself out. Apple and AT&T are taking a lot of criticism; my gut feeling is that we may see Apple and AT&T eliminate or significantly reduce the upgrade penalty. So you're better off postponing an upgrade until you're eligible for a discount.

Or maybe hold off on this generation of iPhone entirely, and see what Apple has in the pipeline for 2010.