iPhone 4S consumes on average twice as much data as the previous iPhone model and even more than iPad tablets due to increasing use of online services like the virtual personal assistant Siri, an industry study showed.
When Apple rolled out the iPhone 4S in October, its small improvements disappointed many analysts and reviewers, but consumer demand for the device has been strong, and buyers have extensively used their devices.
iPhone 4S users transfer on average three times more data than users of the older iPhone 3G model which was used as the benchmark in a study by telecom network technology firm Arieso. Data usage of the previous model, the iPhone 4, was only 1.6 times higher than the iPhone 3G, while iPad2 tablets consumed 2.5 times more data than the iPhone 3G, the study showed.
Today's generation of smartphones is placing increasing demands on available carrier bandwidth as applications become slicker and average personal usage of videos intensifies.
That sharp rise in data consumption puts more pressure on wireless operators to speed up capacity investments, as they are struggling already with clogged telecom networks to keep up with growing demand for data services on the go.
A smartphone's consumption of data depends upon what the user asks it to do.
The iPhone 4S is perceived by some as a data hog because of Siri, a well-reviewed virtual personal-assistant and search app. It is integrated into the iPhone 4S and responds to voice commands.
"I use the iPhone 4 myself and when I first heard of the iPhone 4S features I was not compelled to rush out and get one. However, the data usage numbers I am seeing make me wonder what I am missing," said Arieso's chief technology officer, Michael Flanagan.
He said as tablets use smartphone-like user interfaces and software platforms, their data usage was similar to top-end smartphones.
I think that there are other factors at play here. For example:
New toy syndrome - People buy a new toy, they want to play with it.
Faster - The 4S is faster than then older handsets thanks to the A5 dual-core CPU. Faster means people get more done. Getting more done when out of WiFi and in 3G coverage means more data usage.
Higher megapixel camera - more megapixels means that any images sent over 3G will consume more data than the lower-resolution images from the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4.
iTunes Match - This this is a feature of iOS 5 and not confined to the iPhone 4S, it’s a selling point for the 4S, and more consumers might be aware of the fact that they can stream music from the cloud.
iCloud - Again, a feature of iOS 5, but it’s another selling point of the 4S. Consumer will be more aware of the feature.
So, while Siri is undoubtedly contributing to greater data usage levels, I don’t think that we can blame it all on Siri. There are plenty of other features on the 4S and gobble up data.
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