The Truth Behind MMS on the Original iPhone

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The Truth Behind MMS on the Original iPhone

Posted 05/06/2009 at 12:04:33am | by Florence Ion

Since the announcement of iPhone software 3.0, the Internet has been busy picking away at its many builds finding new and exciting features. One feature the OS spelunkers don't have to root around for is MMS. Apple is finally bringing the sought after feature to the iPhone.

Well, not every iPhone, the original iPhone is being left out of the MMS party because of hardware differences. Users still connected via their first-gen iPhone are omitted from this particular firmware update feature. Apple stated at their iPhone 3.0 event in March that there are enough hardware changes from the original iPhone to the iPhone 3G that MMS and Stereo Bluetooth will not be available on the original iPhone. This has lead to speculation that the iPhone 2G can't handle MMS. After some investigation, we found out otherwise.

The original iPhone contains the Infineon PMB8876 modem chip, while its beefier successor uses the Infineon BGA736L16 Tri-band modem which allows for 3G functionality. While Apple doesn't advertise the innards of their devices, iFixit.com has made it their mission to perform gadget autopsies to see what makes our favorite electronics tick.

We asked iFixit.com if they believed the Infineon PMB8876 modem chip was unable to send MMS because of hardware issues. iFixit.com told us that they didn’t think that was the case.

We decided to get to the root of the problem by calling up the makers of the chip--Infineon. We contacted an Infineon representative in Milpitas, CA to uncover the details. The gentleman that answered the phone kindly explained that there is no way the Infineon chip inside the original iPhone is incapable of receiving MMS since that function relies on software rather than hardware.

Finally, after browsing through a barrage of websites in a multitude of foreign languages, we discovered that there are two other mobile phone models that use the same Infineon chip as the original iPhone: the BenQ-Siemens M81 and the BenQ-Siemens EL71. Both of these phones contain the PMB8876 chip. While neither phone contains the multitude of features the iPhone boasts, both are equipped with MMS ability.

We contacted Apple for an official statement, the company reiterated what was told to us at the iPhone 3.0 event in March, "Now the hardware has changed enough between these two devices that not all the features will be available on the original iPhone. For instance, MMS and stereo Bluetooth will not be available on the original iPhone."

The company doesn't state that the original iPhone is incapable of MMS, just that the hardware has changed enough that it won't be getting MMS. It's those changes that could bring a tear to the eyes of original iPhone owners everywhere.

COMMENTS: 33

TAGS: mms, iphone software 3.0

COMMENTS

Spellcheck
Submitted by iKev on Tue, 2009-05-05 21:40

umm i am fairly sure you intended to use the work "one" instead of "once" when you said "Once feature the OS spelunkers...".

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whoops
Submitted by Roberto Baldwin on Tue, 2009-05-05 22:21

Thanks for the heads up!
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Seriously...
Submitted by carmelapple on Tue, 2009-05-05 23:42

I come to MacLife not only because I have a Mac, but because the people are not Grammar Nazis like the people over at MaximumPC...we all can generally get the gist of the articles without pointing out every painful, eyesore typo. Ok?

That said, this seems odd that Apple seems to be making a hardware issue out of a software issue. Why leave out the old iPhone users when it seems that the hardware is more than capable of supporting this software feature? I mean when you spend that kind of money on a device, you would think the manufacturer would support it for a long time. Seems to me that they want people to get the upcoming iPhone or at least the current iPhone. If that's the case, they should have some kind of a swap program and perhaps a small fee to upgrade...then Apple could refurbish the old units and resell them or recycle them to make new ones.

It's just like with the 2G iPod Touch having Bluetooth, but not being able to use it to its fullest extent (besides the Nike + iPod stuff) until 3.0 comes out. It makes no sense to lock out something as useful as Bluetooth on the 2G iPod Touch especially when they put the hardware into it. I love Apple and all, but they do make some odd decisions. I can't wait to see if my Bluetooth earpiece will pair with my 2G iPod Touch so I can use VoIP without a set of earbuds with a mic. Now if only there was more widespread free Wi-Fi around my city I might actually be able to get away from AT&T and my (uselessly hard to use compared to my iPod Touch) RAZR. Also I'm hoping the rumor that the Bluetooth hardware has a radio receiver is true so I can finally get local radio on my iPod. My girlfriend's ancient (read: original) Zune has a radio receiver...why can't an iPod?

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I don't get it
Submitted by DJFriar on Wed, 2009-05-06 17:05

The ipod touch 2 wasn't advertised as having bluetooth, so anyone who bought it, then found out that they were getting full bluetooth in OS 3 is getting a bonus. Obviously the bluetooth stack wasn't ready yet, which required enough of an effort that it made more sense to put it in OS 3. Not to mention the iPod having full bluetooth while the iPhone didn't would have made them look bad. But complaining about the ipod touch not having something that wasn't advertised is just stupid.Upgrading from the original iPhone to the 3G was "discounted". 1st Gen buyers paid full price for their iPhones, upgrades were eligible for subsidized prices. And before you say "but I paid twice!!", selling the 1st gen on eBay netted almost anyone who did so what they paid or more. So I don't see the argument there either.But Apple has a huge track record of "XYZ product is amazing! Except for A, B & C weirdness that makes absolutely no sense". For example, the iMac brightness can't be adjusted 1/3 as much as the laptops, and there is no "backlight off" setting. Why? I bought a MacBook Air and a Unibody MacBook last week. The MBA power connector is wonderfully slim, why aren't they using it on all the power adapters? It works just as well. You can I only sync "all or nothing" for contacts when using MobileMe on the iPhone. Why?I could write a book on the little things that make no sense that Apple has done to otherwise brilliant products.

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I have no idea why the line
Submitted by DJFriar on Wed, 2009-05-06 17:06

I have no idea why the line breaks aren't working, there really are three paragraphs up there.

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My take
Submitted by outsider27 on Wed, 2009-05-06 11:24

I'm not sure about how it's panning out with their relations to the media, but Apples decision to omit mms from the 1st gen iPhone is a wise move on the marketing end. While I may or may not like it if i were a first gen iPhone owner, it is their right to do that.

I'm beginning to worry that end users are asking too much, as if the company they give their money and loyalty to owe them something back. We buy devices expecting to get the advertised features and capabilities, not more than that. If we buy it hoping for a future freebie, we're foolish.

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Wow
Submitted by JoJitty on Wed, 2009-05-06 13:25

Right when you thought the IPhone couldnt get any better. Wow! RT
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The iPhone was sold as capabilities to come
Submitted by pauldy on Wed, 2009-05-06 13:38

The iPhone was sold as a device where updates would bring new features over time. So the take it's users are asking to much is ridiculous. It was sold to them under that very pretense. It's pretty clear why this decision was made when the software arrives there will be a new iPhone and new software features at a time when many users AT&T contracts will expire that will prod more users into upgrading than otherwise would. Be prepared to see a bit of backlash on this, not because the users are big babies who think they deserve something for nothing but because they were sold a device under the pretense it would gain features over time and the expectation they would bring the software up to support the features offered in the underlying hardware is a valid one.

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Apple's ridiculous explanation
Submitted by twophrasebark on Wed, 2009-05-06 14:13

I think when the new firmware comes out it will VERY quickly be revealed that SMS not only works perfectly on the iPhone 2G, but there was absolutely no reason it couldn't. In fact, the firmware may even have code specifically BLOCKING IT from working on iPhone 2G, which people will quickly subvert.

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Dum-Dums
Submitted by Gazoobee on Wed, 2009-05-06 14:32

I have a car that has a motor that is perfectly capable of being tweaked to go a hundred kilometres an hour, but the manufacturer refuses to make it so. They're jerks right?

I mean the car is *capable* of it, so the fact that they won't fix it so it will go that fast means that they are ripping me off right? And somehow it's a giant conspiracy even though when I bought the car it clearly stated that it could only do 85 kph.

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MMS already works on a first gen iPhone
Submitted by russgra on Wed, 2009-05-06 16:25

The whole technical argument is somewhat pointless as MMS already works on first gen iPhones.

Jailbreak your iPhone and then buy SwirlyMMS for US$8 (http://www.swirlyspace.com/) thru Cydia.

I have been using it for over a year and it works perfectly. They have just released version 2 that has functionality far greater than the upcoming MMS in iPhone firmware version 3.

(Carrier: Optus in Australia)

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RE: MMS already works on a first gen iPhone
Submitted by Imagine Engine on Wed, 2009-05-06 21:52

I can also confirm that MMS does work on iPhone EDGE model (first generation) and not just the iPhone 3G. The issue of Apple not providing MMS has nothing to do with the hardware in the first generation iPhone. If third party app developers such as SwirlyMMS can provide MMS on first generation iPhones then why can't Apple? Apple's PR department needs to stop snowballing the media and in general consumers by spreading misinformation in an attempt to get existing customers to buy the iPhone 3G. MacLife should of done more research on this issue before posting this article.

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Why no MMS???
Submitted by orbit8 on Fri, 2009-05-08 02:00

The question I can't seem to find an answer to, is why Apply removes such wanted and need feature from the iPhone? Later versions suppose to add to existing features - especially commonly used ones.

iPhone OS 3.0 Beta 5 just got released and it looks like MMS is not available. I also read that trying to hack it wouldn't work either.

Cheers,
Tom
iPhone OS 3.0 Beta 5 Released

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I can also confirm that MMS
Submitted by konusarock on Tue, 2009-06-16 09:26

I can also confirm that MMS does work on iPhone EDGE model (first
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I can also confirm that MMS
Submitted by konusarock on Tue, 2009-06-16 09:26

I can also confirm that MMS does work on iPhone EDGE model (first
sohbet
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chat generation iPhone. If
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Don't No MMS?
Submitted by acemicoder on Mon, 2009-06-22 10:53

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