iPhone Owners Would Like to Replace Battery, AT&T

According to a new survey from ChangeWave, owners of Apple’s new iPhone 3GS are quite happy with the device. Sadly, the same cannot be said of the AT&T service that accompanies it. Asked what they dislike most about the iPhone, 41 percent of respondents said the device’s short battery life.

Nearly a third, 32 percent, said AT&T.

And another 23 percent said the quality, coverage and speed of AT&T’s network. (Click image below to enlarge.)

Now, that isn’t all that surprising given the swell of bad press that occurred when AT&T admitted at Macworld 2009 that unlike dozens of other carriers that it wasn’t ready to support iPhone tethering or MMS support. But it’s interesting that AT&T (T) is responsible for two of the top three complaints about an Apple (AAPL) product. I can’t imagine that’s going over too well in Cupertino.

Says ChangeWave: “There are no indications that Apple’s AT&T problem is going away. On the contrary, the better customers feel about their iPhones the worse they feel about AT&T–with nearly one-in-two 3GS owners citing AT&T-related issues as their biggest dislike. These survey results suggest Apple will be forced to deal with the issue sooner than many analysts expect.”

“There will be a day when we are not exclusive with the iPhone,” AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said recently. And apparently, iPhone users are hoping that day comes sooner rather than later.