Android to Apple: Making the switch :)

Not really sure if the 4S is a downgrade from the Evo, but none the less, still a decent phone. I do not know the specs of the Evo. Just remember it will be a completely different environment from the Evo.

As for upgrading to the 5S or waiting for the 6, that will depend on you. The 5S is a great phone and will serve you well, but there are rumors that the 6 will be larger in size. How much larger, who knows for sure.

Personally I like the smaller size as I have small hands and find the 5/5S to be the perfect size and would not prefer a larger size. But I also know it is probably inevitable that somewhere down the road I will have to go with the larger phone for any advancements in tech.

New iPhones I believe are usually released in the summer months. So you would not have a long wait and could easily make your decision for a 5S or 6 at that time. I am sure mobile phone companies will have plenty of 5S's left hanging around if you decide that way.

Storm917 said:

EVO:
4.7" Screen, 720 x 1280 Resolution with 312 PPI
Dual Core 1500 MHZ processor, and 1024 MB RAM

4S:
3.5" Screen, 960 x 640 Resolution with 326 PPI
Dual Core 800 MHZ processory, and 512 MB RAM

I feel these are the only specs that are really different between the 2 if anyone was interested. I understand how much different it's going to be, I've played with my buddies 5C and the girlfriends 5S and love how smooth everything is and how user friendly they are.

The main reasons I'm switching is for how user friendly the iPhones are and how well it'll work along side my MacBook Pro. The only reason I'm skeptical to upgrade to a 5S in April is because if the 6 does come out in the summer or even early fall I'll be in the same situation I was in when I purchased my MacBook Pro (Retina display came out about 2 months after I bought my late 2011 Pro). I'm trying to avoid another situation like that.

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I have a 4S, and it's nice. It isn't the fastest phone, but it works very well. One of the things that I would consider in the performance is Android vs. iOS. iOS usually runs well on two or three year old hardware, while with Android there's no guarantee you'll get any updates at all.

On the subject of upgrading immediately, it could prove wise to wait. With Apple these days, you can never be sure if an iPhone will be released in summer or early fall. If you buy in April, you'll have approximately 8 month old hardware. It's just a thought, because I made that mistake (bought a 4S, 30 days later 5C was free.) Good luck!

Storm917 said:

Hey guys so the time has come and I'm proud to say I'm finally making the switch from Android to an iPhone. I've had a MacBook Pro (late 2011) since March of 2012 and I've loved it; hands down the best piece of equipment I've ever spent money on. So now I wonder what I've been missing out on with the iPhone.

Here's my situation:

I currently have an HTC Evo 4G LTE on Sprint and my upgrade isn't until the first of April. This thing's battery has bit the dust (dies in the yellow if I open up any kind of app). Sprint would give me a used iPhone 4S for free if I wanted to swap but I'm not sure if the swap is worth it? I've read the specs side-by-side and I'm not sure if it's a downgrade or not. I was going to try and push for an early upgrade from them to try and pick up a 5S but you never know with Sprint. So I've also looked online far and wide for just a 5 to hold me over until the 6 comes out but no such luck, they're all about $250 or more.

So with that said what do you guys think? Should I swap my Evo for a 4S and then upgrade in April? Or would that be a downgrade? Also when April comes do you guys feel its worth upgrading to the 5S or should I try and hold out for the 6?

Thanks!

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If the swap for the 4S does NOT involve a contract, I would take it. IF and ONLY IF you are committed to going to iOS. You could begin the process of migrating to iOS on the 4S which is an excellent phone but is slow by today's iPhone standards.

As for waiting for the 6, you can better decide that once you have the 4S in your hands. Let's assume that Sprint is going to give you the "free" version of the 4S and not some refurb 16 GB model, then you'd only have 8GB of storage and no way to upgade until you get a new phone. This might be enough to push you to the 5S now rather than wait until fall or later for the 6.

I'd like to know a little more about how you use your Android device before I make any more specific recommendations. For instance, is your device rooted? Do you use the "stock" launcher? Which version of Android are you on? Do you use google+ for photos or something else such as flickr, facebook or instagram? How do you see yourself using iOS? Do you expect to use photostream as a way to get photos from your phone to your Mac or would you use a usb cable and image capture or would you use iTunes sync? Do you have all your contacts on your Mac or are they in google contacts? There is some prep work to do before you switch and one step is to export all your data from google so you can import it into the apps on your Mac (assuming you aren't already syncing with google from your Mac).

Let me give you a brief snapshot of my iOS experience as a way to let you know what to expect...

iPad:
I had a Blackberry in 2010. I was waiting for the alleged Verizon iPhone which had been rumored several times but hadn't come yet. I was using Mark/Space Missing Sync to get stuff back and forth from my BB to my Mac. I had also tried BB Desktop and I had tried various google syncs but I was never happy with them. While still using a BB for everyday email and phone use, I bought an iPad on 4/3/2010. I logged in to .mac (or was it mobile me already?) and before I left the Apple store... I must emphasize BEFORE I LEFT THE APPLE STORE... I had all my contacts and calendar on my new iPad.

iPhones:
When I got tired of waiting for a VZW iPhone in Sept 2010, I again had everything on my iPhone 4 before leaving the Apple store. My family walked around with various janked up feature phones on Verizon and the last straw was when big red tried to get us to re-up a contract just to fix a broken phone. I brought the other 3 lines over to At&t in fall 2011. Again before leaving the Apple store, every family member had all the contacts on their phones that had been sitting on their Mac.

iPhone 5:
When I upgraded to iPhone 5, I had it shipped from Apple. They expedited my order so I'd have my phone before leaving on a business trip to Asia. I was the only person walking around Taipei with an iPhone 5 that October and I was surprised to see they were already selling lightning adapters and cases for a phone which wouldn't be available there for many more months! Once again, all my data just came right over only this time all my apps came over from iCloud as well.

More iPhones:
When the rest of my family hit their upgrade timeouts once again getting everything over to the new phones was painless. But wait. I should mention that we've only upgraded two of our iPhones and handed iPhone 4's down to the kids who started out with 3Gs's.

There are a few down sides. One is the walled garden. Don't get me wrong. This is a huge up side most of the time but the inability to have such an important app as wifi analyzer (without jailbreaking) is something that bothers me even now. Another down side is the cost. $100 for a memory upgrade is rather steep. As an owner of 32 GB iPhone 5 and a 32 GB iPad mini, I wish I didn't have to shell out an extra $100 on EACH of my next iThings but I don't begrudge Apple their profits on what I find to be almost perfect products.

hope this helps...

My family's experience has been that iOS 7 runs well on iPhone 5 and iPhone 5S, but not so hot on iPhone 4 or iPhone 4S.

Storm917 said:

4S:
3.5" Screen, 960 x 640 Resolution with 326 PPI
Dual Core 800 MHZ processory, and 512 MB RAM

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IPhone 4S has 1024 Mb ram

You listed the specs for iphone 4

sorry just wanted to point that out lol

I had absolutely no problem switching from HTC Thunderbolt to the iPhone. I would have gone to iPhone much sooner if 4GLTE had been available

I can't speak for the 4S, but I had a 4, and - while useable - it really was getting on my nerves with how slow it was. I'm now on a 5S, and I absolutely love it.
I personally think you should wait it out and get the latest, because if your 4S is anything like the 4, it won't be great for that long.

Welcome to iOS

Switch

I had the Evo prior to me killing sprint after 12 years of service and going to Verizon. It was a great decision but when I made the switch I had the Evo and switched to the 4s and it was an upgrade. The biggest noticeable difference will be the battery life. I say get the 4s and then upgrade to the 5s in April. That is awesome that they are allowing you to get the 4s in the interim.

In my opinion, consider having both Android and IOS. At least until you've got your head around the new limitations. And if you are used to getting things done fast, having the option of using correct capitalisation in any writing, being able to spell things how you want rather than they want, even more so.
Good luck.