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macher

macrumors 68040
Oct 13, 2012
3,329
1,716
Usually the S model isn't a significant upgrade from the non S models.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
Usually the S model isn't a significant upgrade from the non S models.

Actually as far as internals go, usually it is. It's not really an external/visual design change, but it's usually the bigger upgrade.
 

Merkie

macrumors 68020
Oct 23, 2008
2,119
734
I'm excited because I will be upgrading from my 5. Ever since the A5, Apple products seem to last a lot longer. My 4 was already slow and 'old' even with iOS 5, only 2 years in. My 5 is still very capable and fast, even after almost 3 years. I wouldn't even be upgrading if it had proper LTE/4G support and more than 16GB storage.
 

macher

macrumors 68040
Oct 13, 2012
3,329
1,716
Actually as far as internals go, usually it is. It's not really an external/visual design change, but it's usually the bigger upgrade.

For me the S models aren't a significant enough internal upgrade to make the switch.
 
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venomgt95

macrumors 6502
May 8, 2014
458
126
Michigan
I'll say I am looking forward to (hopefully) September. My 4s will be 4 years old come November. I haven't minded having the same phone for, what now is 3.5 years. It works, I just wish I had 128gb of storage and a faster processor. I will say my 4s has been a testament that Apple products last. Not even my Nextel phones lasted this long. I hope my next iPhone will last nearly 4 years as well. :apple:

You think your phone is old? Im still using a 3GS as my daily driver. :D Just replaced the screen and soon the battery. (It doesnt quite need a new one yet, but its getting there) That should add another 5+ years to its lifespan ;)
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
For me the S models aren't a significant enough internal upgrade to make the switch.

The non-S models are generally a much smaller internal upgrades from the S models that precede them. So is that to say that no model at all is significant enough of an upgrade?
 

Nickpocalypse

macrumors regular
Aug 28, 2011
106
7
Vancouver, BC, CA
You think your phone is old? Im still using a 3GS as my daily driver. :D Just replaced the screen and soon the battery. (It doesnt quite need a new one yet, but its getting there) That should add another 5+ years to its lifespan ;)

Nice! I just gota refurbished 3GS (which I got due to a broken 3G I had), which I have here as a backup.

Will Apple replace the battery on it? Or do you have to do it third party due to the age of the device?
 

venomgt95

macrumors 6502
May 8, 2014
458
126
Michigan
Nice! I just gota refurbished 3GS (which I got due to a broken 3G I had), which I have here as a backup.

Will Apple replace the battery on it? Or do you have to do it third party due to the age of the device?

Im sure apple would replace it for their out of warranty fee of 79$. But, its alot cheaper to do it yourself, which I plan on doing. I replaced the screen myself, plus ive taken the logic board out of my 3GS. (I dropped it in water for about 2 seconds and the camera lens became all fogged up) Its not hard at all as long as you keep track of the screws ;) Needless to say, its alot more fun to do it yourself and in my opinion, makes you feel more connected to your device. I love my little 3GS. I wouldnt give it up for anything. When the day comes that it completely dies, i will be sad.
 

Nickpocalypse

macrumors regular
Aug 28, 2011
106
7
Vancouver, BC, CA
I tried to replace the screen myself on my iPhone 3G and it worked for about 20 minutes, then the touch stopped working on certain areas of the screen... :( so I had to do the out of warranty replacement for the 3GS which was $60 IIRC.
 

venomgt95

macrumors 6502
May 8, 2014
458
126
Michigan
I tried to replace the screen myself on my iPhone 3G and it worked for about 20 minutes, then the touch stopped working on certain areas of the screen... :( so I had to do the out of warranty replacement for the 3GS which was $60 IIRC.

I ordered my screen off of iFixit. Cost me $44.95 I dont really trust anywhere else other than iFixit, Apple themselves, and iDemigods. They seem to have parts for every Apple device.

http://www.idemigods.com/Default.asp
 

nordique

macrumors 68000
Oct 12, 2014
1,976
1,600
Usually the S model isn't a significant upgrade from the non S models

For me the S models aren't a significant enough internal upgrade to make the switch.

Perhaps not for you, but as C DM stated they are in fact significant tech upgrades.

If one is going from numbered to numbered models, say 3G to 4 to 5 to 6, then that is fine - those all represent big upgrades not only in form factor and feature set, but also case redesign. Those are also big tech jumps imo. Perhaps arguably less so with 6 vs 5, but the 5 vs 4 and 4 vs 3G were significant upgrades.

But that doesn't mean people who choose to upgrade annually or with "S" models aren't getting better phones in their own right.

Where I was coming from, when I bought the 6 was from a 5s. Techwise, the 5s to 6 is a marginal jump. 6 is faster, yes. A8 is faster and more efficient, yes. But minimally so compared to what the A7 was to the A6. I believe Apple in their presentation stated the CPU is only 25% faster? (edit: http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/09/iphone-6-a8-chip/) Which is by no means a generational leap, and for me not worth the 1000$ I spent on launch day. If you are familiar with benchmarks, you'll see the S models are indeed significant tech upgrades

Most often, it is the case-redesigns tend to be marginal techwise (relative to the previous S model): The iPhone 3G was essentially the original iPhone repackaged with a 3G radio. The 4 used essentially the same chipset as the 3GS, only clocked higher and double the ram (and in SOC design I believe) but it was also pushing a Retina display, whereas the 3GS was not.

I suppose the exception here is the iPhone 5, which did bring a very nice tech bump from the 4S (twice as fast I believe) alone with LTE and redesign. But in every other case, I don't think one can say the "S" models are not significant.

The 3GS blew the 3G/OG-iPhone out of the water speed wise when it came out. The 4S had 2x the CPU and up to 7x the graphics power of its predecessor. The 5S brought 64-bit architecture to smart phones and had more than twice the performance in benchmark tests as the 5 did.

Every iphone model, every year comes with feature upgrades so we can disregard that, but look solely at the specs and you will see the S models represent the big jumps tech wise. How else is Apple able to make them appealing to the market if they are not in new cases & form factors?

Not everyone will share the same opinion and that is fine, but I doubt I was the only one disappointed with the minimal tech upgrade the 6/6+ brought. Considering the small performance jump, plus with the same amount of RAM (yet pushing larger, higher res displays - ever notice anyone complain about their 6+ being laggy relative to the 5s?) coupled with the buggy disappointment that was iOS 8, it should not be difficult to understand why many are looking forward to what the 6S may be and also what September has is store

You think your phone is old? Im still using a 3GS as my daily driver. :D Just replaced the screen and soon the battery. (It doesnt quite need a new one yet, but its getting there) That should add another 5+ years to its lifespan ;)

Wow! This is pretty incredible. I have some questions if you don't mind - What has been your experience over these years? Why did you decide not to upgrade? What iOS is it running on? Why the 3GS? How do you find the battery life?

Thank you

I just purchased a 3GS myself, it was still sealed in the box - 8GB but only $72 Canadian! Nice back up phone if need be.
 

venomgt95

macrumors 6502
May 8, 2014
458
126
Michigan
Wow! This is pretty incredible. I have some questions if you don't mind - What has been your experience over these years? Why did you decide not to upgrade? What iOS is it running on? Why the 3GS? How do you find the battery life?

Thank you

I just purchased a 3GS myself, it was still sealed in the box - 8GB but only $72 Canadian! Nice back up phone if need be.

Well, I purchased the phone off Craigslist near the end of January 2014, and the whole time, i really havent had any significant problems. I love every aspect of the phone, sure, i could do with a bigger screen, but hey, you take what you can get right? As for upgrades, i dont really have a choice. Im still in High School and i dont have a job, so i cant afford a newer phone. It's running the newest version compatible (iOS 6.1.6) And i bought the 3GS because it was the only thing i could afford at the time (I traded a 6th Gen nano and 20$ for it) And i have to admit, i made a pretty good deal. I love how the phone feels in my hands. As for the battery, Its basically what youd expect from a nearly 6 year old phone. It works well, but its not the greatest. I plan on getting a new battery within the next year. And if your wondering, its a 16GB. Another thing that makes me love my 3GS, is that despite being as old as it is, it still works 100%! :) :apple:
 

CYKBC

macrumors 6502
Oct 15, 2014
349
173
I'm not such a consumer whore that I get excited for new phone releases. If Apple releases a thinner 5s that keeps things on par ish with the 6 gen? I'll buy it.
 

meistervu

macrumors 65816
Jul 24, 2008
1,027
27
I am always excited for September. Where I live, it's always foggy in the summer until September then we get our summer weather.

Oh wait, iPhone. That's why I am on not on a s cycle. The in between updates doesn't excite me as much as the new models.
 
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rockitdog

macrumors 68030
Mar 25, 2013
2,721
1,238
I'll never understand how someone can or can't be excited by something that doesn't even exist yet.
 

CTHarrryH

macrumors 68030
Jul 4, 2012
2,935
1,431
Doesn't this discussion get old? Anyone? It's the same every single year. The only thing that changes is the text after the word iPhone.

You'll have that one guy who is "still satisfied" with an iPhone from three years ago, and another guy who buys a new phone every three months because he has a disorder with not having the absolute latest piece of glass and plastic. It's so predictable.

And then immediately there will be threads about how bad the new phone is and how bad Apple is since S. J. etc. This will be the most disappointing announcement since the beginning of time, etc. and Apple will sell record numbers (including to me).
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
I'll never understand how someone can or can't be excited by something that doesn't even exist yet.

Or really why/how someones excitement (or lack of it) can or should affect anyone else's excitement (or lack of it) or whatever the new product/service will be.
 

sunking101

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2013
7,416
2,656
For me the S models aren't a significant enough internal upgrade to make the switch.

I usually think that but this year all we really got was a bigger screen (and Apple Pay for whoever really needs that). Everything else was a tiny and incremental update because Apple were wowing us with the screen only.
I expect the 6S to be everything the i6 should have been.
 

C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
I usually think that but this year all we really got was a bigger screen (and Apple Pay for whoever really needs that). Everything else was a tiny and incremental update because Apple were wowing us with the screen only.
I expect the 6S to be everything the i6 should have been.
5 was a fairly similar upgrade compared to the 4S, as realistically was the 4S compared to 3GS.
 

sunking101

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2013
7,416
2,656
5 was a fairly similar upgrade compared to the 4S, as realistically was the 4S compared to 3GS.

The i5 got double the RAM and a bigger screen but yeah, incremental other than that. Considering that the next two generations of iPhone had the same amount of RAM it was quite a big leap IMO. The i5 had the most longevity of any iPhone to date.
 

mpavilion

macrumors 65816
Aug 4, 2014
1,460
1,072
SFV, CA, USA
The non-S models are generally a much smaller internal upgrades from the S models that precede them. So is that to say that no model at all is significant enough of an upgrade?

IMO, for most people's money, it is indeed true that no model at all is worth upgrading from the one immediately preceding it.

(I know many people on here choose to upgrade annually – and I have a real-life friend who has owned every iPhone – and God bless these folks, but they're not upgrading out of necessity.)
 

xlii

macrumors 68000
Sep 19, 2006
1,867
121
Millis, Massachusetts
Smartphones are fast reaching the point where the phone you currently own will be good enough to use for 5 years. The more powerful they become the less likely the average user will see a need to pay for an upgrade.
 
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C DM

macrumors Sandy Bridge
Oct 17, 2011
51,390
19,458
Smartphones are fast reaching the point where the phone you currently own will be good enough to use for 5 years. The more powerful they become the less likely the average user will see a need to pay for an upgrade.
I'm not sure that's very close, as we are really barely there even with computers, and mobile devices are still advancing quite a bit faster. It certainly depends on personal use, but 5 years is probably somewhat long for most, although a few years is certainly pretty much doable even today.
 
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