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Buy 4S Now or wait for iPhone 5?

Huntn

Huntn

macrumors Penryn
Original poster
May 5, 2008
24,884
27,961
The Misty Mountains
My guess is that this is addressed somewhere here, but what is the normal iphone upgrade cycle? Not counting this 4S, I want to say they usually come out in the summer?

My current contract with Sprint runs out in Feb12. If I thought a new iPhone 5 would come out in the Summer, I'd be willing to wait for it.

Regarding the new iPhones, I see Sprint is offering them for $649, $749, & $849 with a $150 discount if you have an expired contract. Reducing the effective price to $500, $600, & $700. Has this been the going rate for the latest version of iPhones on other carriers? A quick glance seems to indicate that Verizon is offering the new 4S for $199, $299, and $399. I suppose this is because of new competition from Sprint, with the unlimited data or something else?

I seem to remember the first iPhone cost about $500? For some reason I thought they had dropped in price since then. Apparently not... With a contract and 2 year contracts, you'd think the price on such a phone could be lower, but I also realize the concept of supply and demand...

Any input appreciated! :):(
 
Last edited:
All the previous iPhone cycle have been pretty much 12 months. Because of the 'delayed' iPhone 4S release the cycle of the iPhone 4 has been 16 months. If you're planning to buy an iPhone 4S, now is the time to buy. You'll enjoy it for a full year.
 
buy now, unless you really want to wait for a year.

The thing about iPhones are that if you sell at the right time you can just about double what you paid so no real reason to wait.
 
Also, there will likely never be an iPhone 5. The next iPhone will be the iPhone 6.

When Steve announced the iPhone 4 with the name he followed it up with an explanation by saying "the fourth generation iPhone".

Therefore:
iPhone = 1
iPhone 3G = 2
iPhone 3GS = 3
iPhone 4 = 4
iPhone 4S = 5
iPhone 6 = 6

"Introducing iPhone 6, the sixth generation iPhone"
 
Wow. It NEVER surprises me when someone asks this question.......But its usually 9 months AFTER the phone is released.
 
Thanks for the well meaning replies. :p to the rest of you. I thought it was a reasonable question for someone who is not iphone knowledgeable. I'll be waiting until Feb in any case. :)
 
I'm getting the 4S, and i plan to sell it to get the iPhone 5 prior to the next launch. The reason being that i'm a tech obsessive anyway, and don't mind paying another £100 to get the latest and greatest phone once a year.

As long as you know how to look after your devices then buying and selling once a year can work great, if you get the timing right. For instance selling your phone after the next in line has been announced usually results in a drop in resale value for the last generation, so it's a bit of a risk sometimes.
 
normal world

normally, we would have thought to see the iphone 6 in june/july 2012, what with this new Fall release schedule. I'm not so sure of that.

second, I actually think that we MIGHT get a new ipod TOUCH in the form factor of the things we have seen, the tear drop shape, larger screen, etc., and NOT a new iphone in that shape YET.

I really don't think there will be an iphone 6 in June 2012, MAYBE October 2012, but then that would be a normal 12 month release schedule.

I DO think that THIS is the THE PHONE that was to be released now and not something else. It makes sense, do TWO revisions on the same platform, add features to the same platform (this has been auto and other industry practice for years) and THEN do a model revision.
 
tivoboy said:
I really don't think there will be an iphone 6 in June 2012, MAYBE October 2012, but then that would be a normal 12 month release schedule.
Click to expand...

I don't think it'll be June/July either. But I also don't think it'll be another 16 months.

They wouldn't wait until after Christmas. So it has to be by Oct/November 2012.
 
Remind me again why they would call the sixth generation iPhone the iPhone 5?
 
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