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Differences between iPhone 4 and 5s?

H

heycal

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jul 25, 2013
873
28
I've never had an iphone before, but am intrigued by them. My daughter is upgrading to the 5S tomorrow, so I thought I'd try out her old iphone 4 for awhile and see how I like it, and then maybe get a 5S or a 6 myself in a few months if iphone agrees with me.

Realizing that I can't properly compare the experiences of using an older iphone 4 with a new 5S -- let alone a 6 -- what are the main differences in terms of features and use between the 4 and the 5S (other than size)? I don't want to unfairly judge the 5S based on a presumably inferior product in the 4, nor would I would I want to fall in love with some feature on the 4 only to realize the 5S got rid of it or something.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?
 
the 5s has a finger print scanner, a better camera, a larger screen with better colors, it's thinner, lighter, faster, LTE, 1080p video recording, slow mo recording, True Tone flash and that's all i can think of right now haha
 
I had a 4...switched to a 5S for work. Then work took all phones back...now on my old 4.

The iPhone 4 is/has:
slower
smaller
more rounded/concave home button
30-pin Connector

the iPhone 4 doesn't have:
1080 HD video
Super Slo-Mo
Live Filters
Touch ID/flatter home button
Siri
LTE
Lightning Port
speed-shooting with native camera app
as bright a display
extra row of icons

the 5S has everything the 4 has and more...lots more in speed alone.


My Home button on the iPhone 4 is starting to not work all the time. I generally hit the power on/off button to wake the phone. sometimes double-clicking the home button to close out apps doesn't work and with the 4 you need to close out apps more often.
If this was January, I'd just buy a 5S now and be happy. However, I feel we are a few months away from a new phone release and I will "deal" with what I have now. and hope I can get the new phone sooner than later.

The iPhone 4 can be a VERY good smartphone for somebody today as long as you don't have a 2013-2014 phone already. the iPhone 4 is like DSL compared to an old 56k modem...the 5S is like having cable or Fios internet. guessing future phones will be like have a T1 or better internet speed.
 
The 4 can't do turn-by-turn nav in Apple's Maps app, doesn't have Siri, can't do Air Drop, notification and control center don't have the same transparency effect, and probably some other things that I'm forgetting.
 
Well in advance welcome to iPhone, enjoy your stay it's a very good os and the iPhone 4 is where I started last June. Never looked back.

Got the iPhone 4 until upgraded in November (forced to) and love it! I can't see myself going back to android for some time..
 
Thanks, everyone. I appreciate the information. I will probably start using this phone over the weekend and I'll see how it feels.
 
Any difference in how the keyboard looks and operates between the 4 and the latest models?

Actually, I think the answer must be yes in at least one respect: the guy at the Apple store said the reason his keyboard on his 5 looked slightly bolder (and better imo) than the display ones in the store was because he had the latest update to IOS 7 or whatever while the store models did not.
 
heycal said:
Any difference in how the keyboard looks and operates between the 4 and the latest models?

Actually, I think the answer must be yes in at least one respect: the guy at the Apple store said the reason his keyboard on his 5 looked slightly bolder (and better imo) than the display ones in the store was because he had the latest update to IOS 7 or whatever while the store models did not.
Click to expand...

iOS 7.1 included some changes that made the text on the keyboards bolder. However, 7.1 is available for the iPhone 4 just the same as it is for the 5s, so in that respect there is no difference in the keyboards between devices.
 
Knowing others experience with iOS 7.1.1 with iphone 4 that is very positive (fast, optimize, etc), you should try to update the phone (if you haven't already). And I still think the experience would be more or less the same as with iphone 5, 5s with the 4.
 
Just got the phone today and started playing around with some. I'm installing the update now on your guys' recommendation. This will change or improve things some way or another?

Is there really no speed dial on this phone?? Very reliant on that with LG Lucid android, and my previous phones. My daughter says the Favorites tab is the workaround for this, but that seems a bit cumebersome.

But more importantly, if I follow that advice and set up 10 favorites or whatever, won't that create some issues? Namely, when it comes to setting up the "do not disturb" feature, how can I get it to allow calls though from 2 specific favorites but not any of others? I don't see any way to refine my choices in this area. If there's no way around this, I don't see how I can realistically use both favorites and the do not disturb feature, can I?

Hopefully I'm not understanding something here...
 
Last edited:
heycal said:
Just got the phone today and started playing around with some. I'm installing the update now on your guys' recommendation. This will change or improve things some way or another?

Is there really no speed dial on this phone?? Very reliant on that with LG Lucid android, and my previous phones. My daughter says the Favorites tab is the workaround for this, but that seems a bit cumebersome.

But more importantly, if I follow that advice and set up 10 favorites or whatever, won't that create some issues? Namely, when it comes to setting up the "do not disturb" feature, how can I get it to allow calls though from 2 specific favorites but not any of others? I don't see any way to refine my choices in this area. If there's no way around this, I don't see how I can realistically use both favorites and the do not disturb feature, can I?

Hopefully I'm not understanding something here...
Click to expand...
That's how Favorites work and how they can relate to Do Not Disturb. You can try getting an app that would let you create a list or icons for frequently dialed or messaged contacts and you can use that for those purposes and perhaps Favorites for Do Not Disturb type of purposes.
 
C DM said:
That's how Favorites work and how they can relate to Do Not Disturb. You can try getting an app that would let you create a list or icons for frequently dialed or messaged contacts and you can use that for those purposes and perhaps Favorites for Do Not Disturb type of purposes.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I may look into this. But is this really how you iphone guys live -- with no real speed dial, and thus, also a not very functional do not disturb feature?

I can't be the only one who wants an easy way to dial frequent contacts/favorites while also allowing a select 2 or 3 of those frequent contacts/favorites to be able to reach me at any hour, can I?
 
heycal said:
Thanks, I may look into this. But is this really how you iphone guys live -- with no real speed dial, and thus, also a not very functional do not disturb feature?

I can't be the only one who wants an easy way to dial frequent contacts/favorites while also allowing a select 2 or 3 of those frequent contacts/favorites to be able to reach me at any hour, can I?
Click to expand...
The Favorites work fine as a quick dial feature. As for Do Not Disturb, that's more of a recent feature that came in iOS 6 and quite a few people don't even use it, and quite a few of those that do will generally either not let any calls go through at all or are OK with any of the Favorites in calling them. Of course more control is always desired by some, and would be welcomed in general, but for most it seems like it's not an issue, and just for some an inconvenience perhaps.
 
differences between iphone 4 and 5S?

There's a lot of differences...

1. The Design
2. Camera (5 MP vs 8 MP, single led vs true tone flash, glass vs sapphire crystal)
3. Screen size
4. Speed (iOS 7 flies on the 5S)
5. Lightning connector
 
heycal said:
Any difference in how the keyboard looks and operates between the 4 and the latest models?



Actually, I think the answer must be yes in at least one respect: the guy at the Apple store said the reason his keyboard on his 5 looked slightly bolder (and better imo) than the display ones in the store was because he had the latest update to IOS 7 or whatever while the store models did not.
Click to expand...


There are differences between the keyboards. I think the backround behind the keys is a little lighter on the 5s vs 4
 
C DM said:
The Favorites work fine as a quick dial feature. As for Do Not Disturb, that's more of a recent feature that came in iOS 6 and quite a few people don't even use it, and quite a few of those that do will generally either not let any calls go through at all or are OK with any of the Favorites in calling them. Of course more control is always desired by some, and would be welcomed in general, but for most it seems like it's not an issue, and just for some an inconvenience perhaps.
Click to expand...

I don't really care "if quite a few people don't use it". Quite a few people don't text or make calls, and those are pretty important features to others. To me, a practical and usuable DND that can allow a few select callers to get through to me while I am sleeping is a highly important feature, and more important to me than, say, having a camera.

So basically it sounds like if I want to continue using an iphone, I must choose between the DND feature and the speed dial workaround known as favorities?

Wow… that is a major bummer. There's a lot to like about iphone, but its things like this that may drive me nuts and send me back to Android if I can't find adequate solutions.



richwoodrocket said:
There are differences between the keyboards. I think the backround behind the keys is a little lighter on the 5s vs 4
Click to expand...

Maybe it's psychological, but the software update I just did seems to make the keyboard a bit bolder and easier to see.
 
Anyone know how I turn off this swoosh sound when sending a text? I don't want to hear that, and I assume it can't be doing the battery any favors either. I checked sound settings, but there didn't seem to be anything pertaining to this specifically.
 
heycal said:
Anyone know how I turn off this swoosh sound when sending a text? I don't want to hear that, and I assume it can't be doing the battery any favors either. I checked sound settings, but there didn't seem to be anything pertaining to this specifically.
Click to expand...

If you're referring to the swoosh sound when sending an email, you can select 'None' in 'Sent Mail' under the sounds settings. However, if you're talking about the messages app then no, you can't turn it off. If I remember correctly though the messages app doesn't have the swoosh sound.
 
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