Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

First time iPhone user need buying advice (4s or 5)?

S

syurza

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 27, 2012
11
0
Hey everyone, hope it's ok to post this here.

I have a BB9700 and I've been looking to get an iphone since March since I like all the features it has and I also have an ipad2 which I want to use the hotspot feature with.

I was holding out on the 4S to get the 5 and it's been a long wait. Problem now is that I live in a rural area and every store within 1000 km of me has a waitlist for the iPhone 5 of 100 people or more. Since it's very rural here and the demand is so high I have a feeling it's going to be a real long wait on top of the already long wait that I've had.

So, I've started looking at the 4S on kijiji in my area and I found a 32gb for $400. It's locked to another network and I have no idea how easy it'd be to get that unlocked. It's locked to TELUS and I'd need it switched to Bell.

Any ideas? Should I go for the 4S or wait for another 1-2, or maybe more months for the 5? Seems like the stores here have only gotten in 4-5 Iphone 5's at a time and the managers and workers have claimed them all and I'm realllllly getting sick of my BB.

Thanks!!!!!
 
I would wait for the 5.

Why can't you place an order for delivery? I can't imagine it'd be more than 3-4 weeks wait.
 
Visit your local apple store and compare them side by side and take time to play around with the working demo models.

Have a talk with co workers , family and friends who use these models to gain more insight.

Both models have pro's and con's !
 
I wouldn't mess with attempting to unlock a locked, used iPhone 4S.

Just order the iPhone 5 online. You'll probably get it faster than waiting for your local stores to stock it.
 
syurza said:
Hey everyone, hope it's ok to post this here.

I have a BB9700 and I've been looking to get an iphone since March since I like all the features it has and I also have an ipad2 which I want to use the hotspot feature with.

I was holding out on the 4S to get the 5 and it's been a long wait. Problem now is that I live in a rural area and every store within 1000 km of me has a waitlist for the iPhone 5 of 100 people or more. Since it's very rural here and the demand is so high I have a feeling it's going to be a real long wait on top of the already long wait that I've had.

So, I've started looking at the 4S on kijiji in my area and I found a 32gb for $400. It's locked to another network and I have no idea how easy it'd be to get that unlocked. It's locked to TELUS and I'd need it switched to Bell.

Any ideas? Should I go for the 4S or wait for another 1-2, or maybe more months for the 5? Seems like the stores here have only gotten in 4-5 Iphone 5's at a time and the managers and workers have claimed them all and I'm realllllly getting sick of my BB.

Thanks!!!!!
Click to expand...

Personally I'd wait it out. In a year the 4s (a still very capable phone) will be two years old. When iOS7 comes out, there will likely be something that won't be supported, plus you'll be a year lower in the resale market if you wanted to sell and upgrade. Ultimately the choice boils down to how much you want the 5 vs the 4s and how much patience you have. :)
I can't help with the unlock issue with those carriers. Best of luck.
 
Thanks for the fast responses! If I were to order I'd have to get it thru apple.ca and I didn't really want to drop $1000 on a phone, but I might have to.

Where it is so rural here there are only 2 main competitors, that being telus and bell, and they are both very similar so that's why I was just going to renew my contract with bell and get the 5 for cheaper, or buy a 4S off of kijiji and get the 5S? 6? next year perhaps, and renew my contract then instead.

But if the 5 is worth getting it unlocked from apple I'll definitely consider it, especially if it gets here sooner.

No demo models in the Bell stores here and no Apple store on the island at all so I'm out of luck with comparing the two :(.

and thanks scaredpoet. Where I have no experience at all with unlocking and am very unfamiliar with the iphone itself I knew I might just be wasting my money trying it. So thanks for the advice on the unlocking part.
 
Last edited:
BlueKhufu said:
Personally I'd wait it out. In a year the 4s (a still very capable phone) will be two years old. When iOS7 comes out, there will likely be something that won't be supported, plus you'll be a year lower in the resale market if you wanted to sell and upgrade. Ultimately the choice boils down to how much you want the 5 vs the 4s and how much patience you have. :)
I can't help with the unlock issue with those carriers. Best of luck.
Click to expand...



This is true too, never really thought about it. I guess I could get a high percentage of whatever I pay for the 5 now back next year if it's unlocked and I took good care of it? Like I said I'm not really familiar with iPhones but they seem to hold their value very well.
 
syurza said:
This is true too, never really thought about it. I guess I could get a high percentage of whatever I pay for the 5 now back next year if it's unlocked and I took good care of it? Like I said I'm not really familiar with iPhones but they seem to hold their value very well.
Click to expand...

In my experience I have been able to get more than the subsidized cost of the phone two years after purchase to pay for an upgrade. My wife and I each have a phone on a two year contract, one year apart. Each year we can upgrade one of them to the new version, essentially for free. I don't know about your market or subsidized pricing, so I can't tell you if it's the same, but look around and see what used iPhones are selling for after one year vs two.
 
syurza said:
Thanks for the fast responses! If I were to order I'd have to get it thru apple.ca and I didn't really want to drop $1000 on a phone, but I might have to.

Where it is so rural here there are only 2 main competitors, that being telus and bell, and they are both very similar so that's why I was just going to renew my contract with bell and get the 5 for cheaper, or buy a 4S off of kijiji and get the 5S? 6? next year perhaps, and renew my contract then instead.

But if the 5 is worth getting it unlocked from apple I'll definitely consider it, especially if it gets here sooner.

No demo models in the Bell stores here and no Apple store on the island at all so I'm out of luck with comparing the two :(.

and thanks scaredpoet. Where I have no experience at all with unlocking and am very unfamiliar with the iphone itself I knew I might just be wasting my money trying it. So thanks for the advice on the unlocking part.
Click to expand...

Syurza,

I decided to go with a 4s off kijiji (Telus unlocked to work with my Rogers sim). The early cancel fee for my contract is basically the same price as a used 4s. I will ride out the rest of my contract on the 4s and upgrade next year with no extra fees. I will sell the 4s then and I figure I at least recoup some of my cost unlike if I was just to pay the early cancel fee for a 5 now. Don't be scared of a Telus phone, just get the seller to unlock it with Telus for the $50 and you both will be happy.
 
In my opinion, if you don't have an iPhone yet, get the 5. You mine as well get the most up to date phone if you're going to be on a 2 year contract.

If you already had a 4S I would say DON'T upgrade. Doing some side by side tests of my 4S vs 5, I really don't think it's that much better of a phone than the 4S, besides the increased screen size, lighter frame and LTE. My 4S is plenty fast for me. Plus, I only upgrade every 2 years, and I'm not eligible to upgrade until fall 2013, so the 5S will be my next iPhone.

I really don't understand why people who went from the 4S to the 5 say that it was a huge upgrade. It really isn't. The 5 is a great phone, but the most notable differences are the physical changes. Internally, it doesn't blow me away enough to leave my 4S at this point in time. Plus, I really prefer the build/quality of the 4S. It just feels more solid.
 
Darmok said:
Syurza,

I decided to go with a 4s off kijiji (Telus unlocked to work with my Rogers sim). The early cancel fee for my contract is basically the same price as a used 4s. I will ride out the rest of my contract on the 4s and upgrade next year with no extra fees. I will sell the 4s then and I figure I at least recoup some of my cost unlike if I was just to pay the early cancel fee for a 5 now. Don't be scared of a Telus phone, just get the seller to unlock it with Telus for the $50 and you both will be happy.
Click to expand...


If I had it unlocked, would it stay unlocked? Or when I bring it to Bell would it turn "locked to Bell" sort of deal, if that makes any sense.

With the Iphone 5 screen being larger, does that mean all new apps aren't going to "fit" on the 4S screen? Or will there still be support for that?
 
syurza said:
If I had it unlocked, would it stay unlocked? Or when I bring it to Bell would it turn "locked to Bell" sort of deal, if that makes any sense.

With the Iphone 5 screen being larger, does that mean all new apps aren't going to "fit" on the 4S screen? Or will there still be support for that?
Click to expand...

I don't think a carrier can lock an unlocked phone. And the biggest advantage of the 5 over the 4S is the speed of LTE. If you can determine that you are covered by LTE, I would recommend the 5. LTE makes a huge difference. The screen size difference is really immaterial.
 
Blorzoga said:
I don't think a carrier can lock an unlocked phone. And the biggest advantage of the 5 over the 4S is the speed of LTE. If you can determine that you are covered by LTE, I would recommend the 5. LTE makes a huge difference. The screen size difference is really immaterial.
Click to expand...

LTE would be a HUGE selling point. The Bell map right now shows that Toronto and Halifax and a couple of metros are the only real areas covered. Considering that NFLD usually gets the crappy end of things I'm not expecting LTE to be brought to rural NFLD anytime soon, but I don't do research on this stuff either so who knows.

I guess the lack of being in an area that has LTE has a lot to do with why I can't make up my mind on this one. But I'm really appreciating all these responses so far, they're all valuable and add something new, and surely gets me thinking.
 
syurza said:
LTE would be a HUGE selling point. The Bell map right now shows that Toronto and Halifax and a couple of metros are the only real areas covered. Considering that NFLD usually gets the crappy end of things I'm not expecting LTE to be brought to rural NFLD anytime soon, but I don't do research on this stuff either so who knows.

I guess the lack of being in an area that has LTE has a lot to do with why I can't make up my mind on this one. But I'm really appreciating all these responses so far, they're all valuable and add something new, and surely gets me thinking.
Click to expand...

Without LTE, I believe the 4 S has the same speed capabilities as the 5.
 
Blorzoga said:
And the biggest advantage of the 5 over the 4S is the speed of LTE... The screen size difference is really immaterial.
Click to expand...
I disagree.
To recount. The iPhone 5 is a completely new device. It has a larger screen, yet lighter, thinner. It is MUCH faster than the 4S (2-3x). It supports LTE, 5ghz wifi, faster versions of 3G data. Audio quality is improved with 3 mics.

Apps are and will be updated to support the larger screen. The phone is only slightly taller.

In general, Apple updates devices so infrequently that its the best deal is when a device is first introduced. Over time it becomes more outdated for the same price. iPhone 5 is one of the fastest if not the fastest phone available.

The $100 price difference is negligible vs. the cost of phone service of 2 years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back