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has anyone returned their 5s and gone back to 5?

thadoggfather

thadoggfather

macrumors P6
Original poster
Oct 1, 2007
16,345
17,464
just curious.

it seems like most of you are saying its a nice upgrade, but not substantial for the most part. of course, with the right situations, it can make sense: have yearly upgrades, buy unsubsidized to hand the 5 down to the wife, etc.

Seems like it'd be burning an upgrade or spending too much out of pocket for people who are going to be in the market for a 6 for the most part.

And I played with one a bit. But this might just be my personal experience, and my jailbreak requirement :D

side by side, my 5 felt WAY faster. Of course it isn't in benchmarks, but the way I have mine tweaked, it was just preferable. And I didn't want to use an upgrade and I didn't want to sell my 5 32 thats a bit scuffed for who knows what and pay like 400-500 out of pocket for a contract free one for a bit better cam and a faster cpu that I feel like will be taken advantage of by the time iOS 8 and iPhone 6 are out.

The camera was nice and fast shutter, and I look forward to those improvements plus hopefully some more with the next iteration (like good lighting shots to be significantly better, for example). I'm going to be a bit let down if the 6 has the same exact camera, because for holding out two generations I want more, but I could definitely see it playing out that way. And A7 is nice, but I'm not a gamer or media editor on my phone.

Didn't even bother using the fingerprint because I'm apprehensive of such a thing, and I don't want a passcode on my phone that I have to enter when my fingers are wet or have crumbs on them. Even when I get my next iPhone that will have it built in, it will be something I don't use.

And I didn't like the color choices: silver/white is nice and same with gold/white but I don't like the white front and the grey back looks boring to me and the chamfered edge too distracting. My slate is what I love. I hope with the 6, along with a re-design, I get an option that I'm really crazy about.

And, I hope with the 6 the cell radio is different for a power efficiency boost, and because of re-design, battery is physically bigger as well as screen, that would take care of all my issues, and maybe new silicone to make it more efficient too. That would put the 5s (and the 5) and all previous iPhones in the dirt. All these things seem inevitable, and soon. Sure the 5s is on fire with sales right now, but I think it's going to die down sooner rather than later, and hopefully Apple releases the 6 a bit before the full year is up, if for no other reason, I can get a head start on jailbreak progress waiting for my 10/2014 upgrade :D 4S sales were awesome too, but people definitely lost excitement over it and demand tapered off as people were drooling for a 5.

Don't flame me, this is just one man's opinion. I've also had and jailbroken every iteration. I was going to skip the 4S, but I got a great craigslist trade of my 4 jailbroken and cash for a 4S stock that I had to wait all of 2 weeks before I got Absinthe. But it was tough to return the 5s, because I had one with a good screen and I know if I was in the market, that'd probably be my only chance to snag one without interlacing.

But I'm really satisfied with my 5, I guess is the reason I ultimately didn't upgrade.
 
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Mine is basically lost within the ups network so I just emailed my apple contact and asked to cancel the entire order. So to answer your question, yeah, me. :)
 
Since you wrote such a long post to justify this, you should probably not upgrade to the fantastic superior 5s.
 
only got the 5s cause lost the 5 weeks before launch. if someone finds my 5 and returns to me I would return the 5s. touchId is great when it works, I have disabled it, worked well for the 1st weekend, its less than half the time now too much hassle.
can't comment on speed diff as I lost the 5 before it got ios 7.
 
Gotta admit.... tldr

but to answer the title question -- yes, I did. I usually take our staggered, annual upgrade and just pass along my old whatever to my wife. This time around, I ordered me a space grey 64 5s but swapped it for a 32 silver instead. I gotta admit, the white/silver combo looks so good!

Just wasn't enough of an upgrade once I got to thinking/reading about it. My wife will USE the camera and will USE the fingerprint scanner.... I would use them, but not appreciate them the same... so 5 it is.

The way I see it -- the OG home button is now gone.... I get to hang on to this legacy feature for *that* much longer ;)
 
I wasn't able to find the color I wanted on launch, and held off on buying what was available (just Space Grey). However, after over a week of reading the forums and actually playing with the 5 at the carrier and Apple stores, my interest has slightly waned.

In a year, I'll be able to pick one up with my high capacity requirement for $100 less, but also have the option to look into the 6 at a full upgrade subsidy. So, now the hype has died down in me, I think I might probably hold off another year with my jailbroken 5. ;)


Also, I just discovered the amazingness of tempered glass screen protectors, which seem to have breathed new life into my phone. I've always relied on skins, but true glass is just so pure and nice to touch. I will be stockpiling..
 
I haven't actually returned a 5s but, as an iPhone 4 owner, I wanted to upgrade so I went into my local Apple store and had a long play with the 5s. The only really big feature that struck me was how much thinner and lighter it was compared to my 4 and I realised that I could get that feature from a 5 so I changed my plan and instead of ordering a 5s I went and got an as-new 5 from eBay to keep me going until the 6 comes out next year. I'm very happy with my decision.

I also didn't like any of the 5s colour schemes so being able to get the 5 in slate/black was another big attraction of going for a 5 as well, plus I saved about $300 vs getting a new 5s.

- Julian
 
If you had a 5, bought the 5S and then returned the 5S as it didn't perform up to your expectations then sorry you are a fool. Everyone knew going into it exactly what they would be getting with the 5S over the 5 especially those that post on Macrumors.

I knew full well what I was getting into when I went from the 5 to the 5S and I have no regrets about it what so ever, I love the improvements to the camera, the fingerprint scanner is convenient and the speed increase is noticeable especially with web browsing.
 
jaseone said:
If you had a 5, bought the 5S and then returned the 5S as it didn't perform up to your expectations then sorry you are a fool. Everyone knew going into it exactly what they would be getting with the 5S over the 5 especially those that post on Macrumors.

I knew full well what I was getting into when I went from the 5 to the 5S and I have no regrets about it what so ever, I love the improvements to the camera, the fingerprint scanner is convenient and the speed increase is noticeable especially with web browsing.
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That's what a return policy is for, dude.

And before you say it's driving up prices of Apple products, no it isn't.

Apple is the force that does such a thing.
 
I didnt intend on upgrading from 5 to 5s but my Sprint guy offered me free activation and roughly $100 to early upgrade so I did it.

But after a few days I'm regretting it. Its a great phone but despite all these speed claims by people then the phone doesnt actually "feel" any different than a 5 running iOS7. But the biggest disappointment to me is that the battery life still is horrible. Just like with the 5, I'm having to "cripple" it by disabling key features or avoiding usage just to ensure I make it past 3PM.

I love the 5 and I feel the 5s improves on it. But for 5 users then waiting a gen makes sense because by the time the iPhone 6 is out then TouchID or 64bit will get more app support (hopefully) Apple will start caring about giving us enough battery life to use the features that they advertise.

(BTW. I havent gone back to 5 yet. The big upgrade to me is the camera so i want to give it a few good location tests before I decide whats best for me)
 
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thadoggfather said:
That's what a return policy is for, dude.
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Anyone reading these forums should know exactly what they are getting with the 5S over the 5 so to me they are abusing the return policy and keeping phones out of people's hands that actually want the phone.

And before you say it's driving up prices of Apple products, no it isn't.

Apple is the force that does such a thing.
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When did I say anything about price?
 
Honestly I'm not one of those upgrade to the new iPhone every year people. So no I will not be going back to my non-existent 5. Lol.

I jumped here from an iPhone 4 and am, of course, pleased with the new phone. Not sure if it's worth it for 5 people. But 4 or 4S people for sure.
 
Yup. Just couldn't bring myself to get used to the fast CPU and improved camera.
 
I will not go from my iPhone 5s to the iPhone 5, because my iPhone 5 broke prompting the upgrade.
 
jaseone said:
Anyone reading these forums should know exactly what they are getting with the 5S over the 5 so to me they are abusing the return policy and keeping phones out of people's hands that actually want the phone.



When did I say anything about price?
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Buyers remorse isn't abusing the policy, that's one of the things it covers. The Apple salesperson asked why i was returning, I said it wasn't much different than the 5. She didn't say anything and didn't seem bothered by it in the slightest

It's lack of supply that's causing people to not get phones, not people who have cold feet.
 
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