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

iphone 4 or iphone 5?

S

soulja786

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Hi Guys,

Just found this forum, looks cool 🙂 Hoping to stick around.

I was planning on getting my first iphone (iphone 4) in a week or 2 from cex, but now I'm having second thoughts. Because there are new releases yearly and the iphones are moving really fast, I'm wondering if I should wait or not?

Thing is, I'm already on a contract so I want to buy an unlocked iphone. So when the new one comes I prefer not to be getting it with a contract.
And I am a student, (not having lots of cash 😱 lol) 😛

I know this question must be asked on here a lot of times, but I really need to make a decision .... any opinions??

Oh and ... I am fed up of my low-end android phone 🙁

Thank You for your help guys..
 
at this point id get a 5 but then again, chances are it may be hard to get one for a while (as was the 4 when it was first released)
 
I just picked up another iPhone 4 after trying an android phone. I wanted to make sure to lock in the unlimited Verizon plan as I'm pretty sure they will change their plans before launching the next iPhone.
 
If i get the 4, I won't be replacing it for sometime, so do you think its worth it and won't get outdated as fast? With new ios compatibility and all :/
 
soulja786 said:
If i get the 4, I won't be replacing it for sometime, so do you think its worth it and won't get outdated as fast? With new ios compatibility and all :/
Click to expand...

Shouldn't have any problem with the iPhone for at least 2 years. They have been supporting the 3G and 3Gs even with the 4 being launched. Only the 3G is being left behind with iOS 5. Now if the dual core chip is used I can see some apps specifically games requiring that but other than that I don't see an issue.
 
At this point you'd be paying the same price people were paying a year ago for technology that is now a year old; it's not really good value for you.

If you need an iPhone right now, then by all means, but if you're patient, 3 months wait (which is what it's looking like) will secure you either an iPhone 5 or a cut-price iPhone 4. You'll be getting more for your money, simple as.

Edit: Now that we know the 3GS will support iOS 5, Apple have implicitly stated their policy of giving each iPhone/iPod Touch 3 generations of iOS; the initial version it comes with, plus the following two iterations. The final supported iteration will likely drop some major features. Thus you can expect iPhone 4 to get iOS 6, though how many of the new features will be supported on the 4 is something we can't know until it's announced next year.

The dual core chip is likely to become important when the supported device set includes generations 4, 5 and 6 of iPhone and iPod Touch (assuming the Touch doesn't die off as is being mused). In what form this will limit the 4 no one can know, but on paper it's beginning to look like the iPhone 3G + iOS 4 debacle once again.
 
Last edited:
Biolizard said:
At this point you'd be paying the same price people were paying a year ago for technology that is now a year old; it's not really good value for you.

If you need an iPhone right now, then by all means, but if you're patient, 3 months wait (which is what it's looking like) will secure you either an iPhone 5 or a cut-price iPhone 4. You'll be getting more for your money, simple as.
Click to expand...


Hmm true about paying the same for what is a year old. But the thing is if I waited a couple of months, then the iphone 4 would just get older. .. I don't know its a tough decision :/

Right now I haate my android phone, its soo laggy :/
 
soulja786 said:
If i get the 4, I won't be replacing it for sometime, so do you think its worth it and won't get outdated as fast? With new ios compatibility and all :/
Click to expand...

People forget just how good the iPhone 4 is. How can you talk about it being outdated?! Only relatively speaking (to the 5th gen), because it's a great smartphone.
 
ratzzo said:
People forget just how good the iPhone 4 is. How can you talk about it being outdated?! Only relatively speaking (to the 5th gen), because it's a great smartphone.
Click to expand...

I'm not saying its oudated, but it will be very fast, seeing the speed at whichthe tech industry and esp apple is rolling out its new stuff. As it is at the end if its cycle.
 
soulja786 said:
If i get the 4, I won't be replacing it for sometime, so do you think its worth it and won't get outdated as fast? With new ios compatibility and all :/
Click to expand...

iOS 5 is the last iOS that the iPhone 4 will fully support and compared to the iPhone 5 it may feel out dated, so I would just wait an extra 3 months because no matter what you're paying the same price. Best of luck!
 
bigbro1096 said:
iOS 5 is the last iOS that the iPhone 4 will fully support and compared to the iPhone 5 it may feel out dated, so I would just wait an extra 3 months because no matter what you're paying the same price. Best of luck!
Click to expand...

When did Apple announce that iOS 5 will be the last for the iPhone 4?
 
awadeee said:
"cex" as in cexchange? I heard they're a bunch of crooks bro.
Click to expand...

Yep them. Well here in the UK theu seem ok. .. I'm trading in my ipod touch 2g and a few other extras lying around and paying a lil ontop to get a mint iphone 4.
 
D1G1T4L said:
When did Apple announce that iOS 5 will be the last for the iPhone 4?
Click to expand...

Yep, they didn't. And if we follow the same fashion, the iPhone 4 could very well support iOS 6 (unless they change all their structure to dual core exclusively and we consider iOS5 as a hybrid in transition.. but this is going too far in the future!)
 
If I were you I would wait. But if I was a poor student, I would have other things to worry about. When I went to school I worked just about full-time, I don't get all these posts were people say they're students so they're broke - yet want an iphone.
 
ratzzo said:
Yep, they didn't. And if we follow the same fashion, the iPhone 4 could very well support iOS 6 (unless they change all their structure to dual core exclusively and we consider iOS5 as a hybrid in transition.. but this is going too far in the future!)
Click to expand...

To be honest I do think iOS 6 won't support the iPhone 4 as I'm sure Apple will want to go full dual core but of course this is what I think and have no clue what Apple will do 😛
 
i just answered a similar question so i decided to paste the same thing here..

Short answer: Yes, wait.

Long answer: Those are just the given rumors, an 8MP Camera was leaked by Sony and a faster processor is the A5 Dual Core which the iPad 2 already as. I'm sure there are more than that to a 1year+ few months upgrade to the iPhone. Regardless, waiting is worth it.
Obviously you won't get back what your iPhone 4 is worth now, if you buy it. As soon as news breaks out of the iPhone 5, the iPhone 4 price will drop drastically. You'll probably be paying around $100 more for the iPhone 5 this way.
Look at it logically, why would you get locked up in a contract with a phone that's a year old when a new one will be out in 3 months? Also, you'll be stuck in a 2 year contract so you'll be waiting for the iPhone 7, but with an older phone. The iPhone 5 will probably have a far greater longevity due to the Dual Core. Get your money's worth and wait.
 
I'd say to just get the iPhone 4. The iPhone 5 won't be out for around 3-4 months for a US launch. You're in the UK, which means the launch will be even later. It's normally a month after the US launch, but it could be even longer depending on the demand.

Also, just because the phone gets released in 4-5 months, doesn't mean you'll be able to get one right away. Unless you're willing to stand in a line for hours and hours, it's going to be tough to get your hands on one.

Take that into consideration before making your decision.

You're going to be looking at around a 5 month wait. Can you wait that long?
 
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