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iPhone 4 or something else?

T

TheWalrus

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Aug 13, 2009
26
0
I've had the 3G for about 2 years and its now slow due to the current software being more suited to the iPhone 4, so sadly it's time to upgrade but what to? The fact that a new software release means any iPhone that is not the latest will not run as efficiently, so a 4 could be great until a new OS comes out and then it's back to where I started!

So should I consider something like an HTC? I've loved my iPhone and have many apps, cables and accessory's so any change would be a hassle but an HTC can change a battery or add a bigger memory card etc and I don't believe that they suffer the same software issues I'm going through with OS4 on the 3G...but no idea if that's true!

So tell me wise collective, WTF should I do?
 
Well you could wait for the 4s/5. Then you'd have good performance for about a year until the 5/6 comes out in 2012.
 
TheWalrus said:
I've had the 3G for about 2 years and its now slow due to the current software being more suited to the iPhone 4, so sadly it's time to upgrade but what to? The fact that a new software release means any iPhone that is not the latest will not run as efficiently, so a 4 could be great until a new OS comes out and then it's back to where I started!

So should I consider something like an HTC? I've loved my iPhone and have many apps, cables and accessory's so any change would be a hassle but an HTC can change a battery or add a bigger memory card etc and I don't believe that they suffer the same software issues I'm going through with OS4 on the 3G...but no idea if that's true!

So tell me wise collective, WTF should I do?
Click to expand...

Wise collective? You do know this is MacRumors, right?

Go to an AT&T store and try the different phones. Notable alternatives are WP7 and Android. Depends on what you want out of a phone.
 
I want out if a phone everything I've been able to get from the iPhone but it's the software issue that annoys me. If I hadn't upgraded to OS4 I'd be fine but I did and not sure how to downgrade to OS3.

So I suppose I could get the 4 (there's a 4s on the way?? When?) and NOT upgrade to any new software...???
 
TheWalrus said:
I've had the 3G for about 2 years and its now slow due to the current software being more suited to the iPhone 4, so sadly it's time to upgrade but what to? The fact that a new software release means any iPhone that is not the latest will not run as efficiently, so a 4 could be great until a new OS comes out and then it's back to where I started!

So should I consider something like an HTC? I've loved my iPhone and have many apps, cables and accessory's so any change would be a hassle but an HTC can change a battery or add a bigger memory card etc and I don't believe that they suffer the same software issues I'm going through with OS4 on the 3G...but no idea if that's true!

So tell me wise collective, WTF should I do?
Click to expand...
Hey buddy, i'm in the same boat.
I have my iPhone 3G from the first day it was released. So it's been over 2 years and i also have iOS 4.2.1 installed, so i know how laggy and slow it feels. Especially compared to the iPhone 4 which everybody has.
Well i jailbroke mine and sped it up and now it's running fast enough to function, but not as fast as an iPhone 4.

I'm planning on waiting for 4 months until the iPhone 5 get's announced and i'll be buying the new iPhone in July.

I can understand that you feel that if you buy the iPhone 4, that the iOS 5 update will completely slow down your phone just like the iOS 4 update did to your iPhone 3G.
But i'll tell you that the original iPhone and iPhone 3G have more similarities than any iPhone.
I.e the iPhone 3GS had super fast chips, and the iPhone 4 has even more faster ones.
The iPhone 5 is set out to have a dual-core processor so it'll be much faster than the iPhone 4, but the iPhone 4 will still be very much usable, more than the 3GS. So don't worry about it, regardless of what your plan is.
My advice is to wait it out, you won't be disappointed.
 
Last edited:
With but a few exceptions I time my purchases to occur as new models are released.

It's especially easy with Apple as they self promote with carefully orchestrated leaks of info.

There are no genuine leaks, all Apple generated, cloak & dagger style
 
Thanks guys.

Shine, I'm in Australia so not sure if the iPhone 5 will be out that soon? But if it was I'd definitely wait. Would jailbreaking mine ease the pain of the slowness? If yes how do I do that? Also someone suggested downgrading the software to OS3...any ideas how to do that without losing all data on the phone?
 
TheWalrus said:
Thanks guys.

Shine, I'm in Australia so not sure if the iPhone 5 will be out that soon? But if it was I'd definitely wait. Would jailbreaking mine ease the pain of the slowness? If yes how do I do that? Also someone suggested downgrading the software to OS3...any ideas how to do that without losing all data on the phone?
Click to expand...

TheWalrus, do you know when the iPhone 4 was released in Australia? It'll probably be around that date.
But for sure the iPhone 5 will be announced in about 4 months, so it's really not so far away.

Regarding jailbreaking, I sent you a PM.
I would not downgrade the software to iOS 3.1.3, what i did works just fine. Also, jailbreaking it won't make you lose the data, however if you restore from a jailbreak then you will lose your data. So make sure it's somehow backed up!
 
Keep in mind the iPhone 3G was released with virtually the same internal hardware as the original iPhone and with iOS2. So it ran for two iOS cycles on already year old hardware.

The iPhone 4 is less than a year old and has the most forward thinking specs that Apple has put in a phone to date (remember that they doubled the iPad's ram).

Going off this, iOS5 will not kill the iPhone 4 just as iOS3 didn't kill the 3G. You would have at least until iOS6 if not further.

The problem you would run into moving to android would be similar in a different way (strange I know but here me out). Android manufacturers are notorious for slow or non existent updates. Unless you own one of the Nexus phones you're completely at the mercy of the manufacturer as to when you can upgrade (unless you root and install custom roms but you don't seem like the type). At least with apple you know you'll be able to upgrade right away (I would suggest waiting a week to ease download times as well as see if the new software hurts your performance).

Also new android phones are coming out every week, making the last one look old. It makes it hard to keep up.
 
TheWalrus said:
So should I consider something like an HTC?
Click to expand...

My advice is do your homework. Make sure the apps you want/need are available on android.

If you're pretty much ingrained in the apple eco-system, i.e., own a mac, have lots of music in itunes etc. You're going to work harder to get to the point where you're currently at. For instance, syncing music with your iPhone is fairly easy on the iPhone. Syncing your itunes music to android phone requires a third party app, and so far I've been pretty much disappointed with what's out there. The most popular choice doubletwist doesn't work well. I'm using salling media sync currently and that's ok.

Also consider the learning curve, it take a while to learn the idiosyncrasies of android. It took me a good month to see how powerful it is.

All in all, android can be a good choice, but the iPhone also offers some great advantages, especially if you're already on the platform and have a decent investment in software/hardware.
 
Wait out the iPhone 5.. Go back and look and see how long where the launch dates between the US launch and Australia.. Im guessing maybe 2 weeks...

The iPhone 4 wont be killed by software updates if u decide to go ahead and purchase it.. Look at the 3gs.. its handling ios4 pretty smoothly. And the iphone 4 has a faster processor and more ram.. I think that the 4 could actually last all the way up ios7 before the phone is unusable..

i think that by moving to Android will be one of the worst mistakes you may make.. Theirs always new phones coming out.. Making you wish you had waited. Then theirs the new google software that comes out.. and you have to wait 6 months after the release to get it and by the time u get it the next update is out. But unfortunately thats the end of the road. because HTC and others arent going to keep spending money and resources on a sale that they already made.. So your going to be stuck using an outdated OS.. and eventually you wont be able to download some apps cuz your phone is to outdated..
 
TheWalrus said:
I don't believe that they suffer the same software issues I'm going through with OS4 on the 3G...but no idea if that's true!
Click to expand...

gigapocket1 said:
Then theirs the new google software that comes out.. and you have to wait 6 months after the release to get it and by the time u get it the next update is out. But unfortunately thats the end of the road.
Click to expand...

Yea it would certainly fix the OP's problem with software updates if no updates were available. The iPhone 4's hardware seems powerful and if you buy an iPhone 4 now it should run great for a long time. Even the 3GS is a nice bump from the 3G and in my opinion runs the current iOS great.
 
TheWalrus said:
I've had the 3G for about 2 years and its now slow due to the current software being more suited to the iPhone 4, so sadly it's time to upgrade but what to? The fact that a new software release means any iPhone that is not the latest will not run as efficiently, so a 4 could be great until a new OS comes out and then it's back to where I started!

So should I consider something like an HTC? I've loved my iPhone and have many apps, cables and accessory's so any change would be a hassle but an HTC can change a battery or add a bigger memory card etc and I don't believe that they suffer the same software issues I'm going through with OS4 on the 3G...but no idea if that's true!

So tell me wise collective, WTF should I do?
Click to expand...

Haha, well HTC will be its own bag of hurt. It will get slow updates and probably stop getting updates completely long before the iPhone will. Of course, if you're up to the challenge, you can always find custom ROMS at XDA, but that's a different discussion.

Like others have said, the iPhone 4 has a very capable processor, though, unsurprisingly, the iPhone 5 will have a better one. I think the iPhone 4 will continue to run iOS quite well for multiple years to come. If you can handle waiting til the summer, wait. If you want something now, the iPhone 4 is still an excellent buy. With early upgrade, you'd be eligible for an iPhone 6 when it comes out in a year and a half, which should (obviously) be even better than the 5!
 
Although it's slow it still works so maybe you should just stick with the 3g for now and hold out until a couple more months for the iPhone 5!
 
Thanks everyone. Some solid knowledge/info there and much appreciated. My preference is to stay with iPhone as I love it but was concerned I'd fall into the same situation I'm in now, but it sounds like that's unlikely.

Thanks .shine for the info but I did the downgrade to 3.1.3 with no loss of data (more luck than judgement) and at this stage I'm happy with the performance. So I'm going to wait for the 5 to come out and stay 'apple happy'!

Yes I know I'm asking on an apple forum but I trust 'most' apple users to be truthful and not just back something that's not a good option. With 2 iMacs, 2 laptops, 2 iPhones and a Mac mini for the TV in the house this is definately an apple friendly abode! Cheers
 
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