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The iPhone 4S smokes the 4 based on my experiences and iOS 7 runs quite well on it (I was impressed by the app switching) but it's clearly not optimal. 5s or even the 5c would be a massive jump up.
 
If you're content with your phone and it does all you need, why spend a lot of money on another one?

Personally I will be upgrading from the 4, to a 5s, but that's because I've dropped it too many times, and it isn't working very well as a phone any more. I also want the better camera and greater memory capacity.

I want the better camera to take better pictures of my (young) kids when they do cute/cool things unexpectedly. I want more memory because I take a lot of photos, and I now have (quite a few) apps on my phone for my kids.

If not for these factors I wouldn't be bothering. Next year there will be something newer / cooler and even more improved.
 
The more I use my iPhone 4, the more I can't see what I would gain from upgrading.

So yeah, final decision: Sticking with my iPhone 4.

Thanks for the opinions and comments, guys & gals.
 
Even if you don't want the 5s, get it with your upgrade and sell it for cash. Save that cash for when you really do want a new phone. Don't let the carriers hose you any more than they already are!
 
As has been mentioned, if you are paying contract subsidized phone monthly rate anyways, you are highly advised to upgrade (even if you get it and just sell the new phone).

A used iPhone 5 is the best way to go. You can even get a new 5S on contract, sell it, and buy a much cheaper 5 which is a nice upgrade over your 4, and the price difference would make it roughly free. Or get a free-on-contract phone, sell it, and keep your 4.

Don't pay contract pricing and get nothing in return, though.... That's not fair to yourself.

Ok I'm new to this whole subsidized/unsubsidized. But if you buy unsubsidized phone, can you transfer to unsubsidized rates? I'm with AT&T.
 
I am iPhone 4 owner and decided to wait until next year, when they release larger screen-model of iPhone.

I have a somewhat on/off working Home button, but I found a work-around method, and its actually working, battery holding charge well still.

I have decided to wait until next year.:rolleyes:
 
Ok I'm new to this whole subsidized/unsubsidized. But if you buy unsubsidized phone, can you transfer to unsubsidized rates? I'm with AT&T.

Nope. Only T-mobile does this in the US. For every month that you you are not on a contract, you're basically handing over approximately $20 for free to your service provider.
 
Nope. Only T-mobile does this in the US. For every month that you you are not on a contract, you're basically handing over approximately $20 for free to your service provider.
Well when u put that way it is a no brainer to pick up a new phone every chance. Even to purchase and resell. Thx for the tip.

Goodbye IP4 - hello 5s. ��
 
Yeah, sure, a stripped-down version of iOS 7 works on iPhone 4, but, it doesn't have the same appearance (no parallax, some things are black instead of translucent/transparent), and, considering they have stopped selling this phone, Apple will not necessarily be porting the next iOS on it, next year.

OP: Firstly, do you share your photos, or do others share their photos with you? If so, AirDrop, an iOS 7 feature that will only work on iPhone 5 & newer, makes it super easy to share photos (with others that have AirDrop). (Any iPhone 5 will also have a nicer camera).

You may also notice the iPhone 5 models have better sound for voice calls. And, if you do upgrade, be sure to get a 32GB model, since you have music on your 32GB iPhone 4 now, if you cut back to 16GB, you will be sorry. I have a 16GB iPhone 5 and wish I would have gotten at least 32 as, between my music & photos, it is full, have to archive videos and photos on computer.

You could go with a 5c, considering you won't care about the extra features on 5s. I would wait until you can go to the Apple store or your carrier store and check out the 5c, you might be happy with it. ...as far as prices go, considering Apple sold new iPhone 4's a few days ago at $450 for only 8GB, you should get more than the trade-in value...remember, the trade-in people will take that phone and sell it to make a profit off of it.

One thing you can do is search on ebay for sold iPhone 4's. Look at the 4S also, to compare. People say they get more $ selling iPhones on craigslist, people who will unlock the phone, don't have contract plans will pay you cash for it.

----------

One thing to keep in mind also...if you don't need the cash, you can keep your iPhone 4 and use it as an iPod touch, for your music.

OP: Consider this... By the sounds of it an iPhone 4 is all the "tech" you need. iOS 7 is going to be the last software update for the iPhone 4. Which is fine. If I were you with you not using much data and honestly using it for a phone ... I would wait. The iPhone 4 will be supported for the next year with iOS 7... Next year you can upgrade.

BTW Benji... I understand the 4 is 3 years old and Apple has stopped selling it ... But they've done the same thing with the iPhone 5 and we know it'll get more updates ... So just because they've stopped selling it doesn't mean they will stop updating it ... I realize you have an iPhone 5 and probably feel loyal to it, but it's also discontinued... So does it mean it's not going to be updated? No!

OP do what's best for you. Everyone on this forum is going to tell you different things. They think everyone wants and needs the "latest and greatest". Honestly to me it sounds like you don't.
 
I have the same phone as OP and have thrown iOS7 on it to test with the option of restoring iOS6 before the window of opportunity closes on the 17th.
Currently, I was considering upgrading because my phone loses its data connection intermittently and cannot reconnect without a reboot. This was annoying enough for me to consider dropping £630 on an upgrade this time round.

So far, so good. No data dropouts. However....

iOS7 is pig ugly. Truly hideous. I haven't followed the iOS7 threads or articles because I didn't really care enough to check. I want my OSes to facilitate operating my apps and then to get out of my way. iOS7, on the other hand, is no shrinking violet. Awful, indistinct fonts, garish colour schemes from hell and the whole thing just looks amateurish. More like a prototype for iOS before given a professional lick of paint. If you thought the icon for Safari was bad wait until you see the small icons at the bottom of the washed out webpages. It really is a visual disaster zone.

Unlike the OP, I find the interface really laggy. iOS6 felt really slick in comparison. I also wonder why the brightness audio controls have disappeared when double clicking the home button to bring up the task manager.

So I'm torn. iOS7 seems to have solved my data problems but I am never going to love the interface the way I appreciated iOS1-6. Also, a couple of my daily apps don't work properly under iOS7. I hope those get fixed soon.

I am inclined at the moment to sit this round out. I can live with what I have for another year at least. It would be a lot of money just to eliminate the lag and I don't think the 5 series phones are as robust. I am hoping for better things for iP6 and iOS8.

The audio and brightness controls are still there, try swipping up from the bottom of the screen. You will also find toggles for wifi, Bluetooth etc here, big improvement in my opinion.
 
Upgrade when you feel the need to, if your 4 is enough for your needs wait for the 6 gen iphone :rolleyes:
 
Ok I'm new to this whole subsidized/unsubsidized. But if you buy unsubsidized phone, can you transfer to unsubsidized rates? I'm with AT&T.

Yes, but you need to research some.

For example, if you have a Verizon iPhone 4 or 4s, you're only using 3G capability, and your phone is a CDMA phone.

If you go unsubsidized with Verizon, it's 60/mo for unlimited minutes text and 2gb data.

You can go with an MVNO, for example Page Plus works anywhere Verizon is. They use Verizon's 3G network, and only 3G phones work there.

1500 mins, 1200 texts, 500 meg of data per month for 29.95

Net10 is another good one, they're affiliated with all the major carriers and can take most phones on their network.
 
...BTW Benji... I understand the 4 is 3 years old and Apple has stopped selling it ... But they've done the same thing with the iPhone 5 and we know it'll get more updates ... So just because they've stopped selling it doesn't mean they will stop updating it ... I realize you have an iPhone 5 and probably feel loyal to it, but it's also discontinued... So does it mean it's not going to be updated? No!...
Actually, my last phone was the iPhone 3GS, I'm not one to upgrade every year. As far as the iPhone 5 goes, it has the A6 processor and is only 1 year old. I think the main reason to discontinue it was a combination of 2 things: LTE/cell chipset was unable to work with a major China mobile carrier and Apple wanted to take a slightly different marketing direction with the iPhone lineup. ...The 5c uses the same A6 processor also, essentially an iPhone 5 with new LTE/cell chipset and a different manufacturing process otherwise. So, even though the iPhone 5 was discontinued, it does all of iOS 7 well, and will get all the updates the 5c will, but, in order to get iOS 7 on the iPhone 4, Apple had to strip most of the bigger features in order to get it on there, and some of the visual ones also. Some people have also said that it runs slow on the 4.

For what the OP uses it for, the iPhone 5c does offer some improvements, two antennas, voice call sound quality (and volume) is up, the camera takes better pictures than the 4, especially in low light, brighter better color screen (sRGB if anyone cares)...and he might actually find himself using Siri and AirDrop, not possible on the 4.

OP: I'm with Rocko1: "That thing will be a dog on IOS7. Sell it and upgrade. Quit waiting for something better, it ain't coming." ...For what you use it for, the 5s and next year's iPhone won't have anything you'll care about.
 
I have to agree with many others here; if you are on a standard Subsidized plan and aren't using your upgrades, you are throwing away money. At this point an iPhone 4 has lost most of its value so it's late to get on this train, but still worthwhile. The best deal seems to be to upgrade ASAP when offered. I can generally sell my phone in a couple of days for cash on Craigslist (insist on meeting in a public area) and get the newest model for nothing out of pocket, sometimes even making a few dollars.
 
If you're thinking about it and have the money, go for it.

There's NO reason to wait until next year. By then it'll only be a year until the next update.. so why not wait? What about waiting just 1 more year? Or another year after that?

Tech is moving constantly you can never wait for the best product as it's always going to be around the corner.

Don't have the money? Wait until you do. Otherwise, go for it.
 
I'm in the same situation.
iPhone 4 32GB but bought it unsubsidized

I don't have access to IOS 7 however. So will have to wait and see if I can live with it (very different reactions here on the forum).

If it's ok I guess I'll hold on to it for another year, otherwise I'll be getting the 5s.

The reason for holding out:
Was really hoping for better battery life with this update. But this doesn't really seems to be the case this time around, or at least not a lot.

Would also like a bit bigger screen. I prefer the aspect ratio of the iphone 4 to the iphone 5, don't really see the advantages in the longer screen (my GF has a iphone 5, so I have used it a few times). The height of the iphone 5, but with the same aspect ratio of the 4 would be ideal for me.
 
One more option to consider...

As a Canadian iPhone 4 user, my reasoning may be a little different, but while I really love my present phone, I will likely be upgrading to the 5s because:

1. I am out of contract this year and will be able to get a subsidized 5s.

2. I am looking to unlock the iPhone 4 and use it for travel (particularly to the US). Seems like a good way to keep using a good phone.
 
I'm currently using an iPhone 4, and I don't plan to upgrade this year. In terms of hardware I'm more than satisfied with the iPhone 4. Considering the fact that iOS 7 will still support the iPhone 4, there is no need for me to upgrade this year. Next year however, it's likely that iOS 8 will not support the iPhone 4; I will probably upgrade to the iPhone 6 at that point.
 
I would upgrade because your carrier isn't charging you less if you don't. Even if you don't want to spend any money, you can get a 4S for free and the 4S a better version of the current phone you love.

If you use your phone as a camera, the 5S' is supposed to be a much better camera, and that's something you will notice in your daily use in a way that you won't notice the speed increase of the 5S over the 5C.
 
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