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iPhone 4 Resurrection

M

mccjim12

macrumors regular
Original poster
Sep 23, 2012
103
17
Stamford, CT
Just replaced the dock connector on my 2011 era iPhone 4. It had stopped recognizing any charger back in May 2014 so I just put it back in the box and waited for the 6 which was coming out that fall. I don't know why I didn't think to try replacing the dock connector back then but I decided to spend the $6.82 and give it a try. The job was fairly easy, with the only problem being I had one HELL of a time trying to get the back glass back on and still couldn't get it all the way but it'll do.

I've been using it on wifi for a couple of days. It performs admirably on 6.0.1. I forgot how cool iOS 6 is! Obviously I am limited with apps support and the lack of LTE but I am thinking of putting it back in to service for a short time when my 6 lease is up in September.

Nice to see it fired up after sitting so long !
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M. Gustave said:
The 4/4s was a beauty, no doubt. Still running two of them here on 9.3.2!
Click to expand...

I owned one from Feb 2012- April 2015. I found iOS 8 sluggish on the device, perhaps iOS 9 improved the speed of it, especially when opening the phone app for the first time. Has it?
[doublepost=1466900301][/doublepost]
mccjim12 said:
Just replaced the dock connector on my 2011 era iPhone 4. It had stopped recognizing any charger back in May 2014 so I just put it back in the box and waited for the 6 which was coming out that fall. I don't know why I didn't think to try replacing the dock connector back then but I decided to spend the $6.82 and give it a try. The job was fairly easy, with the only problem being I had one HELL of a time trying to get the back glass back on and still couldn't get it all the way but it'll do.

I've been using it on wifi for a couple of days. It performs admirably on 6.0.1. I forgot how cool iOS 6 is! Obviously I am limited with apps support and the lack of LTE but I am thinking of putting it back in to service for a short time when my 6 lease is up in September.

Nice to see it fired up after sitting so long !
image_zps8xqn12bj.jpg

image_zpsuxzahcdi.jpg

image_zpssnlwaw7c.jpg
Click to expand...


You have some old machines hanging around. What do you use them for? I can't imagine that Tiger and Leopard era machines are useful for much these days.
 
jwolf6589 said:
I owned one from Feb 2012- April 2015. I found iOS 8 sluggish on the device, perhaps iOS 9 improved the speed of it, especially when opening the phone app for the first time. Has it?
[doublepost=1466900301][/doublepost]


You have some old machines hanging around. What do you use them for? I can't imagine that Tiger and Leopard era machines are useful for much these days.
Click to expand...

Yeah, mostly just for nostalgia but they are ok for some lighter web browsing. Just today I pulled out the 1.67 PowerBook and downloaded the latest build of TenFourFox and ran an older version of Spotify.

Also, until I recently figured out the problem I had with capturing video from a DV camera using the FireWire 800 port on my MacBook Pro I would do video capturing with one of the PBs.
 
Seeing those photos brought back some fond memories. If you look through my earliest posts and when I registered here (June 2010), I wouldn't be posting here if it wasn't for the iPhone 4. I might sound like a Fandroid nowadays but I was a fairly early adopter of iPhone especially in the early days of jailbreaking. I still have photos of all my previous gadgets.

June 24, 2010 - I remember launch day and grand opening of the Apple Store in Cerritos (CA) mall. Free bottles of water and free black t-shirt with an Apple logo and Los Cerritos. Employees clapping when you enter the store. Just a great experience from that launch day. Probably my favorite launch day event, ever. That's what I miss from Apple. Camaraderie and passion from their fanatics. Reading about some dude in Dallas camping out a week before the device was released. The iPhone 4 served me well for three years. My favorite phone until my Xiaomi.

Still if I could travel back in time to 2010-2011, I would rather use my budget $29.99 Motorola Moto E (2015) over any flagship released in those years. A Moto E2 over iPhone 4/4s, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Nexus, HP Pre 3, BlackBerry Bold 9900, Nokia Lumia 800 and N9, etc. It isn't perfect by any means esp its poor cam and muffled reception. But it is fast and smooth with excellent battery life. If the first gen Moto X and G had an offspring, it would be the E2.

Alot of these budget phones are just taken for granted. Moto E2 might only be on par with the iPhone 4 in camera, but it has quad core and can play basic games like Sonic Dash or Subway Surfers that the iPhone 4 couldn't do as smoothly. Apple also forces us to update to use certain apps. The pre-iOS7 era is my favorite look of iOS esp iOS4 when we still had that iPod icon with Cover Flow.

Nice time to reminisce but I still would never go back to any smartphone with only 512 MB RAM and "3.5 display. I need "4.5 minimum and a GPU that can play basic games with no stutter. Hard enough typing on a "4 which made me lose interest in the SE right away. But ahh, the memories...
 
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Savor said:
Seeing those photos brought back some fond memories. If you look through my earliest posts and when I registered here (June 2010), I wouldn't be posting here if it wasn't for the iPhone 4. I might sound like a Fandroid nowadays but I was a fairly early adopter of iPhone especially in the early days of jailbreaking. I still have photos of all my previous gadgets.

June 24, 2010 - I remember launch day and grand opening of the Apple Store in Cerritos (CA) mall. Free bottles of water and free black t-shirt with an Apple logo and Los Cerritos. Employees clapping when you enter the store. Just a great experience from that launch day. Probably my favorite launch day event, ever. That's what I miss from Apple. Camaraderie and passion from their fanatics. Reading about some dude in Dallas camping out a week before the device was released. The iPhone 4 served me well for three years. My favorite phone until my Xiaomi.

Still if I could travel back in time to 2010-2011, I would rather use my budget $29.99 Motorola Moto E (2015) over any flagship released in those years. A Moto E2 over iPhone 4/4s, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Nexus, HP Pre 3, BlackBerry Bold 9900, Nokia Lumia 800 and N9, etc. It isn't perfect by any means esp its poor cam and muffled reception. But it is fast and smooth with excellent battery life. If the first gen Moto X and G had an offspring, it would be the E2.

Alot of these budget phones are just taken for granted. Moto E2 might only be on par with the iPhone 4 in camera, but it has quad core and can play basic games like Sonic Dash or Subway Surfers that the iPhone 4 couldn't do as smoothly. Apple also forces us to update to use certain apps. The pre-iOS7 era is my favorite look of iOS esp iOS4 when we still had that iPod icon with Cover Flow.

Nice time to reminisce but I still would never go back to any smartphone with only 512 MB RAM and "3.5 display. I need "4.5 minimum and a GPU that can play basic games with no stutter. Hard enough typing on a "4 which made me lose interest in the SE right away. But ahh, the memories...
Click to expand...

Yeah, the size really is noticeable once you go to a bigger screen. I played with an SE in the store a few times and while I like the phone and may get one depending on what happens with the 7, it sure makes you appreciate the extra screen real estate. As much as I liked the 4, the 6 to me is the perfect size. Not too big, but big enough.
 
Nice, the iPhone 4 really was a beautiful phone, I would easily say it still beat most of the phones out today in term of design. :)
 
The only phone I would be curious of using from the pre-2013 era is the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play because it offers something different which is gaming with tactile controls. I really could care less how good looking some of those devices were from the Xperia X1 to Bold 9900 to the N9/Lumia 800. Tiny screen. 512 MB of RAM. It is like being spoiled by a PS2 or PS3 and then going back to PS1 graphics in the 5th gen of gaming. The first gen of 3D graphics like Mario 64 didn't age too well, did it with lack of textures, pixelation, and fog? 16-bit design aged better.

The Apple iPhone 4 was great for its time. I remember having amazing standby time with it. Only boot looped on me maybe thrice. I was forced to update to iOS6 after apps stopped working and after my unlock request got approved which led to a mandatory restore and update. Its camera was overrated though but it has a special place in my heart because it was the last iPhone that Steve Jobs introduced. But going back to its weak GPU where even Candy Crush stutters and a "3.5 display? Nah! I like my dirt cheap Androids right now.

I sold many phones from 2010-2013 because I wasn't content yet with the hardware and software. Comparing my 2012 five-phone team vs 2016, I definitely like my current ones. The best one from that 2012 group would still be SLOWER than my worst cp in 2016. The current ones will age better than phones released during iOS/Android's puberty stages from 2009-2012. My cousin texted me saying at least technology got better now. My response is BETTER and CHEAPER.

Some terrific phones out there. ZTE Zmax 2, Microsoft Lumia 640, Motorola Moto E 4G, Huawei Honor 5X, Xiaomi Redmi 3s, Asus Zenfone Go 4.5, and so on. As much as I loved my iPhone 4 during its heyday, never again to single core, tiny screen phones. The iPhone 4 aged like Saved By The Bell, Full House, and Avatar. If I wanted an older iPhone, 5s should be the bare minimum.

The only good thing an iPhone 4 could offer me today is fond memories. Nostalgia and nothing more. Now just a laggy phone by iOS7 like what 4s' dual core A5 chip and 7x faster GPU had become by iOS8 and 9. Leave it in its grave as its practicality and value isn't timeless. Design might hold up but those specs aged like spoiled milk. Even if Apple recycled the iPhone 4 design with updated specs like the SE, I still couldn't go back to a glass back and "3.5 display.
 
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Sunnysunnysingh said:
Looks like 4s to me than iPhone 4 due to those two antenna lines on the top side corners.the iPhone 4 has single antenna line on the top
Click to expand...
Unless it's a Verizon phone, then yes the two antenna lines in the right side screams 4s. Again unless it's a Verizon phone.
 
Appl3FTW said:
Unless it's a Verizon phone, then yes the two antenna lines in the right side screams 4s. Again unless it's a Verizon phone.
Click to expand...
Actually unless it's a CDMA iPhone in general which the sprint iPhone 4 is as well as Verizon's :p The CDMA iPhone 4 also does not have the FCC markings on the back while the 4S does
 
The time of the iPhone 4/4s. This is my second favorite iPhone design ever...

Actually it's pretty close with me, but the design of the 5/5s/SE. . . Is my favorite by just a smidgen
 
I do miss my iPhone 4 too...

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...but I would never go back using it after this era...
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...in an era where "5 display is more suitable suitable for my needs, a $30 WP can be on par with an iPhone 5 in camera, and when I can install third-party launchers without jailbreaking everytime...
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Well, the time has come to put this 4 back into service and I'm in need of some advice...

The phone was activated and makes calls and SMS texts but I can not get any 3G data. I have talked with several Sprint reps, had it in a couple of stores and no one can figure out why it won't work. My phone displays the 3G icon, indicating that it is connected to the network but no pages will load, no emails download, etc.

Here's my question:

I made an iTunes backup of the phone, which is on 6.0.1. Do I have a prayer trying to restore it from the backup and hope the data comes back (which I had to do in 2014 when I had this same problem)? Googling the issue indicates that it will not, that Apple no longer signs iOS 6. A Sprint rep seems to think that it can be done. And in January 2014, I did it, and as far as I've been able to tell that was after they had stopped signing 6.0.1.

I'm really stuck here... Tempted to just give up but any shred of hope/advice is welcomed. Thanks!
 
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