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iPhone 4S Pre-Orders Start at 12:01 AM Pacific on Friday
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Just a thought
So the iPhone 4 unlocked is now down to $550, I wonder how much the 4s will be?
Anyway, say you don't want to sign a 2 year contract (like me) but due for an upgrade, how about this:
- Sell your old phone (AT&T 3Gs sells approximately $200 on ebay)
- Buy an unlocked 4 $550 - $200 = $350
- Use the unlocked phone on T-Mobile Prepaid or Straight Talk (Anyone knows what 3G frequency straight talk uses?): $30 - $40
This way you have a SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper month-to-month phone (Typical iPhone bill is $80), while maintaining your freedom.
Remember, your unlocked phone will probably score higher than $200 on ebay once you are done with it in a year or so.
So the iPhone 4 unlocked is now down to $550, I wonder how much the 4s will be?
Anyway, say you don't want to sign a 2 year contract (like me) but due for an upgrade, how about this:
- Sell your old phone (AT&T 3Gs sells approximately $200 on ebay)
- Buy an unlocked 4 $550 - $200 = $350
- Use the unlocked phone on T-Mobile Prepaid or Straight Talk (Anyone knows what 3G frequency straight talk uses?): $30 - $40
This way you have a SIGNIFICANTLY cheaper month-to-month phone (Typical iPhone bill is $80), while maintaining your freedom.
Remember, your unlocked phone will probably score higher than $200 on ebay once you are done with it in a year or so.
Actually, the chassis of the first 3 phones is almost identical, so they all had to be 1st gen with that "logic"
Actually...no...iPhone 2G had an aluminum back, iPhone 3G&3GS were plastic-backed and narrower
They're being sold here in Europe unlocked from day one. The German Apple site says "ab 629 Euro", which is "from $838". Meaning that the top-end model would likely be nearing or exceeding the $1000 mark, which is ridiculous for the extremely small spec bump.
I could understand if it was a redesign with a larger screen, larger minimum storage, microSD slot, etc. But it's an iPhone4 with the A5 and a higher res camera shoehorned in. I mean christ the iPad2 16GB 3G costs less than that and the parts costs for that are much higher. The 4S unlocked costs just reek of "we're going to bleed you because you're a mindless drone who will buy our **** anyway"
I can pay well under that 629 Euro for an unlocked Galaxy SII 16GB that has a bigger screen, APU just as fast, expandable memory, removable battery, USB connectivity, etc. I mean they might have been able to hold on to the whole "software advantage" if iOS didn't still use that laughable playschool notification system or gave us bloody widgets already.
The phone looks neat, but at 629 Euro for a 16GB model, that's just laughable. There isn't any real "killer spec" on the device that can't be found elsewhere for less. Siri seems more novelty than anything else. I can see the usefulness for hands free operation while driving for those that have long commutes with a car, but if I want to check the weather I just hit the power button on an android phone and voila, weather widget shows me the weather forecast. Why in holy hell would I want to double tap home, look like a moron talking to my phone held out in front of me in a crowded train station and wait for Siri to go find out the weather forcast?
Half of the Siri "functions" seem like things that widgets or shortcuts communicate quicker if you're not somewhere that requires hands-free operation like driving. Read me a text message in a poorly spoken voice? Why? If I'm somewhere where noise isn't an issue, why wouldn't I read it myself or just call the person. If I'm somewhere that requires discretion (a meeting), why the hell would I have headphones on in a meeting?
Decent to mediocre spec bump (can't wait to see how much they've underclocked the APU to get it in that small enclosure), but 629 Euro for a 16GB unlocked model that has to live by all the walled-garden restrictions? Sorry Apple, that's where you lost me.
I could understand if it was a redesign with a larger screen, larger minimum storage, microSD slot, etc. But it's an iPhone4 with the A5 and a higher res camera shoehorned in. I mean christ the iPad2 16GB 3G costs less than that and the parts costs for that are much higher. The 4S unlocked costs just reek of "we're going to bleed you because you're a mindless drone who will buy our **** anyway"
I can pay well under that 629 Euro for an unlocked Galaxy SII 16GB that has a bigger screen, APU just as fast, expandable memory, removable battery, USB connectivity, etc. I mean they might have been able to hold on to the whole "software advantage" if iOS didn't still use that laughable playschool notification system or gave us bloody widgets already.
The phone looks neat, but at 629 Euro for a 16GB model, that's just laughable. There isn't any real "killer spec" on the device that can't be found elsewhere for less. Siri seems more novelty than anything else. I can see the usefulness for hands free operation while driving for those that have long commutes with a car, but if I want to check the weather I just hit the power button on an android phone and voila, weather widget shows me the weather forecast. Why in holy hell would I want to double tap home, look like a moron talking to my phone held out in front of me in a crowded train station and wait for Siri to go find out the weather forcast?
Half of the Siri "functions" seem like things that widgets or shortcuts communicate quicker if you're not somewhere that requires hands-free operation like driving. Read me a text message in a poorly spoken voice? Why? If I'm somewhere where noise isn't an issue, why wouldn't I read it myself or just call the person. If I'm somewhere that requires discretion (a meeting), why the hell would I have headphones on in a meeting?
Decent to mediocre spec bump (can't wait to see how much they've underclocked the APU to get it in that small enclosure), but 629 Euro for a 16GB unlocked model that has to live by all the walled-garden restrictions? Sorry Apple, that's where you lost me.
Does anyone have any info on Factory Unlocked prices and release..October 7th pre-order? Probably not...probably $649?
As usual, the media and the zealots hyped this up beyond reasonable expectations. Innovation is great, but let's be realistic. And if you look at some of the new features, it's a pretty damn good upgrade. Shoving a 8 MP camera in with a fixed f2.4 lens is no small feat (no pun intended), and Siri - for now - looks pretty sweet. It is sometimes better to perfect an existing device rather than to churn new stuff that is unfinished or not ready for actual use.
Siri looks nice, but nobody has used it in the real world yet, so nobody can tell if it will keep its promises. They've showed off two use cases in isolated scenarios and those are probably the only two things that Siri can handle well enough. Try asking Siri for directions to some more exotic European place that does not use the English language, or try using words that are not in its base dictionary or simply use more complex sentence structures - then we'll quickly know how good its natural language parser really is and if it can even compete with the parser of an Infocom text adventure from the early 1980s (those were VERY impressive).
In regard to everything else, this is probably the most underwhelming iPhone upgrade since Apple turned itself into a gadget company. There is NOTHING in this phone that the competition hasn't had for almost a year now. The hardware specs can barely keep up with the Galaxy S2 that has been around since the beginning of this year, and the S2 wasn't even the first dual core phone on the market (that was the LG Optimus Speed). The iPhone 4S simply fails to impress in the hardware section.
And then it still runs that crippled iOS platform that I hate with a passion. Just like potato chips are the perfect example for how you can turn healthy food (a potato) into total junk, iOS is an example for how you can turn a great operating system (Mac OS X) into a piece of garbage.
There are only 2 things that make me want an iPhone over an android. Battery life and OS support.
For the life of me I don't know why android phone manufacturers aren't upgrading their phones to the most recent OS as soon as possible. Who wants to buy a brand new phone that just came out a week ago but is still running a version of the operating system that is over a year old or worse. I think this is the mistake that has been made in the android market. Instead of releasing a new version of android and then allowing the manufacturers to play catchup, there needs to be some sort of standardization. This is why apple is cleaning house in the phone market. Because when Apple releases a new version of IOS, everyone who has an iPhone can immediately upgrade to it.
In terms of battery life, android phone manufacturers have been putting in heavy duty batteries into their most recent phones. 1800+mah batteries that have theoretical standby times of 25 days and talk times of over 10 hours. The only problem is that the android system runs more like a computer and less like a mobile operating system. There is no built in coding that makes sure that apps don't continue to run when closed. Sure you can download an app to aggressively manage other apps but guess what, it has to run to keep those other apps closed. While its running its also using up battery life. IOS was coded to stop apps from running when they are no longer open but to cache their memory so that they sort of freeze frame where you last were and its as if they were never closed.
In the end, i would rather have an iPhone for those 2 reasons over and android phone. If google and the phone manufacturers could get their crap together and stop releasing brand new cutting edge phones running old operating systems then I would consider getting an android phone. Until then Ill go iPhone.
For the life of me I don't know why android phone manufacturers aren't upgrading their phones to the most recent OS as soon as possible. Who wants to buy a brand new phone that just came out a week ago but is still running a version of the operating system that is over a year old or worse. I think this is the mistake that has been made in the android market. Instead of releasing a new version of android and then allowing the manufacturers to play catchup, there needs to be some sort of standardization. This is why apple is cleaning house in the phone market. Because when Apple releases a new version of IOS, everyone who has an iPhone can immediately upgrade to it.
In terms of battery life, android phone manufacturers have been putting in heavy duty batteries into their most recent phones. 1800+mah batteries that have theoretical standby times of 25 days and talk times of over 10 hours. The only problem is that the android system runs more like a computer and less like a mobile operating system. There is no built in coding that makes sure that apps don't continue to run when closed. Sure you can download an app to aggressively manage other apps but guess what, it has to run to keep those other apps closed. While its running its also using up battery life. IOS was coded to stop apps from running when they are no longer open but to cache their memory so that they sort of freeze frame where you last were and its as if they were never closed.
In the end, i would rather have an iPhone for those 2 reasons over and android phone. If google and the phone manufacturers could get their crap together and stop releasing brand new cutting edge phones running old operating systems then I would consider getting an android phone. Until then Ill go iPhone.
Bravo, yet another Internet Keyboard Commando with an enormous brass pair while sitting in his jammies downloading porn while eating Cheetos at home but would NEVER dare to speak up to anyone like that.
You have shown to everyone your level of intellect and education. Great job!!
Noch ein Deutscher hier auf Macrumors?
Anyway, I don't regret that I've left iOS behind and I can only recommend the Galaxy S2 - it still is the best smartphone on the market and the iPhone 4S is NOT the game changer that people have been expecting from Apple.
At this point, if I was in the market for a new phone, I'd rather wait for the Galaxy Note than for the availability of the iPhone 4S or even next year's mythical iPhone 5.
wish this was iPhone 5 not iPhone 4S, as do many.. why wasn't this released back in July, guessing needed/wanted Siri, b/c only special feature this phone gets. iPhone 4 isn't slow and it's camera isn't bad, both get grades and not a great reason buy new phone. True Apple fan but this was a downgrade. Let's hope there is a iPhone 5 in July 2012. I don't feel like waiting another year for something I thought until recently we be news about today. I am still going to buy this because I off contract and opportunity cost of $250 for being off contract for a year is too great.
But honestly think S stands for seriously???
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Agreed 100%
The iPhone 4s is Revolutionary
I am sure we see a big battery decrease, same battery but new CPU which probably requires more juice to run.
And wow, i guess I can sell off my Nikon gear since this new camera is ground breaking as they stated.
With all these huge leaps and bounds, Apple still can't manage to put decent sound into any of its products.
I own an iMac (21.5"), Macbook (13"), iPhone 4, iPod Touch, and an iPad, all of which have the worst mono sound ever. You want to see a ground breaking Apple product, put 2 ****ing speakers in it so I can have stereo sound, especially since Apple owns the music world with itunes.
Their next slogan should be, "With iTunes, you can listen to all your music through a single ****** sounding mono speaker.
I am sure we see a big battery decrease, same battery but new CPU which probably requires more juice to run.
And wow, i guess I can sell off my Nikon gear since this new camera is ground breaking as they stated.
With all these huge leaps and bounds, Apple still can't manage to put decent sound into any of its products.
I own an iMac (21.5"), Macbook (13"), iPhone 4, iPod Touch, and an iPad, all of which have the worst mono sound ever. You want to see a ground breaking Apple product, put 2 ****ing speakers in it so I can have stereo sound, especially since Apple owns the music world with itunes.
Their next slogan should be, "With iTunes, you can listen to all your music through a single ****** sounding mono speaker.
Can you please explain? I am also off-contract and been wondering. Arent' you worried about signing a new 2 year contract, only to be surprised with a new iPhone 5 or 6 probably in June of next year? By then LTE chips would have shrunk, ran cooler, and Apple can release a true 4G phone.
I am looking for creative ideas here
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Hoping so. The 4 16GB unlocked is now down to $550, so I assume the 4S 16GB would be $650? With contract the 4 is $99, 4S is $199
In the U.S., we had a ton of Chinese people buying and reselling the iPad back in their country. The same folks would come back everyday and buy as many as they could. It was a mess.
The Note seems comically huge to me. 5.3" screen seems like it'd look pretty retarded holding it up to your face, but I'll have to wait and see how it looks in person.
I already jumped on the Galaxy S2 since I had a contract renewal. The funny thing is I had used a Galaxy S before and to be honest.....speed wise I don't really notice a massive leap from single core to dual core. Web pages render a little quicker but for the stuff that I do with my phone (call, email, music, few tv shows) it's all pretty much the same. The screen is much, much nicer though. I don't really have the time or luxury of trying to play FPS games on ridiculously tiny screens so if I need to kill time I just read something or play Angry Birds.
The "zomg crazy GPU" is mostly irrelevant to me as long as the things I do are done quickly and without stuttering. If I want to play an FPS or some graphically intensive game I wait until I get home and turn on the Playstation or my PC.
I'm just kind of amazed at what Apple thinks they can charge for an unlocked 4S considering what else is on the market and how much ground they've lost in the "OS superiority" argument. Smartphones are pretty much all at parity now when it comes to their capabilities, features, storage options, and price. I just don't see the justification for Apple to charge a premium price for a product that doesn't have that big leg-up on its competitors anymore. Those days are over and like I said Siri seems more novelty than "killer must have app."
If Apple comes out with an iPhone5 next summer on a shrunken fabrication process (hopefully 28nm) with a 4" screen I'll revisit my options, but until then its pricing is kind of ludicrous for what you get. And for the love of god, allow sideloading or at the very minimum allow me to use the thing as a mass storage device already. Let us partition a user-defined amount as mass storage so that we can toss out all our usb drives. Can't even remember how many times that has come in handy being able to use my S2 as a mass storage device (and then being able to access the data on the device).
I think I am going to get AppleCare+ with my new iPhone 4S. They say both have to be purchased together. Does that mean I have to order from Apple and not Verizon? Is it best to order from Apple or straight from the carrier when you are upgrading and locking into a new contract (I've been eligible to upgrade for 1.5 years) or does't it matter?
What about those who "can't get no satisfaction" and try and try.
Looks like "19th nervous breakdown" for them or "As tears go by"
All of that with no Jumpin' Jack FLASH on the iphones.
We do have "Sympathy for those devils
Why wonder ? 650, 750, 850. Those are the prices that are advertised on the Canadian apple site (we've had unlocked phones since before you guys had them).
Case in point: at my last job, I was developing an Android app for a large multinational company. I got a Xoom to test it on. It really tries to impress you with specs, like the boot screen mentioning the "dual-core technology" inside.
Despite all of that, rotating the home screen took a good 5 seconds longer than my iPad 1. Web browsing and general performance were also not even close to the original, single core iPad; and the software is miles from competing with iOS.
I'm going to be getting a 4S. Its a solid update. I couldn't have asked for anything more from an 'iPhone 5' (also, the iPhone 4 has a beautiful design. It would have been sad for them to drop it so soon). With iOS5 and iCloud, Apples whole smartphone ecosystem has also taken a huge step forwards, so reports of them losing their touch are extremely premature.
I am sure we see a big battery decrease, same battery but new CPU which probably requires more juice to run.
And wow, i guess I can sell off my Nikon gear since this new camera is ground breaking as they stated.
With all these huge leaps and bounds, Apple still can't manage to put decent sound into any of its products.
I own an iMac (21.5"), Macbook (13"), iPhone 4, iPod Touch, and an iPad, all of which have the worst mono sound ever. You want to see a ground breaking Apple product, put 2 ****ing speakers in it so I can have stereo sound, especially since Apple owns the music world with itunes.
Their next slogan should be, "With iTunes, you can listen to all your music through a single ****** sounding mono speaker.
Just wait until iphone 5 which will come with a sub woofer that you can strap to your back and two satellite speakers you can clip to your shoulders.
Personally I am holding off until the iphone can blend.
I can't wait to own this! I have a 3G S and I'm in need of an upgrade. I'm glad I finally get to own this I4 form factor. I see all my friends with it, and I've wanted it for so long.
I saw all the iPhone 5 mock-ups and they all looked great but no need to spend more on R+D for that. They were able to keep it at $199 because of that so I'm happy. I like the fact that iCloud is out around the same time so now I don't need lots of local storage and I can drop down to the 16GB, although I think they should have offered the 32GB @ $199 and 64GB @ $299.
I saw all the iPhone 5 mock-ups and they all looked great but no need to spend more on R+D for that. They were able to keep it at $199 because of that so I'm happy. I like the fact that iCloud is out around the same time so now I don't need lots of local storage and I can drop down to the 16GB, although I think they should have offered the 32GB @ $199 and 64GB @ $299.
Sprint iPhone
Is it me or does it seem a little odd that they announced that Sprint is getting the iPhone but when you go to Sprint's website, nothing. You go to att or verizon and it's, look at the new iPhone 4s coming soon. So where is Sprint?
Is it me or does it seem a little odd that they announced that Sprint is getting the iPhone but when you go to Sprint's website, nothing. You go to att or verizon and it's, look at the new iPhone 4s coming soon. So where is Sprint?