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iPhone 4S vs iPhone 5

MartiTT

MartiTT

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Feb 26, 2013
4
0
Hello,

I am not an expert in iPhones, so I came here for some tips.
I would love to buy one, but from what I heard and read, iPhone 5 has no significant upgrades in comparison with 4S. I could have 4S for a very good price, so I am asking, should I go for 4S without losing any great features of iPhone5?

Thank you!
 
Compared to the iPhone 4s, iPhone 5 have a new design,which comes with a 4-inch screen. The Larger and Brighter screen is really wonderful and 18% brighter than the display on the iPhone 4S. Also Apple Improved Speakers / Audio and the camera on the iPhone 5. Everything is faster from web page loading times to firing up the camera and taking a photo or video with the new A6 processor. Siri now also understands more questions than ever before. So of course it is much better than the iPhone 4s. I like it.
 
Of course, iPhone 5 is better :) Faster, smoother and a bit bigger than 4s.
 
Simply based on the processor speeds, the upgraded camera and screen size I think it's pretty obvious. The A6 runs at 1.4ghz, not bad for a phone. Apple is very very good at tailoring their software to work best with the hardware. My Macbook 08 is running the latest OS version 10.8.2 perfectly without overheating, graphic lag or long load times with a 5 year old piece of tech.

iPhone 5 and it's predecessors will be an awesome phone for a long while.
 
One of the biggest things that i have enjoyed on my iphone 5 compared to my 4s is how fast it charges. It charges much faster with the new port and that feature alone would almost make the price difference worth it to me. It also has a crisper screen, is bigger and is also faster. Another feature that most people seem to forget is the noise canceling mic on the back of the iPhone 5 in between the camera and flash. It does exactly what it's called, it cancels out all background noise in your surrounding so the person who you are talking to on the phone hears more of you and less of other noise. Not a huge feature, but it is new.
 
MartiTT said:
Hello,

I am not an expert in iPhones, so I came here for some tips.
I would love to buy one, but from what I heard and read, iPhone 5 has no significant upgrades in comparison with 4S. I could have 4S for a very good price, so I am asking, should I go for 4S without losing any great features of iPhone5?

Thank you!
Click to expand...
I don't think there are any features missing on the 4s vs the 5 on 6.1.2 IOS, other than LTE and 5 Gz wifi. The 5 is slightly faster, a little bigger screen. LTE of course but if you live where its not available then doesn't matter. Would your contract change by getting a 5? I would go with the 4s and wait for the next release.
 
Buy a iPhone 5 and you wouldnt go back to any other phone :)

The biggest different from a 4s is that the screen is bigger, the phone is thinner and i like the aluminum materials back, frame around the phone is diamond cut and very shiny in good light :) the iPhone 5 is more like a jewelery
 
MartiTT said:
Hello,

I am not an expert in iPhones, so I came here for some tips.
I would love to buy one, but from what I heard and read, iPhone 5 has no significant upgrades in comparison with 4S. I could have 4S for a very good price, so I am asking, should I go for 4S without losing any great features of iPhone5?

Thank you!
Click to expand...

Threads like these popped up when the 4S came out. I don't understand them. There are pretty big upgrades, since Apple only updates once a year.

Changes on the iPhone 5 compared to iPhone 4:

* A little more than TWICE the CPU performance.
* Twice as much RAM.
* Much better low-light camera.
* Bigger screen.
* LTE support.

The iPhone 4S is nice, but the iPhone 5 is better.

When people posted threads like this last year, I'd point out the updates on iPhone 4S vs the old iPhone 4:

* TWICE the CPU performance.
* Double the memory bandwidth.
* Seven times faster GPU / graphics.
* Up to double the cellular speed (AT&T).
* 8MP Camera w/ better low-light capability.
* 1080p video recording.
* Improved GPS.
 
Buy the 5, significant upgrade from the 4S. If you already had the 4S, should you upgrade to the 5, that depends if you are eligible for the subsidized price. But with no iPhone, I would definitely by the 5.
 
Xenomorph said:
Threads like these popped up when the 4S came out. I don't understand them. There are pretty big upgrades, since Apple only updates once a year.

Changes on the iPhone 5 compared to iPhone 4:

* A little more than TWICE the CPU performance.
* Twice as much RAM.
* Much better low-light camera.
* Bigger screen.
* LTE support.

The iPhone 4S is nice, but the iPhone 5 is better.

When people posted threads like this last year, I'd point out the updates on iPhone 4S vs the old iPhone 4:

* TWICE the CPU performance.
* Double the memory bandwidth.
* Seven times faster GPU / graphics.
* Up to double the cellular speed (AT&T).
* 8MP Camera w/ better low-light capability.
* 1080p video recording.
* Improved GPS.
Click to expand...

These specs are meaningless when not discussed in context. What exactly do these improved specs mean for the typical consumer? How much do I benefit from 1gb of ram compared to 512mb?

The strongest argument for sticking with a 4s is because most of the new features in ios6 (3g facetime, panorama, siri enhancements) work on the iPhone4s as well as the iphone5. The only thing you lose out is the larger screen and ability to take snapshots while recording video. However, this might mean that the 4s might not benefit fully from ios7 (when it comes) while you can eke out one more year of upgrades on the 5.

The A5 chip continues to be the most commonly used processor, and so developers will likely continue to program apps around it. While the A6 processor will mean apps load and run more quickly, in reality, I found the improvement negligible. You will find that the 4s remains more than capable of running whatever app you desire.

For LTE, not every country supports it, so a consumer might be perfectly content to stick with 3G. The 4s also uses a 8mp camera.

Are these worth the savings? You decide. :)
 
Yes, that is exactly the reason, why I posted this question. You can tell me every new feature of iPhone 5, but for a typical consumer, who does not understand these features into depth, I must say (and do not hate me), that 5 doesn't bring any significant change in comparison with 4S. BUT I have decided for 5, for no other specific reason, it is still more upgraded than 4S, and I hope it worth spending some money.

Thank you for your time and opinions! Appreciated
 
Abazigal said:
These specs are meaningless when not discussed in context.
Click to expand...

I love how you say this, then continue on and state:

Abazigal said:
The 4s also uses a 8mp camera.
Click to expand...

This means nothing. This is how big the picture it takes is. This has nothing to do with the sensor and how efficient and how big that is, ergo it has nothing to do with how nice the final picture taken is. People who brag about megapixels and not the sensor of the camera have no business talking about cameras.
 
My point is that both the 4s and 5 both have 8mp cameras. So you likely won't see a significant improvement in photo quality.

Is my English that bad? :(
 
Abazigal said:
My point is that both the 4s and 5 both have 8mp cameras. So you likely won't see a significant improvement in photo quality.

Is my English that bad? :(
Click to expand...

Your English is excellent, in fact. Simply the fact of the matter is that megapixels aren't the end all of camera photo specs - the aperture, lens(es), sensor, etc all make up a huge portion of the quality of the picture.
 
Abazigal said:
These specs are meaningless when not discussed in context. What exactly do these improved specs mean for the typical consumer? How much do I benefit from 1gb of ram compared to 512mb?

The strongest argument for sticking with a 4s is because most of the new features in ios6 (3g facetime, panorama, siri enhancements) work on the iPhone4s as well as the iphone5. The only thing you lose out is the larger screen and ability to take snapshots while recording video. However, this might mean that the 4s might not benefit fully from ios7 (when it comes) while you can eke out one more year of upgrades on the 5.

The A5 chip continues to be the most commonly used processor, and so developers will likely continue to program apps around it. While the A6 processor will mean apps load and run more quickly, in reality, I found the improvement negligible. You will find that the 4s remains more than capable of running whatever app you desire.

For LTE, not every country supports it, so a consumer might be perfectly content to stick with 3G. The 4s also uses a 8mp camera.

Are these worth the savings? You decide. :)
Click to expand...
This.

Also the leap from a 4S on HSPA+ like with ATT to LTE is marginal, at best.

The leap from 4S on 3G/CDMA with Verizon to LTE is massive.
 
quietstormSD said:
Buy the 5, significant upgrade from the 4S. If you already had the 4S, should you upgrade to the 5, that depends if you are eligible for the subsidized price. But with no iPhone, I would definitely by the 5.
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say it is a significant upgrade but if you are a new iphone user then get iphone 5. If you want to save money then iphone 4s.
 
for every apple stuff, do not buy every model from every year :rolleyes:
it only worth it if you got 4 only
4 - 4S basically almost same model, performances increase by few margins
4S - 5 performances increase by few margins, bigger screen
go for next iphone, 5S or 6 whatever
you will get significant increase from performance overall ;)
 
Xenomorph said:
Threads like these popped up when the 4S came out. I don't understand them. There are pretty big upgrades, since Apple only updates once a year.

Changes on the iPhone 5 compared to iPhone 4:

* A little more than TWICE the CPU performance.
* Twice as much RAM.
* Much better low-light camera.
* Bigger screen.
* LTE support.

The iPhone 4S is nice, but the iPhone 5 is better.

When people posted threads like this last year, I'd point out the updates on iPhone 4S vs the old iPhone 4:

* TWICE the CPU performance.
* Double the memory bandwidth.
* Seven times faster GPU / graphics.
* Up to double the cellular speed (AT&T).
* 8MP Camera w/ better low-light capability.
* 1080p video recording.
* Improved GPS.
Click to expand...

Correction, iPhone 4S vs iPhone 4 in Geekbench isn't 7 TIMES faster.. It's only 1.96 TIMES..

iPhone 4 Single Core 212, Multi GPU SCore 212
iPhone 4S Single Core 212, Multi GPU SCore 398
iPhone 5 Single Core 707, Multi GPU 1296
 
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