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Is it worth waiting for the iPhone 5?

I would not waste my upgrade on a 4S. So you have a few options...

Buy another phone (you can get great Android phones online brand new for really cheap)

Buy a iPhone 4 online

If you must have the 4S, buy it off contract, keep it in a case at all times with a screen protector, and then sell it online right around September 10th-15th for roughly 80% of what you bought it for
 
fertilized-egg said:
But of course, that's all assuming you can live with Windows Phone 7. It's a nice OS that's really smooth and responsive but has a ton of problems as well. I don't know if I'd recommend this over other operating systems unless you know what you're getting into.
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What problems are you talking about? I read that Windows Phone 7.5 has better security than Android.
 
hajime said:
What problems are you talking about? I read that Windows Phone 7.5 has better security than Android.
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No, not security. IE isn't as good as other web browsers and unfortunately for MS mobile websites are slowly adopting Webkit as the de facto standard, leaving many mobile sites partially non-functional on the WP7's browser. The choice of apps is very lacklustre. The Metro UI looks nice at first but there are little things that bugs me.

To give you a single specific example based on my own needs, there's no way to download podcast on device and you have to get everything through Zune and sync. On an iPod/iPhone/iPad, I can download podcast right through iTunes on device, play the MP3 file through a browser like Safari, use any of the Podcast apps or simply download the file through file management apps like GoodReader and play from that app. On Windows Phone 7 I cannot use the alternative method because IE doesn't play MP3 on background and the 3rd party podcast apps are pretty bad.

What's worse? I cannot scrub through my music/podcast! :eek: The music player won't let you scrub through the timeline and it always bugs me how I have to pressdown on the forward button like I used to do with my cassette tape player two decades ago. *forward forward* *Arrrgg I've missed the spot* *back back* *arg missed the spot again* *screw it, I'm just listening*
 
The iPhone 4a is great...I have one on sprint...but i bought it on ebay when it was released...so I'll have an upgrade available around the time the new iPhone comes out.

Sprints 3G is horrendous is some areas. You would be smart to wait for a lte enabled iPhone. Honestly....I can't even perform a google search in certain parts of where I live..... That slow. Fortunately sprint has a contract with the university I work at...so we are first in line for lte. Until then....wifi saves me.
 
That being said I also owned a htc Evo, Evo 3d, and epic 4 g touch. The iPhone was the first to satisfy me...and still does. So ill wait tell the next iPhone comes out before I upgrade....apples got some good competition this year but I suspect they will step up.... We will see.

You could always get a iPhone 4 off eBay to hold you over, then sell it after you get the new iPhone.
 
user418 said:
My iPhone4 contract expired in February. I plan to hold out for the next generation unit. October seems light years away and it's driving me nuts.
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You obviously do not live in the USA. Because no one's iPhone 4 contract expired in the USA unless they terminated the contract early.

The iPhone 4 was released in June 2010. So many people's contracts will expire in less than 6 weeks.

I know in Europe, there are still 12-18 month contracts. But in the USA, ATT, Verizon did away with 12 month contracts.
 
Find a 4S now

This is a really good phone. In addition to the other things mentioned, it also has a voice to text feature which will cut down your typing dramatically. It works VERY well. Then get the IP5 when it comes out.
 
aneftp said:
You obviously do not live in the USA. Because no one's iPhone 4 contract expired in the USA unless they terminated the contract early.

The iPhone 4 was released in June 2010. So many people's contracts will expire in less than 6 weeks.

I know in Europe, there are still 12-18 month contracts. But in the USA, ATT, Verizon did away with 12 month contracts.
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I did not terminate my contract early and the last time I checked my state was in the USA. I am well aware of when the iPhone 4 was released. I am also well aware of the following upgrade statement taken directly from my online ATT account and verified via a visit and conversation with the manager at one of the local ATT stores in February:

"As a valued AT&T customer, we can offer you discounted equipment pricing with a new 2-year commitment and a $36 upgrade fee".

iPhone Upgrade

"As a valued AT&T customer, we can offer you a discounted iPhone upgrade with a new 2-year commitment and a $36 upgrade fee".

That statement has been there since February but, as I previously stated, I'm holding out for the next iPhone release.
 
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user418 said:
I did not terminate my contract early and the last time I checked my state was in the USA. I am well aware of when the iPhone 4 was released. I am also well aware of the following upgrade statement taken directly from my online ATT account and verified via a visit and conversation with the manager at one of the local ATT stores in February:

"As a valued AT&T customer, we can offer you discounted equipment pricing with a new 2-year commitment and a $36 upgrade fee".

iPhone Upgrade

"As a valued AT&T customer, we can offer you a discounted iPhone upgrade with a new 2-year commitment and a $36 upgrade fee".

That statement has been there since February but, as I previously stated, I'm holding out for the next iPhone release.
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There seems to be some confusion here. Your contract did not expire. It will expire exactly 24 months after you originally signed. If you wanted to close your account TODAY, you would have to pay an ETF. AT&T does their two year upgrade on a 20 month cycle. You are upgrade eligible now, and whenever you use that upgrade you will sign another two years from the date of that upgrade. Unless they change things, you will be upgrade eligible again, but not out of contract, 20 months from that date as well.
 
Perhaps a poor choice of words. My primary point, as you stated, is that I am currently upgrade eligible. Thanks for the clarification.
 
I think that I would buy the 4s now. The iPhone5 will be 4G and I would like to see how much battery it will suck down before buying one. My 4s gets me by all day long and anything less for me is not an option. If the battery life on the iPhone5 is good, then they will have a winner. I have used several 4G phones on Verizon and all have been great phones but battery life is horrible. The Motorola Maxx does get you all day service but it has a car battery built into it. so Apple needs to do a good job in this area or there will be some unhappy campers. IMHO
 
Wait for the iPhone 5, no question about it. Just playing a little shrink doc on you, but the fact that you're even asking this question means that you are just anxious to get an iPhone in your hands as soon as yesterday. At that point you really need to practice some patience. Not doing so only leads to regret.

Imagine 2 years from now you're wanting the iPhone 6 (which you will). What do you think will sell better on ebay at that point: iPhone 4s or an iPhone 5. Let's put it another way, go see what sells better now, an iPhone 4 or iPhone 3Gs.

As far as bugs, I've only had one bug that bothered me so I took the phone to the Genius bar and they tried to fix it. After giving up they just gave me a new iPhone. No complaints here and I'm certainly not scared of buying an iPhone 5 because of a potential bug. I've had the first gen iPhone, 3G, and now the 4 and only one bug in all that time.

If you have the chance to wait 6 months to get the latest and greatest, then you wait. 6 months goes by fast! Get yourself a cheap phone to get by for now.
 
ixodes said:
The current iPhone 4S is an excellent model.

No one knows what to expect from the upcoming new model. Speaking from experience, if Apple creates a significant upgrade & redesign, chances are good it will have some bugs & other problems. Typically it's the year after a major upgrade that Apples product is well debugged and the one you want.

Decades of Apple experience have taught me newer is not always better despite the lofty marketing hype.

I've had every model of iPhone since day one... some were better than others. Last years iPhone 4 (an all new design) was a phone with a very poorly designed antenna. It wouldn't make calls in places that my prior years iPhone 3GS worked perfectly.

Conversely this years iPhone 4S, which looks identical, is a terrific phone. Apple fixed the antenna and now it's just great.

Personally, I'd buy now.
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Excellent advice.
 
fertilized-egg said:
What's worse? I cannot scrub through my music/podcast! :eek: The music player won't let you scrub through the timeline and it always bugs me how I have to pressdown on the forward button like I used to do with my cassette tape player two decades ago. *forward forward* *Arrrgg I've missed the spot* *back back* *arg missed the spot again* *screw it, I'm just listening*
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Do you mean there is no slider for the users to use?

Is Zune as inconvenience as iTunes?
 
i just got iphone 4s and i have a reliable source that new one out in summer but who cares i had the droid maxx but it was just to big and to much customization i got it from a friend new for 350 anyway when the new comes out i will sell this and get new one apple has good resale value.
 
msarway said:
i just got iphone 4s and i have a reliable source that new one out in summer but who cares i had the droid maxx but it was just to big and to much customization i got it from a friend new for 350 anyway when the new comes out i will sell this and get new one apple has good resale value.
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Reliable my ass
 
I would probably get a cheap StraightTalk phone(unless you need a smartphone) or something similar until the iPhone5 comes out or at least until more realistic details are released so that I can make a good decision or atleast wait and see what iOS6 preview will reveal. That may give you some idea about the next iphone.

Looking at Apples past releases it seems this one should be a big one and being tied to a two yr contract is gonna stink if you're wanting to get the iP5
 
msarway said:
i just got iphone 4s and i have a reliable source that new one out in summer but who cares i had the droid maxx but it was just to big and to much customization i got it from a friend new for 350 anyway when the new comes out i will sell this and get new one apple has good resale value.
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Possible seeing how technically the last day of summer is Sep 21. If you mean June/July what a lot of people see as summer I highly doubt it.

To my knowledge there hasn't been any word of iOS6 leaks which I think if they were going to over haul and release along with the phone something would have to be coming out soon for a June/July release
 
hajime said:
Do you mean there is no slider for the users to use?

Is Zune as inconvenience as iTunes?
Click to expand...

That's right. There's a progress bar but you cannot move the indicator. You have to press and hold the forward/back button. Oddly the video player does allow you to scrub but the audio player doesn't.

Zune is fine but I wouldn't say it's any more convenient than iTunes but you might find it better. I don't use iTunes to sync my devices so using Zune is still an inconvenience.

msarway said:
i just got iphone 4s and i have a reliable source that new one out in summer
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Somehow I really doubt it. Every sign points toward a later release, probably in Fall. If Apple is releasing it in summer, we probably have seen Apple's capital expenditure go up last quarter, some rumbling in the supplying chain, potentially even some components leaks, iOS 6 beta, etc, by now. None of that has happened.
 
What major issues do some of you speak of that the iPhones have after the 1st major revision? The 4 with its antenna issue was 100% fixed with a case, which any person who values their items and money would use.
 
fertilized-egg said:
That's right. There's a progress bar but you cannot move the indicator. You have to press and hold the forward/back button. Oddly the video player does allow you to scrub but the audio player doesn't.
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Thanks. That is a really turn off!
 
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