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infinitehope15

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Dec 11, 2013
8
0
Tennessee
New here, but I come and read these forums a lot. In November I upgraded to a 5S, absolutely loved it, but found myself in desperate need of some extra cash unfortunately (I didn't pay a thing for my 5S because of the trade in value of my old phone) so, I had a friend trade me their iPhone 5 and a good sum of cash for my 5S. I'm regretting it now, but whatever, I'll have to deal. The point of this post- will the iPhone 5 be a good phone for me to use for the next two years? I obviously used my upgrade in November, so that's that.
 
New here, but I come and read these forums a lot. In November I upgraded to a 5S, absolutely loved it, but found myself in desperate need of some extra cash unfortunately (I didn't pay a thing for my 5S because of the trade in value of my old phone) so, I had a friend trade me their iPhone 5 and a good sum of cash for my 5S. I'm regretting it now, but whatever, I'll have to deal. The point of this post- will the iPhone 5 be a good phone for me to use for the next two years? I obviously used my upgrade in November, so that's that.

Yes since basically the 5c is the same as the 5 and its new this year. :)
 
New here, but I come and read these forums a lot. In November I upgraded to a 5S, absolutely loved it, but found myself in desperate need of some extra cash unfortunately (I didn't pay a thing for my 5S because of the trade in value of my old phone) so, I had a friend trade me their iPhone 5 and a good sum of cash for my 5S. I'm regretting it now, but whatever, I'll have to deal. The point of this post- will the iPhone 5 be a good phone for me to use for the next two years? I obviously used my upgrade in November, so that's that.

It will be fine for 3yrs in sure...
 
In a nutshell, yes, the iphone5 should remain a solid phone which can meet your needs for the next 2 years.

Apple should still support your iphone with at least another 2 years of upgrades. You already get 4g, Siri and airdrop. You will miss out on touch ID, but I guess that wasn't a huge deal anyways since you traded down. Both models still sport a 8mp camera anyways. You take a slight performance hit since your a6 chip isn't 64-bit, but nothing you can't live without.

Apple is also in the process of transitioning over to 64-bit. If we assume they continue to double their ram every 2 years, the iphone 7 that comes 3 years from now should sport 4 gb of ram and by then, all apps would be 64-bit compliant.

If you can wait one more year, then might actually be a better time to upgrade, but I would say you are still good to go for the next 2 years at least.
 
In a nutshell, yes, the iphone5 should remain a solid phone which can meet your needs for the next 2 years.

Apple should still support your iphone with at least another 2 years of upgrades. You already get 4g, Siri and airdrop. You will miss out on touch ID, but I guess that wasn't a huge deal anyways since you traded down. Both models still sport a 8mp camera anyways. You take a slight performance hit since your a6 chip isn't 64-bit, but nothing you can't live without.

Apple is also in the process of transitioning over to 64-bit. If we assume they continue to double their ram every 2 years, the iphone 7 that comes 3 years from now should sport 4 gb of ram and by then, all apps would be 64-bit compliant.

If you can wait one more year, then might actually be a better time to upgrade, but I would say you are still good to go for the next 2 years at least.


Thanks for the quick and detailed reply. The original iPhone 5 I traded my friend for had issues, (which I really didn't know at the time) but thankfully was still in warranty and apple gave me a replacement for free. So technically, I have a 1/2 month refurbished phone. It's given me no issues though. I'm big on having the latest and greatest (lol, sue me) so I get jealous when I see everyone out there with a 5S.. But I did what I did and I have to accept that. I guess that's what I was trying to figure out, I'll have an upgrade available in November 2015, assuming the 6S or whatever they decided to call it, will be out then. I'll clearly want to upgrade from the 5 to the 6S, but it may be better waiting for the 7. But then again, the 5 to the 6S will probably be a big leap and I'll get the urge to use my upgrade. Who knows. I may just buy a 6 out of contract next year if the specs/design are really that different.
 
Thanks for the quick and detailed reply. The original iPhone 5 I traded my friend for had issues, (which I really didn't know at the time) but thankfully was still in warranty and apple gave me a replacement for free. So technically, I have a 1/2 month refurbished phone. It's given me no issues though. I'm big on having the latest and greatest (lol, sue me) so I get jealous when I see everyone out there with a 5S.. But I did what I did and I have to accept that. I guess that's what I was trying to figure out, I'll have an upgrade available in November 2015, assuming the 6S or whatever they decided to call it, will be out then. I'll clearly want to upgrade from the 5 to the 6S, but it may be better waiting for the 7. But then again, the 5 to the 6S will probably be a big leap and I'll get the urge to use my upgrade. Who knows. I may just buy a 6 out of contract next year if the specs/design are really that different.

That's the spirit. Just focus on enjoying your current iphone as is and don't worry so much about what may be in the future. Like you said, you may just end up upgrading to the iphone6 for all we know. :)
 
I've been using my iPhone 5 for about 9 months and it's working like a charm for me! Upgrading to iPhone 5S is not necessarily needed for me.
And yes the iPhone 5 will still be decent even after 3 years.
And I think I'll be using my iPhone 5 for the next two years until the iPhone 6S or 7 is out just like you!
 
As long as NFC and LTE-A don't really take off it will be a fine device for a couple of years at least. It's more a question about weather or not you'll be able to handle not having the newest technology available in a year or two.
 
I'm still using my original iPhone 4 that I received in 2010. These devices just don't magically lose functionality as they age. So long as the hardware doesn't fail I can see myself using it as a primary phone for another year or two easily.
 
I'm still using my original iPhone 4 that I received in 2010. These devices just don't magically lose functionality as they age. So long as the hardware doesn't fail I can see myself using it as a primary phone for another year or two easily.

No they don't, but newer devices do sport improved performance and more features which can, all other things equal, add more functionality and possibly make you more productive.:)
 
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