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Features the iPhone 4 did not get:
-Siri
-Turn by turn navigation
-Flyover
-FaceTime over cellular
-Panorama

All the big features.
None of which were advertised features when you bought the device. So it is not like it has degraded overtime.

Maybe you should be more optimistic, and focus on the hundreds of features and security improvements it's gotten? You'll be a happier person :)
 
None of which were advertised features when you bought the device. So it is not like it has degraded overtime.

Maybe you should be more optimistic, and focus on the hundreds of features and security improvements it's gotten? You'll be a happier person :)

Yes but all of them the iPhone 4 is fully capable of supporting. Its just Apple choosing not to let the iPhone 4 support them so you want to upgrade.

Also, no need to be happy about the other useless features that made iOS 6.

Google introduced Google Maps on the App Store and will soon have Google Now.
 
I'll tell you what the S models for sure get the longer life span, the 3GS is still supported.
That still remains to be seen. We are mainly going by what 3GS, the first S version, has been able to support, with the original iPhone and iPhone 3G being fairly early versions that don't really lay out a full story. So far, iPhone 4 is still being supported fairly well, so who is to say that it, as a non-S version, won't be getting as much support down the line (if not more) as 3GS has gotten so far and might get in the future. Not to mention iPhone 5, which might go down a similar path.

So, it's somewhat hard to say for sure that S versions are truly getting support longer than non-S versions not really having enough data so far.
 
Features the iPhone 4 did not get:
-Siri
-Turn by turn navigation
-Flyover
-FaceTime over cellular
-Panorama

All the big features.
These aren't all the big features, nor are they all even necessarily big features for everyone. There's Do Not Disturb that is generally seen as a big feature, which iPhone 4 got, there are new Privacy Controls in settings, there are new call answering options (replying by message or setting a reminder), there's Passbook, there's Facebook integration, and there are quite a few other changes--at least some of these, if not quite a few, are big features (and to some bigger than other features that they might not really use or care for, like FaceTime over cellular, or Flyover).
 
That still remains to be seen. We are mainly going by what 3GS, the first S version, has been able to support, with the original iPhone and iPhone 3G being fairly early versions that don't really lay out a full story. So far, iPhone 4 is still being supported fairly well, so who is to say that it, as a non-S version, won't be getting as much support down the line (if not more) as 3GS has gotten so far and might get in the future. Not to mention iPhone 5, which might go down a similar path.

So, it's somewhat hard to say for sure that S versions are truly getting support longer than non-S versions not really having enough data so far.


But you could look at the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS, You have one that stopped at 4.2.1, and another still getting updates. That's 2 years of extra updates and possibly 3 years of extra from it's non S counter-part.

You are correct with that we do not have enough data to judge the 4s and the 4 YET. But, when you look at the 3G and the 3GS one is a clear winner.
 
My concern is that they stopped updating the firmware on the 1st Gen iPad after iOS 5.

I think it is great they updated the 3GS. I hope they continue the same trend with the iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 is just a rock solid device in my opinion.
 
But you could look at the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS, You have one that stopped at 4.2.1, and another still getting updates. That's 2 years of extra updates and possibly 3 years of extra from it's non S counter-part.

You are correct with that we do not have enough data to judge the 4s and the 4 YET. But, when you look at the 3G and the 3GS one is a clear winner.
Right, there's definitely that when comparing 3G and 3GS, but that's basically only a single instance with data so far. And even in that instance it's comparing a fairly early version of the phone to its successor, so it might not really be the best or a more typical type of progression that we might be seeing with S versions beyond that first one. I guess we'll see how that works out with 4 and 4S and 5 and 5S.

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My concern is that they stopped updating the firmware on the 1st Gen iPad after iOS 5.

I think it is great they updated the 3GS. I hope they continue the same trend with the iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 is just a rock solid device in my opinion.
Sometimes it's a little hard to fully read too much into what happens with the 1st or even 2nd version of a new device--it's not usually the same thing as it is with later versions.

Plus, often (if not pretty much always) it has to do with what device is still being sold when a new OS version comes out. If the device is still being officially sold, then it should support that version, otherwise, it likely won't. The 1st version of the iPad was pushed out of being sold somewhat quicker than other versions of other devices (possibly due to faster iPad releases), so that played a role as well.
 
My concern is that they stopped updating the firmware on the 1st Gen iPad after iOS 5.

I think it is great they updated the 3GS. I hope they continue the same trend with the iPhone 4. The iPhone 4 is just a rock solid device in my opinion.

They ruined the iPad 1 even with iOS 5...iOS 6 would have made it completely unusable.

iPhone 3GS has seen its end with iOS 6 and iPhone 4 will see its end with the iOS 7.
 
Features the iPhone 4 did not get:
-Siri
-Turn by turn navigation
-Flyover
-FaceTime over cellular
-Panorama

All the big features.

-Siri are you kidding?
-Turn By Turn - not the voice, as that is SIRI. It still routes fine.
-Flyover runs like crap on it if you "shoehorn" it in via jailbreak, it's the hardware
-FT over Cellular - that's AT&T and Verizon that started it
-Panorama - you got me there, but it makes sense that they didn't because of the 5MP camera vs the 8MP of the 4S and 5.
 
-Siri are you kidding?
-Turn By Turn - not the voice, as that is SIRI. It still routes fine.
-Flyover runs like crap on it if you "shoehorn" it in via jailbreak, it's the hardware
-FT over Cellular - that's AT&T and Verizon that started it
-Panorama - you got me there, but it makes sense that they didn't because of the 5MP camera vs the 8MP of the 4S and 5.

Google Maps has turn by turn and 3D maps, Google Now (leaked) has Siri capabilities.

Jailbreak allows for FaceTime over cellular, actually Apple on the website said that it was supported with iPhone 4 or newer but after a couple hours changed it to iPhone 4S or newer.
 
Considering the fact the iPhone 4 (not the S) is still very popular, I think it's almost certain that the iPhone 4 will get iOS 7 and possibly iOS 8. Of course, not all features will be implemented, but the most important thing is that your device remains capable of running the latest apps and updates. :)
 
Google Maps has turn by turn and 3D maps, Google Now (leaked) has Siri capabilities.

Jailbreak allows for FaceTime over cellular, actually Apple on the website said that it was supported with iPhone 4 or newer but after a couple hours changed it to iPhone 4S or newer.

Google maps is a terrible experience for 3D, and Apple maps doesn't have TBT because of the lack of offline siri voice synthesis files.

They changed it because of the carriers. They rejected.
 
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