Need opinions please

[DashSatan]

Isn't asking a forum of 500,000+ a good way to gain some experience and conduct research?

Not everyone has the same level of knowledge about the iPhone, Apple's typical product patterns, or the other factors that determine what to do in this case.

This purchase will cost the OP $300 at the point of sale (1 iPhone, taxes, and activation fee) plus up to $720 in data over the course of 2 years. It's not a decision to be made lightly.

OP, I would wait. I'm not putting much stock into the rumors of delay. My suspicion is that bloggers and speculators have been looking for leaks and haven't found them this year (people will remember the strange stories from a few months ago that seemed like intentional leaks, almost like Apple was trying to trace the source of rumors), and that's why the assumption now is that the iPhone 5 is delayed.

However, I wouldn't expect much from the iPhone 5 either. It will probably be a modest bump in specs plus a white option and possibly more storage. It isn't going to be as great of a change as the iPhone 4, but it will probably be a slightly smoother iOS experience, much like the transition from the iPhone 3g to 3gs.

I really appreciate your input. But you say it'll be a slightly smoother iOS experience, however wont the iPhone 4 get the iOS update also? See this is why I'm torn, because if our assumptions are that there wont be a huge difference or jump like the iPhone 4 was I'm probably just going to go with that because I love the look of the 4 and there's really not much I would want to see change. Plus it has the unlimited data plan, which is right up my ally haha.

 

[CalBoy]

I really appreciate your input. But you say it'll be a slightly smoother iOS experience, however wont the iPhone 4 get the iOS update also? See this is why I'm torn, because if our assumptions are that there wont be a huge difference or jump like the iPhone 4 was I'm probably just going to go with that because I love the look of the 4 and there's really not much I would want to see change. Plus it has the unlimited data plan, which is right up my ally haha.

Yes, the iPhone 4 should get the update as well, but as a 3gs user, I can tell you that the update isn't always as smooth on older hardware. iOS 4 hasn't always been fantastic on my 3gs (mostly just hanging issues, random restarts, and other odd errors).

However, what I really meant by "smoother" experience is that there are always moderate improvements in the way the OS delivers info as time goes on, and some of this is made possible by small tweaks in hardware. For example, the 3g iPhone had battery life problems which the 3gs was able to mitigate with a lot of small improvements. The 3gs also brought a better camera and video camera which in the grand scheme of things is only a small change, but it enhances the iPhone experience. Those are the kinds of things I'm betting we'll see with the iPhone 5. I suspect that the overall shape of the 5 will be substantially the same and the only changes will involve taking care of documented issues with the 4.

I already have a grandfathered unlimited data plan, so I guess that's a factor that doesn't apply to me. However, my total usage with WiFi always off, only hits about 250mb/month. I'm not sure if Verizon is going to be offering unlimited after June, but if it's important to you, you could always not upgrade your phone and buy the iPhone unsubsidized and then sell it afterwards. You'd have to do the math to see if it would be worthwhile.