Should I Return 4s before Sept event?

[darknyt]

Had the unfortunate timing of wife's old iPhone 4 breaking a couple weeks ago (ear speaker stopped working). Took it in to Apple and best option was that she was eligible for fully discounted phone (AT&T). Couldn't convince her to get 5 for $200, she just wanted what 4s offered at $99 (I have 4s as well) - FaceTime over 3g, better camera. She did have to step down to 16gb from 32gb. I think she will regret that downsize over the 2 years.

Our 30-day return window expires right at end of this month. I'm trying to convince her to return the phone and rollback to her old iPhone for a couple weeks for better options after the Sept 10 announcement. I'm thinking she could get a better phone for the same money ($99). She is reluctant to have to use a headset for 2 weeks, crappy camera, no facetime over 3g with parents overseas.

My main worry is that she won't be any better off for having waited. Since her parents come from out of country 10 days after the media event, if she doesn't have a good phone to use while they are here, I will never hear the end of it. You know the drill. (I understand timing of actual delivery of new phone may not make it, but will be worth it if it's a better phone)

Part of me wouldn't mind having her on an older 3g phone to save data for me when I bump up to 5S. But mainly I worry that over 2 years she will come to regret having a 4s versus a 5 variant of some kind.

Decisions, decisions.

 

[Givmeabrek]

Simple. Switch sim cards with your wife. Now she can use your phone. Now you struggle with her phone or upgrade or do whatever you want. Your wife is happy and sometimes that's all that matters.

 

[darknyt]

Simple. Switch sim cards with your wife. Now she can use your phone. Now you struggle with her phone or upgrade or do whatever you want. Your wife is happy and sometimes that's all that matters.

Good idea, however I will leaving for French Polynesia on business before the Sept 10 event. We both concur I need to have my phone both for business and for communication with her back home, facetime with kids, etc (as well as pictures, videos, etc - I am in paradise after all). We had the same idea, but had to eventually nix it.

 

[g35]

Buy a used 4S iPhone off Craigslist, then sell it after the Sept 10 event. Most laypersons don't catch wind of the new iPhone until a few days after the announcement at least so it won't lose its value right away. At worst you'll take a $100 hit but it sounds like that would be worth it to your wife.

-or- don't try to manage her phone stuff too much. I have found that non-techy people don't care about having the absolute latest....they just want what they want (eg. Your wife with the 4S). I'd say stop worrying about it. If she regrets it later, it'll be a lesson for her. If not, you're all good!

 

[Dented]

If it weren't for the storage issue I'd say stick with the 4S, absolutely, it's a good phone and the 5 barely improves on it in most regards. Camera is arguably better on the 4S (no purple haze), build quality is definitely better, it's still getting ios 7 and if she's happy with the screen size and no LTE etc then let her get on with it.

BUT dropping from 32 to 16gb could be significant, especially if she's used to actually using that 32gb. Did she use much/all the space on her old phone? If so then yes, over time it's bound to become an issue.

 

[OneMike]

Good idea, however I will leaving for French Polynesia on business before the Sept 10 event. We both concur I need to have my phone both for business and for communication with her back home, facetime with kids, etc (as well as pictures, videos, etc - I am in paradise after all). We had the same idea, but had to eventually nix it.

She seems happy now so personally I'd just leave it alone. Let her keep the 4S.



The only other complicated thing I can think of is:

- Have her return the 4S (make sure AT&T resets upgrade eligibility)
- Swap phones with her until you leave
- Have her get a new phone when you're leaving.

That way at least it would buy you some time and reset the return window. This is thinking you're leaving Sept x. If you're leaving like this week it'd make no sense.

 

[darknyt]

If it weren't for the storage issue I'd say stick with the 4S, absolutely, it's a good phone and the 5 barely improves on it in most regards. Camera is arguably better on the 4S (no purple haze), build quality is definitely better, it's still getting ios 7 and if she's happy with the screen size and no LTE etc then let her get on with it.

BUT dropping from 32 to 16gb could be significant, especially if she's used to actually using that 32gb. Did she use much/all the space on her old phone? If so then yes, over time it's bound to become an issue.

Pictures and Pinterest. That sums up the storage issues that proved problematic for her with 32gbs and only that because she didn't manage it properly.

We use photostream to save all the pictures off the iPhone so only videos need to be synced for now. She just wouldn't delete them until she tells me her phone won't work. Oh you have ZERO mb left. That'll do it.

And Pinterest for some reason was taking up over 10gb on her old phone. I have to delete/reinstall occasionally to fix it.

She *could* probably survive on 16 gb. She does nothing essential that is storage-intensive. Just doesn't keep up maintenance on it. Realistically means more work for me managing her storage more frequently for her.

I def hear all the suggestions to leave well enough alone - she is happy, except for realizing 16gb isn't ideal. But they gave us no other option on the 4S and I'm hesitant to get her a larger used one as she always seems to have stuff happen the first year when a new one would be covered by warranty. Prob should bite the bullet and get Applecare + since if we had, she wouldn't be having this issue right now and could have held her upgrade free in hand until Sept 10.

 

[darknyt]

She seems happy now so personally I'd just leave it alone. Let her keep the 4S.



The only other complicated thing I can think of is:

- Have her return the 4S (make sure AT&T resets upgrade eligibility)
- Swap phones with her until you leave
- Have her get a new phone when you're leaving.

That way at least it would buy you some time and reset the return window. This is thinking you're leaving Sept x. If you're leaving like this week it'd make no sense.

I'm leaning to let her keep it - and trying to temper my nerd-rage over having to do this upgrade right before the drop. As everyone rightly notes, she is happy and if she is eventually not, I can gently, every so subtly, pull out the "I told you so" card.

 

[mlody]

We use photostream to save all the pictures off the iPhone so only videos need to be synced for now. She just wouldn't delete them until she tells me her phone won't work. Oh you have ZERO mb left. That'll do it.

If this is how she uses it, it really does not matter if she has 16 or 32 - sooner or later she will end up with the same issue.

 

[tworth23]

Don't be cheap

Return the phone now while within the 30 day window. Let your wife deal with the old 4,wait for 5s then give your wife your old phone. Why do people insist on buying 2 year plus old technology to save $100??? Will never figure that out. Is $100 really going to make or break you? Plus. The 5c will probably be same price as the 4s you just bought and has 4" screen.

 

[vistadude]

When the announce the new iphone, they will probably phase out the 32 and 64 gb versions of the iphone 5. Probably around this time, you'll see a price break on those and you could return the 4s and pay another $50 and get a 32 GB iphone 5.

 

[James717]

The iPhone 4S is fine for $99 plus plan for 2 years.

Getting a 5S will cost over $200-300 plus plan for 2 years.

As for taking/calling, surfing web, pics, playing games, etc, the 4S is fine. It IS a 99 USD phone. Since you didn't spring for a 200 phone, why have doubts?

for many people, you can't use up all 32 or 64 or 128 GBs. That's a huge load. Anyway, I use my 4, my 4S, my 5, mini etc to their max. Truth be told, they're all just simple time wasting devices.

Be happy with the 4S.

 

[James717]

Return the phone now while within the 30 day window. Let your wife deal with the old 4,wait for 5s then give your wife your old phone. Why do people insist on buying 2 year plus old technology to save $100??? Will never figure that out. Is $100 really going to make or break you? Plus. The 5c will probably be same price as the 4s you just bought and has 4" screen.

Well, that's pretty insensitive and narrow-minded of you.

The 2 year plan is a wash cuz you will need it and use it for any phone. So it basically boils down to the phone.

She could get a free phone, a $50 phone, a $100 phone, or a $200 phone or higher. She chooses a $100 phone perhaps it looks cool or perhaps all she needs is a smartphone which is Apple reliable and Apple quality. The $100 savings she could use towards her boyfriend/husband's gift of a iPad Retina or the upcoming Retina Mini. Who knows. Women are freakin great at using money wisely.

She sounds cool beans to me. Course she could get the iPhone 5 and go with the flow. Or wait 1 or 2 months for the 5S and pay a bit higher (who knows).

For me, a 2 year old Apple device is still pretty darn nice. And I don't do refurbished or Craig's list or Ebay or any of that penny pinching none-sense. If I could buy an iPhone 3 (from Apple store) for $50 -100, I'd jump in and get it.

 

[darknyt]

Heh, didn't see the replies after my last almost a month ago now.

Fun update. She kept the 4s. It really came down to her fundamentally being happy with a 4s and her parents arriving from out of country and she would be essentially without a phone for most of the time they were here. Trust me, I know that part is very short-term perspective. You also know how it can be once a woman has made up her mind.

BUT - our plan is to actually SELL her new 16gb iPhone 4s when I upgrade to the 5s. Then trade down my 64gb iPhone 4s to her. Then she will have a much more practically sized iPhone.

The only real issue there is the question of warranty. It will be out of applecare + soon after she gets it. So if she needs a replacement for any reason, she's stuck buying a refurbished one, hopefully for only $149. Clearly, if she has to do that within the first year, she would have been better off, financially anyway, waiting to get a 5C. Even the 32gb option would have been only $199, so 99 + 150 replacement for 4s version is more than what a 5C would have been with a free warranty for a year.

Such is life.