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Other Still Rockin a 5S

T

thedeske

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 17, 2013
963
58
What can I say, other than it's just a great device that keeps on goin' and it doesn't
fail me ever. Would I enjoy the 6(no) or the 6S(no) or the 7(Perhaps) or the 8 or X?
Well sure, but 1100 bucks? OK, so it's all relative to how it serves you. I've been a slave to the
past plans and still need to get off of AT&Ts gouging monthly, but that's not the issue.
The 5S is still a very good device. After using the 3, 4,4S,5,and 5S I realized it's just a matter of
small bits to the next big deal and I don't exist in a world of people noticing what I pull out of my wallet
to make a call. Honestly, it would be very hard to make anyone notice or give ***** in my specific location.

Funny how that works - I bought 5 of the first 7 versions and reached a pause. Why? Hmmm?
 
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If you’re still on 5S then you don’t really care about the latest or performance and definitely ain’t a power user. You’ll be happy with anything above 6 as an upgrade.
 
The 64GB iPhone 5S was $849 at launch.
Today, the 64GB iPhone 8 is just $699. And you get faster touchID, more RAM, 4K video recording, 3D touch, much faster chip, larger screen, etc.

Of if you are penny pinching, the 32GB iPhone 5S was $749 at launch.
Today, the 32GB iPhone SE is just $349. And you get more RAM, 4K video recording, faster chip, etc.

I mean if you thought the 5S was good value when you bought it back then, I don't see why today's iPhones are any worse. And considering you're in the US, you can simply opt for the iPhone upgrade program, and get the 64GB iPhone X for just $50 a month, and that includes Applecare+. I'm sure you can save $50 a month.
 
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I was never the kind of person who updated his phone every year (iPhone 2G -> iPhone 4 -> iPhone 5s) and this year I was hoping for an updated SE to replace my 5s but apparently this is not happening. I love the 4'' form factor but the device is getting old and I'm not interested in the SE since the screen technology is the same as my 5s and is already 2 years old.

Thus, I'll probably update to the successor of the iPhone X this year. It's a compromise but so is staying at 4''.
 
I buy them second hand. My 7 Plus 256GB would've been 1150 euros at launch, but it was less than half that in January this year. Using a phone until it breaks can also cost more than just selling it at the right time after a year or so.
 
The 5S was a great phone. It's the iPhone that broke my upgrade-every-2-years habit. I used one for 4.5 years and only just recently upgraded to an iPhone 8 because it was so unbearably slow (plus I was always running out of space and I want to eventually get an LTE Apple Watch which apparently doesn't work with a 5S). Holy crap is the 8 a lot faster than my old phone, LOL!

I'll miss the 4" phone days but I figured it's time to move on and change with the times. Hopefully Apple will one day bring back that form factor but with an edge-to-edge iPhone X like display. Heck, I'd probably take a 3.5" "iPhone X".
 
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I will stay on 5s until October... I have been happy with the 5s until iOS 11, since then the battery life is getting worse and worse (I've got the battery replaced). I do not want to buy an iPhone in the middle of it's cycle, however, if it dies earlier, I will go with the iPhone 8. And if the 2018 iPhones will be too expensive / bad, I'll go with the cheaper 8. Well... The exchange rate of EUR/USD should be in my favour. Hopefully. I am not excited about paying 21.000 CZK (~825 EUR+) for the 64G 8.
 
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We're reaching a point of basic hardware sufficiency. Relative to a few years ago the 5s is still a decent experience for a 4 year old phone. Think back 4 years when the 5s was new. A 4 year old phone at that time was a 3Gs. Comparatively, I'd say that was a much worse experience. Even a 4 was a complete dog at that point in a way the 5s still isn't.
 
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ONLY reason I upgraded my iPad to a Pro (gen 2 to the first 9.7 Pro) was pencil support.... if it weren’t for that I wouldn’t have made the change!

Phones though. Well.... I seem to get a new one every 3 or 4 years just when the OS stops getting updated. Money isn’t an issue due to being filthy rich but for some reason I just don’t care about getting the latest and greatest any more. The only reason why I went for an 8 Plus recently was I bought an X but didn’t like the notch. I gave it a week but had to return it to Apple. A family member had their first baby and I was getting tired lugging around my DSLR camera because whilst it’s outstanding in its picture quality and control I didn’t like that it wasn’t always on my person. So for those quick moments I wanted THE BEST smartphone camera I could get and I was NOT dissapointed by the X camera..... just the rest of it lol! The 8 Plus was next as it has the same camera. Gotta say I knew nothing about Live photos or the effects you can do to them (bounce, loop) and soon got addicted to it.

A bit off topic but I didn’t even know it had that feature until I took a random shot out of a window on my house way up on the 4th floor looking down a hill with a huge view to the horizon. It’s gorgeous!!! There was a bird in shot and as I was swiping through the photos.... bear in mind this was like the 2nd day I had the X.... I noticed it move! I swiped up and saw a load of additional effects so I made it loop and it looked so kooky I fell in total love!

I used to buy the latest and greatest video games consoles too but I stopped buying Microsofts Xbox this generation and I have yet to get the Pro PS4 as I find the regular PS4 good enough for the little time I put into it..... the Nintendo Switch on the other hand :D
 
I've never owned a 5s, but with used prices as cheap as they are on better phones, I don't see any reason to buy one. You can get a good 6s for $250 and a good 7 for around $300. That's dirt cheap.
 
My 5s is absolutely done for. I'm astonished some people can still use it as their daily drivers. Have you updated to iOS 11? Cause that's what killed it for me.
 
TheSkywalker77 said:
Have you updated to iOS 11? Cause that's what killed it for me.
Click to expand...

I updated my 5S to iOS 11 when it first came out. It nearly killed the phone for me but I managed to hang on for 6 months. It's funny how much I got used to its terrible performance at the end. For example, it was completely normal for me to type out a complete text message and hit send before even seeing the first character of the message show up on the display, lol. Now that I have an 8, it's so weird that I can actually see my text message before sending it.
 
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TheSkywalker77 said:
My 5s is absolutely done for. I'm astonished some people can still use it as their daily drivers. Have you updated to iOS 11? Cause that's what killed it for me.
Click to expand...
I simply hadn’t enough money to upgrade last September (830 EUR is quite a lot of money here). And I got used to the slowness. The main reason I will upgrade is a poor battery life even with the replacement battery.
 
thisismyusername said:
I updated my 5S to iOS 11 when it first came out. It nearly killed the phone for me but I managed to hang on for 6 months. It's funny how much I got used to its terrible performance at the end. For example, it was completely normal for me to type out a complete text message and hit send before even seeing the first character of the message show up on the display, lol. Now that I have an 8, it's so weird that I can actually see my text message before sending it.
Click to expand...
That's unbearably slow oml. The upgrade is great isn't it. ;)
meme1255 said:
I simply hadn’t enough money to upgrade last September (830 EUR is quite a lot of money here). And I got used to the slowness. The main reason I will upgrade is a poor battery life even with the replacement battery.
Click to expand...
Yea, the battery life is pretty bad on the 5s.
 
My 4 year old 5s still has great battery life. However iOS 11 seriously hindered performance, which I’m kinda used to. But when I use my wife’s 7, it’s like night and day. So, I’ll probably upgrade in September, really hoping for a well specced SE to come out. If not, I’ll bite the bullet and get an X2. Not excited about it though. I love Touch ID.
 
thisismyusername said:
I updated my 5S to iOS 11 when it first came out. It nearly killed the phone for me but I managed to hang on for 6 months. It's funny how much I got used to its terrible performance at the end. For example, it was completely normal for me to type out a complete text message and hit send before even seeing the first character of the message show up on the display, lol. Now that I have an 8, it's so weird that I can actually see my text message before sending it.
Click to expand...

This happened to my 6 before I got rid of it to upgrade to the 8 plus last year.
 
thedeske said:
Funny how that works - I bought 5 of the first 7 versions and reached a pause. Why? Hmmm?
Click to expand...
I think it’s because phones are reaching a point where they are becoming more like appliances where there may be regular upgrades, but the need to upgrade it is not as common.
 
pika2000 said:
The 64GB iPhone 5S was $849 at launch.
Today, the 64GB iPhone 8 is just $699. And you get faster touchID, more RAM, 4K video recording, 3D touch, much faster chip, larger screen, etc.

Of if you are penny pinching, the 32GB iPhone 5S was $749 at launch.
Today, the 32GB iPhone SE is just $349. And you get more RAM, 4K video recording, faster chip, etc.

I mean if you thought the 5S was good value when you bought it back then, I don't see why today's iPhones are any worse. And considering you're in the US, you can simply opt for the iPhone upgrade program, and get the 64GB iPhone X for just $50 a month, and that includes Applecare+. I'm sure you can save $50 a month.
Click to expand...

I am also a 5S user. While the above is true, the reality is a $0 useable 5S vs a $349 SE.

There are definitely niggling pains using my 5S, and I definitely do want to upgrade, but the phones on offer are not attractive enough. For me, the biggest mismatch in value is that I don't really care about a sharper screen nor bigger memory space, yet I have to pay a high premium for them. To save space, I curate my music playlist and keep my pictures on my laptop and Google Photos (which I can view from my 5S). Late last year, I almost bought the Pixel 2, but ultimately didn't because of the big bezels, and the fact that it isn't sold in my country (weird that my country only has Pixel 2 XL).

I am probably the opposite end of the so-called power user. I don't play games on my phone, so I think I don't feel the lack of performance as much. Most of my time are spent texting or reading stuff. All the apps that I want to use work without a hitch, and I don't remember experiencing any hanging or crashes. I kind of gotten accustomed to the "slowness"; I mean, for example, the extra second to type is really immaterial. As for the camera, I will get people to send me the photos if it's a gathering, or I will shoot with my gf's iPhone 7 or my mirrorless.

So far, iOS 11 is treating me alright. I didn't notice any major difference since I updated. I don't usually update at the first instance so I can wait and see if the update will break my phone. And frankly, most new features are not available to me.
 
My 5s was my first smartphone and I loved it. At that time it was the perfect phone for me. However, 2 years later I upgraded to a 6s and it is a much better phone compared to the 5s. Faster touch ID, raise to wake, 3 D touch, and larger screen. I still have my 5s as an emergency back up, but I would have a very hard time going back to the smaller screen size.
 
mrkramer said:
I think it’s because phones are reaching a point where they are becoming more like appliances where there may be regular upgrades, but the need to upgrade it is not as common.
Click to expand...

Which is also direct contribution of the rising cost of smart phones in general. Consumers are not willing to spend $1100 in full for smart phone that they would rather pay off over the course of time with 0% interest. Tim Cook even advocated last year that the iPhone X would cost what a consumer compares to what they spend on Coffee’s a week:

https://www.macrumors.com/2017/11/03/iphone-x-coffee-price-comparison/amp/

Direct quote:

“I think it's important to remember that a large number of people pay for the phone by month," said Cook. "I think you would find you could buy an iPhone X for $33/month. So, if you think about that, that's a few coffees a week -- it's less than a coffee a day at one of these nice coffee places."
 
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