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Want to buy iPhone 4...buy now or wait for next iPhone launch ?

R

rak007

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Oct 31, 2011
507
0
I am planning to buy an iPhone 4. My wife already has one. I feel iPhone 4 will suffice my needs and I don't really need the 4S or the next iPhone.
So should I wait for the next iPhone to be launched and then try finding the iPhone 4 on eBay etc ? Or buy now itself ? Can I expect prices of iPhone 4 to further drop after next iPhone launch ?
I want minimum 16 GB so the 8GB won't really cut through. Also what is the going rate of used iPhone 4 as of now ?
And last and most important I need the phone to have a real unlock as the phone will be used outside USA.
 
Hi,


Depends on your disposable income or upgrade status.

Personally I purchase my iphone's outright.

I now have £500 awaiting the next release in hope it ticks the right boxes for my wants , needs and expectations.

If your gonna stick on a present iphone choice then i would suggest the iPhone 4s, for speed and longevity, ref updates etc.
 
Just a word of advice. The 4 may suit your needs now. But it's already being left out of features like turn by turn maps in iOS 6. If you are going to use it for a while you may be better off at least getting the 4s.
 
I'd wait (which I normally don't say, usually you should buy what you need), the price point for the 4S will drop (presumably) to what the 4 is now, so you could buy a super cheap 4 or buy a 4S for what you were planning on spending anyway.
 
rick98761 said:
Just a word of advice. The 4 may suit your needs now. But it's already being left out of features like turn by turn maps in iOS 6. If you are going to use it for a while you may be better off at least getting the 4s.
Click to expand...

Interstella5555 said:
I'd wait (which I normally don't say, usually you should buy what you need), the price point for the 4S will drop (presumably) to what the 4 is now, so you could buy a super cheap 4 or buy a 4S for what you were planning on spending anyway.
Click to expand...

These are two very important points that you should definitely think about before springing for an iPhone 4.

Not to mention the speed difference between an iPhone 4 and a 4S. I have an iPhone 4 because I didn't want to upgrade to the iPhone 4S last year when the rest of my family did because I wanted to wait for the iPhone 5 (or whatever it's called). My iPhone 4 constantly lags, Safari crashes when I have too many tabs open, apps can take a while to load, the camera takes considerably longer than the iPhone 4S's camera to load while also taking worse pictures and video than the iPhone 4S, it freezes up, etc. Compared to my iPhone 4, my sisters 4S FLIES. It never lags, all the animations are buttery smooth, apps load quickly, the camera loads very fast and takes excellent picture and video (not to say the iPhone 4 doesn't, because it does), etc. All of these little annoyances on the iPhone 4 can make it feel slow, laggy, and can cause some frustration (especially when apps that take a long time to load finally load and then crash).

And when the price of the iPhone 4S drops down to $100 when the next iPhone is announced, it'll be an even better deal than the iPhone 4. Like the poster above me said, the iPhone 4 is already starting to receive less and less features of newer versions of iOS; for example, in iOS 6, the iPhone 4 doesn't get turn-by-turn maps or Facetime over 3G like the iPhone 4S and the next iPhone will. This will continue to be the case when iOS 7, iOS 8, etc. are released.

Just some food for thought. Good luck! :)
 
It seems possible that Apple will finally drop the 3GS from the US market when the next iPhone comes out. Why sell 4 versions at once?

Other than, possibly, the prepaid market or overseas.

So the 4 should drop in price to take it's place.

I'm going to give my iPhone 4 to my brother in law soon, and buy the new phone. It has been over 25 months, so I'm eligible for subsidy.
 
I know everyone is mentioning that 4S will be better and I do concur that.
Just that apple navigation might never come to my home country India where the phone will be used and I don't see myself using FaceTime. Also I will have to buy one with a real unlock.
I hope what you all are saying is true that 4S will see a price drop in used market as I too would prefer the newer version. Just that I have read that 4S has worse battery than 4.
But if the price is not enticing I would still go with iPhone 4 as I personally am satisfied with its performance. I am patient with opening of apps and camera loading and stuff and 720p video is ok for personal needs.

Btw how reliable are those eBay listing where they claim to get an iPhone a real unlock from AT&T for under 20$ ?
Are they genuine ? Because if they are then I can further save some money by buying locked iPhone and using that eBay thing and get it unlocked.
 
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