Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Will the iPhone 5 differ vastly from 4s?

Definitely lot more powerful, new design, possibility NFC chip, and 99.9% chance of LTE.

I always buy even numbers. Announced, 3G (New Design), Speed (Old Design), Retina (New Design), Siri (Old Design), 4G (New Design)
 
I think the 4S will definitely be outdated by the next iPhone. A major reason would be because of competition and people are catching up, but they just have to do it so they move the next step forward in innovation and sell a product. I have a personal rule that I dont buy the "S" of anything, because to me its more of an upgrade to an iPhone rather than moving to that "next" level. I've read several patents and the next iPhone will have a liquid metal casing so you probably won't need a case. They also added a patent for iWallet, which could change the way we purchase and use credit cards forever. Etc. etc.

Put yourself in Apple's shoes.. From a business standpoint, they obviously can't release just another upgrade of the 4S.. no one will buy it, they need a product thats about to send a boom like no other. Something that will shoot their stock value.. This is a new market, and they want to take the whole thing early when they can.. With them trying to get a contract deal done with one of china's biggest cellphone providers.

My contract has been up since February, I am still waiting it out. It will be worth the wait.
 
I am sure we will see some features that only the next generation iPhone has. Apple does this every year. Usually it's not a hardware limitation (although they often like to claim it is it seems). Will it make the 4S obsolete? I'd bet my life savings against that. I don't think Apple will want to alienate their customers that are waiting out their two year contracts, not to mention the fact that they are still supporting the three year old 3GS.
 
The one problem that I see for Apple to include an LTE radio will be the massive strain on decent battery life. Rumors say that the next phone will be slimmer, but at the expense of battery life? From what I've read on the Android (never going back!) forums and in the press, LTE takes a terrible toll on the battery. Hence the Motorola RAZR Maxx to the rescue.

I think that Apple must come up with a revolutionary new battery technology (fuel-cell perhaps?), not only for powering the LTE radio, but the fallback 3G radio and possibly a larger screen. Hmmm... Maybe the next iPhone will have a little fold-out designer crank on the side so the user can supply the needed juice!
 
iRetired said:
From what I've read on the Android, LTE takes a terrible toll on the battery.
Click to expand...
As a user of a 4G LTE-capable Android device, I can tell you that this is a myth. It may have been true for 1st generation 4G devices or for those people who don't manage their apps that use background data properly, but it is not true in my experience.
 
Iphoneattack said:
Im new to iPhones and I got a 4s a few days ago

I am a bit worried now

Since the 4s was released only last november Do you think the iPhone 5 will have a VAST advance in technology and features or will it be a slight advancement

In short do you think the iPhone 5 will make my 4s a "stone age" phone

I am not talking about camera or internal advancements like speed

Just talking about advancement that will be noticeable to the casual customer
Click to expand...
How do you expect any one in this forum to answer your questions? How would any of us know what the next phone will look like/perform?
 
AirZoom said:
I think the 4S will definitely be outdated by the next iPhone. A major reason would be because of competition and people are catching up, but they just have to do it so they move the next step forward in innovation and sell a product. I have a personal rule that I dont buy the "S" of anything, because to me its more of an upgrade to an iPhone rather than moving to that "next" level. I've read several patents and the next iPhone will have a liquid metal casing so you probably won't need a case. They also added a patent for iWallet, which could change the way we purchase and use credit cards forever. Etc. etc.

Put yourself in Apple's shoes.. From a business standpoint, they obviously can't release just another upgrade of the 4S.. no one will buy it, they need a product thats about to send a boom like no other. Something that will shoot their stock value.. This is a new market, and they want to take the whole thing early when they can.. With them trying to get a contract deal done with one of china's biggest cellphone providers.

My contract has been up since February, I am still waiting it out. It will be worth the wait.
Click to expand...

Isn't the thought of moving to the "next" level flawed. If I remember correctly the 3G didn't have many differences from the 2G

*by changes I am talking about ones that are noticeable to average joe customers
 
No one knows, therefore I'm not going to speculate.

I want a completely new external design, made from anything but glass, and a 4+" display. Those are my basic requirements.

If Apple fails to produce an iPhone without those basics I will not buy one. I'll simply keep my current model and celebrate the savings. I have no desire to upgrade no matter what else it may have.

Besides my large screen Galaxy's are meeting my smartphone needs very nicely.

Apples iPhone has always been my primary smartphone since the original, & I've had them all. I will be quite put off if they retain the tiny 3.5" display.

Conversely if they get with the program & increase it, then I will be delighted.
 
Iphoneattack said:
Isn't the thought of moving to the "next" level flawed. If I remember correctly the 3G didn't have many differences from the 2G

*by changes I am talking about ones that are noticeable to average joe customers
Click to expand...

IPhone 3G got a new exterior, but had the same internals as the iPhone 2G (except for 3G baseband and gps)

3GS had substantially improved internals

4 got major upgrades in both areas

4S got a major internal upgrade

Apple doesn't really have a pattern so far. If I had to guess, the upgrade will be similar to the iPhone 3G. The phone will get a redesign and a new baseband supporting 4G. I think the main selling points will be LTE and a 4" screen. And maybe some minor features like NFC. I suspect the CPU, GPU, and camera will stay the same since there really is no need for more power at this point. Maybe a die-shrink for battery's sale. Hopefully a bump to 1GB ram too.
 
Iphoneattack said:
Why? If the difference will only be along the lines of design, speed and camera. I don't mind
Click to expand...

isn't that all we look for in a phone upgrade really?
I've had my 4 since launch day almost two years old. i love this design and think the new one will look different. It won't have the a5x because the chip is too big for the iPhone so i think they went with a smaller chip. Smaller than the normal a5 chip. The chip will be more efficient because it will have 4g. So battery life won't be changed much. Camera will get upgrade of course. Im hoping for a 4" screen as i think they can increase the size a little bit and put in a bigger battery because of this. Then all the rumors about decrease in glass size and other materials used in this phone it should be thinner but i think it might be a little bigger overall to increase battery. I just wish it came out in june/july
 
SGMD1 said:
As a user of a 4G LTE-capable Android device, I can tell you that this is a myth. It may have been true for 1st generation 4G devices or for those people who don't manage their apps that use background data properly, but it is not true in my experience.
Click to expand...

I disagree. I have a Xoom (don't laugh I like it damnt! Lol) an it WAS 3G then sent back to Motorola for the LTE upgrade. There was a obvious battery hit! It used to last me 3 - 4 days as a mobile hotspot, now it's 1 - 2 days. If I keep the hotspot on even at night it can go 1 day 20 hours. Even turning it to CDMA only doesn't help.

Anyway I think this is the best comparison of all it's the exact same device without then with an LTE chipset.

As technology progresses they will get more energy efficient I'm sure. Btw a huge battery was apples solution to lye in the new iPad, just throwing that out their before people start mentioning motorola's solution to LTE.
 
Iphoneattack said:
Since the 4s was released only last november Do you think the iPhone 5 will have a VAST advance in technology and features or will it be a slight advancement
Click to expand...

Not sure why you are getting voted down, it's a perfectly valid question. To answer it, I would say that if you needed a new phone, you should be fine. If you just purchased it because you wanted something new, you should of considered waiting perhaps.

Personally, I would love Apple to revolutionize the mobile industry again, but based on history, don't expect it. Overall, it will be a bigger leap than 4 -> 4S. But it probably won't make the 4S 'stone age' worthy. The 3GS will be 'stone age' by then though.

If the iPhone 5 includes NFC, global LTE, bigger screen, a screen with haptic feedback (feels like different surfaces etc), quad core, 3 day battery life, 12 mp camera, AND another 'one more thing', you could have reason to be worried though.
 
djdover said:
Not sure why you are getting voted down, it's a perfectly valid question. To answer it, I would say that if you needed a new phone, you should be fine. If you just purchased it because you wanted something new, you should of considered waiting perhaps.

Personally, I would love Apple to revolutionize the mobile industry again, but based on history, don't expect it. Overall, it will be a bigger leap than 4 -> 4S. But it probably won't make the 4S 'stone age' worthy. The 3GS will be 'stone age' by then though.

If the iPhone 5 includes NFC, global LTE, bigger screen, a screen with haptic feedback (feels like different surfaces etc), quad core, 3 day battery life, 12 mp camera, AND another 'one more thing', you could have reason to be worried though.
Click to expand...

None of those things except battery and maybe quad core really matter TO ME

I don't really care about lte, NFC, big screen,etc that much
 
Iphoneattack said:
None of those things except battery and maybe quad core really matter TO ME

I don't really care about lte, NFC, big screen,etc that much
Click to expand...

You sound like you would be happy with an iPhone 4 then. Better battery life than the 4s...
Why would you not care about lte do you not live in the US?
Thats a huge upgrade just that
 
Smart phones are fast reaching a plateau. They're not going to get any larger and they can't get much faster and plenty of phones have a 'retina quality' display. What else will they have to offer? Software upgrades, storage and battery performance. All the other phone manufacturers have made some damn beautiful phones (HTC One X and Lumia 900 come to mind), and Windows 7 beat Apple to the innovative OS overhaul.

Where can Apple go, where others haven't already gone? That's the questions to ask.

I think their days of being the trend setter are long over (two year product cycles have placed them in the 'catch up' role). Now they just have to not fall too far behind other innovators.

The HTC One X case should have been from Apple. It's so beautiful, you would have expected it from Apple (same for the Lumia 900 - if Apple had come out with that, praise would have been shouted from the mountain tops), but here we sit with a 2 year old design that looks like it was made in someone's garage (albeit, well made).

A myriad of 4"+ screens are already on the marked with near 'retina' quality, so what's Apple to do here?

Face it, the days of Apple 'wowing' us are over. They can only hope to keep pace with other innovators.

I would expect nothing less than a new, rounded case (ala One X) and a 4" screen. But that will be for naught if they (again) give us the tired looking iOS.

Apple has their work cut out for them.
 
Sedrick said:
Smart phones are fast reaching a plateau. They're not going to get any larger and they can't get much faster and plenty of phones have a 'retina quality' display. What else will they have to offer? Software upgrades, storage and battery performance. All the other phone manufacturers have made some damn beautiful phones (HTC One X and Lumia 900 come to mind), and Windows 7 beat Apple to the innovative OS overhaul.

Where can Apple go, where others haven't already gone? That's the questions to ask.

I think their days of being the trend setter are long over (two year product cycles have placed them in the 'catch up' role). Now they just have to not fall too far behind other innovators.

The HTC One X case should have been from Apple. It's so beautiful, you would have expected it from Apple (same for the Lumia 900 - if Apple had come out with that, praise would have been shouted from the mountain tops), but here we sit with a 2 year old design that looks like it was made in someone's garage (albeit, well made).

A myriad of 4"+ screens are already on the marked with near 'retina' quality, so what's Apple to do here?

Face it, the days of Apple 'wowing' us are over. They can only hope to keep pace with other innovators.

I would expect nothing less than a new, rounded case (ala One X) and a 4" screen. But that will be for naught if they (again) give us the tired looking iOS.

Apple has their work cut out for them.
Click to expand...

Lol...you really have no clue. Apple and iPhone are not playing a "catch up" role.
 
Iphoneattack said:
None of those things except battery and maybe quad core really matter TO ME

I don't really care about lte, NFC, big screen,etc that much
Click to expand...

You're clearly just trying to justify your new purchase and tell yourself you made the right decision in buying a 4S now, in which case don't post threads asking about the next iPhone and just be happy with what you have. Personally, I'd say you made a poor decision buying a 4S this late in the game if you're so concerned about the next-gen iPhone making the 4S look old.

Obviously the new iPhone is going to have new features (and it can be guaranteed that Apple will try their best to make the old iPhone look old and outdated- judging by their past advertising tactics they will succeed) and will likely have a new physical design (which is something that is going to be noticeable to the general/casual consumer).
 
Last edited:
It will come in September, it will be the same design as the 4/4S, it will have a slightly faster/evolved CPU/maybe more RAM, and it will have LTE on the three carriers.
 
Sedrick said:
Smart phones are fast reaching a plateau. They're not going to get any larger and they can't get much faster and plenty of phones have a 'retina quality' display. What else will they have to offer? Software upgrades, storage and battery performance. All the other phone manufacturers have made some damn beautiful phones (HTC One X and Lumia 900 come to mind), and Windows 7 beat Apple to the innovative OS overhaul.

Where can Apple go, where others haven't already gone? That's the questions to ask.

I think their days of being the trend setter are long over (two year product cycles have placed them in the 'catch up' role). Now they just have to not fall too far behind other innovators.

The HTC One X case should have been from Apple. It's so beautiful, you would have expected it from Apple (same for the Lumia 900 - if Apple had come out with that, praise would have been shouted from the mountain tops), but here we sit with a 2 year old design that looks like it was made in someone's garage (albeit, well made).

A myriad of 4"+ screens are already on the marked with near 'retina' quality, so what's Apple to do here?

Face it, the days of Apple 'wowing' us are over. They can only hope to keep pace with other innovators.

I would expect nothing less than a new, rounded case (ala One X) and a 4" screen. But that will be for naught if they (again) give us the tired looking iOS.

Apple has their work cut out for them.
Click to expand...

The white model of the One X is very Apple-esque. It looks like something out of Cupertino. (With a few tweeks: make the camera flush with the backing, make the screen between 4"-4.3" instead of 4.7", substitute the capacitive buttons for one physical home button, and replace the hard plastic volume rocker with two stainless steel dedicated buttons.)

Playing with the One X a few days ago only solidified what I've felt for some time now which is that the iPhone hardware is due for a serious redesign. A curved backing made of a less fragile/more grippable material (like the fantastic polycarbonate of the One X). A larger screen, for sure.

I really do think Apple has something great in store for this fall. But if they gave us something that looks like the 4S but with LTE, I'd be incredibly let down. (But I think it would still be a hit.)
 
TheMacBookPro said:
You're clearly just trying to justify your new purchase and tell yourself you made the right decision in buying a 4S now, in which case don't post threads asking about the next iPhone and just be happy with what you have. Personally, I'd say you made a poor decision buying a 4S this late in the game if you're so concerned about the next-gen iPhone making the 4S look old.

Obviously the new iPhone is going to have new features (and it can be guaranteed that Apple will try their best to make the old iPhone look old and outdated- judging by their past advertising tactics they will succeed) and will likely have a new physical design (which is something that is going to be noticeable to the general/casual consumer).
Click to expand...

no im not trying to justify anything.
i really have no use for the upgrades that were listed and I dont live in the US so LTE isnt worth much for me

ps I live in Australia
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back