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Will the iPhone 5S be enough?

AppleFan91

AppleFan91

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Sep 11, 2012
1,887
4,177
Indy, US
Now that competitors have full HD displays and quad core processors. Will a 5S with the same display, a faster dual core processor, the same MP camera with dual LED flash and maybe a fingerprint scanner be enough? I mean, is this another 4-4s situation where it doesn't make sense to upgrade the 5 if you have it. My question overall is, will you upgrade from the 5 if the below phone is what the 5S is.

4" retina display
31% faster dual core processor
1 GB of Ram
8 MP camera with Dual LED Flash
Fingerprint scanner
Black, white, gold And "gray"
128GB option
 
Enough for what? Running synthetic benchmarks to see who has the biggest e-peen?(I did alot of this when i was on android btw) iOS doesnt need a quad yet, not until really demanding games come out. Even just the 4s proves this. It's showing its age, yes, but it still proves to be smoother in alot of cases than my S3.

Anyway, no, I won't be upgrading from my 5 since this phone is plenty enough for "real world" applications. Unless of course, I get smitten by that graphite 5S. ;)
 
This is enough:

07eureka1-articleLarge.jpg


This is what people think is enough:
the-homer.jpg
 
I'm probably going to get lit up by some random Android guy who for some reason still comes on this site BUT....

I think the iPhone 5S will be faster than anything out there right now.

Drops the mic......


lol
 
It will be enough for some but not enough for others. Apple has lost some of it's users to Android. If you are looking for the hottest specs and cutting edge technolopgy, you might want to look elsewhere.

I will agree with the others that the iPhone does not need the latest and fastest processor. It need enough to run OS7 "buttery smooth" which I am better they will accomplish.

I do not really see Apple as cutting edge but it sure works very well and gets the job done for me! I have used Android, Windows and even Blackberry and the iPhone wins hands down.
 
I'm still not sold that the fingerprint technology will come in this update but we'll have to wait and see.

Regardless if they're considered gimmicks, I believe average consumers are asking for more from their phones just by seeing what others companies are offering.

Users are asking "Why can't my phone do that? Isn't this the best phone?" They don't know or care about specs but what their phone can do.

There are of course users who are trapped in the ecosystem and won't ever be happy until they leave it because they want more.
 
If it's a faster and has a better battery life I'll be happy. At the end of the day the iPhone is still one of the best built mobile devices in the market. If you sit back and look at other devices build quality nothing can really compete with the iPhone 5 IMHO.

Screen size is perfect. Battery life boost will he great but the way tech is today I guess we will always having battery life issues until some new tech comes into play :)
 
I really liked the iPhone 5 (except the poor build quality, not the materials per say, but issues with the fit and finish). iOS is showing its age too, but ive been complaining about this for 2-3 years. I still preferred it to Android though. I have been using the beta iOS7 and while I appreciate control center-2 years too late and the "skin" on the iOS, I still feel like Apple could have done much more-live tiles and quick reply please!

The biggest reason I will probably stay this year (and trust me I hate the "S" updates-the pull is always stronger to leave) is because I enjoy using my iPad and would prefer my iPad and Phone to be synched together.

If I did not have an iPad I would definitely get the google edition HTC One (I wish Samsung made the S4 similar to the iPhone 5 and HTC materials). I love the HTC One, the build quality is amazing and the screen is gorgeous, but again for me I just do not want to be running 2 differing mobible operating systems so I will probably stay with the iPhone again.
 
Add to the list storage options being 32/64/128 GB, and a better battery life.
The latter is a very important factor.
 
Lucille Carter said:
It will be enough for some but not enough for others. Apple has lost some of it's users to Android. If you are looking for the hottest specs and cutting edge technolopgy, you might want to look elsewhere.

I will agree with the others that the iPhone does not need the latest and fastest processor. It need enough to run OS7 "buttery smooth" which I am better they will accomplish.

I do not really see Apple as cutting edge but it sure works very well and gets the job done for me! I have used Android, Windows and even Blackberry and the iPhone wins hands down.
Click to expand...

Agreed, for some people, it'll never be enough. I have a friend who is such an Apple fanboy, he has 3 Mac computers (and has had several other Macs throughout time), has had the iPhone since 2008 (has iPhone 5 now), and even he is talking about switching to the Galaxy S4.

Me personally, I will be sticking with the iPhone until they stop making them (I hope that never happens). It just does everything I need it to do. There is nothing on the Galaxy S4 that I need over what the iPhone 5 already does.
 
Good answers guys. I like it.

My real question, which I clearly phrased poorly, is are we beginning to see the "blackberry effect" on Apple. In 2010, Apple was cutting edge with the iPhone 4. Now in 2013 we are starting to say, "Android does more and has more power with more features, but the iPhone does what I need it too." What if we swapped Android with Apple in that sentence and Blackberry with Apple. It reminds me of 2008 and 2009 when blackberry users said "I need my blackberry because it does all that I need it too, I don't need apps and the internet and touchscreen."

Just as a disclaimer, I and in no way attacking Apple, i'm just curious about the general consensus on a Board of Apple Fans.
 
I love how people always bring up the processing power as a means of deciding that a phone is superior. The number of cores in a phone has absolutely ZERO to do with user experience, and the iPhone 5 with iOS7 has a beautiful and zippy user experience with only two cores. General cellphone users won't even know what the difference is between a quad core and a dual core.

Phones have reached the point where they're so fast and powerful that adding more power can only mean so much at this point. Little has been done with our devices that even requires a quad core chip. Aside from gaming, what point is there?

The irony that really strikes me is how a certain amount of Android fans gush over the Moto X, but the Moto X only has two cores... Yet it also has a fantastic user experience. You can't knock the iPhone and praise the Moto X in the same sentence based on processing power alone. Don't forget the Moto X also has significantly reduced battery life compared to an iPhone 5.
 
AppleFan91 said:
Now that competitors have full HD displays and quad core processors. Will a 5S with the same display, a faster dual core processor, the same MP camera with dual LED flash and maybe a fingerprint scanner be enough? I mean, is this another 4-4s situation where it doesn't make sense to upgrade the 5 if you have it. My question overall is, will you upgrade from the 5 if the below phone is what the 5S is.

4" retina display
31% faster dual core processor
1 GB of Ram
8 MP camera with Dual LED Flash
Fingerprint scanner
Black, white, gold And "gray"
128GB option
Click to expand...

I won't upgrade since I have a year left on my current contract; However if it came with a 4.5" screen I'd jump at it regardless.
 
AppleFan91 said:
It reminds me of 2008 and 2009 when blackberry users said "I need my blackberry because it does all that I need it too, I don't need apps and the internet and touchscreen."
Click to expand...

I can tell you how top quality App, access to the internet and a touchscreen improve the experience; however from what I've seen, the quad core 2.0Ghz chip provides no appreciable improvements in real life performance over the iPhone 5's measley dual core 1.3Ghz chip. I would agree that these high-end Android devices are likley more future proof than the iPhone 5, but until they start developing apps that actually require multiple cores of high frequency processors it won't be an issue. Since probably over 90% of Andoid devices worldwide are low end devices, I can't imagine Android app developers dedicating much time developing Apps that only run on high end devices. Ultimately, as long as each new iOS device continues to stay well ahead of the current standard; then 31% speed increases year over year will be more than adequate.
 
AppleFan91 said:
Good answers guys. I like it.

My real question, which I clearly phrased poorly, is are we beginning to see the "blackberry effect" on Apple. In 2010, Apple was cutting edge with the iPhone 4. Now in 2013 we are starting to say, "Android does more and has more power with more features, but the iPhone does what I need it too." What if we swapped Android with Apple in that sentence and Blackberry with Apple. It reminds me of 2008 and 2009 when blackberry users said "I need my blackberry because it does all that I need it too, I don't need apps and the internet and touchscreen."

Just as a disclaimer, I and in no way attacking Apple, i'm just curious about the general consensus on a Board of Apple Fans.
Click to expand...

You make some good points. I wrote a similar thing in an Android forum. I have the Nexus 7 (2013), and compared to the iPad mini, well let's just say, you can't compare them, the iPad mini is like a toy compared to the Nexus 7 (2013 or 2012). The Nexus 7 looks like something Apple would have built. And what I wrote is, it seems like Android is like what Apple used to be.

Back in the old days, Apple/Mac used to be the cool kid vs the boring PC. Apple products were exciting, and almost exclusive, a small band of cool kids bought Apple products, while the establishment, the stuffy old establishment bought PCs. Apple was always cool.

Now it seems like Apple has lost it's edge, when you think of tablets, first name that comes to mind is the iPad, kinda like when you thought of computers, you thought of PCs. When you think of the cool minority, you think of Android tablets, like you used to think the cool minority was Mac computers. Times change. Personally, I still prefer iOS to Android OS, and the iPhone to any Android phone. But Android is certainly moving up fast in the cool factor.
 
Zerilos said:
I won't upgrade since I have a year left on my current contract; However if it came with a 4.5" screen I'd jump at it regardless.
Click to expand...

This is one thing I can't relate to...abandoning a contract in the middle in order to switch to a different phone, either an upgraded iPhone or an Android, unless you really hated your current phone. Can the new features of any phone that is only one year newer than an iPhone5 justify the cost to upgrade or switch? I know people do it...so it makes financial sense to them, but doesn't it cost serious bucks to abandon a contract half way through?

Help me understand the value proposition here because I feel like I'm missing something.
 
Another thread.

I think Apple is cool.

I don't hear much about Android tablets being cool - only good features for low price - that isn't cool that is OK.

What i think is cool is that I buy a new Mac Book - sign in and all my contacts, IM, photo stream etc. is just there. I find it cool find my phone can find my mac book, phone and ipad.

But that is just me.
 
I've owned every iPhone since the original and I own and iPad and Mac. I'm the definition of an Apple fan boy, but I also call them out when need be. I decided to try the Google Edition HTC One for 30 days. Not sure I can go through another "S" iteration. After hearing my brother rave about the Samsung S4 and he's a bigger Apple guy then me (he turned me to Apple about 8 years ago) I decided to try it out.

I've been using iOS 7 all summer and it really doesn't offer anything new except control center and an iffy color scheme. I have been watching a lot of tv lately so the larger screen will def be a plus. We will see if I notice the app quality.

I'll report back after 2-3 weeks of usage. My mint unlocked 16GB white iPhone 5 (with new t-mobile bands) will hit the classifieds on here shortly.
 
Yes, it will be enough for me. Since contract is up, no reason to overpay AT&T without getting a new model. So Mrs. B will get the 5S, and we will sell the 5 which should help cover the cost.

Stupid mobile providers AT&T and Verizon do not chop price when you payoff phone subsidy, so no reason not to order a new one.
 
I just want in order:
1. Option for larger screen
2. Better camera
3. More Memory
Small bezel would be cool if they increase screen size, and fingerprint sensor is cool too. I'm probably going to have to wait for the 6 to get most of this though. I'm still getting a 5S anyway as It should be a slight improvement.
 
scott99 said:
You make some good points. I wrote a similar thing in an Android forum. I have the Nexus 7 (2013), and compared to the iPad mini, well let's just say, you can't compare them, the iPad mini is like a toy compared to the Nexus 7 (2013 or 2012). The Nexus 7 looks like something Apple would have built. And what I wrote is, it seems like Android is like what Apple used to be.

Back in the old days, Apple/Mac used to be the cool kid vs the boring PC. Apple products were exciting, and almost exclusive, a small band of cool kids bought Apple products, while the establishment, the stuffy old establishment bought PCs. Apple was always cool.

Now it seems like Apple has lost it's edge, when you think of tablets, first name that comes to mind is the iPad, kinda like when you thought of computers, you thought of PCs. When you think of the cool minority, you think of Android tablets, like you used to think the cool minority was Mac computers. Times change. Personally, I still prefer iOS to Android OS, and the iPhone to any Android phone. But Android is certainly moving up fast in the cool factor.
Click to expand...

I don't wanna sound negative but the nexus 7 does not look like an apple device in any way, the ipad mini is a beautiful looking device. The nexus 7 has been out for what a month, the mini almost a year. The mini still has better battery life, and iOS makes it smooth. Screen? Yes it could use upgrading. If they release a retina mini people will forget about the nexus 7.
 
Thanks Guys! This is why I come here. I asked an honest question and got a bunch of honest answers. Not one person attacked me for being an Android fanboy or whatever. Very refreshing and makes this forum a better place. Thanks!
 
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