Should I just get the iPhone 5S?

Woops apologies about the misquotation. Personally I hate being locked into contracts. I don't know how it works in the US but here phone contracts are almost always a rip off.

Let's take people who blindly upgrade to the newest iPhone every year. How much does that cost taking into account monthly payments and handset cost? $700 a year maybe? That's almost $3000 over 4 years just for owning a phone. To me that's insane. You could buy a car or put money down on a place to live?!

Personally I got a Nexus 4 recently when they went down to £200, and I pay £10 per month for calls texts and data. I'll probably keep the handset for 4 years or so.

OP - don't get the new iphone, dude. Its just a repackaged version of the 5. Dunno what else to recommend. Spend less time on your phone and do something else?

 

I avoid anything apple, unless I get it for free. Personally paying that much money for a phone is insanity, I mean that's more than next gen consoles

 

Please tell me you are trolling. There are SEVERAL differences from the 5 to the 5S, so I have no idea where you are basing that wonderful statement from.

1. iPhone 5 has a A6 Processor, the 5S has the A7
2. iPhone 5 is 32-bit, the 5S is 64-bit
3. Granted, they both have the same screen size, have you ever taken into consideration of the screen temperature and how it displays colors? It's quite a difference.
4. From the perspective of how the phone looks, yes they might look the same but it's not a repackage whatsoever. There are differences such as the new home button, etc.

That's just 4 differences out of the slew so I don't see how it's a complete repackage. I'm not trying to sound like a fanboy but think before you post such assumptions. It might retain the same overall feel and look, but internally and externally, there are differences between the two models which consumers need to be aware of.

 

woops.

 

Of course I am. Everyone who criticises an Apple product is always trolling. They can NEVER be expressing a valid opinion.

Whoop de doo. What can an A6 do that an A7 can't? Drain more battery maybe?

Meh seen it. The N64 was 64 bit.

You're right, I did not take screen temperature into consideration. But maybe I should. Does this mean that if I put my Nexus 4 down my pants for 10 minutes, thus increasing its temperature, it will turn into a Nexus 5?

A new button? Ok, that is pretty impressive. Was it designed completely in house by Apple in California?!

Ok, not a complete repackage. A three quarters repackage.

Need... I'm sure that word meant something different 10 years ago...





(I know I shouldn't, but it was too tempting.)

 

Yup well now you look like a troll.

Anyway if you're going to grab an iPhone and want to buy new, consider a 5C. At least you won't have to nurse it for fear of scratching and it'll give you solid performance.

I was initially put off by the look and plastic of them but having tried one in an Apple store, I'm sold and mine is arriving next week.

Alternatively I recommend you do whatever I usually suggest when people start going on about which phone is best (usually 16 year old kids). Go to a phone store, try many different models. Buy what suits you best.

 

On a slightly different note, I'm wondering how the new hardware lineup will affect AppleCare. I have a couple small cracks on the back of my iPhone 5, which is covered by AppleCare. However, when I took it to the Genius Bar to have them look at it, they said they can't repair it; they'd have to give me a replacement. What I'm wondering is, since Apple is no longer making the iPhone 5 (they've replaced it with the 5C and 5S), what would they give me as a replacement? Would they give me a 5C or a 5S? Or do they still have a store of 5 units specifically for AppleCare users? I'm not trying to cheat the system or anything, but I'm just curious as to what would happen.

 

They will probably keep a stock of units for warranty / applecare support.

It's not a phone, but I used to have one of the G5 Power Macs (the "quad core" version with 2 dual core chips and water cooling) - and the cooling system leaked all over the insides of the machine and destroyed the motherboard, PSU and caused severe corrosion to the case. This was in late 2009, about 3 years after it had been discontinued - but Apple still had all the parts (they also didn't charge me for the repair, despite the fact that the machine was well out of warranty and I didn't have Apple care on it - apparently because they considered the water leaks to be a design defect).

 

I didn't call you a troll for expressing a valid opinion, I just think that you should do your research before calling the iPhone 5S a repackage albeit opinion or not. It might be in similar housing that the iPhone 5 was in but it's those differences that make the iPhone 5S a new iteration of the iPhone lineup. It's just like the iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S, they look the same but there are tons of new features and a whole new processor which make it a different phone compared to its previous iteration.

For Apple products, this is a big deal since Apple is finally switching their ARM technology from the 32-bit architecture to 64-bit. If you look at older models and how they fair with newer iOS builds, you can tell that some of those products suffer some slowdown. For example, I had a iPhone 3G as one of the first phones I've ever owned. When iOS 4 came out for the public and it boasted all of the new features such as multitasking and folder support, I upgraded not knowing that my phone was going to suffer some major slowdown. With each iteration of the AX processor comes more efficient speeds and more cores overall for the iPhone. I won't deny that these save the battery life but you do need to take into consideration that sometimes it isn't the processor causing the battery drain whilst it is the build of iOS itself. I'm still running a iPhone 4S on the iOS 7 GM (not downloading the same thing just to upgrade since I update OTA) which uses the A5 processor and I haven't experienced the so-called battery drain. Maybe it's because I don't have a data plan and I only use the internet on my iPhone when I'm at home or at work, but if you know what features you don't specifically need, the battery won't drain as fast.

...cell phones don't equal home consoles.

I will admit that I did chuckle at this, but that's beside the point. Albeit photos taken from the camera of the iPhone 5S or whatever iteration iPhone to photos from the internet, you can pinpoint the differences in the screen and how it displays the colors. Whether the colors are warmer or more cold on the iPhone 5 to the iPhone 5S, it's those color differences that some people do go for when they buy a phone of any kind albeit iPhone or Android. I don't find it to be that important but some people do enjoy having a screen that properly displays the color blue or green without it being too washed out or too dark because it is then applied to people like myself who like to watch movies on the go and want to see what's going on appropriately. It's not something I go for but again, some people do.

Take note to the etc. that I put at the end of my statement. From what I saw of the iPhone 5S compared to the 5, here are the differences I spotted:

- new camera with higher resolution on both the back panel and the front panel
- dual LED for better lighting when using flash for photography or even video
- new home button design
- the back panel font, granted this isn't a big one but this is still something to note as the font on the iPhone 5S follows the iOS 7 look that Jony Ive used

Granted, most of the differences that make the iPhone 5S different from the 5 are all under the hood whether it's the processor or whatever, there are discernable differences which make it a brand new iteration as opposed to a complete repackage. Granted the iPhone 5C uses most of the same parts when it comes to processor which make it like the iPhone 5, but there are those differences despite how small or big they may be that make it a whole new iPhone and a whole new experience for old users and new users alike. It's like going from the iPhone 1st Generation to the iPhone 3G or perhaps even the iPhone 3G to the iPhone 3GS. They might retain the same look and might have some new parts and old parts alike but they are always adding something for users to look forward to as an incentive to buy their phones when they are announced.

I think of it like this, yes... Apple does release a new iPhone almost every year to 2 years much like they do with the MacBook lineup and iDevice lineup; however, if my device still functions as it is intended to without sacrificing too much efficiency, there is no reason for me to drop my paycheck on a brand new iPhone or MacBook. I have a 2009 MacBook that still uses the plastic casing that I bought used from eBay and it runs just as well as my desktop which is built custom to accommodate heavy use of gaming and video editing. After seeing the iPhone 5S and the 5C, yes I do want one but my iPhone 4S runs just as fine on iOS 7 as it did when it was on iOS 6 when I upgraded from the iPhone 4 to the 4S coming from Verizon to AT&T. Yes, there are people that want the most up to date hardware and I don't blame them but it doesn't mean that I should jump ship and join the rest of the crew. I'd rather wait for my contract to expire and renew it for a new iPhone next August since I can trade my old device in for credit. This is what I meant by "the consumer needs to know the difference between the two models", if someone is just now buying or even looking to buy the newest iPhone model, don't you think you'd want to know what features are on each model and what is right for you, the consumer? I would think so. Sure, most people ignore it but you still do have those people who actually make decisions when they invest in a new phone or a new car considering they have to live with it until they either get the money to get a new one that fits their needs or they can trade it in.

 

^ Well said.

The iPhone 5S is obviously not just a "repackaged" iPhone 5. You could make that argument for the 5C, as it has basically the same guts as the 5 - but it's also cheaper, and it looks different externally. Personally, I'm not that interested in either one. If I could get the 5S for free or at the on-contract rate, I probably would. But as it is, I'll probably wait until next year, when the inevitable iPhone 6 (or whatever they decide to call it) comes out. Apple's model for the iPhone release schedule is very similar to Intel's tick-tock model. Every other year, they come out with a completely new product, and in the year in between, they come out with a slightly improved version of the previous model. The iPhone 5 was very different from the 4S, which was similar to the 4, which was very different from the 3GS... and so on. My contract doesn't run out until next year anyway, so I'll probably just wait until then to get my next phone - which will probably be an iPhone 6. However, if your contract is ending now, it probably wouldn't hurt to get a 5S.