New iPhone 5. Will you be upgrading?

I pre-ordered mine an hour ago through Carphonewarehouse. My iPhone 4 has lost its cellular data ability, so I'm hoping to px the old girl. The 4 was a big leap over the 3GS I had before, for my needs. The 4S less so. 

Tony

I'm keeping my 4 for now. The new phone looks nice.

Dave

I was determined to keep mine, but losing the cellular data is awful! I can get by at work with the iPad during breaks, but at other times it feels so useless. 

Tony

I had my 3 all the way to the 4S.  I have a bit longer to go on my contract, and feel no pressure to upgrade and pay a premium.

I'm glad I have shares in AAPL...

My 4S will do for now, but the short battery life is a real pain.

I'll probably upgrade when my contract rolls around as it looks nice - but not worth paying £550 for the smallest memory model so I'll go free on an 18-month contract next year.

I have to say, we seem to have hit the wall on handset design now. It's going to be the software that drives the models from here. And my 4s will get the software upgrade for nothing.

According to the iPhone 5's specs its faster than the 4s. But may 4s is fast enough frankly. There comes a point where being faster really doesn't make a jot of difference because it's the connection that limits.

I'm sure the 5 will do well as at the stage we are at with phones millions of people's contracts are always up for renewal.

As an aside - I wonder if future software upgrades (say, in five years) - when design of handsets can go little further forward - will be the payable model to retain revenues?

It's the new software and operating systems that kill the speed as a phone gets older. My 4 is so much slower now, and my iPad 1 crashes in Safari a few times each day due to the later OS eating RAM.  

Light users probably don't notice or care.

Tony

Yes, isn't it. My phone (4S)  is provided by my employer, so I don't get a choice in upgrades, really. I suppose I could nag for one, but the business case would be a bit thin.

Is an iphone (4s or 5) 'better' than competitors e.g. Android thingys by Samsung or new windows platform Nokias?

If I may hijack the thread a little...

I have a nokia which is a few years old but serves adequately as a phone. Apps such as they are on it are a joke though and it's crap at finding and using internet. It's also a bit thick.

So, I would quite like something which is a decent phone (I can understand the person on the other end, especially when I'm outdoors on the street), I can use to access t'internet very easily and has a good camera (as good as they get in a phone anyway). Stick in jeans or jacket pocket. Doesn't leave me wondering why I ever bought it in the first place! Occasionally makes me think, wow that's cool! Gives pride of ownership.

What do I go for and why?

As I only use the wretched thing* my wife makes me carry, when I really have to for calls only, my answer to your question is, no.

steve

*Dunno what make or model.

Tony, I'm not convinced that's ideal. Surely the worms will just wriggle around in my ear when I put the can up to the side of my head?

So it's alright then is it?

Not to mention their ludicrous gargantuan size.

I'll wait for my next upgrade in 18 months or so.

I confess I'd have preferred to see a bigger screen.

Here's a list of changes from 4-4S-5: Iphone 4s improvents vs iphone 4: Dual-core processor and 7x more powerful GPU Siri natural language commands and dictation engine 8MP camera with improved low-light performance and capture speed 1080p video capture with stabilization GSM/CDMA dual-mode device No more death grip thanks to dual antenna design 64GB option Power-efficient Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity Iphone 5 improvements listisplay Improvements 4" Screen In-cell touch 44% greater color saturation Full sRGB support Higher brightness Less glare 2x CPU 2x GPU Better battery life 20% Lighter 18% Thinner 44% smaller sim card Increased durability LTE DC-HSDPA Dual band 802.11n Sapphire Crystal lens protection (more durable) 40% faster capture speed Better low-light performance Improved noise-reduction 720p HD Facetime camera Improved video stabilization Still photos while recording video Better Earphones Three microphones 5 magnet speakers 2-way noice cancelling earpiece Wideband/HD Audio 80% smaller dock connector Reversible dock connector That’s 37 physical changes since the iPhone 4! Most phones upgrade with a handful of new features. Not to mention increased overall durability, new (better) headphone jack placement, and of course the difficulty of cramming each improvement into an overall smaller footprint and most importantly IOS6! Please don’t try to compare this excellence in design, build quality (aluminium and glass only) and OS to the plastic crap the competition offers. Tony

Can somebody explain to me if any of these are actually important. Important enough to make the headlines for days, to be viewed as the break or bust for the world economy or something.

I recently left my phone (6yrs old) in the rain...and had to buy a new one. A hateful experience.

What I needed was a phone to make and receive a handful of calls a week (it has rung twice in 2 months so far). I wanted it to receive/send email when I am away from home. I wanted it to hold my appointments calendar and my list of about 25 contacts. Decent satnav is actually useful to me. I did not want it to break, as it will be kept for years.

More or less all of the rest of the features are fabulously entertaining/impressive and pretty much pointless. We've been sold these mini-computer lifestyle devices and agonise over specs and details but in truth we are just buying toys for boys...and I fell for it too! I bought something that can probably guide ICBMs to a small dacha in Vladivostock, then take pictures of the wreckage from the moon. 90% of the instruction manual completely confused me or I just ignored. I have a computer/tablet at home. I have a really nice camera. I have a clock and a remote control and access to the weather forecast. I have a TV. I don't need these in my pocket on a pokey screen, with dodgy reception and daft data charges..

In time the mobile phone industry will be studied on post-industrial Earth as the non-pareil of marketing brilliance.

I bought a Nokia because I felt sorry for them and to rebel against the iPhone hegemony. How sad am I!

Bruce

Well sad...

I bought mine so that when people poo-poo'd my Nokia I could respond by 'Don't Knock the Nok!' Feeble. Isn't it?

I'm an avowed Android user simply to avoid the Apple hegemony. Also built-in Google Navigation as sat-nav is great feature. You don't have to be a sheep and follow the iPhone crowd...

Pre-Ordered mine this morning.  Cant wait!!!