iPhone 4 or 4S?

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jbltecnicspro

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Topic says it all.

I recently got rid of my iPhone 3GS when I got married. My wife and I budgeted a certain amount of money for internet, and we figured that we couldn't have a data plan (I will go no lower than the 3GB data plan - $20 for 300MB is ridiculous). But, as luck would have it, our cable company had a deal going where we could get 15mbps cable for $15 a month! So, now that a data plan is doable, I've been thinking about getting another iPhone.

Currently, Target has an iPhone 4 on sale for $50. My needs are simple. I just need something that I can sync my mail to, take some pictures (not too particular on quality), and listen to some tunes. I'm a nerd who loves to have high-tech gadgetry, so the dual-core, dual-graphics 4S is really a turn on, lol. But for $150 more than an iPhone 4?

My gut is telling me to get an iPhone 4, because it's essentially an iPhone 3GS with a higher-resolution screen. I loved my 3GS. Until I got rid of it, it was still buttery-smooth on IOS 5. Thoughts?
 
It all comes down to what you want to spend.

The 4 isn't a dog, but it's also 2 years old at this point. Going with something that old, with how fast phones are evolving, isn't a great idea IMHO.

The 4S is a really nice phone, but the 5 is also right around the corner that will likely have much better hardware specs and battery life.

Just a heads up though, if you didn't want a smart phone due to budget reasons, check out the straight talk thread here. You can get an unlimited iPhone plan (or other smartphone), prepaid on AT&T's network, for 50.00 a month. Its a pretty smoking deal. The only catch is you have to buy your own unlocked phone.
 
The 4 should work just fine with you but keep in mind it has very minimal amount of RAM. If you can afford it I second the 4S it just doesn't have as great as a battery life as the 4. For as much as people are saying the 4 is getting outdated - I'm not sure its going to be that outdated unless you really have a need for the latest and greatest camera or screen. I have no problems running my iPhone 4 and don't see it being out of date for another 2 years.
 
450 said:
How so?
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I'm not exactly sure why this is. Phone runs fine with say - max of 5 apps open. Something with how after the skins, effects, and all the other customization is done it uses a considerable amount of RAM.

The 4 is still a great phone, nothing to scoff at - I really like the battery life compared to the 4s and Siri is a completely useless gimic to me. But if I wanted a phone that would be less outdated, smoother, and able to run as many aps at once without closing them - I'd go with the 4S.
 
Thanks for the replies. How is ATT with upgrading mid-contract? Maybe I could snag an iPhone 4 for $50 and get an iPhone 4S in a year when it inevitably gets replaced? Keep in mind that I'm coming from an iPhone 3GS (which I feel is probably one of the best iPhones ever in terms of longevity).
 
Look up the features of iOS6. Note that some features like flyover will only be for the new 4S.
 
jbltecnicspro said:
Thanks for the replies. How is ATT with upgrading mid-contract? Maybe I could snag an iPhone 4 for $50 and get an iPhone 4S in a year when it inevitably gets replaced? Keep in mind that I'm coming from an iPhone 3GS (which I feel is probably one of the best iPhones ever in terms of longevity).
Click to expand...

If that's the case then you should just get a 4S. IIRC, the one year upgrade for AT&T is called early upgrade and it's usually only $100 off.
 
450 said:
How so?
Click to expand...

because of the way jailbreaking works (or, not jailbreaking per se, but the way most tweaks, plugins and applications work) is that they run in a framework of sorts (MobileSubstrate) so just in case you download something that jacks your phone up, it will crash MobileSubstrate instead of hosing your entire phone installation.

It's a nice failsafe, but it tends to eat up more ram as you install more stuff. I try to keep cyida tweaks and apps to a minimum on my phone for that reason.
 
I think its too close now to get a 4S with the next iPhone announcement and besides you said,
OP said:
My gut is telling me to get an iPhone 4, because it's essentially an iPhone 3GS with a higher-resolution screen. I loved my 3GS. Until I got rid of it, it was still buttery-smooth on IOS 5.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for your help guys. I'll end up going with the iPhone 4. Although I wish it had the 16GB that my 3GS has, it'll do. :) As for all of the advanced iOS 6 features... Meh, the only one I'd miss is the turn-by-turn navigation (seriously, Apple - the iPhone 4 isn't capable? Whatever...).
 
What? No question, 4S. My wife has the 4, I have the 4S, it's better in every way. If you take random pictures (and don't haul around a DSLR), just the camera itself is worth the upgrade beyond all the other upgrades it has over the 4. This doesn't include IOS6 which has turn by turn navigation that only the 4 will NOT have. Lastly, you won't keep this phone forever so when you sell it, I'll guarentee you'll get more money than the 4 (duh) so the difference now will be moot when you get rid of it. Honestly, it makes NO sense whatsoever to go with the 4 and that price difference is well worth it, and will make almost no difference after 2 years when you get a new phone and sell the 4S.

As for AT&T's upgrade, they more than likely will not let you upgrade a year into your contract. The only exception I have found myself was when I wanted to unlock my phone and pay the EFT, the rep I spoke to said that I can do an early upgrade now (8 months into my contract so 16 more to go) to "keep me happy since I've been such a loyal customer" but I'd need to pay $330 for a $200 phone because I had to pay some of the ETF and start a new contract.
 
FrostBite said:
What? No question, 4S. My wife has the 4, I have the 4S, it's better in every way. If you take random pictures (and don't haul around a DSLR), just the camera itself is worth the upgrade beyond all the other upgrades it has over the 4. This doesn't include IOS6 which has turn by turn navigation that only the 4 will NOT have. Lastly, you won't keep this phone forever so when you sell it, I'll guarentee you'll get more money than the 4 (duh) so the difference now will be moot when you get rid of it. Honestly, it makes NO sense whatsoever to go with the 4 and that price difference is well worth it, and will make almost no difference after 2 years when you get a new phone and sell the 4S.

As for AT&T's upgrade, they more than likely will not let you upgrade a year into your contract. The only exception I have found myself was when I wanted to unlock my phone and pay the EFT, the rep I spoke to said that I can do an early upgrade now (8 months into my contract so 16 more to go) to "keep me happy since I've been such a loyal customer" but I'd need to pay $330 for a $200 phone because I had to pay some of the ETF and start a new contract.
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Thanks for the tidbit on AT&T upgrade info. I'll keep that in mind. As for your arguments - I hear you; but for a $150 difference, I'm not sure the differences are big enough to justify it. For the camera argument, my wife and I have a decent Samsung DSLR that we take with us whenever we go on trips. As for the turn-by-turn navigation, I admit that it's tempting. It annoys me though that the 4S will be the only phone with that capability, as the 4 should be plenty enough to handle a rudimentary thing like that! I'll post the outcome of this topic when it happens. Hopefully, the 4 will still be on sale. If not, I might actually bump up to the 4S.
 
I'd say wait for the iPhone 5 if you can. It's going to be really good -- and then you may be able to pickup the 4 or 4S at an even cheaper price.
 
steelbom said:
I'd say wait for the iPhone 5 if you can. It's going to be really good -- and then you may be able to pickup the 4 or 4S at an even cheaper price.
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the 4s will either be $50 or $100 dollars less expensive

it's only a few months away so it doesn't make any sense if $50 dollars is important to save and if the phone is going to be used for at least a year and probably two
 
If the carrier is gonna subsidize the phone get the 4s. The chip in the 4 is way way slower. However you really should consider the galaxy siii.
 
mope54 said:
the 4s will either be $50 or $100 dollars less expensive

it's only a few months away so it doesn't make any sense if $50 dollars is important to save and if the phone is going to be used for at least a year and probably two
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Yeah, I know, but I was just pointing out that it's an option if he wants. I'd grab the 5 personally.
 
The 5? The 4s is the 5th iPhone. Apple wont call the next iPhone the iPhone 5. It doesn't make any sense.
 
I agree with the majority of posts.

Wait for the Iphone5 , if you cannot then get the 4S it will be faster and support more feature in the next big iOS update.

Iphone 5 vs iphone 4 will mean 1 less arm core and probably half the ram.

Iphone vs iphone 4s will mean just half the ram. The dual cores will likely remain the same.

Another reason to wait for the Iphone5 is that it may support pentaband. If it does then you can look into a $30 tmobile plan and get 4g speeds with the unlocked version.
 
Thanks for the replies. I went ahead and got the iPhone 4 for $50. I'm happy with the purchase, and though I'll eventually upgrade to something better, I'll just stick with this one until then.
 
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