In depth review: Apple's iPhone 4S running iOS 5

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 61
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Psych_guy View Post


    Just curious, would you have bought if Apple just slapped the iPhone 5 name on this model?



    What makes it so compelling to wait for a phone that nobody knows anything about? Do you know for sure what features it will have?



    What are you using now?



    You don't have to answer, just asking.



    I'm waiting to see what iPhone 5 is, mostly because I'm extremely happy with my iPhone 4 now it has iOS 5. They seem to have fixed most of the little gripes I had with it before, and I can't say I find the speed of the thing slow enough to justify upgrading.



    I know Siri is a neat feature, but I can live without it for now.



    Obviously if iPhone 5 comes along and is awful, I'll re-evaluate, but for now, 4S doesn't have enough must have features over the 4 with iOS5 for me to want to buy a replacement.
  • Reply 22 of 61
    ikolikol Posts: 369member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by geekdad View Post


    so says you....now look into your crystal ball and give us some more predictions...we are waiting....

    We had the 3G then the 3Gs then the 4 now the 4s next conclusion would be IP5



    Rudimentary conclusion, you have given us- hmmmm?
  • Reply 23 of 61
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Psych_guy View Post


    Just curious, would you have bought if Apple just slapped the iPhone 5 name on this model?



    What makes it so compelling to wait for a phone that nobody knows anything about? Do you know for sure what features it will have?



    What are you using now?



    You don't have to answer, just asking.



    Well they obviously didn't slap a 5 on it because, hardware wise, it was a speed bump as was the case with the 3GS (S for Speed). I do not know for sure what features to expect, but I'm counting on a larger screen than my 3GS.
  • Reply 24 of 61
    flaneurflaneur Posts: 4,526member
    Daniel, thanks for this exhaustive (not saying exhausting, notice) review. I'm taking it in pieces; good you organized it that way.
  • Reply 25 of 61
    geekdadgeekdad Posts: 1,131member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iKol View Post


    Rudimentary conclusion, you have given us- hmmmm?



    no not so much....logigal yes...... using a model name of 4G would just confuse people and not differentiate enough for a new model. What would the "G" stand for? Faster cellular speed? Apple has never been about speed or numbers. Everything points (rumors anyway) to a new design for the next IP model. History of the last few releases also hints at a new redesign.
  • Reply 26 of 61
    Has Appleinsider EVER given 5 stars to any product? I don't recall ever seeing one.
  • Reply 27 of 61
    I like the tech industry but it is a disposable business. Apple has to constantly, like its competitors, come up with new stuff to keep the public buying it over again. That gets increasingly hard over time especially with competition. Look at the Android business. Crazy. I'm surprise the Android OEMS even have any new tricks up their sleeve.

    But Apple has been given a kind of a pass. Than can release one iphone a year and still make tons of money. How long this trend can continue as Apple saturates itself only time will till.



    I'm in the market for a new desk top and I want the 21.5 inch imac. As for the phone, I'll wait next year, maybe.I do want the psp vita though. Hell yeah!

    Apple geek for life!



    *17 inch imac g3

    *2001 Harmon Kardon isub(still rocks after a decade.DAAAAAAYUM!)

    *late 2008 Al unibody macbook 13

    *iphone 4, 16 gig

    *16 gig silver ipod nano
  • Reply 28 of 61
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacDevil View Post


    Huh? Have you guys not been following all these threads with people who are having much worse battery life on the 4S as compared to the 4? My iPhone 4 could make it 1.5-2 days on a full charge with normal usage. With heavy usage, it would still have 15-25% battery at the end of the day. I never had to worry about it dying. My 4S on the other hand can barely make it through the day on a full charge with normal usage. I have literally found myself avoiding using it because I don't want to risk running out of battery before I get home. That's an absurd thing to have do with a brand new phone. Yet, even when I conserve the battery life, I have yet to end a day with the phone above 10% battery remaining.



    Could you guys maybe do some battery tests (or at least cite someone else's) before you claim great battery life as one of this handset's pros?



    I'd have to agree with you. Haven't seen the threads yet, but I can tell you with normal usage my battery barely makes it through the day.
  • Reply 29 of 61
    I agree that a faster processor, Siri, and iOS5 are "key" features and worth an upgrade. However, a key feature not mentioned is the improved performance of both cellular and WiFi data transmission. Running SpeedTest from my iPhone 4S and comparing with results obtained using my iPhone 4, I found noticeable increases.



    Cellular data rates on my 4S reach upwards of 5.5 Mbps down as compared with a previous maximum 2.9 Mbps down with the iPhone 4. WiFi performance is also considerably improved. I reached 28.2 Mbps down on the 4S as compared with a previous record of 18.4 on my iPhone 4. For me, that's the most compelling reason to upgrade behind the improvements in iOS5.



    I agree with some on this forum that the iPhone 4S isn't worth an out of pocket upgrade if one already has the iPhone 4. Consider, however, that the going price for the iPhone 4 in the aftermarket is well above the $199 upgrade price and that's a compelling enough reason to upgrade for me. I had my iPhone 4 the day it came out and was eligible for the $199 price on the 4S the day it came out. It's not often one is "paid" to upgrade to the latest technology and I will take advantage of the opportunity as long as it lasts.
  • Reply 30 of 61
    aknabiaknabi Posts: 211member
    Quote:

    Apple has included one application intended to demonstrate what you can do with the new horsepower of the A5 chip: Siri voice assistant.



    Ummm actually given the server-side nature Siri should/will run fine on an A4...



    The author should save the money on the 4s and buy a clue instead
  • Reply 31 of 61
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    This article only serves to confirm that I don't need a 4s. I will just keep the 4 until next release and I'll probably jail break my 3Gs for use when traveling abroad.



    Siri seems like another hobby. Could be entertaining but I see it as no better than all the other voice recognition systems out there. I could not put up with all the mistakes. Too frustrating. If a desktop application was that flaky it would have the worst reputation ever. It would be like someone who was proficient in Photoshop having to use MS Paint. Not worth it for me.
  • Reply 32 of 61
    wigginwiggin Posts: 2,265member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Dilger

    Similarly, while some new high end Android phones are now delivering 4 or 5 inch screens, this seems to represent a minority of phones sold. According to metrics maintained by Google, 72 percent of the Android installed base are currently using "normal" sized phones (at least 470x320, but less than 640x480) with "high" dpi (~240dpi), definitions that are pretty loose but correspond to models between the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Firefly7475 View Post


    So according to Dilger logic the iPhone can't have a larger screen because Android sells a whole heap of BoGo pieces of shit?



    I'd love to know since when BoGo pieces of shit have been the bar Apple should aim for.



    I'd bet my house if the 4S was available with the current screen size as well as a 4" (almost) edge-to-edge version that the 4" version would sell better.



    Not only that, but are we comparing physical size (4-5 inches) or pixel resolution? The quote from the article switches between the two. I don't think the people asking for a larger iPhone are necessarily asking for more pixels, just a bigger screen. So the whole Google survey about screen resolution is mostly irrelevent to the "I want a bigger iPhone" crowd.
  • Reply 33 of 61
    from what I've been hearing about Siri, the guy that found his cheating wife. How we already use Facebook and twitter to stalk people. How apple and other potential services could be tracking us. I'd say the "S" is for Skynet.
  • Reply 34 of 61
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MoFro View Post


    I'd have to agree with you. Haven't seen the threads yet, but I can tell you with normal usage my battery barely makes it through the day.



    There are several threads at Apple communities going crazy - one was over 12 pages 3 hours ago.



    I myself had major issues with the 4S battery (e.g., yesterday it went from 96% at 6:30 a.m. to 4% (!) at 12:30 p.m., with only slight usage [~20 minutes surfing on train; a few emails - that's *it*]).



    However I've noticed marked improvement today - from 100% charge at 3:00 p.m. yesterday, I'm at 67% right now (10:54 a.m.). Granted I've turned off a lot of notifications and location services, turned off Push (currently on manual-15 minutes) and am "triaging" my email accounts (e.g., turning off work email while I'm at work).



    Maybe a lot of these actions are "duh, that's how you save the battery" - but I do fall into the camp of responding that the battery drain with Push, etc. on is ridiculous, and what's the point of having a smartphone if you can't use it for the advertised purposes?



    [FWIW - black 32GB on Sprint, a new phone [not a restore from an earlier iPhone]].
  • Reply 35 of 61
    ikolikol Posts: 369member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by geekdad View Post


    no not so much....logigal yes...... using a model name of 4G would just confuse people and not differentiate enough for a new model. What would the "G" stand for? Faster cellular speed? Apple has never been about speed or numbers. Everything points (rumors anyway) to a new design for the next IP model. History of the last few releases also hints at a new redesign.



    Logical is that the fourth iPhone be called an iPhone 4.

    Illogical would be for the sixth iPhone to be called an iPhone 5.



    Logical would be for the first iPhone running 4G to be called an iPhone 4G.

    Illogical would be for the first iPhone running 3G to be called an iPhone 2.
  • Reply 36 of 61
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by iKol View Post


    Logical is that the fourth iPhone be called an iPhone 4.

    Illogical would be for the sixth iPhone to be called an iPhone 5.



    Logical would be for the first iPhone running 4G to be called an iPhone 4G.

    Illogical would be for the first iPhone running 3G to be called an iPhone 2.



    The term 4G has already been bastardized by carrier marketing so I doubt Apple will go there. Maybe iPhone LTE. I really don't give a rat's ass but my intuition tells me that it will be called iPhone 5. I will be buying the NeXT iPhone whatever they name it.
  • Reply 37 of 61
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Firefly7475 View Post


    So according to Dilger logic the iPhone can't have a larger screen because Android sells a whole heap of BoGo pieces of shit?



    I'd love to know since when BoGo pieces of shit have been the bar Apple should aim for.



    I'd bet my house if the 4S was available with the current screen size as well as a 4" (almost) edge-to-edge version that the 4" version would sell better.



    If the iPhone remains the same size with a bigger screen, of course people will like it more. If the iPhone increase in size with a bigger screen, people will not really care for it. Look at all the android junk with their 4-5 inch screens. Who want to lug a brick around?



    Of course, Apple would never come out with two identical products with only different screen sizes. There will always be differences to distinguish the different products. Look at the 3 lines of iPhone available now...
  • Reply 38 of 61
    If I hadn't sold the 4 I would return this because there is no visible difference in speed + the battery last less and the screen is yellowish.
  • Reply 39 of 61
    I had an iPhone 3GS and I was going to wait to upgrade until LTE to made it to the iPhone. I'd bought a Verizon Samsung 4G LTE WiFi hotspot to replace my Sprint Sierra Wireless WiMax WiFi hotspot and to tide me over until this miracle occurred.



    I'd assumed that when we didn't see the next iPhone announced in June that meant we might see LTE in this revision with a more power-efficient Broadcom chip.



    I happen to live in an early release market for both LTE and WiMax (since late 2009) daily and I was excited about the prospect of an LTE iPhone on a grandfathered AT&T or Verizon LTE. But then the hammer came down and we were left with download caps making the 3-6 Mbps speeds I was using for streaming video basically useless.



    So since I knew the ATT HSDPA was coming to my area in a couple weeks I pulled the trigger on the iPhone 4S on my grandfathered $30 unlimited data plan. My guess was that by the time LTE was built out ATT would refuse to grandfather me any longer.



    It was a good choice. Since I bought my iPhone 4S my data speed has climbed from a maximum of 1.2 Mbps to a maximum of 3.1 Mbps and my Verizon 4G LTE has dropped to 1 Mbps when I can get the signal. The Verizon signal is even getting more unreliable as time goes on.



    Hopefully time will take care of all my speed concerns.
  • Reply 40 of 61
    alfiejralfiejr Posts: 1,524member
    if any OEM is going to offer just one size for a smartphone, it has to be small. because that is optimal for portability and everyone can use it whatever their practical considerations about pockets and whatever else. this is what Apple has been doing.



    but the Android OEM's usually offer a range of models with screen sizes from small to large. which enables them to also satisfy those who prefer and can readily use larger phones. best for browsing a lot obviously.



    Apple certainly knows this. it offers more than one size for MacBooks and iMacs after all. so i do expect an iP5 that has a larger screen next year. along with the new A6 chip and 4G etc., since it can have a larger battery too. but the iP4S will stay in production as the smaller model.



    big question is when. probably in the Spring if the A6 is ready, alongside the iPad 3 that will also need the A6 for a retina display. why not?



    (btw, the iPod touch is now overdue for a major update too.)
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