3 Reasons Why You Should Upgrade to the iPhone 4S
What, no iPhone 5? No, but the iPhone 4S is here. Aside from its cost, there are several improvements and some very good reasons why you would want to upgrade from an iPhone 3GS or an iPhone 4.
Typically, I would suppose that there is no need for dedicated iPhone users to ask for advice about whether or not to upgrade to a new iPhone. The simple fact that Apple has a new iPhone may be reason enough to wait in line and spend at least $200 for the privilege of owning a new iPhone 4S right away. However, in this specific case, even the most enthusiastic iPhone owners may be confused as to why they should upgrade. In the end, the new iPhone 4S looks like the regular iPhone 4 and basically works like the iPhone 4, especially with the iOS 5 upgrade that delivers new cloud and iTunes options.
You could try to convince yourself of the need to upgrade by realizing that upgrading from the iPhone 4 to the iPhone 4S is slightly more significant than the jump from the iPhone 3G to the iPhone 3GS (which is still available and is now being given away for free with a two-year contract). Furthermore, you could rationalize that you really need the new A5 dual-core processor, which is, according to Apple, seven times faster than the previous single-core A4. But then you know that most games run well on the A4 anyway, and you could wait a few more months or even another year until applications have caught up with the dual-core chip. Or, you could argue in favor of HSDPA 14.4, which makes download data speeds on the iPhone 4S about twice as fast as on the iPhone 4's 7.2. However, the educated user also knows that there are bandwidth constraints and, unless you live in an environment with few other HSDPA 14.4 users, those super-fast download speeds are more theory than reality.
Yet there are perfectly good reasons why an upgrade could make sense for some users.
1. Sprint
The iPhone 4S is different internally. One of the most significant changes is that it has become a world phone by combining CDMA and GSM capability. Also, the iPhone carriers in the United States have expanded from only AT&T and Verizon to now include Sprint as well. Pre-orders begin on October 7; the phone will be available one week later (October 14).
Sprint has remained silent about the data plans it will offer, but there is no reason why the company would not market its $99 all-you-can-eat plan (unlimited voice and data, or $79 with only 450 minutes) for the iPhone 4S. If you are trying to avoid potentially costly data caps, the Sprint plan can be much more attractive to users than plans from AT&T or Verizon that are $10 to $15 cheaper per month as long as you stay below 2 GB of data usage. However, this method of marketing would restrict the way the iPhone 4S is really meant to be used. If you want an unlimited data plan, it's a good idea to consider the Sprint iPhone 4S sooner rather than later.
2. The Camera
This one is a bit subjective, but if the iPhone 4S's camera is as good as Apple claims, and if it can really replace your snapshot camera entirely, it is a compelling argument to upgrade.
In addition to the 8-megapixel camera, the great new feature is a reduced delay time between shots. According to Apple, the device can take the first picture after 1.1 seconds and the second one after half a second. Apple promises a lens that delivers 30 percent more sharpness, better color accuracy and uniformity, and most importantly, backside illumination. This delivers increased light to the sensor (which is the reason for decreased capture time) and should result in superior overall picture quality.
We have been waiting for a cell phone camera that could produce pictures with quality equivalent to entry-level snapshot cameras. This one could come close (while we recognize that dedicated DSCs are likely to always produce better pictures than smartphones, simply because of their ability to integrate better sensors). Of course, the iPhone 4S also does 1080p video recording.
3. Siri
I have to admit that this one truly impressed me. Given that Siri is still in beta, Apple seems to be pulling a Google on this round. Yet there is little doubt that Apple will use Siri in its commercials, and this will be the feature most users will be attracted to: natural voice recognition.
Siri enables the user to talk to the phone and ask questions without having to remember special commands. Siri will try to figure out what the user is asking and then provide answers and possible options. For example, you can tell Siri to set a wakeup call; ask Siri if you will need to bring an umbrella tomorrow; ask Siri to remind you to call your wife when you leave work (via a geofence feature); or ask Siri if you have appointments on a certain day, and if so, can you schedule a lunch with someone accordingly. At least in Apple's demo, Siri worked flawlessly and put the icing on the smartphone cake. Based upon the impression from this first demonstration, Siri will be selling the iPhone 4S all by itself – and Apple should be commended for the powerful integration. There is no question that this is the must-have feature in the new iPhone 4S.
On a downside, remember that this is a voice recognition feature. Voice recognition will always be, by default, a data input option that will only complement all other data input options. It is unlikely that we will all suddenly start mumbling into our phone every place we go. Just think about the privacy problems voice recognition holds, and the limitation of Siri is somewhat clear. However, if Siri is as capable as Apple showed it yesterday, this one may be the most compelling reason why you would spend at least $200 for this new phone.
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I can think of many more reason why I shouldn't.
Nexus Prime is one...
Sprint and Apple? Meh. I bet I can think of a 3rd "Reason" not to upgrade to the new iPhone.
... the camera is reason for me to upgrade... specially - the video camera...
Nexus Prime is getting a little ridiculous though. With the res of 1200x720 they are going beyond what the need to achieve a 'retina' display. They are just wasting pixel density that your eye won't be able to pick up.
Normally this wouldn't be a huge deal to go above and beyond, but a phone's screen is one of the top battery users, and the smaller your pixels, the harder it is to push light through. Therefore they are going to be wasting battery life for absolutely no reason.
If they did a calmer 1000x600 or something you'd probably see an extra hour or two of battery life.
3 reasons not to
1 : Apple are an immoral company. The way they behave beggars belief. There are certain things each and every person would and would not do. Apple do things against principles that most people would not. For example A cross lisence could have easily been reached with samsung but they went through litigation. This is like 2 children disagreeing over something. Rather than have the back bone to resolve it themselves Apple cries to mummy and daddy (the courts) for a 1 sided biased resolution like a spoilt petulant child.
2 : There are many more comprehensive phones out there.
3 : Other phones offer far greater value for money than a shiny apple toy. I say this based on a large article from E3. If you want not just a comparison between apple and android but apple users and android users it's an interesting read
Mini rant over
Or... one reason NOT to buy the (kinda) new iPhone: It's made by Apple.
Sorry, I don't buy hardware that promotes suicide *cough*Foxconn*cough*.
Nexus Prime is getting a little ridiculous though. With the res of 1200x720 they are going beyond what the need to achieve a 'retina' display. They are just wasting pixel density that your eye won't be able to pick up.Normally this wouldn't be a huge deal to go above and beyond, but a phone's screen is one of the top battery users, and the smaller your pixels, the harder it is to push light through. Therefore they are going to be wasting battery life for absolutely no reason.If they did a calmer 1000x600 or something you'd probably see an extra hour or two of battery life.
Retinal display is a marketing term. Look up the visual assement accuities that most people can acheive. Resolve those bach from snellen accuity to near vision accuity and retinal density is much higher than the Apple devices. I did work it out and it equates to ~6/6-3 Most healthy adults easily manage 6/5 and many can see 6/4. 6/6-3 approx equates to a 50 year old with reduced accuites but then again most 50 year olds could still manage 6/5.
I think Siri is the only interesting feature of this upgraded iphone. More of a "cool" feature than an actually useful one but still the most appealing feature for human interaction. It will only be a matter of "training" the thing to understand my horrible accent.
I hope apple has fixed the ridiculous colors that the iphone 4 image capture algorithm used to screw pictures with.
I alredy have a phone which can be used worldwide and actually replaces my point-and-shoot camera, so I see very little improvements if I was to get this new iphone iteration.
If you can't guess: I do NOT have an iphone.
3 reasons why you should buy.
1. 3.5 inch screen, lol
2. No 4G Internet, lol
3. Still no Adobe Flash, lol
The only people that buy the Apple inferior phone, I mean iPhone, is because they are ignorant, uneducated people that like to use a kids phone. They obviously know nothing about android, or upcoming Google Ice cream. 4 reasons why not to buy - Nexus Prime, Samsung Hercules, Galaxy S II, HTC Amaze. This is not including all the other great phones coming out. Has apple ever heard of options, instead of the same crappy feel of the iPhone 4 that they want to have a 2 year shelf life.
But..but..it LOOKS the same as the old phone. I will have tell everyone why my phone (and me) are better than theirs (them).
I understand being mesmerized by the original iPhone, but honestly, how could people possible be dumb enough to continue to buy these inferior, overpriced bug and problem-ridden phones?
WTF is "pulling a Google"? Unless you refer to the fact that Google used voice-recognition way ahead of Apple, then you're right. Of course, Apple will always claim they invented it.
8MP cameras... already on other phones. not a selling point.
Siri... see first paragraph.
Sprint... that's relative. Some networks work better for some people, while others do the same for the rest. Not a selling point, unless Sprint does it for you.
"Good" job, as usual, Gruener; now go collect your check from Apple.
1 reason I won't buy a iphone 4s:
I have a Galaxy S2...
2 reasons why not, Nexus Prime and Samsung Galaxy S2
Samsung Galaxy S2 vs Iphone 4s (mind you the galaxy has been out how long 6 monhts now)
On-board storage:
The Samsung Galaxy S II supports MicroSD card slot, so with the 16GB model only, a user can upgrade the phone’s storage to 48GB. Meanwhile, Apple is offering three iPhone 4S models, 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. The iPhone 4S doesn’t support MicroSD card slot.
Data speed:
The iPhone 4S is the fastest iPhone ever, not only in the processor department, but also on data connectivity. According to Apple, the iPhone 4S supports up to 14.4Mbps download, and 5.8Mbps up, while the Samsung Galaxy S2 is an HSPA+ ready phone with 21Mbps download speed and 5.76Mbps upload. The iPhone 4S is a CDMA/GSM phone or a world phone, while Samsung is offering GSM and CDMA Galaxy S II.
Display:
The iPhone 4S sports 3.5-inch screen, with the Retina Display or 960 x 640 pixel resolution at 326 ppi, while the Samsung Galaxy S II boasts 4.3-inch (4.52 for the Sprint Epic 4G Touch and T-Mobile USA’s Galaxy S II) Super AMOLED Plus screen technology. Samsung Galaxy S II’s screen sports 217 ppi (for the 4.3-inch screen and 206 ppi for the 4.52-inch screen) with the resolution of 480 x 800. The iPhone 4S sports theoretically crisper image, but the S II’s Super AMOLED Plus is just so gorgeous.
Talk Time, internet time, battery life:
The Samsung Galaxy S II (global version) supports up to 710 hours on 2G and 610 hours on 3G standby time, talk time of 18 hours and 20 min max on 2G and 8 hours 40 min on 3G and 5 to 6 hours with the realtime active usage. Meanwhile, the iPhone 4S supports up to 200 hours on standby on 3G, talk time of 8 hours on 3G and 14 hours on 2G GSM, and supports internet use of up to 6 hours on 3G or 9 hours max on Wi-Fi.
Price:
The Samsung Galaxy S II 16GB model sports the tag price of $199.99 (AT&T, Sprint), while the iPhone 4S with 16GB will use the same tag price of $199.99. Apple is offering two other models, the 32GB for $299.99 and 64GB for $399.99. 32GB Samsung Galaxy S II is not yet available in United States.
Still no Adobe Flash? Thank God. I don't get why Flash lovers suck so high! Common, he honest to yourself that it's really annoying even today. Try to browse Google News wit Firefox Flash plugin; really makes your life dull. I would pray Flash to get killed ASAP (in Browser at least).
@subaru41 - The only people that buy the Apple inferior phone, I mean iPhone, is because they are ignorant, uneducated people that like to use a kids phone.
Get the hell out of here, you trolling idiots!
Note: I'm not an Apple fan boy but I use their products very much. So enough of your crap. Thank you.
Apple needs to get with the times and put a Micro-SDHC slot in the phones
7 Reasons Why I Should NOT Upgrade to the iPhone 4S
1. it's apple
2. i don't have a cell phone to start with and don't need one to make myself self feel important
3, it's apple
4. this article was written by Wolfgang Gruener as an apple stroke job
5. It's apple
6. it will probably blow up quicker faster and better than the old iphone 4 , i like my hands.
7. did i forget to mention it's apple ?
seriously though enough with the apple ego/c--- stroking articles tom's , tom's hardware used to be so much better but lately it's jsut apple apple apple. used to have cool game review shows , deccent tech articles but now it's just turning to garbage, stop tugging apple's pony they can do that them selves just fine.
funny thing is that there are ONLY 3 reasons. THAT'S IT. Availability to sprint really not being a deal maker honestly.. and secondly.. anyone who gives any sort of damn about photography will have a camera for it anyways. There is really not much of a point to continue upgrading the camera to these levels cause its just more of a reason to charge you to "upgrade" when there is nothing to upgrade to.
Lol I dont understand why people like to bash apple products and stereotype the customer as stupid uneducated kids. I doubt they even own or played with an iPhone before. Buying an iPhone doesn't mean that the people who bought it is stupid or ignorant. Most people buy it because it just works. They want a phone that functions without having to troubleshoot their phones every time they install new apps and stuff.The main reason I bought an iPhone is because of the OS. I couldn't care less about the phones processor since it won't matter wether you had a dual core or single core processor on a phone since most apps on the phone is not that demanding. Additionally, the iPhone is easier to use than a Nokia or Samsung and is very user friendly. Why buy something that you have to waste 5 mins troubleshooting every time you change settings or install apps?? Buying an iPhone doesn't mean that Im too stupid to use a Nokia or Samsung phone, the time wasted on troubleshooting and setting up stuff could be better spent on other things. No offense but most people who bash apple products are people who can;t afford one or is just doing it to make themselves look smarter.
I'm still rocking my HTC Incredible (1, not 2). No reason for me to downgrade to an iPhone.
Are you kidding me? Siri is nothing more than an upgraded reminder, who would ever consider this as a reason to buy the iPhone 4S?!
Stay tuned. Next week, Google sues Apple for "pulling a Google" and prevents sale of the iPhone 4S. I know android have some speech recognition software. I dont know if they hold any patents over it, but it would be nice to see Apple denied sales of their device after the crap they are pulling with Samsung!
Looks like a nice phone. Probably still has much more battery life than most other phones. My Motorola Droid 3 barely lasts a day without even doing anything on it, and I've tweaked it to last a little longer than stock.
Flash support still blows, wish they would just let people choose to get it or not. It would be good if something more efficient came along to replace it though.
Screen size is still too small. Would like that to be bigger.
Looks like they fixed the antenna, so no more dropping calls if you touch one spot.
Overall, I'm sure it'll be just as good as the other phones coming out; it'll win in some categories, lose in others. If I didn't have a good phone already, I might have considered this.
I wonder how much Apple paid Tom's to post this?..
I still don't understand how people get SOOO excited about an iPhone who's new 'features' have been basically out in Android form for, some over a year now... Now the hype is all about 'dual-core' (Android's had it for well over a year), Siri (Nice, but very similar to Vlingo and/or Google Voice, really nothing new... And we've had those again, for nearly a year...), 8MP Camera... Really? We've had those too... But still, I'm a firm believer, want a good camera, buy a CAMERA, not a phone... Still plenty of Androids do 1080p video recording now...
And I'm still shocked, it's got the tiny screen... Just cause it's all wrapped in white, with the fat fruit on the back... Everyone is so giddy... I just don't get the ignorance of consumers today who let this type of stuff happen... (let alone the two-finger phone-call tricks cause the antenna doesn't work in the last version... Really?!?)
Give credit to Apple though. They target the stupid consumers... And they succeeded tremendously... I just wish those people would do a touch more research and bring up the benchmark of the modern moron...
WTF is "pulling a Google"? Unless you refer to the fact that Google used voice-recognition way ahead of Apple, then you're right. Of course, Apple will always claim they invented it.8MP cameras... already on other phones. not a selling point.Siri... see first paragraph. Sprint... that's relative. Some networks work better for some people, while others do the same for the rest. Not a selling point, unless Sprint does it for you."Good" job, as usual, Gruener; now go collect your check from Apple.
To android "gear heads" innovation is thought only to be "Hardware". Missing that the real GROUNDBREAKING innovation that Apple has brought us is Siri. This is HAL or the Star Trek computer where you talk to your computer and it talks back. This will be the dawn of yet another new and natural way we interact natually with our "computer". Apple has done it again making tech useable in everyday life. It will take a while before gearheads get a clue on what just happened and then they will scramble to copy it and make stupid declarations like this guy.
@tmshdw:
Siri is only voice-recognized commands. That's it. You ask how the weather is (key-word weather) and it gives it to you. No different from "Dial xxx-xxx-xxxx" that a phone is following. no computer (yet) talks back in an intelligent way, it just follows certain key-words that interprets as commands. A whole lot of voice-recognition software do that already, research Dragon if you have any doubts. All one has to do is train the program to recognize it's own natural way of speaking. The program learns the user's way, then launches apps as ordered. Hardly groundbreaking at all.
If you're one of the fools that believes the 4S is some sort of A.I.-powered machine... well, that just confirms what is being said about the clueless Apple users.
Are you kidding me? Siri is nothing more than an upgraded reminder, who would ever consider this as a reason to buy the iPhone 4S?!
Another one for "moron who doesn't get it" column. Siri is not about voice recognition. It is about naturally speaking to a device that then responds back with the concise information you asked for. Perhaps you missed the Jeopardy series of shows where this tech was displayed and answered questions and outdid humans. And yes, I'm sure your favorite Android will hurriedly copy this and then declare "voice recognition has been around for a decade" as you do. Clue less, simply clue less.
Why the hell would anyone buy an iPhone?
Anything you get on an iPhone you can get on a number of Android phones, with more freedom of choice in the software you use.
Apple fanboys need to get their souls back and give up CrappleWare