iPhone 5 - Discussion [READ MOD NOTE IN FIRST POST]

murpho999

eeloe wrote: »

I was lucky enough to have upgrades available on my contracts with carriers to get a new iphone on launch every year, as i'm only 12 months in to my current contract, i won't have access to an upgrade for a while, so if the 5 launches in October here, I'll have to buy it sim free if i want it, so it'll be the first time i'll be shelling out top dollar for an iPhone for the first time.

Ground breaking features, i'd consider a much improved battery, a hell of a lot more RAM, and a much faster processor to be ground breaking in a mobile decive, we've seen the specs of some of the android coming out lately, and i feel apple are really going to have to step up the game with this device.

I'm not hating, but i'm meerly saying it'll have to be a much better phone to get people to upgrade.

So you are looking for improved hardware features such as battery, memory and processor. There is nothing ground breaking there.

Really don't feel that Apple are that far behind Android phones at all but there seems to be this perception that it is.

People seem to confuse (not saying you) Android software with hardware too.

eeloe

Qwerty Dub wrote: »

Would it not be cheaper to buy out a few months of your contract to get you an upgrade rather than fork out full whack for a sim free iPhone 5?

buying out my contract would be €800, bit too much!

Would be cheaper for me to buy the 5 sim free, and sell on my 4s to offset the cost.

Dades

murpho999 wrote: »

Why would anyone get a new iPhone every year? Very expensive upgrades.

If you can get an upgrade every year it's possible just sell your old handset to cover the subsidised price when signing a new contract.

murpho999

Dades wrote: »

If you can get an upgrade every year it's possible just sell your old handset to cover the subsidised price when signing a new contract.

But would you not have to be on a high monthly fee for a contract like that that allows you to upgrade each year?

seamus

murpho999 wrote: »

But would you not have to be on a high monthly fee for a contract like that that allows you to upgrade each year?

You would, but some people spend enough time on the phone to justify an expensive contract.

Dades

murpho999 wrote: »

But would you not have to be on a high monthly fee for a contract like that that allows you to upgrade each year?

I've only ever paid €45 a month and always had the option. When I was with O2 they would always offer upgrades after a year of an 18 mth contract.

Got the iP4 with Vodafone 2 years ago and pretty sure they were hounding me (to no avail) to get the iP4S last year and sign on for another 2 years.

(That said, 45 quid a month might be a lot for some!)

guil

seamus wrote: »

murpho999 wrote: »

But would you not have to be on a high monthly fee for a contract like that that allows you to upgrade each year?

You would, but some people spend enough time on the phone to justify an expensive contract.

like me. My bill is 75 a month with eMobile for unlimited calls texts and data. Sometimes I go a bit over ringing Australia or premium rate numbers but when I was with O2 on advance 350 it was 60 a month but I was always nearly double that

Qwerty Dub

eeloe wrote: »

buying out my contract would be €800, bit too much!

Would be cheaper for me to buy the 5 sim free, and sell on my 4s to offset the cost.

That makes sense so.

I am on the Ultra Flex Max (highest tarriff) with 3 & get unlimited calls, texts and data. I assume I will get the iPhone 5 for free on an upgrade. I have a 32GB iPhone 4 and I also have an iPhone 3GS but I think I will hold onto them as spares for myself & the OH because I dont have insurance.

Gekko

I wonder if there will be any improvement in battery life on the new iPhone.

If so I might go for an upgrade, but if not, I'm not sure I'm really bothered.

I'd prefer if they brought out a 4S with improved battery life.

Tazium

With the larger screen and newer processors the actual battery improvements may not be noticeable.

maximoose

guil wrote: »

My bill is 75 a month with eMobile for unlimited calls texts and data. Sometimes I go a bit over ringing Australia or premium rate numbers but when I was with O2 on advance 350 it was 60 a month but I was always nearly double that

Honestly, I can't believe people still pay this much for a monthly contract.

Zascar

I'm going to assume Apple are going to have something totally unexpected or very new to bring to this phone. If all they do is what the rhumors are saying like bigger screen processor, maybe NCF or lte etc - it really will be a huge disappointment.

No doubt apple will make it seem like the second coming Christ anyway...

1ZRed

murpho999 wrote: »

So you are looking for improved hardware features such as battery, memory and processor. There is nothing ground breaking there.

It depends what you put into the Phone. You can put very powerful processors, a much larger battery and larger memory in. Those things are vital and can be ground breaking to a phone because it brings much more potential. Saying otherwise is ridiculous. By that logic why did Apple even bother updating the internals since the iPhone 4 or earlier?

Anyway it doesn't really make a difference because the speed and processor power can't really be brought to it's fullest potential without a larger screen to allow for video multitasking, more enjoyable games, photo editing software on the go, much more enjoyable usage for reading/sending emails/web browsing and much much more that developers will crack into given the opportunity.

murpho999 wrote: »

Really don't feel that Apple are that far behind Android phones at all but there seems to be this perception that it is.

They are growing further and further behind. That's the issue.
-Their processors are much weaker now.
-Graphics are good though
-Screen is too small and still an LCD not an OLED
-Optics are one of the best out of the other phones but will they keep up?
-Software is not evolving as fast as Android and not as experimental in trying new and different things. (iOS is pretty stagnant and predictable)

There is no perception. It's fact that they are far behind on a lot of things which is confusing for a phone that is supposed to be battling it out with the other high teir phones spec wise and ends up being more expensive.

Qwerty Dub

maximoose wrote: »

Honestly, I can't believe people still pay this much for a monthly contract.

What are the alternatives if you want 'unlimited' texts, data & calls?

I like the fact that I know what my phone bill is going to be every month.

Before I stopped getting paper bills I was getting over 40 pages of itemised bills which shows you how much I use my phone. My sister was on a package 2 levels down and was paying more than me monthly after using her allowance plus whatever else after that. She moved up a level to 1 behind me and was still ending up paying more than me a month. That makes even less sense.

I use my phone a lot in and out of work and I text a good bit too as well as tethering to my iPad & laptop. So if it means paying that much a month and not having to worry about a scary bill plus a nice upgrade offer then so be it.

Gumbo

maximoose wrote: »

Honestly, I can't believe people still pay this much for a monthly contract.

Whats good for you is not good for me and all that. What if the poster spends 7 hours per day on his phone? just because you or i think that his bill is high compared to our perceptions, doesnt mean its high for them.

1ZRed wrote: »

They are growing further and further behind. That's the issue.
-Their processors are much weaker now.
-Graphics are good though
-Screen is too small and still an LCD not an OLED
-Optics are one of the best out of the other phones but will they keep up?
-Software is not evolving as fast as Android and not as experimental in trying new and different things. (iOS is pretty stagnant and predictable)

There is no perception. It's fact that they are far behind on a lot of things which is confusing for a phone that is supposed to be battling it out with the other high teir phones spec wise and ends up being more expensive.

I think we should wait and compare like with like. nobody knows what the iPhone 5 is like so we cant compare it to the S3 or similar yet.

The s3 is a 2012 phone, the iPhone 4S is a 2011 phone, whwn apple release their 2012 phone, then the borh can be compared correctly.

Im an iOS and Android user at present. There's pros and cons to both, Fact.

lee_baby_simms

1ZRed wrote: »

They are growing further and further behind. That's the issue.

Sure but sales do not reflect that. They're still outselling all the competition and the iPhone 5 is projected to shift 10m in the first week.

That's the issue.

Ask the average iPhone user what kind of processor is in the phone and they'll most likely not know or care.

I completely see your point about Apple not being at the cutting edge in terms of hardware but that isn't paramount to them or the majority of users. Tech specs are a red herring and are meaningless if the user experience is not up to apples snuff.

4.5" and larger screens are simply too big for a lot of people - especially people like me who like to type with one hand.

And yes - iOS is very dated now and could use a facelift but it makes no sense to totally revamp something that most users find intuitive, fast and reliable.

1ZRed

kceire wrote: »

I think we should wait and compare like with like. nobody knows what the iPhone 5 is like so we cant compare it to the S3 or similar yet.

True. But it's still very predictable, and considering the new iPhone may well lack quad-core, it'll be less powerful than the S3. I'm very confident that it will not be as powerful as the S3, even with a near 6 month advantage.

kceire wrote: »

The s3 is a 2012 phone, the iPhone 4S is a 2011 phone, whwn apple release their 2012 phone, then the borh can be compared correctly.

The GS2 was more powerful on a lot of levels compared to the 4S even. It seems like Samsung's push to drive a beast of a phone will beat out the next iPhone easily on even more levels.

kceire wrote: »

Im an iOS and Android user at present. There's pros and cons to both, Fact.
And I'm giving the pros and cons of iOS, and I'm only an iOS user. I'm not biased

tigershould

what is the big buzz about OLED ?

i've heard it a few times on this thread, but what is this tech going to bring to the end user ? a lighter phone perhaps?

i just checked on wiki and it appears that OLED displays deeper blacks and has a faster response time but on the whole IMO it reads like immature costly tech with a shorter lifespan and greater power consumption (unless it display black).



and improved specs arent ground breaking but may lead to ground breaking apps that can take advantage of them.

Qwerty Dub

I am telling myself that I will wait until next Wednesday to see the iPhone 5 before I make my decision as to whether I will get it or an S3/One X, but if Im honest I am only fooling myself. I will get the iPhone at the earliest opportunity and people like me are the reason Apple dont have to move the earth with each phone to keep me on board. Sad I know.

The little things like losing Google Maps p**ses me off though. I have IOS6 on my iPad and the Maps App is not great at all (even for a beta version).

SIDE NOTE: Apple Maps also shows O'Connell Street/Parnell Street area in Dublin as being 'Chinatown'. News to me??

Gumbo

1ZRed wrote: »

True. But it's still very predictable, and considering the new iPhone may well lack quad-core, it'll be less powerful than the S3. I'm very confident that it will not be as powerful as the S3, even with a near 6 month advantage.



The GS2 was more powerful on a lot of levels compared to the 4S even. It seems like Samsung's push to drive a beast of a phone will beat out the next iPhone easily on even more levels.

Again, i'll hold judgement until we know. For most users, Quad Core makes no real difference, heck my IP4 is still quick as hell and only has a dual core IIRC, think the 4S got a quicker version of the Dual Core.

We could get down to the technical details on such a fine level, but most people dont have a clue about these, they just want the phone to work and not crash all the time.

Im having some fun with the S3 at present but it will be gone on Sunday and i will be back to the IP4, i personally dont like the size of the S3, its just too big for easy use on the go with one hand and in my pocket, especially jeans pockets which seem to be getting tighter and tighter these days

1ZRed

lee_baby_simms wrote: »

Sure but sales do not reflect that. They're still outselling all the competition and the iPhone 5 is projected to shift 10m in the first week.

That's the issue.

Ask the average iPhone user what kind of processor is in the phone and they'll most likely not know or care.

I completely see your point about Apple not being at the cutting edge in terms of hardware but that isn't paramount to them or the majority of users. Tech specs are a red herring and are meaningless if the user experience is not up to apples snuff.

Yeah that's the problem. It's people who don't have much of a clue about this stuff that buy it up in droves because of its perceived ease of use. And then people like me or left with underpowered and limited devices compared to the rest.

Sales never make a phone better though. I have a strong feeling though, that if Apple keep this mentality up, that they will fall down slowly as people realise what they're missing out on.
The huge rise in popularity of the S3 only goes to show that people want power, bigger screens (slightly too big for me, but I think that's where the market is going and for good reason) and new cutting edge technologies. Not stagnation and underpar upgrades.

lee_baby_simms wrote: »

4.5" and larger screens are simply too big for a lot of people - especially people like me who like to type with one hand.

I get you there. That's why I'd like a 4.3" screen or a bit smaller, but ultimately scaled to that size from the current 3.5" screen, not the stretched out plan they have.

lee_baby_simms wrote: »

And yes - iOS is very dated now and could use a facelift but it makes no sense to totally revamp something that most users find intuitive, fast and reliable.

Not at all, I agree with you there. I like iOS and I think I prefer it to Andoid but I'm not liking the limitations when I see what Android are coming out with, with the last two OS updates. I think a face lift while keeping the same core concept and freeing up "the walled garden" slightly would be fantastic. I wouldn't be asking for something drastic at all.

1ZRed

tigershould wrote: »

what is the big buzz about OLED ?

i've heard it a few times on this thread, but what is this tech going to bring to the end user ? a lighter phone perhaps?

i just checked on wiki and it appears that OLED displays deeper blacks and has a faster response time but on the whole IMO it reads like immature costly tech with a shorter lifespan and greater power consumption (unless it display black).



and improved specs arent ground breaking but may lead to ground breaking apps that can take advantage of them.

Clearly you have no clue about the technology. OLEDs are the next gen of screen technology and it will be replacing LED TVs before 4K comes in.

OLED is leaps and bounds ahead of LCD. Offering true blacks of much much higher contrasts/instant response times, very vivid, sharp and realistic colours, far greater power efficiency, much thinner and lighter panels and it is in theory, more cost efficient to produce than LCDs. It's life span has recently been brought up to that of LCD (not that it would even matter, you'd replace the mobile before than anyway whether OLED or LCD)

There is no denying that "buzz" behind OLED is there for a reason. It's superior in every single way and actually improves the appearance of resolution by offering a true contrast as sharper image. It'll replace all LCD producs in the coming years. It's a guarantee.

SnowDrifts

Qwerty Dub wrote: »

The little things like losing Google Maps p**ses me off though. I have IOS6 on my iPad and the Maps App is not great at all (even for a beta version).

SIDE NOTE: Apple Maps also shows O'Connell Street/Parnell Street area in Dublin as being 'Chinatown'. News to me??

Wonder will Google release an independent map app so users can decide which to use?

Dades

Qwerty Dub wrote: »

The little things like losing Google Maps p**ses me off though. I have IOS6 on my iPad and the Maps App is not great at all (even for a beta version).

SIDE NOTE: Apple Maps also shows O'Connell Street/Parnell Street area in Dublin as being 'Chinatown'. News to me??

I wasn't sure Apple Maps would even cover Ireland. Interesting.

Also, surely Google Maps is going to be a standalone app available?

Sad Professor

It was confirmed a while ago that Google are working on their own apps to replace Maps and Youtube.

maximoose

Qwerty Dub wrote: »

SIDE NOTE: Apple Maps also shows O'Connell Street/Parnell Street area in Dublin as being 'Chinatown'. News to me??

Hahaha. I didn't know it was official, quite appropriate name though.

DubDJ

1ZRed wrote: »

Clearly you have no clue about the technology. OLEDs are the next gen of screen technology and it will be replacing LED TVs before 4K comes in.

OLED is leaps and bounds ahead of LCD. Offering true blacks of much much higher contrasts/instant response times, very vivid, sharp and realistic colours, far greater power efficiency, much thinner and lighter panels and it is in theory, more cost efficient to produce than LCDs. It's life span has recently been brought up to that of LCD (not that it would even matter, you'd replace the mobile before than anyway whether OLED or LCD)

There is no denying that "buzz" behind OLED is there for a reason. It's superior in every single way and actually improves the appearance of resolution by offering a true contrast as sharper image. It'll replace all LCD producs in the coming years. It's a guarantee.

The reason Apple haven't adapted OLED is because of Supply constraints and actual limitations in terms of resolution. At the moment Samsung aren't able to meet the demand for OLED displays for Apple. If the numbers aren't there Apple aren't going to sacrifice sales over screen technology. Also last I heard OLED wasn't able to live up to the 'Retina' quality of the LCD displays Apple currently use. It would have to meet the 326ppi of the 4/4S. Once the technology is actually there I'm sure they'll start adding it to their devices.

1ZRed

DubDJ wrote: »

The reason Apple haven't adapted OLED is because of Supply constraints and actual limitations in terms of resolution. At the moment Samsung aren't able to meet the demand for OLED displays for Apple. If the numbers aren't there Apple aren't going to sacrifice sales over screen technology. Also last I heard OLED wasn't able to live up to the 'Retina' quality of the LCD displays Apple currently use. It would have to meet the 326ppi of the 4/4S. Once the technology is actually there I'm sure they'll start adding it to their devices.

Supply constraints is actually a valid reason, considering Samsung is the only real big producer of them.

The limitations in resolution though is not accurate. The S3 has a 1280x720 resolution which is far higher than the iPhone and has a ppi of 302 which is near the iPhone's pixel density.

There is no "Retina quality". It's just pixel density at a certain distance from the viewer. There's no image quality that brands it "Retina", just that.
So with that in mind, the iPhone is Retina at 326ppi on a 3.5" at 12 inches IIRC. Whereas the S3 is of higher resolution and nearing that on a 4.8" screen. Adjusting the "Retina formula" to factor in the larger screen and a larger viewing distance, I'm sure Apple could easily brand it Retina.

It's a very manipulatable term Apple has invented and it's not based on ppi on its own, rather, viewing distance + ppi. The Retina MacBook pro and iPad 3 are proof of that (both having lower pixel density), yet still meet the "Retina display" standard.

The only reason why I'm talking about OLED often is because if they aren't going to make the screen much bigger, and since the resolution and screen size is lower than that of other OLED devices, why aren't they pushing and investing in OLED?

Supply constraints is understandable but they have the money to make it happen, and considering it's going to replace LCD in future, it would be wise to invest IMO.

Qwerty Dub

Sad Professor wrote: »

It was confirmed a while ago that Google are working on their own apps to replace Maps and Youtube.

Will Apple verify the apps and put them in the App Store though?

120_Minutes

murpho999 wrote: »

But would you not have to be on a high monthly fee for a contract like that that allows you to upgrade each year?

I bought a 4s on launch day last year, signing a 12 month contract with emobile at €50 a month, with free line rental for 3 months (offer at the time) plus another month free because they ****ed up my porting (took them 13 days) I paid €300 for the phone but I sold my network unlocked 3GS for €200 on adverts, so really the 4S cost me 100.

I did this on purpose knowing that iphone refreshes would be in sept/oct and I'd either be out of contract and free to move, or eligible for an upgrade when the 5 came out. so next month I'll be offsetting the price of the 5 by selling the 4S.

It'll be harder to do that this year though is I think it'll be next to impossible to sign 12 month contracts for iphones.

but back on topic, now that we pretty much know almost everything about the 5, is there anything next wednesday that could be a surprise? I have a hunch they'll ship sim free 5's from the online store to the US from launch.