iPhone 5s or 6? What say you?

[JHZR2]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
The only con to the smaller iPhone 6 is price. If you can afford it its better.

^ This.

...Well, that and the slightly smaller size of the 5S. Then again, the 6 is thinner. The extra width of the 6 seems to be a tiny price to pay for better battery life, a better camera, a better screen, faster guts, etc. etc. etc....

Too early to tell if there are any serious bugs with the 6, but knowing Apple that's unlikely.


Im not a fan of larger phones. I was disappointed when they didnt announce an iphone 6 with the updated innards in a similar form factor as the 5s.

The 5S is the longest phone that will fit in a shirt pocket of a dress shirt. The 6 being longer makes it stick out. Yuck. Thinner is better, but wider doesnt help either...

 

[97tbird]

Oh
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
I know they're supposed to be released the 19th, but they don't even have demo phones yet? Bummer. I was going to ask my wife to go check the 6 out this week to see if she likes it. If not, we'll pass on this deal and I'll look for a $49 deal on a 5s around the holidays.

Oh IDK for sure that they don't.
I just assumed they won't till the official release on the 19th. I may be wrong though...
so yeah, send the wife

and see if they have it in stores already.

 

[Volvohead]

I know they're passe, but the perfect LxW for me remains the 4. The 5 is taller, but narrower. But it's close enough.

I look at footprint and weight with cell phones. Everything since the 3gs has been thin enough for me.

If dropped, a thinner phone only concentrates impact force.

Didn't Jobs once call bigger phones Hummers?

 

[surfstar]

Originally Posted By: gr8gatzby
Pre-ordered the 6 Plus/64gb from TMO. $99 down and $31/mo for 24 months. Shipping on 9/19.

I've wanted an iPhone since day 1, but could never reconcile with the small screen. I'm a Mac guy in all other facets.


$31x24 + 99 = $843!!!

Holy ___!!!

The true geniuses at Apple work in marketing.

 

[wander2039]

Just got a 5s as a upgrade from a 4. Got it for $0 as limited special from Sprint, or perhaps it was a screw up don't know! There's such a huge difference in the phones just go with the 5s. Everything I did on the 4 takes 1/4 of the time on the 5s. I'll get the 6s or whatever is out in another 2 years.

 

[PandaBear]

The newer phones tend to have more feature. 6 has NFC (wireless payment) and faster processor so in theory it will last longer before being obsolete. Also the baseband chip and wifi chip are newer and support faster standard (i.e. LTE CAT5 instead of CAT4, when the carrier upgrade their towers to support it, and 802.11ac instead of N, etc).

For similar price I'd go for newer designed phone every time, but if money is tight it is not a deal breaker going for the older phone like 5S.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: PandaBear
Also the baseband chip and wifi chip are newer and support faster standard (i.e. LTE CAT5 instead of CAT4, when the carrier upgrade their towers to support it, and 802.11ac instead of N, etc).


I know about the differences in Wi-Fi support, but what about the LTE differences? Verizon's website lists both the 5s and the 6 as "XLTE ready". Is this Verizon marketing at play or is there a real difference in the 5s and the 6 in terms of LTE connectivity?

 

[racer12306]

Originally Posted By: surfstar
Originally Posted By: gr8gatzby
Pre-ordered the 6 Plus/64gb from TMO. $99 down and $31/mo for 24 months. Shipping on 9/19.

I've wanted an iPhone since day 1, but could never reconcile with the small screen. I'm a Mac guy in all other facets.


$31x24 + 99 = $843!!!

Holy ___!!!

The true geniuses at Apple work in marketing.


Look at the off contract price of any cell phone out there. The higher end phones are $700+

 

[surfstar]

Originally Posted By: racer12306
Originally Posted By: surfstar
Originally Posted By: gr8gatzby
Pre-ordered the 6 Plus/64gb from TMO. $99 down and $31/mo for 24 months. Shipping on 9/19.

I've wanted an iPhone since day 1, but could never reconcile with the small screen. I'm a Mac guy in all other facets.


$31x24 + 99 = $843!!!

Holy ___!!!

The true geniuses at Apple work in marketing.


Look at the off contract price of any cell phone out there. The higher end phones are $700+


I know, I just didn't think anyone actually PAID those prices though!

Its a PHONE for Pete's sake! $850 to make phone calls on something that is outdated in 6 months? It isn't a laptop or something that you might keep for years and have it be useful. Its a quickly depreciating asset that may also serve as a tech/status symbol - again, Apple has amazing marketing.

What truly, ESSENTIAL things can this do vs a free smart phone?

 

[kschachn]

The answer to the first part is nothing, but where are you getting a free smart phone?

Originally Posted By: surfstar
What truly, ESSENTIAL things can this do vs a free smart phone?

 

[ClutchDisc]

Originally Posted By: surfstar
I know, I just didn't think anyone actually PAID those prices though!

Its a PHONE for Pete's sake! $850 to make phone calls on something that is outdated in 6 months? It isn't a laptop or something that you might keep for years and have it be useful. Its a quickly depreciating asset that may also serve as a tech/status symbol - again, Apple has amazing marketing.

What truly, ESSENTIAL things can this do vs a free smart phone?

+1 I find it amazing someone would pay that much for a phone. Its a phone, and if you think back 20 years and you told someone you were going to pay $700 plus for your phone they would think you were insane. I know, some people are going to probably jump all over me, but it seems if you are willing to pay that much for a phone... maybe your priorities are in the wrong place.

I'll keep my $10 "smart phone" from tracfone... I can text, call, go on the Internet, pretty much what any other smart phone can do. And I will keep the other $700+ in my bank account.

I'm sure the more expensive phones can do more than mine, but do you really need that on your phone?? That is what my computer is for.

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: surfstar
Its a PHONE for Pete's sake!

No, it isn't. That's the point.


Originally Posted By: surfstar
$850 to make phone calls on something that is outdated in 6 months? It isn't a laptop or something that you might keep for years and have it be useful.

Last I checked, phones don't magically get worse when better versions come out...


Originally Posted By: surfstar
What truly, ESSENTIAL things can this do vs a free smart phone?

Very little. What's your point?

 

[d00df00d]

Also, most of Apple's "marketing" consists of people seeing and using the devices. People like them because of how they look, feel, and work. That's just the way it is.

 

[sxg6]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
I know about the differences in Wi-Fi support, but what about the LTE differences? Verizon's website lists both the 5s and the 6 as "XLTE ready". Is this Verizon marketing at play or is there a real difference in the 5s and the 6 in terms of LTE connectivity?


The iPhone 5s and 6 can connect to verizon's dual band XLTE network, whereas some other phones, such as my iPhone 5, can't connect to the XLTE network.

As I mentioned earlier I've hit speeds of 50Mbps on regular LTE, and it looks like people are reaching speeds close to 100Mbps when connected to verizons XLTE network.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: ClutchDisc
I know, some people are going to probably jump all over me, but it seems if you are willing to pay that much for a phone... maybe your priorities are in the wrong place.


Where should his priorities be?

 

[surfstar]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Originally Posted By: ClutchDisc
I know, some people are going to probably jump all over me, but it seems if you are willing to pay that much for a phone... maybe your priorities are in the wrong place.


Where should his priorities be?


Saving for retirement is the biggest one that jumps out at me

but I'm not a fan of work and prefer to play instead. Realizing that you can make do with what you already have, will get you much further in life (IMO), vs constantly "needing" more. That new car/phone/etc smell wears off quickly...

edit - and don't say "its only $800/2years, it won't provide for an early retirement". Its a philosophy/lifestyle and if you're the type of person who "needs" or "deserves" that new whatever, it is HIGHLY likely you feel the same about many things in life. Americans no longer like to wait for gratification or plan for the future. Madison Avenue has infiltrated way too deep into most people's lives.

IMO, of course

 

[surfstar]

Originally Posted By: d00df00d

Originally Posted By: surfstar
What truly, ESSENTIAL things can this do vs a free smart phone?

Very little. What's your point?


That's EXACTLY my point

 

[VeeDubb]

Nobody knows anybody else's circumstances here. We have no idea how much anyone here is putting away for retirement so this is a huge assumption. I'm guessing the avg BITOGER is not a spendthrift considering he is nickel and diming on oil and making the 10 year old car last another 10 years. And to put this into perspective $850 a year (let alone two years) is less than those essentials, such as cable TV, alcohol, dining out over the course of a year, not to mention other hobbies like golf or whatever. Life would sure suck if we only purchased "essentials".

 

[d00df00d]

Originally Posted By: surfstar
Originally Posted By: d00df00d

Originally Posted By: surfstar
What truly, ESSENTIAL things can this do vs a free smart phone?

Very little. What's your point?


That's EXACTLY my point

Really? Just wanted to state a fact? Weren't going anywhere with it?

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted By: sxg6
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
I know about the differences in Wi-Fi support, but what about the LTE differences? Verizon's website lists both the 5s and the 6 as "XLTE ready". Is this Verizon marketing at play or is there a real difference in the 5s and the 6 in terms of LTE connectivity?


The iPhone 5s and 6 can connect to verizon's dual band XLTE network, whereas some other phones, such as my iPhone 5, can't connect to the XLTE network.

As I mentioned earlier I've hit speeds of 50Mbps on regular LTE, and it looks like people are reaching speeds close to 100Mbps when connected to verizons XLTE network.



Historically, every generation of new phone comes with updated baseband chips that support more / newer technology. However whether the phone company enable them and whether the carrier (Verizon in this case) update their equipment to support them in YOUR AREA is a different matter all together.

As you see here:
MDM9x15

Even the same chipset implemented in different platform may have different features enabled. iPhone 5s has carrier aggregation support (XLTE) but iPhone 5 doesn't.