My other half is about to sign up to a 2-year contract for an iPhone 4S. Should this be a safe bet in terms of obsolescence or is it likely that this phone will be useless in a few months’ time. Ta v much.

I wouldn’t go for a 4S. The 6 is to be released on the 19th of September so hold out couple of months and go for that or the reduced price 5s

Yeah, update to a later model. The 4S could well be phased out of updates by the end of the contract.

5s would be the better one as it has the processor which no one has found a real time way to use yet, so it will be in the next iphone as well.

I could be wrong, but my simpsons apps and strava are no quicker on the 5s compared to the 4s I had before.

I wouldn’t go for a 4S.

Me neither – I’d see a 5C as a minimum spec now.

Refurbished 4s seem to be about £150 on ebay . I’d buy one and do £10 payg.
When our 3 signal disappeared I was very glad just to be able to jump ship without spending a week trying to get out of a contract.

As much as the iPhone 4S is a good phone I wouldn’t bother, in phone terms it is very old tech and like has already been said, the 6 is out on the 19th September. I’m actually surprised that companies are still selling them with 2 year contracts!

To be honest she won’t be bothered about having the latest tech, but she will be bothered if the 4S becomes unusable or loses features because it’s out of date. Do people think this is likely with the 4S over a 2-year period?

Absolutely… Its already started, some of the new apps are not suitable for use on the 4S.

Do people think this is likely with the 4S over a 2-year period?

Not unusable – but apps will stop being developed for them. And she will use apps… everyone has something they want the phone to do that’s specific to them. If you just need to make calls buy a cheap Nokia!

And the bigger screen of the 5C/S (even though not massively bigger) is nicer to have. The 4 seems tiny when you have to use one again.

Lot of scaremongering going on here. Even if support stops it’s not the end of the world, plenty of people still on 3’s, they’ve not been supported for donkeys.

Also, no matter how I look at it, I much prefer the 4s over any of the 5’s. If nothing else I feel its a much nicer phone size.

Lets be honest, if it wasn’t for apple’s never ending obsolescence march, they would have stopped at the 4s. Best phone ever.

Best phone ever.

Nope – prefer my 5 – even the feel of it! 😀

My 4S is painfully slow at times and crashes apps every so often. I wouldn’t buy another one new now, instead 5C at the minimum but I’m waiting for the 6.

Still using an original 4 here with a new battery.

Does everything i want it to do.

Doesnt seem slow , doesnt seem buggy.

Wouldnt sign up to 2 years on a 4s though unless its a very low monthly – around the 20quid mark !

I’ve just purchase a 5s and that’s not hugely quicker than my 4s ( which is currently for sale on the forum )

In a side by side test they both downloaded and uploaded at very similar speeds.

The 5c is a nice slim, lightweight plastic phone, rather than a heavy glassy metal thing.

Although its a ‘low rent’ version, I prefer it for those reasons over the others.

Be selling a 4S in a week or so. Black 16gb. Couple of non screen marks. Vibrate doesn’t work. Otherwise all ok.

As it’s non pristine 75 quid plus postage.

At the moment I pay 16 a month for a virgin sim with unlimited everything to put in it…

PS if anyone interested message me and sorry for hijack!

I have a 5C, a much better bet, you can get them for free on some reasonably priced contracts. Dont be put off by the plastic back. feels nice.

My 4 works just fine. I updated to an S4, sold the S4 within a month – the worst phone I ever had, couldn’t lock onto signal and the battery was dead by 4pm.
My 4 is going strong.

I agree about 4s size, perfect for me. A 4s with the latest processor would be my perfect phone.

Recently went from 4s to 5s. Not drastically better. If the GF hadn’t needed a newer phone (she had a 3GS) I wouldn’t have bothered. If I were you I would buy a 4s outright and get a sim, as others have suggested. the TCO doing that will surely be much, much lower than tying in to a 24 month contract.

As above, iOS 8 is unlikely to support the 4S. Whether this bothers you or not…

I can’t imagine why anyone would enter into a two year contract for a phone, fruit-based or otherwise, which is now almost three years old.

Not so. iOS 8 WILL be compatible with iphone 4s. There’s life in the old dog yet.

See here, bottom of page…
https://www.apple.com/uk/ios/ios8/

Still on a 4s here, quite happy with it.

I would buy an iPhone 4S, they are decent but don’t enter into a contract for one,that’s crazy. It’s a 3 year old phone that you will still be paying for in 2 years time. They cost less than £200 to buy outright

OP, terrible idea !

I have a 4S and am waiting to get a 6, if you want a new phone now get a 5S or 5C but be aware the new model will come out in a couple of months. The 4S will be the lowest spec phone which will take iOS8 which will likely run so/so on it, the next update in 2015 will probably not work on the 4S

Get something decent like a S5, LG or similar not a cramped/crowded overhyped POS

My wife’s 4s overheats the wifi sensor when it upgraded the software so doesn’t have wifi anymore – this is a pretty common problem so I wouldn’t bother.

Mum has just told me that my nephew wants a 4s for his birthday. Just looked and they are £350! madness. It’ll only get stolen or broken. Would be much better with a MotoG but I guess if he wants an apple then an andorid phone is no good.

Anyone seen a source of cheap refurbished 4s or preferably 5 models?

Get something decent like a S5, LG or similar not a cramped/crowded overhyped POS

🙄

Answer to O.P’s Q: Yes

Unless contract is super cheap.

loddrik – Member
Get something decent like a S5, LG or similar not a cramped/crowded overhyped POS. 🙄

😆

In answer to the op. Don’t bother, if it must be an iPhone the 5 is the minimum you should be looking at, but I’d hang on until the 6 comes out and get a 5s for a bit less.

I still use a 4S. It’s a good size for a phone, and as fast as pocket computer needs to be at this stage really.

The 4s is still ok but there’s no way I’d sign up to a 2 year contract for anything.