[Closed] PSA: iPhone 5 Annoucement Today

Thats only useful if you want/need/can use double the resolution.

True, blind and partially-sighted users should probably stick with an iPad 2. 🙄

, buying outright worked out 200 quid cheaper over 24months of the comparible contract to what i get at the moment.

Always check your contract terms (for any phone). Many allow you to move to a different tariff after a set period, typically 12 months. If you do that then contract can work out cheaper or at least very similar to buying out right.

I've noticed buying the iphone outright always seems similar to high-end Android phones, but for some reason the contract deals always have a much higher up-front cost for the iphone?

It's very true. The thing is though, 18-24 months later, will the android phone fetch a decent used price?
I paid £120 on contract for my iP3g and got £180 for it when I sold it after 18 months
I paid £310 IIRC for my iP4 and I'm expecting £250 for it very soon.

To me, because I'm careful with my phones, the price on contract is almost self financing... 🙂

To me, because I'm careful with my phones, the price on contract is almost self financing...

Bascially over the 24 months of a contract the iPhone 5 + calls, texts and data will cost a minimum of £1k

A sim free phone + an equivalent contract for contract for calls, texts and data will be <£900, significantly less if you don't need lots of inclusive minutes.

You can still sell the phone when you are done with it for the same price and if you get upgrade fever its even easier to go early but get more resale for the old phone.

Unless you don't have £500 available I can't see why people would ever get the phone linked to a contract. If you don't have £500 in cash available [s]you have to question the wisdom of having a top of the range phone[/s] there always interest free credit cards!

I can't see why people would ever get the phone linked to a contract

I put my phone contract through expenses.
I wouldn't be able to put through a £500 phone purchase...

I put my phone contract through expenses.
I wouldn't be able to put through a £500 phone purchase...

For the rest of us my point stands.

Well hopefully one of you guys can sell my mrs a cheap excellent condition iPhone 4/4s as her 3GS is showing its age.

I can't see why people would ever get the phone linked to a contract

Contract deal was worth having. Cheaper than buying outright and can change contract if needed. (Not UK deal though)

, but it's even more self financing if you go sim free.

Indeed. Which is why I was looking for the sim free prices. I'll do some sums once the contract prices are out.

Who's good for sim only deals? Not too bothered about lots of minutes and texts but I need 1gb data/month at least, preferably 2gb

But does it do Flash?

But does it do Flash?

about as well as android does now.

4G will be great in laptops... no need for phones I agree.

As for this phone... glad it's still/more handset shaped*, but that's about my only opinion on it.

*ie ear and mouth ends further apart

Pricing.

It's supply and demand at work - Apple is selling the phones as fast as it can make them. Samsung is "slashing" the price of it's phones as that's the way it can maintain/increase demand. Reports suugest 51m iPhones will be sold before Christmas vs 20m Samsungs. Seems to me Apple's pricing is OK ?

I upgraded to a 4S recently - £25 a month - a bargain IMO

Flash.

I don't miss it, in fact no flash means less ads so that's a benefit of Apple over rivals.

4G will be great in laptops... no need for phones I agree.

But most (all?) smartphones these days can act as mobile hotspots - so 4G in phone = 4G for laptop, tablet or any other wifi/bluetooth device in range.

about as well as android does now.

Android still does flash well. It's not in the store but still with adobe. It's still there for legacy apps. Which is A good idea much better than just deleting it.

It does seem Steve Job's stance on flash has proven to be a good one.

Some initial pain but now Google and even Adobe have jumped on the "no flash in mobile" bandwagon. It is now up to the content providers to do so in a way that people can actually consume. A good example is the BBC finanlly catching on with HTML 5 video. This mornings live OB by Chris Moyles may not be to everybodies taste but as an example of providing options of ways to consume the content it was a good example. Red button for the TV, flash video on the desktop website, HTML 5 on the mobile site alongside FM and internet radio.

So Steve may just have saved us from a flashy hell of splash screens, fizzing batteries and slow loading websites.

And chris moyles is saving us from the hell of his own voice. Everyone's a winner.

I have found the level of trolling between supporters of these multi-billon dollar corporations amusing and enlightening recently. In small doses. I've learnt great words new like "Shamesung" & "Samsuck" 😀 And how being a fanboi has moved from being something shameful to full-on upfront pride, and a legitimate way to label yourself. Strange times.

Anyway does the iphone 5 have a pen now?

So Steve may just have saved us from a flashy hell of splash screens, fizzing batteries and slow loading websites.

You can do all that in HTML5, too.

just for balance, I had a play with a friends S3 just now.

android is ok, screen is nice and bright. but it feels really plastiky and like it'll last 6 months at best before it starts falling apart. A bit like the iphone 3 and 3gs.

I never use cases or covers on my phone and while my 4 is starting to get a little scuffed around the edges is still in pretty good nick.

being a fanboi has moved from being something shameful to full-on upfront pride

We're reclaiming the insult, like teh gayz. 😀

(not a fanboi, but called one on a regular basis).

Anyway does the iphone 5 have a pen now?

No. Though I'm sure there are plenty of 3rd party ones available if you really want one for some odd reason.

New phones are reaching that stage too.

I think this is a very pertinent comment.

People were expecting the same level of 'wow' that the earlier models generated, but the fact is that it's now a five year old platform and everyone's largely familiar with it.

Radically changing a mature and loved system for the sake of it would likely be suicide, so the only other option is for Apple to tweak and polish the existing format, which is what they've done. They've added technology but, think about it, what technology is there to add to something that's already heavily feature-packed?

The phone market is approaching the same point that the computer market is in. PCs (Macs etc) are now "fast enough" for all practical purposes, so when Intel bring out a CPU that's 0.2GHz faster than their previous one there's about six people who actually give a toss. Manufacturers are struggling to innovate and bring something fresh to the table, because for the most part, we have everything we need now, thanks.

Seems the iPhone 5 is a disappointment to some, but realistically, what were you expecting? It's (allegedly considerably) faster, it's got a better screen, and admit it, that's all anyone actually cared about. NFC? Please.

--

A word on "fanbois" (is it just me that thinks this sounds like it should be some sort of French dessert?)

I think it's a mistake to call everyone who merely likes something a 'fanboy'. Many people like things, often passionately, [i]because they are good.[/i] For many, "you only like x because you're a fanboy" is inappropriate; it's backwards, they're a fan because they like it.

A fanboy, OTOH, is someone who likes something irrationally. The people who, even now, are sitting on the Internet making excuses and justifying every last good and bad design decision like it's the most life-affirming thing ever.

The fanboys are the people who are going "meh, who needs NFC" now it transpires that the new phone doesn't have it, but would be going "wow, NFC, that's amazing, stick that in your pipe, Fandroids!!1!" if it did. The ones who spent months going "who needs copy and paste, the iPhone is so toe-curlingly awesome that it doesn't need it" before doing a u-turn when they finally got it in a software revision. The ones who are berating features like Widgets on Android as battery-draining clutter, ignoring the fact that they're entirely optional and you don't have to use a feature if you don't like it. The ones who turn up with predictable regularity on every gods damned phone thread to tell you that whatever question you have, the solution is 'get an iPhone'.

You / we aren't all fanboys. But a select few are, and dear me but you're inordinately tedious.

People were expecting the same level of 'wow' that the earlier models generated, but the fact is that it's now a five year old platform and everyone's largely familiar with it.

Yep I think that is largely true.

They seem to have gone down the the thinner, lighter route in an attempt to differentiate themselves [i]a little[/i] from the growing army of Android handsets, the headliners of which seem to be heading down the bigger is better route.

Time will tell if that pays off or not.

Either way, competition is good!

ones who are berating features like Widgets on Android as battery-draining clutter

Hey I resemble that remark! 😀

FWIW I wasn't [i]"berating"[/i], just saying they are not something I'd particularly use. If I want to know the news headlines I'd rather just launch the BBC News app than sit for 5 minutes reading a tediously scrolling ticker-tape of headlines that the other 99% of time I completely ignore (while it pointlessly eats my data and drains my battery for no reason).

To me the real "fanbois" are the ones who show up on threads about rival operating systems just to talk trash and slag off the "sheeple". 🙂

Wasn't directed at you, other than it reminded me. If it's something you wouldn't use then fine, but suggesting it's a disadvantage because of that is mental. Surely it's always better to have a choice?

To me the real "fanbois" are the ones who show up on threads about rival operating systems just to talk trash and slag off the "sheeple".

Agreed. Bored now.

suggesting it's a disadvantage because of that is mental

hmm.. didn't intend to suggest that. Just meant to point out why I don't crave it. Windows PCs have had "widgets" since Active Desktop on XP and I don't think I've ever used them, other than idly clicking on the odd photo in the Vista/7 photo frame.

Clearly if some folk like it then fair play and yes choice is a good thing.

Again, wasn't directed at you. Sorry if that wasn't clear.

But most (all?) smartphones these days can act as mobile hotspots - so 4G in phone = 4G for laptop, tablet or any other wifi/bluetooth device in range.

Doesn't that "eat batteries"?
I want 4g built into a laptop.

Doesn't that "eat batteries"?
I want 4g built into a laptop.

It undoubtedly will - but you could always plug the phone into your laptop whilst using it, thus not draining the phone battery and not really draining the laptop battery any more than built-in 4G would, and negating the need to buy a new laptop.

I would agree with your definition on fanbois Cougar, and if you venture somwhere like engadget then the sheer number of them is frightening! Seriously, a lot of these people are grown men.
But if you roast them with garlic they are magnifique, or even flambéed fanbois with a cognac....delicious

Having just bought a new phone with a cheap contract to suit my needs, I find it staggering that people pay so much for a product that didn't appear to offer any real advantages over what I've got (Samsung Galaxy Ace). I had looked at iphones, but i could not see why they have to cost so much over other brands. The visual interface looked slicker, but I don't see how that really gives an advantage to using the phone itself. It seemed to me that it was mainly a case of style over substance, at a huge premium just for the Apple brand. the cheapest deal was £20 per month for an older iphone 3, and nowhere near my contract in terms of minutes and texts. The closest deal was £31 a month, and the iphone 3 isn't as good as my current phone in my opinion. It's memory isn't expandable, whreas mine is with SD cards, and it can't be used as a portable storage device like my Samsung. Other features such as the camera and wifif are inferior too. Which makes me wonder why so many people favour the iphone range over other, often superior devices.

Same could be said about most of us and wanting the latest bike/frame/groupset/wheelset/accessory really.

for me it was apparent longevity and continued support of iphones

ive had a few smart phones before and no sooner is it made as support was discontinued, updates never came and it was down to a band of hardcore on the xda dev forums to work on the OS

result - buggy shitty phones that i hated.

by the time they stopped supporting my partners iphone 3g it was already years and years old and had had its moneys worth many times over which made it a no brainer for me.

cost so much over other brands.. a huge premium just for the Apple brand.

Hmm.. people keep saying this, but as pointed out earlier it is roughly the same price as its direct competitor the Samsung Galaxy S3 (£529 for a 5 vs £499 for the S3).

camera and wifif are inferior too.

In what way?

Well. This was a nice thread we had once. Still, to get to 8 pages before people started throwing their own poo at each other is quite the achievement

I find it staggering that people pay so much for a product that didn't appear to offer any real advantages over what I've got

Next up, Jaguar vs Kia in both having 4 wheels that roll on tarmac, yet one costing more than the other shocker...

(I have to admit, I've only skim read the previous 8 pages so apologies if I'm repeating something that's already been said..)

I think what Apple is doing is actually very sensible. OK, there is no amazing headline new feature, but it's precisely because of this that the iPhone 5 will [i]probably[/i] be so good. I was never convinced that the rumors of the bigger screen would be good, thinking it would just make it weird - but in slide 1 Apple showed that having the slightly longer screen actually makes the useful parts of the screen sit in your hand better. People are/were complaining about lack of NFC. I have never even seen anywhere I can use NFC in the UK so far! The camera didn't get a massive upgrade - it's already ridiculously good for how teeny it is, a lot of the time it takes a better quality photo than my real camera does.

But what, from early reports, the iPhone 5 seems to have done is almost the Apple mantra - it all works together even better than the previous one did. My iPhone 4S already is WAY more powerful than I need, and to be honest, the 4 and 3G probably were too - it is a phone after all. But each one added that wee increment of how everything fitted together and it does make the experience better and better. At the end of the day, most people couldn't give a monkeys about the specs, they just want it to work well and do what they want. I haven't got any personal experience with Android phones, but people I know who have them do seem to have to fight the OS some times to do stuff. There are some reasonably big limitations in iOS, but if you just recognise what they are and accept they are there then there are some pretty easy get-arounds.

All in all, I can imagine the iPhone 5 will be rather spiffing to use. Am I clamouring over it? No. Will I upgrade when I can. More than likely yes.

My 2p anyway.

Which makes me wonder why so many people favour the iphone range over other, often superior devices.

This might help.

http://www.techradar.com/reviews/phones/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-ace-930912/review

It's like comparing a budget PC to a high end workstation. You pay a premium for the latter, but superficially they both will do the same thing.

People are/were complaining about lack of NFC. I have never even seen anywhere I can use NFC in the UK so far!

Live her in Oz now, so I suspect it's coming.

My main point back on page 1 was more if

I think what Apple is doing is actually very sensible. OK, there is no amazing headline new feature

Why did they feel the need to saturate the press for a launch of something that was a small upgrade.

Mostly I've just had enough of serious news organisations drooling over something they are not allowed to touch and parroting a spec sheet out as if it's an end to world poverty, the discovery of electricity and a cure for cancer.

my 2p

It's like comparing a budget PC to a high end workstation. You pay a premium for the latter, but they both will do exactly the same thing.

I was comparing my phone to the iphone 3, which i accept is an older model. A more accurate analogy would be comparing a high-end workstation from a few years ago with a current budget laptop, maybe. Other than screen resolution, many other features on the ipohme 3 seem inferior to those on the Samsung. Whcih makes me wonder why a contract is so much more expensive for the iphone, when the Samsung is better. i accept the latest iphone may be better, but the iphone 3 isn't.

I cannot see any genuine justification for the iphone 3 being so much more expensive than my Samsung.

yeah but the iphone 3 is obsolete first around in 2008 and discontinued totally in 2010 so how can it CURRENTLY be more expensive than your new phone.

id hope in the 2 years since that samsung have managed to catch up with that at least.

I was comparing my phone to the iphone 3, which i accept is an older model.

So you're comparing a phone released in 2009 (3GS) to one released in 2011 (Ace)?

Seems legit.

Why did they feel the need to saturate the press

i think you'll find the press saturated itself...

I've just had enough of serious news organisations drooling over something they are not allowed to touch

The Register being [i]"not allowed to touch"[/i] at the London iPhone 5 launch where there was [i]"large Apple Store table covered in the new products"[/i] for the journos to play with:

[img] [/img]
-- http://www.reghardware.com/2012/09/13/first_look_apple_iphone_5_hands_on_review/

😀

cannot see any genuine justification for the iphone 3 being so much more expensive than my Samsung

Demand. No one wants the Galaxy Ace. Few will even have heard of it. Simple as that.

By the way, t[url= http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/deals/cheap-iphone ]he cheapest iPhone 3Gs contract I can find is O2 100mins/3000txts/100MB for £18.50 a month[/url].

Though obviously a more sensible route would be to pickup a 2nd hand or refurb model for considerably less and then go for a sim-only or PAYG contract.

[b]kelvin[/b] - Member
I want 4g built into a laptop.

I much prefer that solution, one contract on my phone (it could be 4G), fast download available in a small device whenever I need it and I can tether/personal hotspot it to my laptop/tablet whatever when I need it. It's cheaper and easier to upgrade the phone/modem when technology improves than changing a laptop.

i think you'll find the press saturated itself...

I think you're missing my point, which is that a superior product is available cheaper than one which seems to attract a lot of unjustified hype.

http://www.carphonewarehouse.com/mobiles/iPhone-finder

I can find no reason why the iphone3 is so much more expensive. I'd be interested in hearing any explanation though.

My phone is £170 without a contract. My contract is £180 over two years. The iphones are around £300 upwards, no? I just think it's a bit of a rip-off that companies are charging such a premium just because it's an iphone.

Demand. No one wants the Galaxy Ace. Few will even have heard of it. Simple as that.

This is the bit I find interesting. Why is the demand for an inferior product so high that companies can get away with charging so much? In other words, why are customers so foolish? Is it really all down to marketing? I'm really glad no-one wants the Glaxy Ace, as it means I get to have a really nice phone at a fraction of the cost.

In responce to 4G for iPlayer use above

I watched Mo Farrah win the 10,000 on my iPhone 4S (3G) whilst at beach volley ball - point being it was fast enough whilst being used in a busy location. In fact due to commuting I watched quite a bit of live Olympics that way. You don't need 4G to stream iPlayer live.