Upgrade time,so for 6 pounds more a month l can have a 5, what in practical terms does it do that a 4s doesn’t?

I went from a 4 to a 5 but some of the comments will still be relevant. The most noticeable thing is how much slimmer and lighter it is. Whether that is truly of practical benefit to you I can’t say. Other stuff:

– better headphones
– bigger screen of course
– 4G (on EE at least)

On the downside – whilst the Lightning connector is an improvement in some respects – it does render any accessories you have redundant.

If you’re not going to miss £6 a month I’d do it. Apple do support older phones but as I found with my 4, some of the iOS functions only work on the latest phone and its immediate predecessor. Since a new iPhone will be out in a month or two, the 4S probably won’t support all of the new iOS 7’s functionality.

I wouldn’t buy an iPhone 4S at this point in time even at the £290 they cost on O2 refresh, it’s a capable phone but it’s old and if Apple releases a lower cost iPhone soon that would be a better option

The 5 is rubbish! I have both 4 and 5 and if the mobile data connection isn’t very good the 4 skins it on speed everytime. It constantly freezes on its call signal connection also and just shows “no service” After speaking to many an assistant at orange, (the business ones that is, so far better than the personal customer ones) it would appear I’m not the only one with the same issues.

Would drop the iPhone altogether if you haven’t got too much invested in apps.

Android phones to look at Samsung Galaxy S4, HTC One and Google Nexus 4

Win Pho – Nokia Lumia 925 or wait for the 1020

The 5 is rubbish! I have both 4 and 5 and if the mobile data connection isn’t very good the 4 skins it on speed everytime. It constantly freezes on its call signal connection also and just shows “no service” After speaking to many an assistant at orange, (the business ones that is, so far better than the personal customer ones) it would appear I’m not the only one with the same issues.

Sounds like you have a duff one then.

On the second one, with a new SIM card, been exactly the same. It may well be the area it’s being used but its been as poor as the first. Had to have it “purged” from the network last week due to 15-20 dropped calls before lunchtime one day.

I have both, a personal 5 and a work 4s.

FWIW I prefer the 4S – it feels better in the hand and less like a toy IMO.

My manager is in charge of IT and his comments echo wrightyson’s, he is waiting for the 5s before considering any change to the company phones, I have a 4s and have no issues with it, except the odd dropped call, but i have always had issues regardless of phone in my house.

Much prefer the feel of the iphone to the galaxy it replaced, and IMO iOS is better than Android, i was running CM10.2 so as advanced as android got before i switched.

Had the option to upgrade my iPhone 4 recently and decided just to buy a 4S off eBay. (Paid £250 for a mint 32GB)

5 was silly money on contract and didn’t seem to offer enough improvement to justify the hassle of getting new cases, bike mounts, chargers and adapters.

In short NO!

In my view yes. Have you looked at “3” as a provider as contracts are attractive (£30 for iPhone 5 plus £30 a month), it does depend on network coverage for your area though.

The larger screen is useful – I read a lot of online content, newspapers etc, and in landscape mode the extra 1cm or so makes a difference.

Its much lighter which I prefer, many people don’t like the lighter phone as they say it’s “toy like” as above – so personal taste.

5 has other improvements such as better camera

The 4S is still a good phone, its what I have. It has the panorama camera, SIRI etc. When the next iPhone comes out (October ?) the 4S could well be dropped and in any case ahead of the new iPhone it will be heavily discounted and/or free.

When iOS 7 comes out in Autumn (and it will run on 4S and 5) it will contain many improvements inc software changes meaning better battery life

Like most long time iPhone users I have many cables but the new lightening ones are £15 for the Apple originals so buying an extra/spare isn’t a crises and the USB plugs are still the same.

I went from a 4 to a 5 – the only downside is the new connector, the advantages are it’s a lot faster, very good camera, the bigger screen means more space and also more features on some apps, and it’s noticeably slimmer and lighter.

I haven’t had any dropped calls or connection problems – but didn’t on the 4 either.

the only downside is the new connector

its a better connector.

just a pain its different to all the existing cables that I have.

Given that I would expect the “new” iphone to come out in september, I would wait a couple of months, and either get the new one, or the 5 at a reduced rate.

…or the 4s at a reduced, reduced rate if thats your bad

…or the new Iphone 5C if thats what becomes the “new” budget” iphone is that is what it ends up being called, if its a real thing…

Apple don’t really do reductions much. And yes the new connector is better in almost all ways.

I’ve not gone to the 5 for two reasons: first I have loads of 30pin accessories eg Pure Clock Radio which charges the phone at night, but the main reason is I want to stick with Google Maps which is still years ahead of Apple and probably always will be.

For where I live, Cambridge, Google Maps have so much more detail eg shops, offices, paths, cycle tracks etc whereas Apple Maps have pretty much just got the road names correct and that’s about all. Go further afield and the difference gets even more pronounced.

I have both. I would say overall, the 5 is better in terms of the screen size mostly. Speed differences in terms of day to day use as a phone and email checker are negligible imho … they both work very fast in that regard.

However …

The 5 is too thin, and too fragile in my experience. The smallest drop onto a wooden table cracked the screen on mine and even bent the chassis of it. I can literally twist the phone without much effort and it’ll remain distorted. It can easily bend if in a pocket as a result. None of these issues with any other phone I’ve had.

Its also a little harder to hold I think than the 4S. When I pick up the 4S, i instantly think how much better it is to hold than the 5, but that the screen is small.

I reckon what they should have done was just take the 4S and extend its profile to take the larger screen … would have made for a better phone.

I would agree with the comments on waiting for the next round of iphones. There is considerable talk on the next one with a plastic style back ( possibly the cheap iphone they talk about it ). At first glance to me, it looks much more resilient.

but the main reason is I want to stick with Google Maps

Try the new Google Maps app. It is miles better than the original Maps app on iOS that was powered by Google maps and mean Apple Maps are no longer a reason not to upgrade to the latest version of iOS.

I have seen the Google Maps app, but all the apps default to Apple, so it’s still not ideal.

I use the built in navigation loads for finding places eg cell sites in London.

I don’t use Google Maps or Apple Maps for navigating – they are both crap IME.

I tend to use either NavFree or Waze in the car.
On the bike I use either MotionX GPS (for waypoint navigation), ViewRanger (for following a route), or BikeHub for turn-by-turn street navigation.

Anyone have any info as to when the new one is due out or what specs it has yet?

I’ve got itchy trigger finger trying to hold off upgrading to the 5. 4s currently and 2 months of contract left.

Anyone have any info as to when the new one is due out

more than likely september/october time

or what specs it has yet?

a bit better than the last one.

latest beta4 points to a built in fingerprint scanner…

I have a work 5 and a personal 4 and prefer the 4. Better battery life, and I prefer the size of the 4 and the slight extra chunkiness.

Problem is though as it’s a (probably) a long term commitment, I’d take the 5 just in case there’s an iOS change that isn’t supported on 4s and aon longer term resale should you decide to move on after the contract.

Like most long time iPhone users I have many cables but the new lightening ones are £15 for the Apple originals so buying an extra/spare isn’t a crises and the USB plugs are still the same.

I think I paid 99p for a car usb adaptor and Lightning lead off t’Ebay that works just fine.