<p>First IOS6 snafu. I waited way too long to do the legit unlocking of the older iPhones. So long that the backup/factory restore/full restore had the unfortunate result to force IOS6 on the grandpa (3GS) of iPhones, which is NOT a very good idea. iTunes is and remains one of the absolute worst and dumbest products imposed on mankind. Big Brother at its worst. </p>
<p>As far the 3GS with IOS6, in addition to battery taxing and the loss of very good maps for local transit, most applications lauded in the new OS do not work on the older phones. A supposedly spiffier Safari is not worth the trouble. We probably should be thankful that Apple realized that the original iPad would crash under the weight of the new IOS. And that Google maps still work on the slower antique.</p>
<p>In so many words, except for keeping the phone updated, this was a mistake. I will activate the new one later tonight, and probably have plenty of reasons to complain! After all, this is still an Apple product. ;)</p>
<p>Interesting story today. In New York City, theft of Apple products is up 40% over last year. Overall crime is up 4%, but if they remove Apple products, the crime rate actually went down.</p>
<p>Coincidence or not? I asked the worm if he was getting the iPhone 5. “Yes” was response. Then, he noted that I was due for the new phone, so best if I brought my phone to Apple store, switched SIM cards, etc. as a result, I am now visiting the worm in Boston, and the phone exchanges will be made. By late October, the initial bugs will be fixed. And I get to see the kid and the new apartment.</p>
<p>OK, now that everyone’s had their phones for a while, can you answer question for family new to smartphones? I know Ds are going to want iphones no matter what because are mac, ipod users. What are advantages to 5 over 4 and 4s? Read somewhere that with new software 4s almost as good function-wise. Keep in mind that we will not have unlimited data and I don’t care about quality of camera. Also what does 4s give you over 4 other than Siri?</p>
<p>Also in stupid question category…what constitutes data. Does Siri use data every time or just when searching internet in non-wifi places. Thanks for help for this clueless mom.</p>
<p>The physical differences are a bigger screen, faster processor, thinner device and a lighter device. There are some that may prefer the smaller device as it is easier to use with one hand.</p>
<p>My understanding is that Siri sends the sound waveform to a server to do the transcription so you use data. Google’s system is similar. Dragon transcribes locally but it is a bit more clumsy to use.</p>
<p>I will finally upgrade, but considering I’ve waited this long, a few more weeks won’t matter. My “vintage” iPhone is over 3 years old, remember what came before 4 and 4S? </p>
<p>Are there benefits to waiting a bit? Will some of the “bugs” be handled and taken care of so that I won’t have to deal with the hassles of those patches/downloads?</p>
<p>There have been a few quality issues reported on certain models - scratches on the aluminum in the back and separation at the top of the phone on White 64 GB models. I assume that these issues have already been fixed.</p>
<p>Bugs are fixed on an ongoing basis for all of Apple’s products.</p>
<p>So right now a 4 is free and 4s is $99, then comes 5 starting at $199. So other than size and weight, what functions do I get for paying for 5 over others, or 4s over 4 for that matter (again camera and music playing not a real issue for me)</p>
<p>I’m interested in what users think not what’s listed on features page of phone.</p>
<p>As far as hardware goes, screen size, weight, thinness and faster processor and new dock connector are it.</p>
<p>The software is the same between models so software functionality will be mostly the same.</p>
<hr>
<p>I used the device as a phone a lot in the past week and my opinion on smartphones is that that large and open face is a bit of a problem for use as a phone. My old flip-phone was compact but it open up longer to reach face and ears and that’s hard to do unless you have a smartphone that is twice as long as a flip phone. The bend in the flip phone better fits your face too.</p>
<p>I did switch to speakerphone a few times and that definitely helps but it’s not practical when other people are around. It might be workwhile getting a headset for making calls (my daughter took the earphones/microphone that came with the iPhone to use with her Galaxy Nexus - the earphones that came with the Galaxy Nexus were too big for both of us - I was really surprised that they didn’t come with adjustable earphones. I have an old pair of Sennheisers that I might try with the iPhone 5.</p>
<p>I got to play around with Maps for a while last night as I was looking for a hotel. The vector maps is a big improvement over bitmaps (which is what I got using my browser). We have a very slow internet link here. In using the vector maps on the iPhone, it took a while to load the maps but once they were loaded, we could zoom in and out and pan left and right down to street-level detail instantly - it wasn’t loading more data. It was also easy to find hotels by just typing in “hotels” and they popped up. If you pressed the pins, they gave you a popup to get more information on the hotels, including linking to Yelp if you wanted more than the three reviews that they provided by default.</p>
<p>Just tried the earbuds. They are a big improvement over the previous ones in sound quality and not falling out. The sound quality may be better than my Sennheisers but these will fall out with running whereas the Sennheisers won’t.</p>
<p>I am going to try a phone call with them next.</p>
<p>Another advantage of the 5 over the 4s or 4 is 4g/LTE speed for cellular (non-wifi) data. It’s blazingly fast–faster than wifi–but if they don’t live in a an LTE area might not be a consideration. </p>
<p>I upgraded from a 4 to a 5, but my wife is holding off. She’s interested in the iPad mini, and could see hanging onto the 4 as a phone, and using the mini for the other stuff. It’s an advantage of carrying around a hand bag, which would be too small for the regular iPad but perfect for 7.9" rumored size of the mini.</p>
<p>*First IOS6 snafu. I waited way too long to do the legit unlocking of the older iPhones. So long that the backup/factory restore/full restore had the unfortunate result to force IOS6 on the grandpa (3GS) of iPhones, which is NOT a very good idea. iTunes is and remains one of the absolute worst and dumbest products imposed on mankind. Big Brother at its worst. *</p>
<p>Don’t you use iCloud? You don’t need iTunes to restore your phone, even though you messed up with the unlocking.</p>
<p>A bunch of the apps that I use were updated recently to use the bigger iPhone screen. Using the extra real-estate is nice. It’s nice to see the apps developers doing relatively fast updates.</p>
<p>Anybody experience battery drain with ios6?
Not that much on my phone (actually not at all, Friday night I took several videos, and it was still more than half charged when igot home)
But my ipad drains the battery and then takes soo long to charge up again.</p>
<p>scmom, had the same questions regarding benefits of the 4s over 4 and the 5 over a 4s. I am not concerned about the camera or the music improvements. I currently have a 4 and I am happy w/ it. I still us an iPod for my downloaded audiobooks and I have an iPad mainly for when I travel. It is convenient having the same charging device for iPhone, iPad, and iPod.</p>
<p>Question: will the new mini-iPad use the same charging device as the iPhone 5 or the same device as the older iPhones, iPods and iPad?</p>