That’s my theory, as well. Siri is the main feature I was excited about, but no way in hell am I going to upgrade just for that. I use the Voice Command all the time on my current phone, and I’ll just have to settle for that.
One thing I am pretty happy about, though, is that we’ll finally get WiFi syncing- whenever the phone charges, it automatically starts syncing over WiFi. I’ll use that all the time, as my computer is down in the basement and so I very rarely do a physical sync.
I also like that we’re finally going to get a useful lock screen. Anyone know if it’ll show calendar entries? I’ve been wanting that for years now, and have had to jailbreak to get it.
Im looking forward to the OS updates, my Iphone4 is fine for now hardware wise for me. WiFi sync and being able to use the camera faster for daughter moments are the new things I wanted,
I think this is a reasonable upgrade, as evidenced by the ‘4S’ name. I was hoping it would support the AWS 1700-MHz band, though. T-Mobile USA and Wind in Canada are out of luck again…
I don’t know if I want an iPhone 4S. Like other posters said, the 3GS case is superior to the 4’s design. I like the curved edges. For me, here is what the upgrade would bring, and why I want/need/don’t need it:
Faster Processor and more RAM - Apple designed these things to be responsive, so the extra horsepower only benefits games. I’m not a big gamer any more. Nicer screen - Sure would be nice. I get envious when I see my friends’ iPhones with the retina display. Siri - First time I oohed and awed at an Apple event in a while. So many times, I’m in my car and need directions, or I want to play that one song buried in my library but I forget the artist, or I want to reply to a text with a short and sweet response. And, “search wikipedia for <blank>” would be super helpful in many situations. I would like this feature. Camera - I don’t use my iPhone’s camera. Maybe i would use it more if it took better pictures, but I also have a DSLR and a mini-super-zoom-P&S that I don’t use. I don’t need another camera to not use. The Case design - its a step backwards for me. I’m not disappointed with the lack of a new case design for aesthetics, I’m disappointed because the iPhone 4 feels like a deck of cards in my hand, and I want something better.
The iPhone 4 is the current best selling smart phone in the US at 15 months old. The second best is the iPhone 3GS at 27 months old. Why do you expect Apple to “keep up with the competition” when competitors can’t even catch a 2 year old phone with their latest and greatest releases?
I like it, I’ll probably get it eventually…I see no need to leap off my out-of-contract 3GS right now to do so.
I guess I don’t care ENOUGH to switch to Android. I see a LOT of comments that say either phone is great, ‘but’ and then there’s some waffle word or another. It lacks polish, or it’ll be great when they do ‘Y’ or ‘I’d love the iPhone if it weren’t for iTunes and it’s lock-in’. Both sides have them.
It’s one thing to look at a landscape full of creaky, clunky, phones and bring out an aluminum slab with 5 buttons and a killer screen and iOS 1.0 and make the competition look like it rides the short bus. It’s quite another to build year upon year off an already really good thing. The competition is (or has) caught up, and all the build budget lets you do is make incremental improvements (yeah yeah, 7 times faster…but faster at what?)
The phone is killer, the media is killer, the infrastructure is killer, and the really awesome features are mostly available for my 3gs (iCloud)
Oh, something I forgot to mention about IOS-5 but think that this has been needed for a long time: iphones, ipads and ipods with IOS-5 are now PC-Free.
I think it’s great that these devices no longer need to dock with the mother ship to activate and update.
Better antennae. Now it switches between two different ones for transmit and receive. For those of us who think of “bars” as rare warning devices to alert us that we are near a city, that’s nice.
I am tentatively excited about Siri, the upgraded antennae, and the better camera. My contract is eligible for the discounted phone in March, so I’ll probably upgrade to the 4S then, and give my 4 to a friend who is upgrading from a 3GS. (The ciiiiiircle of liiiiife…)
I, too, am disappointed that my wish list is largely unfulfilled and am not a fan of the shape of the 4 or 4s but I think the teardrop shape many were predicting would’ve been worse.
Now I just have to decide if I’m willing to lock myself into another two year contract or buy outright and see if next year brings brighter, shinier toys to covet.
My reaction at the end of the conference, where I was waiting with bated breath for a reveal of a phone with a bigger screen was, " Gaaaaahhhh!"
I can’t imagine ever using Siri. I ride public transportation and walk everywhere. It’s rude enough to yammer on the phone, but if it talks back, OMG how annoying will that be to absolutely everyone? How annoying is it when someone’s talking on speaker in public? Unless it’s being used at home or in the car, it’s useless to me.
I have a 3GS, I hate the 4, hated it since it was first revealed and hate it now. I refuse to have one in my hand. I’ve been out of contract and waiting for a new one that exceeds the competition. I was sorely disappointed today. I want a bigger screen! So Apple loses. I can’t be the only out-of-contract person who has been waiting.
I purchased a Samsung Galaxy S2 today, will arrive Friday. I’m interested to see how everything from the iPhone will transition, (not the apps, obviously, but my bookmarks, contacts, and notes) but I’m sure I won’t look back. Maybe if Apple manages to really wow me in two more years, I’ll get one again. (a “5s” by then?) I will be happy to delete iTunes, for sure. I never used it for music or anything except buying apps and updating/backing up the phone.
Apple only has a 28% market share while Android phones add up to 43% (cite). Market share of each Android phone model is low only because there are many Android phones that are comparable to each other (and compete with each other).
I love my iPhone 4. I got it on the first day of release. I don’t see a compelling reason to go to the 4S, especially since my contract doesn’t end until February. At that point, may as well wait for the next one.
I am looking forward to iOS5 next week. A lot of cool stuff there.
I agree - I’d feel very self-conscious talking to my phone in a public space. I dislike talking on my phone when others can hear me, let alone asking it to send an email for me.
Siri looks cool; I was a little disappointed that it didn’t read some of the answers out, but just displayed a web page. For example, when he asked “What’s 45 euros in dollars?”, it simply displayed Wolfram Alpha’s page on the screen. I’d have liked it to answer “At present, 45 euros is 59 dollars” or something (it could still show the page for those who want more info).
It strikes me that if it can display the text on the screen, it should read it to you. Otherwise, especially if you’re driving or something, you still can’t really look at it.
Is “Apple has 28% while lots of other companies added together have 43%” really a relevant metric? Apple’s competing with each of the other companies, but they’re not all one mega-company.
FWIW I like me packaging on my 4 better than my old 3G.
I also like the wifi syncing. While I dock often it isn’t everyday. In the event of a phone replacement a recent sync is a very good thing.
I got a replacement for my phone last week, and in a few minutes the new phone was exactly like the old phone right down to the browser was on the same website I had been browsing.
That was cool.
Sorry, perhaps you already know but Wi-Fi syncing will be available for the iPhone 4 when iOS 5 is released on October 12th.
Strange example that Apple used. You don’t need Wolfram Alpha to get current exchange rates. A Google search provides the conversion, and the voice feature is already available on Android phones. (Also on current iPhones but not as easily accessed.)
I stopped using a wired earbud/mike several years ago and it’s not clear to me how Siri will integrate with in-car Bluetooth systems. Does anyone here know?
