The Official iPhone 5 Thread (Liveblog links inside!)

[bearxor]

I thought it was a complicated process?

It's not as easy as an iPhone 4, but it's not hard. Should be able to do the whole thing in <20m

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I can see the worry. If a phone's battery is dying, its probably upgrade time anyway.

Says who? Apple's accounting dept? I'm perfectly capable of deciding when I "need" to upgrade.

 

[TheStu]

I thought it was a complicated process?

If you are referring to the guy that said that it was a hassle to change it, I think he was referring to in phones that have removable batteries. Getting the phone booted back up and firing up your apps again, that sort of thing.

Plus having to carry the extra battery, or keeping them places. Why not just plug the sucker in? I never really got the spare battery idea I guess.

The crazy thing is, by the time that computers finally got fast enough that swapping batteries became almost a good idea, the battery life has gotten so good that you almost don't need to any more for most people. That and more and more systems have the battery sealed there as well.

 

[Deeko]

I use my note one handed all the time. /shrug

Cool for you. I was referring to his second sentence. Maybe he can use his phone one handed "effortlessly". Maybe you use your Note one handed. However, the blanket statement he made afterwards is simply incorrect. He is wrong, and there is absolutely no arguing that point.

 

[Oyeve]

I can see why not everyone might be comfortable doing this. http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing-iPhone-3GS-Battery/1545/1

Ive done a few and its pretty easy, but ive been taking shit apart for decades. Most non-tech users will freak. The ip4 is almost too easy tho.

 

[WelshBloke]

I can see the worry. If a phone's battery is dying, its probably upgrade time anyway.

Yeah I upgrade often but as the smartphone market advances there's less and less reason to upgrade often.

Soon phones should get powerful enough to last the average Joe a good few years life.

 

[WelshBloke]

Nokia Lumia 920 gets my money......

 

[TheStu]

Says who? Apple's accounting dept? I'm perfectly capable of deciding when I "need" to upgrade.

Who said need anyway?

It was coming from an individual in the phone subsection of a tech forum, talking to another individual in the phone subsection of a tech forum. The odds that you would be, I don't know, technically literate, and an early adopter are high. His assumption was that if you have been using a device long enough that you have killed the internal battery, maybe you are itching for an upgrade anyway since you frequent a tech forum and are probably a nerd*



*Disclaimer, I am a nerd as well.

 

[Oyeve]

Yeah I upgrade often but as the smartphone market advances there's less and less reason to upgrade often.

Soon phones should get powerful enough to last the average Joe a good few years life.

True, my sgs3 so far is the only phone ive ever had that I may actually use for 2 years until my next upgrade. I usually upgrade ever 6-12 months.

 

[Kenmitch]

I thought it was a complicated process?

Depending on your comfort zone on tinkering with gadgets it does look somewhat intimidating I guess. There are places that will do it for you. There are most likely people on your local craigslist that will do it for you cheaper tho....Might be worth a look to see if you wanna just keep using the phone.

 

[MrX8503]

Says who? Apple's accounting dept? I'm perfectly capable of deciding when I "need" to upgrade.

lol what are you trying to prove? This is a tech forum, we upgrade for no reason and go through phones like toilet paper. We don't need Apple to tell us when to upgrade.

If you are referring to the guy that said that it was a hassle to change it, I think he was referring to in phones that have removable batteries. Getting the phone booted back up and firing up your apps again, that sort of thing.

Plus having to carry the extra battery, or keeping them places. Why not just plug the sucker in? I never really got the spare battery idea I guess.

Yeah that's what I meant. Sorry I should have been clearer. I think the whole extra battery back up thing is a hassle. I'd rather get a new phone that has usable battery life than worry about carrying extra batteries.

 

[WelshBloke]

If you are referring to the guy that said that it was a hassle to change it, I think he was referring to in phones that have removable batteries. Getting the phone booted back up and firing up your apps again, that sort of thing...

He was referring to the fact that you have to pull the guts out of the 3GS to replace the battery. If you're not used to tearing down phones its a bit daunting compared to "Getting the phone booted back up and firing up your apps again, that sort of thing".

 

[Kenmitch]

lol what are you trying to prove? This is a tech forum, we upgrade for no reason and go through phones like toilet paper. We don't need Apple to tell us when to upgrade.

Your statement makes little to no sense at all when posted in a Apple iphone related thread....How are you gonna upgrade an iphone without Apple telling you when?

 

[WelshBloke]

lol what are you trying to prove? This is a tech forum, we upgrade for no reason and go through phones like toilet paper. We don't need Apple to tell us when to upgrade...

It's his wifes 3GS though.

"Brave is the man that would replace his wifes smartphone with a different model"
- book of Welshbloke 3:11

 

[bearxor]

It's his wifes 3GS though.

"Brave is the man that would replace his wifes smartphone with a different model"
- book of Welshbloke 3:11

Should be able to find an iPhone 4 for pretty cheap off contract during the next week though.

 

[Geekbabe]

I need a phone with a decent sized screen, this longer but not wider phone is.. Odd.

 

[cmdrdredd]

The sd card slot I can understand, but the battery...why do people want to change this? Its a hassle to change it. Seal the damn thing and forget about it.

Cause you can buy 3rd party batterys that last longer. Or like my sister does, have a backup battery fully charged to go and swap the battery instead of plugging in the phone and rendering it useless.

For someone who has to use their phone all day and I mean use up the battery, it is convenient to swap the battery for a 100% one so when you go out at night you needn't worry about having a dead battery and no way to charge it (car charger only works when car is on with some vehicles).

It's more a question of "why not?" than "what for?" I know Apple's answer...cause they can make more money milking people.


edit: I know you can replace an iphone battery yourself with a kit but it's a lot more complicated than pulling the back of the case off and pulling the battery out.

 

[bearxor]

I've been trying to decide if I want to stick with AT&T. I'm currently on a family plan with both line grandfathered in to unlimited data. Thought about switching to sprint, but I'm paying like $139 after taxes on AT&T and Sprint starts at $150 for two phones (which is what I have).

For me to go two devices on Verizon with 6GB, it's like $143/mo. On AT&T, it's like $141/mo. I'd be tempted to move to the 4GB plan on AT&T, but it's $20 less but $5 more per phone, so it's like $10 for the extra 2GB and I don't think we've ever gone over 6GB of combined usage but just a couple of times. The only pluses I can think of for Verizon are that they have a lot of LTE bandwidth on the same spectrum nation-wide and they have LTE in my home area. AT&T just has HSPA+ south of Charlotte, but it's still pretty nice, I usually get 4-6Mbps. I only pull 6-10Mbps over LTE on VZW in the same area.

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[cmdrdredd]

I've been trying to decide if I want to stick with AT&T. I'm currently on a family plan with both line grandfathered in to unlimited data. Thought about switching to sprint, but I'm paying like $139 after taxes on AT&T and Sprint starts at $150 for two phones (which is what I have).

For me to go two devices on Verizon with 6GB, it's like $143/mo. On AT&T, it's like $141/mo. I'd be tempted to move to the 4GB plan on AT&T, but it's $20 less but $5 more per phone, so it's like $10 for the extra 2GB and I don't think we've ever gone over 6GB of combined usage but just a couple of times. The only pluses I can think of for Verizon are that they have a lot of LTE bandwidth on the same spectrum nation-wide and they have LTE in my home area. AT&T just has HSPA+ south of Charlotte, but it's still pretty nice, I usually get 4-6Mbps. I only pull 6-10Mbps over LTE on VZW in the same area.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Can you keep unlimited data if you upgrade? Maybe if you made the case that you will for sure leave if you cannot keep your unlimited data they will let it slide. If not go based on the service in your area. Nothing worse than having the best phone on the most reasonable plan with all these features and no service or very poor service.

 

[PingviN]

Engadget: "The most exciting news is likely the addition of LTE."

What a massive let-down.

 

[Eug]

I don't know if the 3G is any indication, but replacing the shell on that was a major PITA.

 

[bearxor]

Can you keep unlimited data if you upgrade? Maybe if you made the case that you will for sure leave if you cannot keep your unlimited data they will let it slide. If not go based on the service in your area. Nothing worse than having the best phone on the most reasonable plan with all these features and no service or very poor service.

Yeah, but it's not unlimited. It's really 5GB. Granted, I probably won't hit that very often now, but I have bumped the 3GB cap (on HSPA) a couple of times and it was really painful.

But I'm willing to move to the shared plan because Facetime over cellular will work and hotspot is included.

Really, service and reception and stuff are pretty equal.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

What happened to the one device for everyone thing?

http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/12/apple-iphone-5-lte/

3 different SKU's.

 

[MrX8503]

Your statement makes little to no sense at all when posted in a Apple iphone related thread....How are you gonna upgrade an iphone without Apple telling you when?

Dude, what are you talking about? You said Apple's accounting department telling you when to upgrade.

It's more a question of "why not?" than "what for?" I know Apple's answer...cause they can make more money milking people.

Apple's not the only one sealing batteries in their phones. The reason is for thinness. You might enjoy changing batteries on the go, but I don't.

 

[Red Storm]

Dude, what are you talking about? You said Apple's accounting department telling you when to upgrade.



Apple's not the only one sealing batteries in their phones. The reason is for thinness. You might enjoy changing batteries on the go, but I don't.

I believe his point was that technically it is Apple who tells you when you can upgrade because the one and only new model is in their hands to release. Compared to say Google not really having any say in when Android phones come out.