iPhone 5s or 6? What say you?

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Well, my wife dropped her iPhone 4 one too many times, and it's turned flaky. I'll be restoring it yet again tonight before retiring it this weekend. I'll probably be giving her my trusty 4s, as she loves the size and fit of the 4.

So even though I wasn't shopping or even wanted one, I'm looking for a replacement.

Looking at the new 6 and the 5s.

Obviously the new one has faster internals and probably a longer OS path, but I do like a smaller phone. I thought the new one had sapphire glass, but they're the same. Other than that, I haven't really invested in learning too much about either of these phones.

To those who've done the homework, give me the pros and cons between the two.

We've had iPhones for years and everyone here knows how to use them, so no Android pitches please.
 
Depending on your carrier- you may not have to pay anything- Verizon is offering free trade of working iphone for the 6 with new contract.
 
Originally Posted By: 901Memphis
The only con to the smaller iPhone 6 is price. If you can afford it its better.

^ This.

...Well, that and the slightly smaller size of the 5S. Then again, the 6 is thinner. The extra width of the 6 seems to be a tiny price to pay for better battery life, a better camera, a better screen, faster guts, etc. etc. etc....

Too early to tell if there are any serious bugs with the 6, but knowing Apple that's unlikely.
 
Are you under contract??? My wife is due for an upgrade (contract) with Verizon she will be ordering her Iphone 6 tomorrow. Her company pays for it.
If you're no contract or pre-pay everything changes.
 
Yes the only cons to iPhone 6 is price and slightly larger size in terms of fitting in pocket.
 
Originally Posted By: rshaw125
Are you under contract??? My wife is due for an upgrade (contract) with Verizon she will be ordering her Iphone 6 tomorrow. Her company pays for it.
If you're no contract or pre-pay everything changes.


We are out of contract. I have an ATT Next option (probably the most expensive path), but can buy with 2 yr contract or buy outright.

History seems to prove that I keep my phones about two years before passing them down, so a new contract is probably going to happen.
 
No contract. Then I would buy a used Iphone 4S or a 5. As people trade in their phones to upgrade there should be plenty available. Save yourself some $$$$$.
 
Originally Posted By: Volvohead
Obviously the new one has faster internals and probably a longer OS path, but I do like a smaller phone.


I'm with you, and I'm likely to eventually replace my trusty 4s with a 5s at some point. I agree that the 6 will ultimately be relevant for a longer period of time, but the 5s debut'd a 64-bit processor in a smart phone. Others are trying to catch up. HTC's Desire 510 has a 64-bit chip, but Android is still a 32-bit OS, so it doesn't really help at this point. Android L will be their first 64-bit version of the OS...so Android is catching up here, but they're not there yet.

I guess my point is that I think a 5s will continue to be relevant in the Apple "ecosystem" for quite sometime. Heck, iOS 8, which is due out later this month, will be applied to phones back to the 4s. The 4s is a 3 year old phone now...that kind of backward compatibility is excellent in the world of mobile devices. If they're supporting 3 year old phones now, I imagine that a 5s (with its still leading-edge 64-bit hardware) will continue to be relevant long after you get rid of it years down the road from now.
 
The difference in price between the 5s and 6 for the same storage size is about $100. That is a very small price difference so I'd go with the 6. But that is assuming you can live with the larger size and aren't attached to the small form factor of the 5s. You can also get a 5s used and save more money but unless you are saving a lot, I'd prefer to buy new where you have warranty coverage and apple care support.
 
First off, thanks to everyone for their thoughtful comments so far. They are appreciated. I know I get annoyed when someone starts a thread and then evaporates.

I am leaning towards a new 5s at this point, principally because of the small size and that the architecture isn't all that behind the new 6 (I have an A7/M7 in my pad that works great). I really prefer a phone that hides in my shirt pocket. And that the prices have been slashed is also good. I typically use under 100mb of data a month, and don't really use the phone for photos, web, texting, music or video horseplay. Basic voice and scanning e-mail most days, and not all day where I might appreciate the A8's better power efficiency. The 4s was plenty fine for me, so I'm sure a 5s will feel like a rocket sled.

I'm reluctant on used personal electronics as sometimes you get a flaky one from prior hard use . . . like my wife's for instance.

But I'm still keeping an open mind if there is a game-changer argument to be made by someone.

I'll probably pull the trigger tomorrow.
 
I am not an Apple fan boy by any means. You HAVE to look at not only what OS but, the specs as well. Apple has been behind in NFC (Applepay), GB of ram, DPI, etc. They were the innovators but sadly lack behind any true ingenuity.
 
I would stay with the small size.. I personally don't want a huge phone to carry all the time. The phone I have now has a 3.2 inch screen, which is all I really need. Much bigger and I think it would just get in my way. Can't comment on the apple part much as I have never had an iPhone before, and probably never will. I have worked with iPads at work a lot and know enough that I don't want to be locked into the apple ecosystem. I just have a really cheap Tracfone... does all I really need it to and it didn't really cost anything.

But yea back to the point... go with the smaller phone in my opinion.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Originally Posted By: Volvohead
Obviously the new one has faster internals and probably a longer OS path, but I do like a smaller phone.


I'm with you, and I'm likely to eventually replace my trusty 4s with a 5s at some point. I agree that the 6 will ultimately be relevant for a longer period of time, but the 5s debut'd a 64-bit processor in a smart phone. Others are trying to catch up. HTC's Desire 510 has a 64-bit chip, but Android is still a 32-bit OS, so it doesn't really help at this point. Android L will be their first 64-bit version of the OS...so Android is catching up here, but they're not there yet.

It doesn't seem like you understand the benefits of a 64-bit OS on a phone.

Answer: There isn't one. None whatsoever. Nobody is playing catchup because there's no need for the technology at this time. Phones don't have more than 4GB of RAM to address, and won't for another few years at least, so there isn't a need for a 64-bit OS. It is 100% marketing.
 
Originally Posted By: Subdued
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Originally Posted By: Volvohead
Obviously the new one has faster internals and probably a longer OS path, but I do like a smaller phone.


I'm with you, and I'm likely to eventually replace my trusty 4s with a 5s at some point. I agree that the 6 will ultimately be relevant for a longer period of time, but the 5s debut'd a 64-bit processor in a smart phone. Others are trying to catch up. HTC's Desire 510 has a 64-bit chip, but Android is still a 32-bit OS, so it doesn't really help at this point. Android L will be their first 64-bit version of the OS...so Android is catching up here, but they're not there yet.

It doesn't seem like you understand the benefits of a 64-bit OS on a phone.

Answer: There isn't one. None whatsoever. Nobody is playing catchup because there's no need for the technology at this time. Phones don't have more than 4GB of RAM to address, and won't for another few years at least, so there isn't a need for a 64-bit OS. It is 100% marketing.


A simple answer for a simple argument? The transition to 64-bit isn't so simple. Anand did a really good job of showing where the 64-bit made gains, sometimes significant gains, and explaining why there are performance increases to be had, even without the need to address more memory.

Quote:
The conclusion? There are definitely reasons outside of needing more memory to go 64-bit.


http://www.anandtech.com/show/7335/the-iphone-5s-review/4

Frankly, the 4GB memory address excuse is most often used by Android enthusiasts to justify why the rest of the ARM world hasn't kept up with Apple on 64-bit development. It's a flawed argument at best and an outright lie at worst. But hey, if it helps you sleep at night...
 
64-bit architecture allows a whole host of operational improvements. Being able to address more than 4 GB of RAM is one of those, but it's certainly not the only one. If the OS (and other software) can use the 64-bit architecture, significant performance gains are achieved. Examples posted in the article above. Phones are increasingly being used as photography and video capture devices, including post-processing and editing activities; 64-bit architecture brings a new level of performance to these types of tasks.

Apple's the first one to the 64-bit market, but they certainly won't be the last. Others have been working on it for a while, including Qualcomm, Samsung, nVidia, etc. I'm sure that once Android's "L" codename OS is published, you'll really see a ramp-up in 64-bit Android smartphone production (even though some have already been trickling out, in anticipation of the new OS).
 
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