iPhone 5s or 6? What say you?

[97tbird]

Ugh. size of a calculator?

That doesn't sound good...makes me re-think the option of 5s.

EDIT : screen specs are same on 6 and 5s except for contrast ratio (1400:1 for 6, 800:1 for 5s)

 

[Vikas]

What in the name of the God, iPhone asks for 4GB free space before allowing an upgrade? Does anybody know how long it will take to download 4GB to start the upgrade?

 

[97tbird]

Some have reported 8 hrs or even 12 hrs but I don't think that's the norm. Apparently doing it via itunes takes a smaller footprint and perhaps quicker?

 

[Volvohead]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
What in the name of the God, iPhone asks for 4GB free space before allowing an upgrade? Does anybody know how long it will take to download 4GB to start the upgrade?


The download itself is anywhere between 800mb and 1.2gb, depending on the device and feature set.

It needs the extra memory for unpacking and installation, and also to maintain a working ios7 until a working installation of 8 is confirmed. At one point, the device memory has to support BOTH operating systems.

If tight for space, a lot of 16gb device users are installing though iTunes/computer interface, which supposedly offloads some of the memory requirements to the host computer.

We've installed 8 on a couple A5/16gb pads and a phone, all without issue. They all run 8 just fine. On the slowest device, the whole process takes about 30-40 minutes, tops.

 

[97tbird]

Well NOW, all of a sudden I have a prompt on my 4s saying ios 8 is downloaded and ready to install ..???!!
So how come I now have enough space? don't get it.

Wonder if I should give it a go...

 

[Volvohead]

Tbird,

It sounds like you had enough space all along, and were simply in Apple's download "queue".

This was just released, and the download demand on the servers has been heavy. If there is not an available download when you demand one, it places your device "in queue"' and downloads the update as the servers permit. Sometimes, the queue runs several hours (at least it did during the first day of release).

I'd go ahead and install it. But make sure you have backed up via itues first. If you keep a copy of ios7 on itunes from a past upgrade, I understand you can later downgrade back if you don't like 8. I don't know the procedure, though.

 

[97tbird]

Thanks. I will; I usually back up before upgrading iOS versions.
Will update tomorrow...

 

[rjundi]

Originally Posted By: Vikas
What in the name of the God, iPhone asks for 4GB free space before allowing an upgrade? Does anybody know how long it will take to download 4GB to start the upgrade?


It is the swap space. If you use iTunes no space requirements like this and honestly likely more reliable since a backup of your device/settings is performed also.

A weird problem is accessibility mode got enabled and I could not disable it (bug?) on my wife's iPhone 5. I kept toggling mode off and it jumped back on.

Finally realized iTunes had the ability to ajust and fixed there.

 

[bdcardinal]

I am in the middle of the iOS8 update on my 4S. Like all other updates, I download to iTunes on my desktop and then update the phone. I just don't trust doing it over WiFi, and I have a battery backup for the computer that the router and modem are also plugged into.

I want to see how the 6+ is in person and if I can tolerate the size before i pull the proverbial trigger on a new one.

 

[Hokiefyd]

I updated my 4s to iOS 8 this weekend. It runs it just fine. We also put it on our iPad 4 and my wife put it on her 5s. We did them all through iTunes on the computer and they all upgraded just fine.

 

[97tbird]

Originally Posted By: bdcardinal
I want to see how the 6+ is in person and if I can tolerate the size before i pull the proverbial trigger on a new one.

The 6+ is the biggest one; if you need smaller, the 6 is the one you should look at.

I am going to look at both today and will probably make the final decision to upgrade to 6 or not. (from 4s).

 

[97tbird]

Well we went and looked at the 6.
Yes, it's big(ger) - but not too big to handle, and felt very solid and fine in our hands. The "reach out zoom" function helps a lot, if you have smaller hands.
We liked it, so as we get $400 back for our 2 4s iphones, it only costs us the upgrade fee.
So.. we went ahead and ordered it before the trade in deal runs out 9/30 - we should get the phones on (but very probably before) 10/17.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: 97tbird
So.. we went ahead and ordered it before the trade in deal runs out 9/30 - we should get the phones on (but very probably before) 10/17.


So how does the trade-in work? I understand that they reimburse you the $200 some time after they receive the trade-in, right? The website said something like "allow 2-3 weeks for rebate" or something like that. Or do you get the trade-in value immediately, so you can apply that to the purchase of the new phone?

 

[97tbird]

After you've received your iphone 6 and set it up, you can bring old phone(s) (wiped and all data deleted) to any verizon store, and they will do everything and issue the gift card / apply it towards your monthly bill, you can choose. (can't apply towards purchase of 6 immediately as we had to already pay for them when we ordered, and will need old phones till the 6 arrives.)

OR you can do it online and send the phone yourself.

We're going to takes our old phones in anyway, as we have to go there again anyway to show proof of my wife's workplace, so that she can get a discount on our monthly rates. (which we didn't even know - some work places have such deals with verizon)

 

[Hokiefyd]

My wife likes the 6, so I guess I'm losing my 4s.

She'll use my upgrade and get a "free" 6, and I'll take her 5s. I can live with that, but I really prefer the smaller 4s. I wish Apple'd put the 6's internal hardware in a 4 or 5 sized footprint. A modern 64-bit processor and speedy hardware with a 3.5" screen? Sign me up.

 

[Volvohead]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
. . . I wish Apple'd put the 6's internal hardware in a 4 or 5 sized footprint. A modern 64-bit processor and speedy hardware with a 3.5" screen? Sign me up.


Don't fret it. This year's model change was not a major processor upgrade. From what I've learned, the internals of the 5s barely lag behind the 6. Both the A7 and A8 are very fast 64-bit processors. The 6 has more generous memory options, however. The bigger 6 has slightly longer run time because it can fit a bigger battery.

It seems the big processing leaps happen with the "s" models.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: Volvohead
From what I've learned, the internals of the 5s barely lag behind the 6.


Thanks; that's good to know. My wife's 5s just FLIES in comparison to my 4s. I don't use phone memory; my phone is loaded down if I use half of the base 16 GB capacity.

 

[97tbird]

I have iOS8 now on the 4s, and one can see it doesn't have enough oomph to deal with iOS 8. it's really showing tis age. As much as I like the 5s and its speed advantage over 4s and size advantage over the new 6, if we get the 5 we will be at this same situation after a year or so, and a few iOS updates: the 5s will be showing ITS signs of age and slowness.

So as the 6 seemed not TOO big at all compared to a 5s, (it IS bigger but not an ungainly amount and still very pockatable) we thought we'd go with the 6. If it wasn't free, things might have been different.

Converting all our extra charger cables (cars / office / laptop) to lightening cable/adapter is going to be a an annoyance.

 

[Hokiefyd]

My wife reports that the Verizon gift card is truly a Verizon gift card, and not a Visa or Mastercard that could be used elsewhere. I suppose that we could apply that to our bill, but I'm less interested in it now. She also said that Verizon won't say how much they'll give for the old phone, and you have to send it in and then they make a determination. Without an appeal process, and without the phone (already having sent it to them), I now think we're going to pass.

I put 8 on my 4s, and it runs fine. I don't perceive it to be slower than 7, but it's certainly slower than my wife's 5s...but then again, it always has been.

 

[Volvohead]

Originally Posted By: 97tbird
. . . if we get the 5 we will be at this same situation after a year or so, and a few iOS updates: the 5s will be showing ITS signs of age and slowness.


Tbird,

The A8 in the 6 is only 25% faster than the A7 in the 5s. In computing terms, that is practically insignificant. They're both 64-bit CPUs. I am comfortable saying that both processors will fall off the OS useability curve at about the same time.

That is a very different proposition than the 4s. The A7 is 400% faster than the A5 used in the 4s. Any OS is going to run discernibly slower on a 4s as a result. The A5 is also a 32-bit CPU.

I'm not trying to steer anyone away from a 6. It's the newest model. But a 5s is not really a significant downgrade as regards core internals or obsolescence.