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AbbasTed

Any point to buying the iPhone 4S?

Except the new camera, assistant and antenna... Why buy this when the iphone 4's going to be way cheaper because of it?
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nitehawk

Cheaper? That's not the point with smartphones, man. You use the thing everyday, so you want the best you can afford. Think of a marathon runner buying cheap shoes. It's just dumb. If you are a college or high school student without a side job I understand, otherwise not upgrading to the latest and greatest on something that's heavily subsidized and you will no doubt get the use out of is dumb. You already pay over $300 a year for internet access so what is another $100 over the course of 2 years to have the fastest processor and other new features? That's about $1 more a week to have a better phone. It's like telling someone to buy a one year old 6MP point and shoot camera over a new 10MP because it's $20 cheaper. You're going to get plenty of use out of it to make up for the small difference in price, so don't pinch pennies.

The personal assistant makes this phone. The processor is a beast so that really shouldn't get discounted. I am ticked that there's no 4G, but maybe it could be added later in the spring or something. The battery will last longer and the new camera is significant as well, with 1080p video and 8MP stills it's the most versatile product you'll own until they release the next iPhone. The assistant is no doubt going to be siiick and I am jealous that I have to wait until late February to get this new hotness.

Overall it's not a big enough change to be the iPhone 5, but the Siri integration is a much bigger bump from the iPhone 4 than the 3GS was to the 3G. From what I remember video capture and processor were the big upgrades then.
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cass

For me, I like to future proof as much as possible because I know that I'll be keeping the phone around for at least 2 years. I'd rather spend the extra $100 and get the best there is and not have to deal with my phone feeling old and sluggish later down the line. Lots of people get put off by spending more upfront on phones, when in reality, it's pretty insignificant when considering how long you're going to have it.
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Corporate

everything is different...faster cpu, faster graphics, better camera, new siri technology, faster internet speeds (on par with all the phones claiming to be 4G). NO ONE would be complaining if it were in a new form factor. People don't want the new one because it will be hard for anyone to see that they have the newest one since it looks like the iPhone 4. To me it seems people are putting way too much emphasis on exterior look instead of interior features and functionality.
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AbbasTed

Thanks for the answers so far guys. I am actually a university student with no side job, but that's not why i'm looking for cheaper. To say i'd use a 'smart phone' everyday would be a big lie, because tbh, i'd be using a phone and an iPod, so i'm not really Mr. Technical-geek who needs all the different gadgets, but yes, i do use a lot of the features now and again. I'm kind of confused how it works in the states, but in the UK, we have to pay monthly for the phone minutes and SMS as well as the internet which works out to around $60 a month, for 2 years, as well as about $450 for the handset itself. So when i say "if its cheaper" i'm not being greedy or tight, but it's serious money i'm paying. And i really like the iPhone 4 look, so i wasn't really looking for a change, just WAY more features for the amount of time i spent waiting, continuing on my VERY slow 3GS as well as reading all the damn rumours. On the 15th, when i know the exact pricing of both 4S as well as the new reduced iPhone 4, then i can decide wether it's worth paying the difference for the new features. I just don't see myself paying the extra $350 for the 4S, if the 4 was like $100, Y'digg?
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ml520

My only difference would be the speed of it by far. I had the 4 and its decent, but sometime a little slow.
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connorg

As far as I can tell the iPhone 4 ISN'T actually way cheaper. the iPhone 4 used to be $199 for 16GB or $299 for 32GB. The new offering is 8GB for $99, which really isn't a discount at all. It looks like Apple may be getting rid of all other iPhone 4 models.
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freediverdude

Well the problem is, there's really no "must have" feature with this new phone. Spec bumps to the processor and camera, and I would rarely use the voice command stuff. I already have the Siri app from the app store last year and never use it. So in my opinion a lot of iPhone 4 people would be better off waiting and saving their upgrade for next year's model.
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behold105

There doesn't seem to be a compelling reason to entice me to start another grueling 2 year contract with AT&T. I'll wait for a real phone upgrade.
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falleninsea

i don't think its all that much cheaper the prices are in line with the 4s.

this really is only an incremental update where they just upgraded the insides. do i think its worth upgrading to? Yes, and the reason are the ones you said to exclude. i take almost all my pictures with my phone and the camera is a big deal. i spend a lot of time driving and to me the Siri assistant sounds like it may be a good thing for when i drive. and the new processor is nice as some one pointed out the 4 was starting to feel slow and i know t hat around the time for the next iPhone to come out this 4s is going to feel as slow.

the antena redesign is nice but i never really had all that much of an issue with the old one.

i will go with the 32GB model the 16 has always been to small and 64 just seems to big and i know that makes me a bit of a hypocrite since i usually tell people to go with the largest because you will be surprised how fast you can fill it up. but i have moved most of my video watching to the iPad and only really use the phone for music, apps and as camera.
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Fanfoot

Let's say you're an AT&T US customer. You can buy the iPhone 4 8GB model for $99. Or the iPhone 4S 16GB model for $199. So you can save $100 on an iPhone 4. Is that a lot? It might seem so but remember that you're going to be paying a minimum of something like $70/month for 24 months or $1680+$99 over that two year period. So the iPhone 4 is 95% of the cost of the iPhone 4S over that two year period. For other carriers do your own math.
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