Where does Value Lie with iPhones at the Moment ?
The iPhone series, let's start with how much one of these phones will set you back on a SIM-free basis.
The Prices of iPhones
You can pick up an iPhone 4 for £250. If you’re looking in the shops, then you’re likely to be choosing from the 8 gigabyte varieties although there were other varieties released initially. On EBay, you may pick up a bargain with a good as new phone for around £150. The phones themselves are pretty good although they are more mid-range these days than premium end. The iPhone 4S is available for around £250-300 on EBay and you may again pick-up a bargain also to £225. The iPhone 5 is obviously the latest version of the iPhone and so, prices start from around £420.
Obviously, the more memory you’re looking to get, the more expensive the phone will tend to be. With a 64 gigabyte versions going around 440 pounds, although you may be able to pick-up some really good iPhone deals and pick-up a 64 gigabyte iPhone 5 for around £430 on EBay.
A Look at the Displays
One of the most crucial elements of any phone these days is the display. The iPhone 4 and the iPhone 4S have similar displays at 3.5 inches and 960 x 640 pixels. They are both 326 pixels per inch and are decent screens. At the time, these retina displays were leading the industry when they were released. The iPhone 5 has a similar screen although it is .5 inches bigger, it still is 326 pixels per inch and it is 1136 x 640 pixel resolution. The iPhone 5 doesn’t improve massively on the other phones in terms of the display but it is better.
The Dimensions
Perhaps the biggest difference between the phones and certainly the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5 is the dimensions. The iPhone 5 is almost 2 milli metres skinnier and 8 millimetres taller. It of course had to be bigger in order to house the larger display. The iPhone 5 is also lighter at an amazing 112 grams compared to 140 grams on iPhone 4S and 137 grams on the iPhone 4. The phone is well-balanced and is a nicer design than the earlier phones.
The Processor
The processor on the iPhone 5 is also better being a dual core 1.3 gigahertz processor instead of a dual core 800 megahertz processor on the 4S and a single core 800 megahertz processor on iPhone 4. The iPhone 5 is snappier and zippier in performance than the iPhone 4S. The iPhone 4S is still extremely good at tackling all the demands that are put upon it by the applications and activities we can do on the phone.
The Fourth Generation
When you’re looking at iPhone deals, it’s important to understand that we have the 4th generation of mobile broadband at our doorstep. Everything, everywhere has already released the connectivity to around 50% of the UK and the other mobile phone manufacturers will be releasing soon. 4G is ten times as fast as 3G with average speeds on the Orange Network between 8 and 12 megabits per second.
If you’re looking for iPhone deals with fast broadband, then you should be looking at the iPhone 5. Having said that, your iPhone 4S has 3G but HSPA+ support. Sometimes HSPA+ 14.4 is actually branded as 4G. It can offer much faster speeds than 3G. It’s important to recognize which model you’re getting as different locations have different connectivity within them. If you get a US phone where 4G is been around a bit longer, you’ll probably get faster internet speeds.
All in all, if you’re looking for one of the premium end iPhones to impress your friends and get a great experience, you should certainly be discounting the iPhone 4. It simply is not premium anymore. It is a mid-range phone and its specs are relatively obsolete in terms of the top-end phone such as the Samsung Galaxy S4, the Sony Xperia Z and indeed, the iPhone 5.
However, if you’re choosing between the iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5, the iPhone 4S has a lot going for it. It costs around £150 less than the iPhone 5 and is available in very short contracts without having to pay anything upfront. You really can get some good iPhone deals with the iPhone 4S. Indeed, when the iPhone 6 or the iPhone 5S whichever they aptly call the next in the series arrives, we will see the iPhone 4S drop even further.
However, specifications do filter down through from premium to mid-range to budget very quickly and we've already seen phones from around £250 with 4G installed. We’re soon going to see even budget phones coming with 4G connectivity and that’s why we tend to upgrade every two years so we have a relevant phone. If you go for a long contract on an iPhone 4 such as a two-year contract, you may well be very disappointed in two years’ time when you are well below par in terms of the technology and functionality of the phone. Things are moving so fast that it’s important to get a relevant phone these days. And even the iPhone 5 is looking a little bit dated in terms of the latest releases of 2013.
iPhone Deals and Phones Coming Soon
There certainly are going to be some good deals to be had on the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 4s in the near future. There are already some great offerings on the 4s. In the future, we may well see a mega sized iPhone at 5.5 inch display and the standard iPhone is likely to come in at around 4.7 inches instead of the 4 inches. It’s going to be interesting to see what Apple do as the series has lost a little bit of its glamour over the last couple of years.
The other manufacturers have done a fantastic job of tearing away market share and although there are always going to be loyal Apple followers, who go for the iPhone blindly, the reality is that the iPhone is going to have to fight hard in order to retain loyalty in the market place where manufacturers are introducing some really amazing phones and are upgrading their specifications every six months. Apple may update the iPhone every 6 months in the future just to be able to keep up, they may well enter the mid-range phone market too, in order to try and entice people with cheaper iPhone deals.