Some people have already made that decision and they pre-ordered the new model as soon as it became possible. They now sit eagerly waiting for the delivery service to knock at their door and hand over the new device.
Whether to upgrade or not is always a tricky decision to make and it is doubly so when there is a large cost involved. The iPhone 4S is one of the most expensive mobile phones available and so you must think twice before committing yourself and your credit card to such a large purchase. Here in the UK it costs a pound under £500 ($780 including tax) just for the cheapest, most basic model and nearly £800 ($1,093) for the 64Gb model. That's a lot of money in any currency and you've got your contract on top of that.
However, you have to factor in the trade-in or sale of your existing phone and at Mazuma Mobile, a UK phone recycling website they will give me £245 ($383) for my current 16Gb iPhone 4. That means that the cost to upgrade to a 4S is a more reasonable £256 ($400). That's a more tempting proposition.
So what is the difference between the iPhone 4 and the 4S, and is it worth it?
The iPhone 4S comes with iOS 5, the next generation of Apple's mobile phone and tablet operating system and it includes the new iCloud service that stores files and music online. However, iOS 5 will work on all mobile phones as far back as the iPhone 3GS, so I can upgrade my iPhone 4 for free and get all the iOS functions and features of the 4S. Clearly iOS 5 is not a reason to buy an iPhone 4S.
It does lack Siri though and this is a voice-controlled personal assistant. You can speak into your iPhone and tell it to make appointments and perform other tasks. I'm not too fussed about this and I've never got on with voice recognition software on my desktop computer. I had voice dialling on my mobile five years ago and could say "phone home" to call home or "John" to call John, but never used it. I don't know why. I'm not convinced Siri is a killer feature that makes it worth the cost of upgrading.
I ditched my digital camera ages ago and now take most of my photos on a mobile phone. The cameras in phones aren't quite as good as proper digital cameras, but they are good enough and they are getting better. The main reason is convenience and you are more likely to have a phone in your pocket when a photo opportunity arises than a digital camera.
The new iPhone 4S has an upgraded camera built in and it is now 8 megapixels. Many people equate megapixels to image quality, but it just isn't a reliable indicator of image quality. Lens quality, sensitivity to low light, colour saturation and other factors are all important factors that affect the image quality. Imagine taking a photo when the light is poor, indoors, possibly in the evening. Is an 8mp image any better than a 5mp image if it is dark and fuzzy?
The good news is that the camera in the 4S should have better image quality and not just more pixels. It has a better lens and a better sensor and this should produce better photos. This is a plus point for the iPhone 4S, but is it enough to tempt you to upgrade?
Another advantage of the 4S is the more powerful dual-core processor. However, have you ever been using your iPhone 4 and cursed it for being too slow? I can't say that I have. For what I use it for, which is mostly non-gaming apps, it is adequate and I've not experienced any speed problems. However, I have yet to upgrade to iOS 5 and perhaps that demands more processing power. Operating systems always make increasing demands of the hardware, but since iOS 5 works on the 3GS, which is even less powerful than the 4, it can't be that processor-intensive.
Whether you decide to upgrade or not is a personal decision. I'm not convinced that there is enough in the 4S to tempt me to upgrade from a 4. I think I'll wait for the iPhone 5. If you are still using a 3GS though, then it is well worth the upgrade cost.
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