It can be hard if you have just come out of a two year contract to hang around and wait for an upgrade to a shiny new iPhone. One of the dilemmas is whether you should get the iPhone 4S or wait a few more months to get your hands on the latest iPhone 5.
Why you should wait for the iPhone 5 and not upgrade to a 4S or 4
With the iPhone 5 rumored to be released around October it could make sense to wait. It is not only those looking to upgrade that are posed with this problem. There is a growing group of first time smartphone buyers who are considered the iPhone 4 and 4S. If you are considering upgrading from say a flip phone then it may be worth waiting for another couple of months for the iPhone 5 rather than getting the iPhone 4.
Of course Apple will have a strategy to get rid of as many of the older iPhones as possible and that will be to drop the price. More than likely when the iPhone 5 is launched it will come with a starting price of around $199, which means that the entry level iPhone 4S may well be on offer for around $99. The iPhone 4 could even become free with AT&T, Sprint and Verizon on the launch of the new handset. Currently AT&T offers the iPhone 3G for free.
If you intend on taking out a contract over two years then of course it makes sense that you should wait a few more months to get your hands on the latest handset i.e. iPhone 5. The iPhone 4S could be tempting for those who are off contract or who are ready to move up from a flip phone to the iPhone. Even with Sprint’s unlimited data offer it may be worth waiting as the iPhone 5 is said to come with support for 4G LTE on all major carriers.
T-Mobile has more than 1 million customers with an iPhone, despite the fact that they do not sell the phone. Users on T-Mobile typically have speed problems with their unlocked iPhones due to it supporting speeds up to EDGE only. During the fall T-Mobile will launch their 4G HSPA+ cover which should then provide faster connections to those with the iPhone. They will also begin to roll out their 4G LTE which should mean the iPhone 5 with 4G LTE will connect at faster speeds. However customers on T-Mobile may not want to wait for the roll out of 4G LTE in 2013 to get their hands on a version of the iPhone 5, hence just waiting for HSPA+ to come about in the fall which is when the iPhone 5 launches will suffice.
Those with Verizon have more reasons to wait for the iPhone 5 thanks to the fact that Verizon has the best 4G LTE network of all of the carriers. They have around two thirds of the population of the US.
AT&T customers may also want to wait for the iPhone 5 with 4G LTE for faster downloads and a more reliable connection. The iPhone 4S has seen data drop problems and slow down ever since the first iPhone launched and now everyone is looking at LTE to lighten the load.
If you are with one of the smaller carriers then this may be the best time to swap to the iPhone 4S as it has come out on carriers including nTelos, Alaska Comminications, GCI, Cellcom, Golden State Cellular and Bluegrass Cellular.
In general if you are in the market for a new iPhone and you are on contract or you are looking to go on a new two year contract, the iPhone 5 now seems to close to ignore.
