Apple iPhone 5S/5C

Well, i had an issue, but solved by Googling. App Store kept on asking for my password instead of my fingerprint. Everything was done under the Fingerprint section in SETTINGS.

Fingerprint info: iPhone 5s: Using Touch ID

"Note: Touch ID cannot be used for purchases if Require Password in Settings > General > Restrictions is set to Immediately."

This was what got me. I had set it to "Immediately" so my App Store purchases kept asking for password. Now that i selected "15 minutes," i get ask my fingerprint(s) on purchases in App Store. :)
 
A7 is not a gimmick and is clearly a step above the rest. The app industry is now starting to catch on and using it to max effect: Apple's 64-bit A7 already powering advanced new audio, video features in apps and games

Quotes:

Karim Morsy of Germany's Algoriddim noted that "optimizing djay 2 for the 64-bit A7 chip has allowed us to bring desktop-class power to our iPhone app."

"Moreover," Morsy added, "we have measured game-changing performance boosts with our video mixing app vjay which also leverages the A7’s 64-bit architecture on iPhone 5s. HD video playback, mixing, effects, and recording on iPhone 5s brings more than double the video render resolution, processing more than 4 times more video data in real-time."

"The A7 has taken things to a new level," said Jeff Smith, the chief executive of pioneering music app developer Smule in an email to AppleInsider.

He added, "we've been trying to do real-time audio convolution on mobile devices. Audio convolution is one of the most CPU intensive tasks requiring massive amounts of matrix-math. Imagine trying to model how a sound wave will bounce off of several surfaces at different positions in a room. Simulating such acoustic environments has typically been reserved to workstations and cloud computing.

"So, when we were able to first benchmark the A7 a few weeks ago, we were quite pleased to see the processing power from the clock speeds and enhanced pipeline. As a result, we were able to do real-time audio convolution in the palm of your hand."

Smule engineers noted that they were not able to get real-time audio convolution working on the iPhone 5 (or 5c), despite the phone being no slouch; both models are roughly comparable with Samsung's Galaxy S4 in Geekbench 3.0 scores. Thus the company says that the 'informal "benchmark' of just running the Sing app with convolution reverbs ranged from simply not working at all on iPhone 5, while "on the 5S everything sounded smooth and silky."

Smule also sells Sing for Android on Google Play, but there the title notes, "the audio technology behind Sing! works best on newer devices, in particular Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note II, Galaxy Nexus, Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 10, and other high-powered devices." The Android app also lacks support for real-time audio convolution.

In optimizing other titles for the A7, Smith noted, "we discovered an issue on the A7 with our Cinebeat product which does real-time audio and video process (also CPU intensive). It deadlocked as a set of processes that were never supposed to finish first suddenly did. We were shocked."

Further, the company noted that rendering in AutoRap "saw something close to a 7x speed-up" when running on the new A7 (which again has only been out for three weeks).
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My favorite commment from the article by "constable odo":

"The smartphone industry is always quick to claim anything Apple does is just a gimmick or marketing hype but something like Air Gestures or eye-tracking are some sort of a radical breakthrough. The industry believes the 64-bit A7 is overkill but the Exynos 5 Octa-core processor isn't. It's OK to have more cores, but more bits is useless. The industry really has a serious bias against Apple. Anything for Android is good, but for Apple, nothing is good. With thinking like that, Apple will never be seen as being ahead of the hardware curve."
 
There seems to be some confusion (on the net) about A7 not doing as good as Qualcomm S800 in multi-thread/core stress testing. GeekBench 3 is the standard and the best benchmark to date in stressing CPUs. It is compatible with 64-bit processing. And as noted above, more and more apps are being converted to 64-bit...rather easily by developers because Apple already has the tools in place.

iPhone 5S: (A7 dual core + 1GB RAM clocked at 1.3 GHz)
Anandtech = 1414 (single) and 2564 (multi)
(On my own 5S with 7.0.2 = 1414 (single) and 2566 (multi))

iPhone 5/5C: (A6 dual core + 1GB RAM clocked at 1.3 GHz)
722 (single) and 1302 (multi)

LG G2: (S800 quadcore + 2GB RAM clocked at 2.26 GHz)
1213 (single) and 2278 (multi)

Note 3: (S800 + 3GB RAM clocked at 2.3 GHz; without cheating)
901 (single) and 2487 (multi)

Galaxy S4: (S600 + 2GB RAM clocked at 1.9 GHz; note 1.9Ghz is higher than average S600 chips in other phones)
677 (single) and 1255 (multi)

Motorola X Phone: (X-chip + 2GB RAM clocked at 1.7 GHz)
681 (single) and 1835 (multi)

One additional note...all GPU benchmarks are 32-bit at this time. Given this limit, A7 GPU is already at the top on all the important GPU tests, bar none. Once the GPU benchmarks are updated to run 64-bit, i believe that A7 will beat all current Android GPUs by an even more significant margin.
 
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5S and 5C drop test WITH Apple cases:
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/c3XsAh_32Ik" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
So my iPhone 5 power button has been slowly failing for the last month or so. Really only working when pressed on the left edge. I phoned Apple today and they told me I am 17 days out of warranty and SOL. This sucks. Button still works sometimes, but I doubt it will last much longer.

From what I've been reading online the power button is one of the most difficult things to replace as you basically have to remove all the internals to get to it. Apple wants, I think, $269 to send it in to repair. I haven't tried any of the 3rd party repair places yet but now I'm not sure what to do.

Should I upgrade through my carrier and then repair and sell my iphone 5? I bought it outright at full price through Apple so it is unlocked. Should I take another chance on Apple after having the power button fail on my 5 and my 4 and upgrade to the 5S? Should I wait and see what other phones are released in the next few months?
 
So my iPhone 5 power button has been slowly failing for the last month or so. Really only working when pressed on the left edge. I phoned Apple today and they told me I am 17 days out of warranty and SOL. This sucks. Button still works sometimes, but I doubt it will last much longer.

From what I've been reading online the power button is one of the most difficult things to replace as you basically have to remove all the internals to get to it. Apple wants, I think, $269 to send it in to repair. I haven't tried any of the 3rd party repair places yet but now I'm not sure what to do.

Should I upgrade through my carrier and then repair and sell my iphone 5? I bought it outright at full price through Apple so it is unlocked. Should I take another chance on Apple after having the power button fail on my 5 and my 4 and upgrade to the 5S? Should I wait and see what other phones are released in the next few months?

Hmm, i think that i will look into AppleCare and TEP (total equip protection from Sprint) plans! :D

Can you upgrade now? That would be your best bet and you would get 5S. I just look for my brother...a 64GB AT&T iPhone 5 on eBay in excellent condition will net you around $450. With your defective button, you may want to sell "as is" and just discount the price.

This is it...no new major phones over the next few months. Note 3 (and this month's HTC One Max) is the last of the major releases. The rest of the year is mainly the "mini" versions.

The lone exception is the upcoming Nexus 5, which should be quite impressive with S800 processor, 5" screen, tiny size (smaller than GS4), and pure Google experience (thus, updates are quick). The major demerits are tiny battery (thus, battery life sucks with any gaming) and possibly average camera (8MP camera with OIS which is a downgrade from LG 13MP module). Otherwise, it is probably the ONLY Android phone i care about.

Good luck.
 
^I do have a carrier upgrade available.

I called a local repair place today who gave me an estimate of 'around $100'. Went to a local phone dealer and they have stock of 64GB 5S.

Still can't decide what I want to to do. Obviously its cheaper to just repair the iPhone 5, but then I'll basically go for a year (until iPhone 6 comes out, haha) without using my upgrade. Feels like I should be taking advantage of a years worth of subsidy, but at the same time if I want the iphone 6 (or anything else) next year I wont have that upgrade available then. Firstworldproblems.
 
Link: iPhone 5S' camera praised by National Geographic photog | Apple - CNET News

Photographer Jim Richardson of National Geographic -- famous for its dramatic covers -- traded his Nikon for an iPhone 5S in a visit to Scotland, according to a story posted on Monday.

"With intense use (I've made about 4,000 pictures in the last four days) I've discovered that the iPhone 5S is a very capable camera," he wrote.

The color and exposures are amazingly good, the HDR exposure feature does a stunningly good job...Best of all it shoots square pictures natively, a real plus for me since I wanted to shoot for Instagram posting...What surprised me most was that the pictures did not look like compromises. They didn't look like I was having to settle for second best because it was a mobile phone.
 
^I do have a carrier upgrade available.

I called a local repair place today who gave me an estimate of 'around $100'. Went to a local phone dealer and they have stock of 64GB 5S.

Still can't decide what I want to to do. Obviously its cheaper to just repair the iPhone 5, but then I'll basically go for a year (until iPhone 6 comes out, haha) without using my upgrade. Feels like I should be taking advantage of a years worth of subsidy, but at the same time if I want the iphone 6 (or anything else) next year I wont have that upgrade available then. Firstworldproblems.

I guess that it comes down to size. iPhone 6 and Androids are going to be significantly bigger than iPhone 5S. Latest rumor for iP6 puts it at around 4.8" screen. It will be at least the size of Motorola X phone, if not slightly bigger since iPhones demand a home button (for fingerprint reader, TouchID). (Moto X, like most other Androids, do not depend on hard buttons...instead use software on-screen buttons.)
 
This is pretty funny...link: Qualcomm VP: Apple A7 chip is a marketing gimmick - GSMArena.com news

Quotes:

However, according to Qualcomm's senior vice president and head of marketing Anand Chandrasekher, the 64-bit architecture of the A7 chip is a "marketing gimmick."

"I think they are doing a marketing gimmick. There’s zero benefit a consumer gets from that," states Chandrasekher.
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BUT, then he says this:

"The exec revealed that Qualcomm is also working to release a 64-bit mobile processor, as it makes sense from an "engineering efficiency standpoint.""

:D That absolutely made no sense! Thanks for being childish about it!

As expected, Qualcomm is now backtracking on their own words: Qualcomm retracts 'gimmick' comment on Apple 64-bit chip | Business Tech - CNET News

It is clear that their marketing head had no idea what he's talking about.
 
Picked up the 5S today. So far its been pretty meh. Its a great phone, dont get me wrong, but as an upgrade from a 5 there's really not much to get excited about. The fingerprint scanner works better and faster than I expected, and the speed increase is noticeable throughout the OS but nothing incredible. I suppose if I played more graphically intensive games I would probably see more of a difference. Haven't had much chance to try the camera features out yet.

Thai, which case are you using? if any...
 
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Picked up the 5S today. So far its been pretty meh. Its a great phone, dont get me wrong, but as an upgrade from a 5 there's really not much to get excited about. The fingerprint scanner works better and faster than I expected, and the speed increase is noticeable throughout the OS but nothing incredible. I suppose if I played more graphically intensive games I would probably see more of a difference. Haven't had much chance to try the camera features out yet.

Thai, which case are you using? if any...

Well, the A6 chip was no slow poke! :D For me, the biggest thing with 5S (over 5) is the fingerprint scanner...i love that thing! I can now use my insanely complex password on my iPhone. Camera improvement is very noticeable when the light gets dim.

Strava Run is pretty cool for me because i walk a lot outside to exercise...and my battery does not take a big hit with the new A7/M7.

A7 difference will be most noticeable with graphic-intensive games...but here again, A6 GPU was quite good to begin with. And Apple has always been known to be a smooth player.

For case, i use ZeroChroma Vario-Protect with Seidio Surface holster. The Zerochroma case is the best that i have seen...very well engineered case with great front lip protection and a very cool functional stand. I had an old Seidio Surface case and holster from my old iPhone 5...and amazingly, my Zerochroma case fits nicely into the holster. Bought case at Apple Store.

Link: VarioProtect 5 / 5sZeroChroma

I also use Spigen Crystal Clear screen protector. Case is friendly with protector.
 
^ now that I'm on day 2 I've got to add that I love the fingerprint scanner. It works well and is so much more convenient than a pass code. Only thing that annoys me is that there seems to be no way to set up a delayed unlock with the fingerprint (fingerprint is required every single time if it's enabled).

That case looks kinda cool but not sure if I want/need the stand. I was just going to go with an otter box or something like that but still debating on that vs no case at all.
 
^ now that I'm on day 2 I've got to add that I love the fingerprint scanner. It works well and is so much more convenient than a pass code. Only thing that annoys me is that there seems to be no way to set up a delayed unlock with the fingerprint (fingerprint is required every single time if it's enabled).

That case looks kinda cool but not sure if I want/need the stand. I was just going to go with an otter box or something like that but still debating on that vs no case at all.

Since fingerprint works pretty fast, i don't mind. BTW, i find that cell reception on 5S to be slightly better than my 5. So, i no longer need Otterbox Defender for improve cell reception. This is a big relief because Otterbox cases are huge! The ZeroChroma case is very nicely done...and protective too. Try it out at the Apple Store and see how you like it.

For me, i want to keep my phone mint because i will likely sell it (on eBay) in 1-2 years. A mint 5S will get pretty nice value! :) So, a case is a sound investment because it does improve resale value down the road when you move on. And a scratch display can bring your value down a lot! $40 bucks now may mean up to $100 dollars return later.
 
Math and A7: Yep, Apple's A7 looks twice as fast -- at least for fractal math | Mobile - CNET News

From article:
Frax is currently a 32-bit app, Weiss said, and it runs 50 percent faster on the A7-powered iPhone 5S compared with the A6-powered iPhone 5. And then came the second speed boost: When he compiled the first 64-bit version, Frax ran 25 percent faster than the 32-bit version on the iPhone 5S. Together, that means the 64-bit app runs nearly 90 percent faster on an iPhone 5S than the 32-bit version on the iPhone 5.

"We'll have this ready in a dot release soon," so iPhone 5S customers can take advantage of the 64-bit version, Weiss told CNET. And he expects further performance gains from software optimization.

A prime reason for 64-bit chips is easy support for more than 4GB of memory, and iOS devices aren't yet at that limit, but the 64-bit design brings plenty of other improvements that do help performance.

The Frax boost instead comes chiefly from two changes, Weiss said: the A7's larger number of storage slots, called registers, and the fact that it can perform high-precision calculations faster on numbers stored in floating-point formats.

He also said the ARMv8 chip architecture that the A7 uses gives Frax a boost because it can perform a combination of multiplication and addition in one step instead of two.

Real World Tech's Kanter points to other advantages that come with the A7 that will help a wider variety of software: better performance when it's time for the chip to retrieve data from a device's main memory or its high-speed cache memory. Specifically, the chip can retrieve data sooner from its level-2 cache -- the first place a processor looks for data -- which means the chip wastes less time idling.

Creating the 64-bit version was "surprisingly easy," Weiss said.

GPUs are inherently scalable like this, and the one on the iPhone 5s is a monster! The GPU on the iPhone 5s is about 20 times faster than the one on the iPhone 4.

Even if there wasn't a performance boost or critical near-term need to move to a 64-bit architecture, there are reasons for Apple to make the move now -- perhaps most notably, the improved programming features that come along with the design.

Among other reasons, Apple might want to take care of the software switch before the hardware switch is urgent, Kanter said. There also are limits to using all 4GB of the memory capacity that's in principle possible with a 32-bit design, something that could steer a company toward the 64-bit switch even if you're only building in 2GB or 3GB of memory. Last, Apple might want to get the architectural shift done before it considers expanding its manufacturing suppliers from Samsung to include TSMC, too.

So there are real reasons to make the 64-bit move, as Frax can attest. A marketing gimmick the A7 is not.
 
German test site Fokus.de/handy thinks the 5s is the only phone to date to match the 4s in audio headphone quality.

They write:

"Der Klang hat sich im Vergleich zum Vorgänger minimal gemausert: Konnte der Sound des iPhone 5 dem 4S nur sehr nahe kommen, aber nicht hundertprozentig gleichziehen, weil die Höhen eine winzige Spur weniger klar und spritzig ertönten, so ist nun mit dem Referenz-Hörer, den Ultimate Ears Reference Monitors, kein Unterschied mehr zwischen 4S und 5S herauszuhören. Somit darf sich auch das 5S des besten Klangs aller Smartphones rühmen, mit kristallenen Höhen, entspannt-wuchtigen Bässen und einem ausgewogen-natürlichen Gesamteindruck. Klasse!"

A rough English rendering for those who don't speak German:

"Audio quality has slightly improved when you compare it the the old model: While the old iphone's audio quality was only close to that of the 4s, the treble being a tiny bit less clear and lively, we now cannot hear a difference between the 4s and 5s,listening with our reference cans UE. Thus, the 5s can pride itself having the best audio quality among all smartphones - crystalline treble, relaxedly powerful bass and a balance and natural overall impression. Awesome!"
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This is good to hear because i use my earphones daily! :)
 
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