I keep going back and forth on whether or not to pre order on friday. I've currently got a 4 and had a 3g and 3gs. There are a lot more competitive offerings out there now though.
The problem is that the main competition (Android) is all about firepower to overcome significant shortcomings in software. There is a reason why you have big removable battery on most Android...it is either because Android is so damn inefficient that it eats up battery like crazy OR because it crashes at least once a week which requires you to pull the battery to reset it. Don't believe me? Ask most honest Android owners. Been there. Done that. Still doing it actually!
Think of it this way...here in the USA, all phones are dual core. Even with the old A5 chip in the 4S, the iPhone is still class leading or near the top against the best of Android till this day.
The A6 chip in the iPhone 5 will be class leading, easily. It will be faster while having way better graphics than Samsung S3. It will be compeitive (if not better) than international version of S3 with quad-core processor because A6 chip has the latest technology in chip production (A15 Cortex).
I know I'm in the minority here, but I could not be more out.
Then again, I'm not a phone-a-holic like most people and I certainly don't buy into hype of any kind. In my opinion, Apple is the trendiest brand on the market right now and the iPhone is their golden goose.
On a somewhat related note, it bugs the hell out of me when people post pictures and apologize for the "crappy iPhone" pics. They are soooo proud to announce that they have an iPhone, but feel the need to apologize for the poor quality of the pictures? I gues everyone has their pet peeves :shrug:
It is not about trendy, it is about stability and how good of a phone it is. I use my phone for work and pleasure. It MUST be reliable. It MUST get good signal. Quite simply, none of the Android phones provide these two features. Samsung makes horrible antennas (at least for CDMA phones).
As for iPhone cameras, the iPhone camera dating back to iPhone 4 has been class-leading. Even now, the 4S camera is still top-notch despite HTC X One and Samsung S3. Yes, these Androids have more features in the cameras...but, the QUALITY of the pictures still favors the 4S. Quality of pictures is what i care most about. The 4S camera has replaced many P&S cameras:
Can the iPhone 4S replace a “real” digital camera? Ars investigates | Ars Technica
The iPhone 5 camera is a further refinement of the 4S camera. It is better in low-light which has been a weak point of all camera phones, including the 4S (even tho, it is class-leading for phones). Faster snapshots. Video is better. In other words, for most folks, the iPhone 5 camera will replace their P&S.
It has everything you need until the iPhone 5s comes out next year hahah
Maybe. However, there isn't much out there to really improve upon. I am sure that the 5S will have a better camera and NFC. Camera improvement is always nice...but the current camera is OK for most situations, esp. if low-light is better. And if i get my wish soon, then i will also get Sony RX100 camera. If so, then i will likely use it for most stuff while iPhone camera is my backup. NFC is still in infancy...and not sure if i trust it enough yet. Apple won't change screen size anytime soon. LTE is already here. The current design and body are here to stay since Apple has invested quite a bit of money into it. Now, it would be nice to have a sapphire glass instead of Gorilla glass...but that would probably make it as expensive as a Rolex! BTW, sapphire glass on the iPhone 5 camera lens is pure genius!! Sapphire cannot be scratched unless you use a diamond. In other words, the camera lens will remain perfect for years to come.
