So the new iPhone is called the 4S and not the iPhone 5 and people are whining because they didn’t get what they had been expecting or the various rumor sites had been suggesting. As far as I can see, the only thing “missing” from the 4S is a new case design. Apart from that, the new iPhone is full of great new features and I’m happy I waited.
Like many people I’m on a two-year iPhone schedule. I started out with the original iPhone and right now I’m on the 3GS. This is mainly due to the fact that I get my iPhones subsidized by T-Mobile (Germany) every two years and I didn’t really feel like paying over 700 Euros for an unsubsidized iPhone 4 while I’m perfectly happy to stick with T-Mobile anyway.
The added benefit of this schedule is that the technological jump from one phone to the next is pretty significant. The jump from the original iPhone to the 3GS was huge in terms of performance, and I expect the jump from the 3GS to the 4S to be even more significant, both in terms of performance and features. I’m especially looking forward to the much better camera, which will allow me to get rid of my Panasonic point-and-shoot. The 4S will also be my first iPhone with a Retina display.
So, if you’re disappointed that there will be no iPhone 5 this year, I suggest you study the 4S’s feature list closely and ask yourself if there’s really not a lot of cool new stuff there. I’d also suggest you reconsider if you really need to get a new iPhone every year. I for one can really recommend joining the “Every Other Year iPhone Club”.
Update: I forgot to add that the white iPhone 4 being released so late was a pretty good hint that there would be no new case design for the next iPhone model. It would have made – at best – limited sense to release the white iPhone 4 just a couple of months before introducing an iPhone 5 with a completely new case. Sure, the iPhone 4 including the white one would have still been sold alongside the new iPhone 5. But why invest so much effort into a device that will be just the “old iPhone” in a couple of months?
