iPhone 4s info please

[tortoise]

So for Christmas we decide to get our daughter a new iPhone 4s to replace her aging and trouble prone Blackberry. She starts talking to her "expert" friends (including one who works for Apple) and comes back with all sorts of horror stories about short battery life and says she wants the previous version of the phone as the new version is a failure? Not even sure the previous version is available? After reading reviews of the new phone in MacLife and MacWorld it seems to me to be a great product with reasonable battery life for a smart phone, but my experience and exposure to smart phones is very limited. I have read a few reports of people complaining about battery life but there also seem to be a lot of satisfied customers that love the new 4S iPhone.

I would appreciate any and all comments and reports of first hand experience from those who have the new phone before I make a final recommendation to her. I am inclined to tell her to forget the horror stories and get on board and suffer whatever few growing pains there might be with the new product but don't want to push her in the wrong direction either.

[mattkime]

there are numerous things that can cause low battery life but they can all be addressed. apple recently released an update that specifically addresses this.

[bhaveshp]

The previous model, the iPhone 4 is still available new on both AT&T and Verizon. It's not available on Sprint.

I have upgraded from an iPhone 4 to a 4S and have experienced a drop in battery life. However the battery life issue is tricky. Many people have no issues and get great battery life from the new model.

One possibility is that the problem is due to ios 5, however I ran ios 5 on my iPhone 4 for one month with no issues.

Currently I manage my usage and disable location services to make it last through my day till midnight.

[Buck]

I just had Apple replace my iPhone 4S. Battery life is much better with the new unit, which is great because I took it in for a different problem: it could no no longer connect to the data network. Hardware problem!

Overall, I love this phone and would NEVER go back to a Blackberry.

[graylocks]

tortoise wrote:
I am inclined to tell her to forget the horror stories and get on board and suffer whatever few growing pains there might be with the new product ..

This.

it's a powerful computer in your hand. and like a teenager it's ALWAYS hungry and she will have to learn how to keep it fed and happy. it's worth it and it's not as bad as her 'experts' say.

[Gilbert]

Actually, the iPhone 4 is available with Sprint in addition to the 4S.

bhaveshp wrote:
The previous model, the iPhone 4 is still available new on both AT&T and Verizon. It's not available on Sprint.

I have upgraded from an iPhone 4 to a 4S and have experienced a drop in battery life. However the battery life issue is tricky. Many people have no issues and get great battery life from the new model.

One possibility is that the problem is due to ios 5, however I ran ios 5 on my iPhone 4 for one month with no issues.

Currently I manage my usage and disable location services to make it last through my day till midnight.

[mstudio]

I can't believe a teenaged girl doesn't want a new iPhone. I came from a Blackberry and I find my new 4s holding a better charge and I use it a lot during the day.

I would never go back to a Blackberry after getting this phone.

[silvarios]

graylocks wrote:
[quote=tortoise]
I am inclined to tell her to forget the horror stories and get on board and suffer whatever few growing pains there might be with the new product ..

This.

it's a powerful computer in your hand. and like a teenager it's ALWAYS hungry and she will have to learn how to keep it fed and happy. it's worth it and it's not as bad as her 'experts' say.
Waves hand, "There is no problem."

Good luck with that approach.

[Billybob]

Hmm,

I have no experience with 4G battery life, but mine lasts a lot longer than the 3Gs that it replaced.

Apple update the OS after releasing the 4Gs to address battery issues. I didn't activate/buy mine until after installing the update.

Then again, I'm not a heavy user.

[silvarios]

tortoise wrote: After reading reviews of the new phone in MacLife and MacWorld it seems to me to be a great product with reasonable battery life for a smart phone, but my experience and exposure to smart phones is very limited. I have read a few reports of people complaining about battery life but there also seem to be a lot of satisfied customers that love the new 4S iPhone.

No iPhone 4S here, not even one amongst my clients. I will say that many people were reporting a worse battery life with the iPhone 4S compared to the iPhone 4. Apple has acknowledged the problem and has patched (will continue patching?) some of the bugs. A little wrinkle, John Gruber actually saw his first battery problems under normal use with iOS 5.0.1.

"I’m sure 5.0.1 fixed some of the egregious battery-is-draining-really-fast bugs people saw in 5.0.0, but it seems like battery life under regular conditions — with no glaring bugs — has gotten worse."