iPhone 5 - what are we expecting?

jayme1

The good thing about the iPhone is that stuff just works, because the iPhone has become so popular there is an app for everything, iPlayer, 4oD ect. ect. websites have been designed to look right on the iPhone over other phones.

But the iPhone as it is now is not the future, it's good enough for now, what will ultimately succeed is one device that can do everything, one that is simple and easy enough to carry round with you all day then you bring it home dock it and it basically becomes your home PC/media server/games console.

This will be realised most with Windows 8 tablets, you can carry it round all day but then come home plug in a keyboard, mouse and monitor and literally becomes a proper desktop PC.

But Android can already do a lot of this already watch this video and tell me this is not the future, it's not perfect yet with MHL you can't output via HDMI and use USB OTG at the same time, although you could screen share via WiFi although I don't know if that would introduce any lag.

I personally am more excited for the new iPod touch, it apparently will be one awesome device, though I think 128GB version is now an absolute must for a pure consumption device like the iPod touch.

NFH

blizeH wrote: »

Indeed... you're looking at £500 for the 16GB right?

I'm off to America soon so will probably get one then. Going by current conversion rates it's going to cost around £400 that way.

The US version usually costs USD 650, which is the same as GBP 500 without the 20% VAT. However, you have to add local sales tax to the US price, as prices are quoted excluding tax in the US. You need to consider whether the difference is worth it when you factor in a different power adapter and fewer consumer rights if it develops a fault. There are also rumours that the iPhone 5 will have a different implementation of 4G in different countries, as it might not be possible to cater for all 4G frequencies on the same chip.

jayme1

NFH wrote: »

There are also rumours that the iPhone 5 will have a different implementation of 4G in different countries, as it might not be possible to cater for all 4G frequencies on the same chip.

I think this could be a real possibility, I can see there being a US GSM version for AT&T supporting the 700MHz LTE band and then a 2nd GSM iPhone supporting LTE 800/900/1800/2100/2600 for the rest of the world, it all depends, but I can definitely see that happening.

NFH

jayme1 wrote: »

I can see there being a US GSM version for AT&T supporting the 700MHz LTE band and then a 2nd GSM iPhone supporting LTE 800/900/1800/2100/2600 for the rest of the world

Hopefully they'll accommodate the US 4G frequencies in all phones, but with a choice between non-US 4G frequencies and CDMA. Hardly anyone wants CDMA except the Americans and those that use it are probably fall into the two thirds of Americans that don't have a passport and so wouldn't benefit from non-US 4G anyway.

Idiophreak

jayme1 wrote: »

I personally am more excited for the new iPod touch, it apparently will be one awesome device, though I think 128GB version is now an absolute must for a pure consumption device like the iPod touch.

When the top new feature is "it's going to come in different colours", it doesn't suggest a groundbreaking device...

Dpk

vacheron wrote: »

When I bought my iPhone 4 a friend offered me his BBC O2 "friends and family" discount to get £120 cash-back.
He's offered me the same facility this year but I'm waiting to see if the iPhone 5 justifies the price.

When I came out of my 24 month contract a couple of months ago I moved from £35 per month with O2 to £9 with Virgin on a rolling 30 day contract which has twice the data and texts that O2 offered!

All I had to do was fill in a form on the O2 website and they remotely unlocked the iPhone to allow use of the Virgin SIM.

By my calcs: £35pm x 24 month contract (F&F offsets the phone price) adds up to £840 vs £216 with virgin and you can cancel at any time.

If I feel the new one justifies a purchase then I'll be buying the phone contract free this time. It also helps you really consider if it's worth it when you have to hand over half a grand!

It's now only £75

blizeH

Oh... I never knew that, thank you - certainly worth researching before I buy then, I assumed they were just global now since the iPhone 4.

I didn't realise I'd need to pay VAT either?

NFH

blizeH wrote: »

I didn't realise I'd need to pay VAT either?

It's not called VAT in the US. It's a sales tax generally levied by each state. There's a full list at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_sales_tax#By_jurisdiction

morg_monster

But also officially he should pay VAT when he comes back in to the UK, as the iphone will go over the import limit which is about £180 IIRC. So you can either declare and pay the 20% tax on the way back through customs, or take the risk that you won't be stopped (in which case they'll find your brand new US iphone with all the boxes in your suitcases and give you a fine... or maybe just let you pay the tax). The likelihood of that happening probably depends on when you are going to the US and what time your flight in arrives...
You may be able to claim the US sales tax back though.

I am not sure whether the consumer rights is a big worry. Apple usually have a very good reputation for dealing with individual customer problems; I guess the worst might be that you might have to send your phone back to Apple US rather than UK.

NFH

morg_monster wrote: »

You may be able to claim the US sales tax back though.

No, you can't. I asked about doing this once and they just laughed, explaining that the state wants its money and they won't refund it to anyone, not even tourists.