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iPhone 5

border

Member
Where can I get cheaper LTE w/iPhone 5 in the bay area :(

StraightTalk runs off of AT&T's network and has an unlimited data plan for $45/month. I'm not sure if you can get LTE with that, but you can definitely run 4G (HSPA+).

T-Mobile will soon have 4G HSPA+ in most major cities, and they do an 100 minutes/unlimited data plan for $30/month.

Personally I'd rather have unlimited data on 3G/HSPA+ than LTE with a bandwidth cap.
 

KtSlime

Member
border: Thanks, but I have done my research, at my residence I get no Verizon, T-Mobile, Cricket, Consumer Cellular, StraightTalk (no data service here), Sprint, Virgin, Clear, Boost, etc. I get 2-3 bars of AT&T Edge around the house if I am lucky, when I am in the garden it usually drops down to 1 bar, and I lose data connectivity all together. When it snowed the last winter, I was out of cellular service for days. But thanks for pointing out it is due to my incompetence and ignorance.

I'm just saying, it's not always the consumers fault.
 

andycapps

Member
Got a Rocketfish clear silicone case today at Best Buy. Looks fine, feels like a 3GS kind of. I like being able to see the back of the phone and I feel a lot more comfortable setting it down on stuff now. No screen protector, not needed.

Where can I get cheaper LTE w/iPhone 5 in the bay area :(

Soon with Sprint. They've started rollout there but zoning is slowing them down a ton. SF bureaucrats I guess.
 

Mairu

Member
StraightTalk runs off of AT&T's network and has an unlimited data plan for $45/month. I'm not sure if you can get LTE with that, but you can definitely run 4G (HSPA+).

T-Mobile will soon have 4G HSPA+ in most major cities, and they do an 100 minutes/unlimited data plan for $30/month.

Personally I'd rather have unlimited data on 3G/HSPA+ than LTE with a bandwidth cap.
Looks like the idea of getting what you pay for :(

LTE is too fast in some areas I'm in to want to go backwards
Got a Rocketfish clear silicone case today at Best Buy. Looks fine, feels like a 3GS kind of. I like being able to see the back of the phone and I feel a lot more comfortable setting it down on stuff now. No screen protector, not needed.



Soon with Sprint. They've started rollout there but zoning is slowing them down a ton. SF bureaucrats I guess.
I have heard only poor things about the speed and coverage of bay area Sprint, but maybe it'll be better in 2 years :/
 

Dinokill

Member
Just got my iPhone 5 from the apple store doing the 10:00pm pick-up store thingy since Best Buy dropped the ball. I'm loving it so far but I'm already at 200mb wtf? Any comments about this?
 
Hey, when I hold my iPhone parallel to my face and then shine a bright light at it if I rotate the phone back and forth slowly sometimes the light will reflect off the screen and into my eyes, does anyone else have this problem?

I've also noticed that if my finger is wet and I slowly drag it back and forth across the glass screen it makes a sort of squeaking sound, anyone else experience this? Should I take it back and exchange it for a new one?
 

CrunchinJelly

formerly cjelly
Hey, when I hold my iPhone parallel to my face and then shine a bright light at it if I rotate the phone back and forth slowly sometimes the light will reflect off the screen and into my eyes, does anyone else have this problem?

I've also noticed that if my finger is wet and I slowly drag it back and forth across the glass screen it makes a sort of squeaking sound, anyone else experience this? Should I take it back and exchange it for a new one?

image.php


Well played.
 

Jarmel

Banned
Well, I think I'm coming to an official conclusion on the battery.... cellular service just destroys its life. Obviously, WiFi is a much smaller power drain than 4G/LTE. Nevertheless, compared to my 4S, my new 5's battery gets destroyed on cell versus Wifi.

The last few days on cellular service, I'd hit 90% in about 20 minutes of usage. On Wifi?

8036208311_a98cec8fb0_z.jpg


About 3.5x the life!

... Luckily I have Wifi at home and work; but on the road this is gonna suck :(

Yea cell usage seems to wreck the hell out of the phone. I mean I thought it was supposed to be better than the 4 but it seems much worse so far.

Is there anyway I can run a program/app to test the battery life for the phone?
 

VariantX04

Loser slave of the system :(
A little late to the party with impressions but what a glorious party it is.

Been using mine for a couple of days (went with superior black) and I'm loving the hell out of this thing. I had to cut my SIM card down from micro to nano which was a huge pain and a bit of a risk considering my carrier just received nano-SIMs but won't be activating them any time soon. Had to be extra careful as I struggled quite a bit but a friend and I finally managed to trim it down to fit the tray. When we heard the click of the SIM successfully going into the tray, a symphony of enthusiastic high fives ensued and it was as though the world was at everlasting peace.

Beautiful, solid build, gorgeous display and doesn't heat up as easily as previous iPhones. This is a real head turner of a phone. Has this unique and luxurious feel to it that I just don't get with other phones. Covering this thing up with an ugly case feels wrong. I realize not all cases are ugly but they still compromise the overall feel of the device which is peerless.

The 4" screen is a welcome change although it feels like there's not that many ways to fully take advantage of the extra space in creative ways. I hope I'm proven wrong but 16:9 iOS gaming is still a good enough bonus for me. I'm just worried the convenience and ubiquity of widescreen apps may eventually lead to a 16:9 iPad. And who would want that? Hopefully not Apple.
 

mrkgoo

Member
75% of prepaid carriers are running off of one of the big telecom networks (most likely Sprint or AT&T). It's not that hard to get away from $100/month bills if you're willing to do even a little bit of research.

People's reliance on these carriers has more to do with the fact that people want a "free" phone (or a $650 phone for $200) than it does rural areas or poor government regulation. Nobody wants to deal with the up-front cost of the handset -- they would rather pay more over 2 years than they would pay for the full price of the phone. The only thing that's going to break us out of this model is when people don't feel the need to upgrade their phone every other year.....but the carriers and Apple are doing little to encourage that.
Too true.

I've never been on contract. I buy phones put right and use prepay services.

My iPhone 3G cost nz$1100 or so an I pay ~nz$20 per month. For 2 years this means I pay ~ $nz 1600. ~us$1000-1200 depending on exchange rate.

This is a far cry from the $80 x24 + $900 = $3000 for an iPhone 5.

Granted, I get way less data and stuff, but I'll moderate. I also get the freedom to swap and change plans to my freedom. Well sort of.
 

elektrixx

Banned
Does anyone happen to be near their iPhone 4S power adapter right now? I'm selling my old phone and want to give the customer the exact hardware.

Around the house I've found one that says "iPod USB adapter" which would not have come from any iPod here and another that says it's a 10W so I'm sure that comes from the iPad.
 

mrkgoo

Member
Does anyone happen to be near their iPhone 4S power adapter right now? I'm selling my old phone and want to give the customer the exact hardware.

Around the house I've found one that says "iPod USB adapter" which would not have come from any iPod here and another that says it's a 10W so I'm sure that comes from the iPad.

The iPod adapter comes with the iPhone. It's 5w, I believe. At least that's what happened with my iPhone 3G. I assume it's the same for later models.
 
I've always been about the black, but went with white for the iPhone 5 and feel it's the new sexy.

I took my phone to the place of purchase (Best Buy Mobile) and told them of my LTE connection issues (sometimes outside of Wi-Fi, the phone says LTE connection, however the phone browser and apps say that there is no internet connection. The only fix is a reboot). They said it sounded like a defect and not a bug, and that an Apple Store would be the only place to get a swap because they were out for the next couple of weeks. My problem is that the closest Apple Store is two hours way, which means I suppose I'll have to ship it off to Apple. :\
That or wait a couple of weeks for BB Mobile to get it in stock.
 
My eyes were opened tonight as to how different AT&T's service is in different parts of the U.S.

I live in the western suburbs of Chicago, and normally my 3G tests out at about 3mb download and .5 upload. I'm in a populated area, where you'd expect AT&T to have their shit together.

So I'm in Madison Wisconsin for a wedding this weekend and I'm noticing how everywhere I go my 3G signal is strong. So I test it and I'm getting 6mb download and 3mb download.

How can this college town have significantly better data speeds than my far more populated areas?
 
As far as carriers and their rates go...

I mean, I get that they're not a fucking charity. They're here to make money. And they DO make money, hand over fist. But at the end of the day as a consumer as a user they simply aren't offering enough to satify my needs at an acceptable price.

My top complaints is with how they handle data and what they charge for it. I don't need to torrent 50gb a month but at the same time I'm paying for tethering (which I gladly gave up my throttled unlimited plan for) and am paying 50 bucks per month for 5gb. After that it's 10 dollar per gb. I think that's insane. Especially considering most people that have those type of plans are paying upwards of 100 a month. Still not enough? Back in the day it was voice that everyone focused on but now it's all about data.

My balls ache for a reasonably priced data plan. That lets me use my data and not worry about paying 50 extra bucks a month because I streamed too much Crunchyroll or Hulu. Or decided to stream too much radio. I don't mind paying for what I use. That's life. But it should be reasonable. I'd blow a goat for rollover data. Use 2gb last month? Roll my remaining 3gb over to the next month.

Once LTE becomes ubiquitous people are going to start to really churn through data and they'll be doing more than checking email and posting the occasional picture to facebook. They'll be streaming movies and music and managing their cloud storage and tether to laptops which perform just as fast as their home networks...because they can. Because that's what the technology will allow and that's where things are rapidly heading.
 
My eyes were opened tonight as to how different AT&T's service is in different parts of the U.S.

I live in the western suburbs of Chicago, and normally my 3G tests out at about 3mb download and .5 upload. I'm in a populated area, where you'd expect AT&T to have their shit together.

So I'm in Madison Wisconsin for a wedding this weekend and I'm noticing how everywhere I go my 3G signal is strong. So I test it and I'm getting 6mb download and 3mb download.

How can this college town have significantly better data speeds than my far more populated areas?

More people = More people on AT&T all consuming the available bandwidth from the tower.

At least that's how I've always rationalized it.

I get decent 3G speeds at my mothers house. I get next to no 3G at my house. To the point AT&T sent me a free microcell.

But in NYC it turns to absolute trash. Like 0.03mb up and 0.00 down.
 
Picked up a Lightning cable so I don't have to keep taking this one from the car to the house and back. On the one hand, $19 ouch! On the other hand I used my apple store phone app to buy the cable and walked out with it without talking to anyone. It felt a bit like shoplifting!
 
Hey guys, loving my phone so far, but having 2 major problems:

  1. When I make phone calls, while talking on the phone, the phone will continuously make small vibrations throughout the entire call. I don't know if I'm just holding it wrong, but I've used smartphone (including my GF's iPhone 4) and it didn't do this. It's very annoying.
  2. People have been telling me my voice is washed out or sounds very muted/muffled during calls. Making a mock voicemail recording sounds fine, but almost everyone I've talked to has had trouble hearing me at normal levels.

Should I take it into the store? I love the phone to death but these issues are killing me as basically it doesn't perform its #1 function correctly (being a phone)

If I do decide to return it for a replacement, what and where do I need/go? I got it from the Verizon store, can I take it to an apple store? Which one would be more helpful? Do I need proof of purchase? (as its obviously still within 30 days of the purchase date)

If anyone could help me out I'd GREATLY appreciate it! Otherwise, it's phone heaven. Best phone I've ever owned.
 

Terrell

Member
I've always been about the black, but went with white for the iPhone 5 and feel it's the new sexy.

I took my phone to the place of purchase (Best Buy Mobile) and told them of my LTE connection issues (sometimes outside of Wi-Fi, the phone says LTE connection, however the phone browser and apps say that there is no internet connection. The only fix is a reboot). They said it sounded like a defect and not a bug, and that an Apple Store would be the only place to get a swap because they were out for the next couple of weeks. My problem is that the closest Apple Store is two hours way, which means I suppose I'll have to ship it off to Apple. :\
That or wait a couple of weeks for BB Mobile to get it in stock.

Did you migrate data from an older model? If so, reset your network settings and see if the problem returns. Mine did something similar when I first got it, resetting the network settings seems to have resolved it, as the problem has been gone for the past week and a half.
 

Vyer

Member
Hey guys, loving my phone so far, but having 2 major problems:

  1. When I make phone calls, while talking on the phone, the phone will continuously make small vibrations throughout the entire call. I don't know if I'm just holding it wrong, but I've used smartphone (including my GF's iPhone 4) and it didn't do this. It's very annoying.
  2. People have been telling me my voice is washed out or sounds very muted/muffled during calls. Making a mock voicemail recording sounds fine, but almost everyone I've talked to has had trouble hearing me at normal levels.

Should I take it into the store? I love the phone to death but these issues are killing me as basically it doesn't perform its #1 function correctly (being a phone)

If I do decide to return it for a replacement, what and where do I need/go? I got it from the Verizon store, can I take it to an apple store? Which one would be more helpful? Do I need proof of purchase? (as its obviously still within 30 days of the purchase date)

If anyone could help me out I'd GREATLY appreciate it! Otherwise, it's phone heaven. Best phone I've ever owned.

I'd replace, you would have no problems in an Apple Store with support even if you bought it somewhere else. Unless you are looking for a refund, in which case obviously you'd go back to where you bought it.
 
I'd replace, you would have no problems in an Apple Store with support even if you bought it somewhere else. Unless you are looking for a refund, in which case obviously you'd go back to where you bought it.

Nope, just want another one.

So should I just set up an appointment at my local Apple Store and bring the phone in, telling them what I just told you guys? I don't need a receipt or anything right?

I did buy Apple Care but I don't want this to count as me using it haha.
 

Vyer

Member
Nope, just want another one.

So should I just set up an appointment at my local Apple Store and bring the phone in, telling them what I just told you guys? I don't need a receipt or anything right?

I did buy Apple Care but I don't want this to count as me using it haha.

Correct. If it's a defect with the phone (unless you spilled a drink on it or something lol) it would be replaced free, not under the Applecare charge.
 

sruckus

Member
Does anyone happen to be near their iPhone 4S power adapter right now? I'm selling my old phone and want to give the customer the exact hardware.

Around the house I've found one that says "iPod USB adapter" which would not have come from any iPod here and another that says it's a 10W so I'm sure that comes from the iPad.

It will be the smaller square. The ipad one is a bigger square.

This is the iPhone one.

211491580.jpg
 
An AT&T rep lied to me. I went to buy the iPhone 5 today at an AT&T store today, and they were sold out. They said they would have more on Monday. I said I'd come back then, but the rep told me to order one to the store. She said it would ship within 24 hours so I could expect it by Tuesday/Wednesday. Ordering sounded better since I could make sure I got it instead of hoping I beat everybody else. I get home and have an email saying my order wont ship for another 2-3 weeks. I don't think this is a simple mistake since the rep specifically said "24 hours". She didn't say it would come soon or in a few days. She talked as if it were an exact policy of 24 hours. Now I am being told I cannot get one of the iPhones coming in on Monday, even though I've already paid mine. This is absurd. I'm going to try and raise hell on Monday about this at the store and hope something gets done about it.
 

mrkgoo

Member
It will be the smaller square. The ipad one is a bigger square.

This is the iPhone one.

211491580.jpg

Nope, only if you're in US or Japan.

Other countries got the iPod USB adapter/charger, with interchangeable plugs for different countries. It looks identical to the iPad charger, except it's not the same output, and is called "USB Charge adapter" or something. It also doesn't let you plug in the extension cable that comes with Macs (the iPad one does) - it has a notch preventing insertion.

I assume if he's asking the difference, that he's not from US.
 
An AT&T rep lied to me. I went to buy the iPhone 5 today at an AT&T store today, and they were sold out. They said they would have more on Monday. I said I'd come back then, but the rep told me to order one to the store. She said it would ship within 24 hours so I could expect it by Tuesday/Wednesday. Ordering sounded better since I could make sure I got it instead of hoping I beat everybody else. I get home and have an email saying my order wont ship for another 2-3 weeks. I don't think this is a simple mistake since the rep specifically said "24 hours". She didn't say it would come soon or in a few days. She talked as if it were an exact policy of 24 hours. Now I am being told I cannot get one of the iPhones coming in on Monday, even though I've already paid mine. This is absurd. I'm going to try and raise hell on Monday about this at the store and hope something gets done about it.

I am going to go in Monday and ask them to give me the 64 GB models they got in for walk-in purchase since I was lied to. If they say no, I am going to say I am going to go buy one from Verizon and return theirs as soon as I get it and close my account with them. If that doesn't do anything, then I am going to try and take this up with their company. If that doesn't do anything, then I'm going to Verizon.
 

Skel1ingt0n

I can't *believe* these lazy developers keep making file sizes so damn large. Btw, how does technology work?
Yep, battery did much better today!

8038086477_f5dd92be71_z.jpg


Got up at about 9am and the phone easily lasted the day while at half brightness. This is the kind of life I'd like to get all the time - I just won't because it drains so much faster when not on Wifi.

I was on wifi for about 9 of those hours, and out and about on cellular LTE for the other six of those hours.

Usage was mostly texts. Push email on five accounts going at all times. A fair bit of internet browsing. About 30 minutes of Pandora while at the gym. And a couple short Youtube videos.

... just another update for anyone that cares ;)
 

lupinko

Member
Ok, just ordered a 64gb black and slate model unlocked, Apple says I'll get it early November.

Oh and I just ordered two Birchwood Casey super black finishing touch up pens. If those are good enough for scuffs on a M16 assault rifle, then I'm sure they'll do just fine for iPhone 5.
 

border

Member
border: Thanks, but I have done my research, at my residence I get no Verizon, T-Mobile, Cricket, Consumer Cellular, StraightTalk (no data service here), Sprint, Virgin, Clear, Boost, etc. I get 2-3 bars of AT&T Edge around the house if I am lucky, when I am in the garden it usually drops down to 1 bar, and I lose data connectivity all together. When it snowed the last winter, I was out of cellular service for days. But thanks for pointing out it is due to my incompetence and ignorance.

I'm just saying, it's not always the consumers fault.

Except that AT&T has their own prepaid service, AT&T GoPhone. It's $24.99/month for 450 minutes and unlimited texts. The same service would cost you $60/month on an AT&T contract. Data is a little more expensive ($25/GB but it rolls over if you don't use up your balance in 30 days).

I don't see why StraightTalk's data wouldn't work at your house -- it is AT&T's network. I'm not sure why you are so concerned about data at your house anyway. Set up a Wifi network at home and call it a day.
 

ReconPeon

Member
Man, I have seen a lot of people complaining about battery life.

My phone is getting better battery life than any other smart phone I have ever owned and that is with heavy usage and LTE.
 

lupinko

Member
In-store pick up/reservation?? Why wait that long?

There's no instore pickup/reservation option for Apple.com orders for Canada. The Apple retail stores in Canada only sell iPhone 5 on contract with Lebron, Wade and Bosh, err Rogers, Bell and Telus.

And yeah I wanted an unlocked iPhone 5, and the only way to get those in Canada is to order online with Apple, it'll come straight from Foxconn anyway.
 
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