iPhone 4S: Coming Soon…

Well, just a few weeks after launch and I’m taking the plunge.
iPhone 4S has been ordered so this is the last blog entry (possibly) from my trusty companion for the last two years, iPhone 3GS.
iPhone 3GS:
The first thing to say very clearly is that the iPhone 3GS is still performing exceptionally well. If the iOS updates were a little more efficient on resources I’d probably be keeping the little beauty.
With the exception of high end applications really written with the iPad and iPhone 4 in mind everything is running well. If you run it side by side with an iPhone 4S then you notice the difference pretty quickly. But then most of the time you’ll be on your own writing a blog or playing games or making a call. Sometimes I forget its a phone.
Comparison:
If you want to see the difference yourself then I’d recommend using the application Substrate. This little App simply mimics a sort of cracked rock formation, drawing the cracks and impurities live.
As you can boost the configuration to really test any phone it’s excellent at showing the power differences between them.
Once downloaded simply push the number of cracks, amount of sand and speed up to full on both devices.
Then kick them off.

If you want, however, you could just check out the official pages below.
Why now then?:
Well, it is true that I could save about £30 if I kept the iPhone 3GS, every month. But afte considering the difference to the iPhone 4 not enough of an enticement, even with the Retina display, now I can see enough of a performance hike to truly warrant the outlay. Of course I like the idea of Siri but will it be useful?
The big feature I can see me using is Location Based Reminders.
Tariff:
Always a pain.
When I obtained the iPhone 3GS it cost £70 per month to get all the facilities available. When tethering and Mobile Hotspot came along that became nearer £90. Less if you took on some of the one off cost of the phone but still high.
Not so any more.
For a monthly rate well below £45 you can get far more talk time than you can possibly use, unlimited text messages and 500MB of data. Plenty if you aren’t going nuts.
When I agree my new contract I get:

• A new iPhone 4S
• USB Tethering enabled
• Bluetooth Tethering enabled
• Mobile Hot Spot enabled
• Siri
• Location based Reminders
• Unlimited text messages
• 900 minutes Talk Time
• 500MB data
• 20 MMS

I did have on my previous contract:

• iPhone 3GS
• Unlimited Data
• 1000 Minutes Talk Time
• 1000 Text Messages

Plus, with the new tariff I get to keep the iPhone 3GS and pay £5 less a month and I pay nothing for the iPhone 4S. I payed £99 for the iPhone 3GS.
I really think the small drop in call time and the loss of unlimited data is, in the circumstances a bargain. I never got close to using my old allowances anyway.
iPhone 4S:
Well, I haven’t got it yet but you’ll be the first to know my thoughts, good or bad.
References:
iPhone model comparison
Hey Daddio, makers of Substrate