Determining whether you should get the iPhone 5s now or wait 6 months for the iPhone 6 depends on what phone you currently own. If your phone today is not too outdated, and it still completes your bare-minimum needs, then you should be able to wait another 6 months.
If you rely on your phone for graphic intensive gaming or processing-power hungry apps, then waiting may be a bad idea. Waiting is definitely a bad idea if your current phone interferes with your work and entertainment needs because it lags or crashes. You might as well get an iPhone 5s today if that’s the case.
In this article we’re going to weigh the benefits of waiting to purchase an iPhone 6 or upgrading to an iPhone 5s as soon as possible. In the end it’s up to you how much longer you can deal with your phone if it’s outdated.
Just keep in mind that the closer we get to September, the more sense it will make to wait for the iPhone 6.
Buying an iPhone 5s in May is okay. But buying an iPhone 5s in August, a month before the iPhone 6 comes out, is just a waste of money. Waiting that extra month could get you the iPhone 6 for the same price which is going to be twice as fast and have a bigger screen, and even a longer battery life.
Price and Storage Size
iPhone 6 will likely start at 32GB instead of 16GB
The iPhone 6 is expected to start at 32GB and offer models all the way up to 128GB. Buying and iPhone 5s 32GB phone without a contract costs $749.00, and $299 with a contract. The iPhone 6 32GB is expected to cost $749, and $299 with a contract.
Although the starting price for the iPhone 6 is going to be raised $100, the starting storage will also be raised, so in essence the phone still costs as much as previous ones.
Screen Size and Display Quality
The iPhone 5s has a screen size of 4” but the iPhone 6 is expected to have a size of 5.5.
Whereas the current iPhone 5s display has about 730,000 pixels, the iPhone 6 is expected to have 1.5 million pixels.
Dimensions, Design and Weight
It’s unclear how the extra screen size will affect the width of the iPhone 6. One thing is for certain though, the iPhone 6 is going to be thinner than the 5s.
Design-wise the iPhone 6 isn’t expected to be much different than the 5s, but it will be much more durable.
Processing Power
Credits: Martin Hajek
Every single iPhone released by Apple has had double the processing power as the phone before it. This means that the iPhone 5s will be outdated by far when the iPhone 6 comes out. Graphic processing on the iPhone 6 will also improve drastically.
What this means is that if you buy the iPhone 5s between May, 2014 and August, 2014, it will be outdated within the next one to two years. The iPhone 6 on the other hand will be a leader in phones for another two years, and even then it will have another two years before it becomes outdated.
Spending $299 with a contract on a new iPhone 5s 32GB today means you’re buying a phone that will need to be upgrade within the next two years. Waiting to buy the iPhone 6 32GB in September means that you won’t need to upgrade your phone for at least three years. Obviously some people would rather wait it out these couple of months and benefit down the road from it.
Battery Life
Credits: Martin Hajek
The iPhone 5s lasts up to 10 hours on talk-time, whereas the iPhone 6 is expected to be bumped up to 11-12 hours. The larger screen will make give Apple more room for adding a bigger battery in the iPhone 6.
Other Features
Whereas the iPhone 5s does not feature NFC technology, the iPhone 6 is expected to have it. If you want to use digital wallets like Google Wallet, or to quickly share photos with friends nearby, waiting for the iPhone 6’s NFC features makes sense.
The iPhone 6 may also be the first Apple phone to feature gaze technology. This gaze feature will basically allow you to pause movies automatically when you look away from your screen, or to even flick through images with your eyes.
If you’re interested in having the most up-to-date phone then waiting a couple of months and purchasing the iPhone 6 will land you some really great features that the iPhone 5 is missing.
Camera
Although it’s not really clear what Apple is planning for the iPhone 6 in the camera department, one thing is for sure: the iPhone 6’s camera will significantly surpass the 5s’s quality.
Credits: Martin Hajek
New iPhones in the past only offered small advancements in quality and color accuracy but the iPhone 6 is going to be much different. Having re-designed iOS 7 from the ground for the first time ever, it’s possible that Apple will redesign every aspect of the iPhone 6’s hardware as well.
With such a radical new designs may see a strong emphasis on camera improvement, especially since Apple has been lagging behind Android phones in this area.
Conclusions
The iPhone 6 benefits outweigh the downside of having to wait for it. Some people that are running on outdated iPhones or Android devices might want to consider just getting the 5s right away, but the majority of phone users should just wait.
Waiting for the iPhone 6 a couple of months will get you a phone for the same price as the iPhone 5s that isn’t going to get outdated until 3-4 years. The iPhone 5s has already been out for a year and a half, and buying it at the end of its life cycle isn’t the best decision now that we’re so close to the 6 coming out.