Apple Event September 2013

[B H Kim]

I just ordered a 5s for my wife about 15 minutes ago and the Apple Store had every color/size/carrier combination available for shipping in 1-3 business days.  The gold phones on Verizon and AT&T are already up to 7-10 business day shipping, but everything else is still 1-3 days.

 

[SPDougie]

I just ordered a 5s for my wife about 15 minutes ago and the Apple Store had every color/size/carrier combination available for shipping in 1-3 business days.  The gold phones on Verizon and AT&T are already up to 7-10 business day shipping, but everything else is still 1-3 days.

 
When I checked on the Verizon site it was shipping by Sept 24, so I figure I'll just head into the store tomorrow and pick one up instead of waiting a week for it to arrive.

 

[ivanvamp]

So I have the 4s and have really never had any problems with it.  Works well, battery life is good (even on iOS7 so far).  The 5s is out tomorrow and I have an upgrade available from Verizon.  Besides it being a 4G LTE phone whereas the 4s isn't, what are the real benefits of upgrading?  I should also note that upgrading will cause me to lose my unlimited data.

 
It took some work, but I managed to convince Verizon to grandfather my existing data plan when I upgraded to my iPhone 4.  Of course, my data plan is a sissy one: $15 a month for 150 mb.  Which, surprisingly, is sufficient for me.  I am constantly around wi-fi, and so I really only use my data for email, checking sports scores, etc., and only when I'm not near wi-fi, which isn't that often.  I have a buddy who got them to grandfather his unlimited data plan in when he upgraded.
 
Maybe you can sweet-talk them into a similar thing.

 

[Murderer's Crow]

You can't sweet talk them, they won't do it.

 

[JerBear]

It takes no sweet talking to grandfather old limited data plans, they will just let you do it.  I just upgraded my wife's line with the $20 300MB plan and they didn't even try to change my plan. She also has a grandfathered texting plan (500 + unlimited Verizon network) that they don't care about either. Its only the unlimited plans that you can't get anymore.

 

[Seven Costanza]

 
Yes I would lose unlimited data unless I pay for the full price of the phone.  I do know where is a new Verizon Edge, which is a carbon copy of T-Mobile's no plan and trade in for a new phone whenever you want but you still end up paying the full-price of the phone and am not sure if I would also lose my unlimited data with that.

 
Re: EDGE and JUMP
 
http://www.theverge.com/2013/7/19/4536042/jump-edge-next-early-upgrade-plans-compared
 
They're all bad, JUMP is the least bad of the 3 major options.  You're going to lose your (vzw) unlimited if you do anything other than buy a new phone completely out of pocket and don't modify your current agreement one iota.  Of course, old iPhones are great at retaining value, so if you do end up buying at full price, you can at least mitigate some of that huge cost by selling your old phone. 

 

[jayhoz]

I'm not having battery issues, so far find that the iOS is what I expected (like Nip said, no new wows), but my biggest complaint is that the Control Center (which I was really stoked about) is virtually impossible to activate on my iPhone 5 because of my Otterbox Defender case.  Forums are getting slammed with people using the same case and other similar "bulky" cases making it extremely difficult to swipe the CC up.  That's disappointing.

 
Yaz, are you still having this issue or have you figured out how to open CC more consistently now?  Otterbox is telling us, as you might expect, that this issue is being overblown and it is pretty easy to open CC.

 

[doc]

I just ordered a 5s for my wife about 15 minutes ago and the Apple Store had every color/size/carrier combination available for shipping in 1-3 business days.  The gold phones on Verizon and AT&T are already up to 7-10 business day shipping, but everything else is still 1-3 days.

Shipping is 7-10 days on the space gray AT&T phone I just ordered, and I did get to keep my Unlimited data plan

 

[Corsi]

I'm on unlimited data for Verizon and would LOVE not to give it up.  Am I better off just buying someone's used iPhone 5 or should I forego unlimited data and get one of the new iPhones?
 
Here's my data usage through 1/3 of my current cycle:
 

 Usage Type:​

Gigabytes

 

  My Usage:​

0.788

 

 

[AlNipper49]

I'm on unlimited data for Verizon and would LOVE not to give it up.  Am I better off just buying someone's used iPhone 5 or should I forego unlimited data and get one of the new iPhones?
 
Here's my data usage through 1/3 of my current cycle:
 

 Usage Type:​

Gigabytes

 

  My Usage:​

0.788

 

 
What are you, a grandmother?  With that amount of data usage perhaps a rotary phone is a better option for you.

 

[derekson]

I didn't have to work today, so I decided to just go to the Apple store for launch day and grab a 5S. It wasn't really that bad.
 
Loving the 5s so far, it definitely feels like a worthy upgrade from my 4s. I'm surprised how bright the screen is even set at around 40% brightness. My 4S was bright but this thing is just crazy bright for a reasonable backlight setting.

 

[IpswichSox]

I'm on unlimited data for Verizon and would LOVE not to give it up.  Am I better off just buying someone's used iPhone 5 or should I forego unlimited data and get one of the new iPhones?
 
Here's my data usage through 1/3 of my current cycle:
 

 Usage Type:​

Gigabytes

 

  My Usage:​

0.788

 

 
I reluctantly gave up my unlimited plan last year when I got the 5, and it's very easy to understand and manage your data usage online.  And as Nip points out, you're not exactly a heavy data user, so you will be fine. Make the jump.

 

[derekson]

By the way, it seemed like the Apple store had a ton of Space Gray models but next to no silver OR gold 5s models.

 

[Corsi]

 
What are you, a grandmother?  With that amount of data usage perhaps a rotary phone is a better option for you.

 
I know, wtf.  That seems really low.  But since moving back to Boston, I no longer stream music to bluetooth in my car and I don't have to watch the Sox on mlb.tv.  Most months I think I was up over 3GB but Verizon doesn't let us see historical data usage as far as I can tell.

 

[mt8thsw9th]

Why would Bluetooth music impact your data usage?

 
Because he's likely streaming the music from another source like Pandora or Spotify, and just connecting to the stereo via Bluetooth. Do people still load mp3s onto their phones?
 
Wait, what ever happened to Dr. Bluetooth?

 

[AlNipper49]

Why would Bluetooth music impact your data usage?

 
Presumably because it was streaming Pandora or some crapola like that

 

[AlNipper49]

damn you mt

 

[Yaz4Ever]

 
Yaz, are you still having this issue or have you figured out how to open CC more consistently now?  Otterbox is telling us, as you might expect, that this issue is being overblown and it is pretty easy to open CC.

Yes.  My daughter's boyfriend was able to make it work, but it took him a few minutes to work it out.  He's got little sissy girly fingers, though.

 

[SPDougie]

Alright so there is an issue that one of you might know better than me how to fix.  So I purchased the 5s this morning and the Verizon guy sets up my phone without even asking me.  He sets it up like a new phone so of course none of my apps or data is on there.  After I sign in with my Apple ID I can re-install all my apps but when I go to iMessages it is completely blank as well as my recent phone calls.
 
I decided to reset the phone and restore from an iCloud backup that I did for my 4s last night.  After that all my data and apps are on my 5s, easy.  Now here is the problem.  It restored it exactly like a 4s...apps are in 4 rows, leaving one blank and the new apps on the 5s don't appear.
 
So the question is, what is the easiest way to fix this?  Can I set mine up as a new phone and get my iMessage and phone data on there?

 

[derekson]

You just need to manually rearrange the apps. It's restoring from the layout you had on your 4S, which only had 4 rows available. There's no need to set it up as a new phone.

 

[mt8thsw9th]

 
So the question is, what is the easiest way to fix this?  Can I set mine up as a new phone and get my iMessage and phone data on there?

 
Assuming you have the iCloud backup you want saved:
 
General> Reset>Erase All Content and Settings. It will be how it was out of the box, so just restore from your backup.
 
Reason number 1,394,493 to never go to a carrier's store to get a device. Sorry you had to go through that.

 

[canderson]

I haven't updated yet, but my mom did and when it restarted it requires a passcode. How can she turn off that feature?

 

[Corsi]

Why would Bluetooth music impact your data usage?

 
They covered it, but I'd often listen to Toucher & Rich via TuneIn when I was living outside Boston.

 

[NortheasternPJ]

How's TuneIn on battery life? I use ooTunes for streaming and it murders the battery.

 

[Murderer's Crow]

Anyone get their hands on a gold? I'm going to wait for one.

 

[canderson]

Settings> General > pass code lock. Then switch it to off.

Thanks, I'll forward to her.

 

[PseuFighter]

took only a few hours to brick my 5s.
 
was working fine, went and downloaded google maps, and it just died. now it's not getting past the spinning wheel when restarting. been stuck on it for 20 minutes.

 

[Murderer's Crow]

What have you tried to fix it?
 
You do the hold down power + home for 30 seconds?

 

[ScubaSteveAvery]

My battery life isn't as bad as others here have noted, but I have noticed a decrease, especially when playing media. Using Audible destroys my battery, which is odd since the books are already downloaded. The phone lost 10% overnight just sitting there.

It's not at a crucial point , but I really wish the next release of iPhones contains some type of battery improvement.

 

[PseuFighter]

did the power + home for 30 seconds. repeatedly. still not getting past the spinning wheel. actually, right now, it's on a frozen spinning wheel.
 
it actually shows up in itunes when plugged in (can get it to show the itunes icon), but it's not letting me do a restore (it says it's passcode protected, and there's no way to enter the passcode).
 
really disgraceful if it's bricked this quickly just after downloading the google maps app.

 

[PseuFighter]

heading back to the store to make an exchange. we had a great two hours together, this phone and i.

 

[Sportsbstn]

I lucked out this morning and only had 10 people show up before me in line.  As I expected, the finger print sensor is tremendous and for me very helpful.  The fact it can and very likely will be expanded in the somewhat near future to make purchases in stores is an added benefit.  
 
LIke some here, I was coming from the 4S, so this phone is crazy fast, especially the internet.  The phone I have actually found a little bit worse of cell signal strength which is a bit weird so far.  Siri seems to be pretty well improved as well.   If you like playing games though, that might be where the 5S stands up most, the graphics and smoothness are excellent, well above the S4 or HTC1.  
 
So far overall and excellent phone.

 

[PseuFighter]

props to the at&t store for replacing the bricked one no questions asked. really hoping this isn't the result of some rogue file in my icloud or something.

 

[Foulkey Reese]

My wife's 5 is just pissing battery after this update. Any non obvious tricks to help?

 

[TFP]

Check the background app updating and also the system location services. Those can be cool but come defaulted on since they're all new for ios7. Settings - privacy - location services - system services. Having the "Frequent Locations" turned on has GPS going almost all the time.

With battery, I've found that when it's at rest it drains far less than it used to. But when I'm actually using it, it just pisses it away. I've had to charge twice today. Granted, I've left some of the location things on to see how useful they are (likely not useful enough) so I know I can make that a little better.

 

[NortheasternPJ]

Turn Weather off especially if you haven't. Everytime i was waking my phone it was using location services.

 

[GlenMorangie]

.

 

[Foulkey Reese]

Thanks for the tips guys.

As an Android guy, I think IOS7 looks beautiful.

 

[Tony C]

I love parts of the new interface -- the simple modernist stuff -- and don't like what seems a bit cartoonish. One question, in re saving battery life this has some tips:  http://www.thebuzz.com/pages/buzzinsider.html?article=11668330#.Uj0hb5dTgUs.facebook
 
the first of their tips is:
 

Disable Background Motion

The dynamic wallpapers and 3D parallax in iOS 7 are extremely visual effects, but also are very big battery killers. If you are willing to give us these two new effects, you will be on your way to a more efficient battery life.

Disable this by going into Settings > General > Accessibility > Reduce Motion
 

 
I can't see any particular advantage to this -- could care less in re the wallpaper, and on 3D I sorta like it on the maps but basically don't care. Something I'm missing there before turning it off?

 

[Oil Can Dan]

I went to the Apple store in Hingham this morning and all they had for AT&T were 64g models.  I ordered a 16g on via the apple website instead, and they list it shipping in "October".

 

[Adrian's Dome]

I went to the Apple store in Hingham this morning and all they had for AT&T were 64g models. I ordered a 16g on via the apple website instead, and they list it shipping in "October".


Same thing I did this morning.

Judging from past experiences Apple usually beats the projected shipping dates pretty easily, though.

 

[Oil Can Dan]

Yeah, not sweating it.  This is for my wife and she's fine with a wait.  I'm sticking with the regular 5 until my next upgrade in a year, but I'm also beginning to get a wandering eye towards the Galaxy S4 or something other than apple.

 

[Time to Mo Vaughn]

Thanks for the tips guys.
As an Android guy, I think IOS7 looks beautiful.

 
I'm with you on this. I'm an all Google guy for the most part, but I think Apple did a great job going away with the skeuomorphism in iOS7.  There's actually been a big trend overall with online sites moving away from that textured/3D button look for links and things like that and I think it's great. GMail has done this for a while and it really looks a lot better.

 

[Tony C]

I agree on that, but the rounded corners and boring grey backdrops are not good design choices from the perspective of the modernist look they're going for.

 

[Murderer's Crow]

Go to best buy or target. I called and they said they didn't have any. I walked in and they had 6 white left in stock and promised they'd have more. She showed me Gold and Silver on her monitor as arriving this week.

 

[graffam198]

Upgraded from the 4 yesterday.  Really a huge difference in experience.  The fingerprint scanner is hit or miss.  I had to memorize my right thumb twice to get full coverage.  Other than that, absolutely love it.

 

[Oil Can Dan]

I have to say I'm digging ios7 so far.

 

[BoSoxFink]

Quick question regarding the unlimited grandfathering data plan with AT&T. I am currently on my own plan, but both my finances plan and I are up in November and want to go on a family plan. Will I lose my unlimited data plan by doing this? I really want to keep it as I know I've gone over the 2 GB many times.

 

[Murderer's Crow]

Family plan can't grandfather unlimited data.

 

[Adrian's Dome]

Family plan can't grandfather unlimited data.

 
I've been grandfathering my unlimited data for years on a family plan with AT&T. Just did it again yesterday. I'm the only phone left, of four, that still has it.
 
Can't you just add a new line to your account and keep your plan?