OK, here's another blog that has virtually nothing to do with pathology, except that there are an ever-growing number of Iphone/Ipad/Ipod "Apps" that provide increasing access to pathology information. Several new and exciting ones are on the horizon from LWW, but that's a topic for another day.
For several years my cell phone has been an Iphone-4, using AT&T as my service provider. I resisted the urge to upgrade to the 4S because my 2-year contract with AT&T was still in effect and the 4S was not compatible with 4G/LTE data transmission rates. With the advent of the Iphone-5, I had the chance to get a 4G/LTE compatible cell phone and switch from AT&T to Verizon. AT&T may work fine for you, especially if you live in a large urban area, but in the suburban and rural areas of central Virginia it's a mess with frequent loss of signal and dropped calls due to overloaded servers, even when the signal is strong.
The Verizon service plan costs a little more than AT&T and I lost my unlimited "grandfathered" data plan that I had with AT&T, but most of my data transfers are via WiFi so it hasn't been a big issue. The signal strength, coverage areas, and dropped calls are all MUCH better, at least in my area (your "mileage" may vary).
Switching from one sophisticated electronic device (home computer, laptop, smart phone), to another can be a traumatic experience with all sorts of concerns about data loss, lost and forgotten passwords, familiarization with a new device, etc. I've had a few nasty experiences in this regard over the years, and I'm sure you have as well. Happily, this is an area where Apple has almost always excelled, and keeps doing better and better. I downloaded the latest version of Itunes, backed up my old Iphone-4 on both Itunes and Icloud, activated the new Iphone-5 and connected it to Itunes on my computer. I then told Itunes to update my new Iphone with all my "goodies" and went off to eat dinner.
When I returned, presto, the new Iphone-5 had all my apps, passwords, contacts, calendars, music, videos, settings, etc. in place. Many of the Apps even picked up exactly where I had left off with the old Iphone. E-mail accounts, a minor problem I'd had in the past when migrating from an Iphone 3 to 4, were set up perfectly with all the proper settings, passwords, etc. This was the most painless upgrade experience I've ever had!
I had provided Verizon with my AT&T account information and within minutes of activating the new Iphone on Verizon, my AT&T account was shut down and my phone number had been painlessly migrated to the new phone.
What about the phone itself? Well, I'm still learning. There are many incremental but much appreciated improvements. The screen is larger to conform to the widescreen TV aspect ratio of 16:7, allowing better viewing of videos, a feature that I have yet to use. The retina display is noticeably better than the screen on the Iphone-4. The phone is slightly thinner and feels lighter, two features that don't mean a lot to me. When you put the phone in an OtterBox case for protection, the decreased thickness is even less noticable.
When not in WiFi data mode, the Verizon LTE network is MUCH faster on data transfer than the old AT&T 3G system and 4G/LTE, when available should be amazing. Not surprisingly, the higher data transfer comes at the expense of increased battery drain, though this hasn't been a major problem and charging at night seems to be all that's required after a long day's use.
My two most favorite new features are the voice to text system, allowing you to dictate notes, text messages, calendar events, etc. and have them transcribed with amazing accuracy. Beats the heck out of typing on that tiny keyboard. "Siri" is a hoot and undoubtedly the direction of the future in human - computer interfaces. The system is amazingly adept at figuring out what you want and supplying the correct answer. I've just begun to explore this very helpful feature.
I'm told by fairly reliable sources that unlike prior Iphones, which were service provider specific, the Iphone-5 can actually be used with ANY current cellphone provider, with just a change of the SIM memory card. If true, this makes life easier for Apple (only one model), and much easier for the user who wishes to keep their phone but change service providers.
So, should you buy and Iphone-5? Well, if you're happy with your current service provider and have an Iphone-4s or even an Iphone-4, it may not be worth the extra features to you. If you have an Iphone-3 or Iphone-3s, it's definitely time for a change, and if you want to switch services providers, now's the time.