You can now pre-order the iPhone 4S, which will be delivered to your door and be available in stores next Friday, Oct. 14.
But my advice, with all due respect to the memory of Steve Jobs and the, um, shall we say misguided folks already camped out at varying Apple stores willing to waiting a week on the pavement (?!) for iPhone 4S to arrive:
If you have an iPhone 4, don't buy a 4S – at least until the reviews come in.
Or, if you're jonesing for your introductory iPhone (I'm talking to you, iPhone-starved Sprint subscribers), opt instead for the $99 iPhone 4 or even the free 3GS.
Why am I down on the 4S? Other than Siri, Apple's voice-controlled digital assistant (still in beta), the many upgrades from iPhone 4 to iPhone 4S are minimal and, quite frankly, not worth the money.
And I believe there will be an iPhone 5, likely to be the major upgrade with a larger screen and 4G connectivity we expected the 4S to have (#$%&*@ it), less than a year from now.
Pictures, processing and planet
Even though 4S has an 8 MP camera with five lens elements and face detection, as well as 1080p video recording and may be the best camera in a smart phone, both the four-element lens 5 MP camera and the 720p video recording in the 4 are already pretty damn good for most casual snaps and clips.
As far as the 1.2 GHz processor in the 4S compared to the 1 GHz chip in the iPhone 4: Tweaks and heavy gamers may detect the processing speed differences, but you won't. Processing power is critical for getting graphics to load fast, but the muscle to pump pixels onto iPhone's small screen is not nearly as critical as they are on iPad's larger display. And most iPhone apps are designed to run using as little processing as possible.
4S is also a "world" phone – inside are both CDMA and GMS antennas, which means you'll be able to connect in any country with mobile phone service.
But in the 18 months I've owned a 4, I've traveled to Japan, Spain and Germany, and had no problem connecting in any of these locales. If you're an iPhone owner and you travel overseas frequently, you know if you need a dual antenna iPhone.
3G connectivity 'improvements'?
And you likely will see little difference in our domestic data connections. Yes, 4S has connection speeds that are theoretically twice as fast as iPhone 4 and 3GS (14.4 megabits per second vs. 7.2 Mbps) on AT&T's HSPA 3G network and Verizon and Sprint's 3G EV-DO Rev. A network.
But in the real world, the differences between a Web page filling in three seconds instead five seconds is hardly a reason for upgrading to 4S. If you plan on using your iPhone as an mobile hotspot – well, I wouldn't. I own an iPhone but bought and subscribe to a separate Verizon 4G LTE MiFi modem because 3G, regardless of its speed, is too slow for supplying an Internet connection to another device.
Plus, all iPhone carriers are concentrating on building out their speedier 4G networks. Nearly all new smart phones other than the 4S are built to run on the new 4G networks. The existing 3G networks on which iPhone 4S will operate are unlikely to get any but the most cursory improvements.
iPhone screening
One reason to step-up to a 4S might have been a larger screen. But continuing to hold over iPhone's 3.5-inch display is, to me, a stunning case of screen size arrested development.
Four years ago, when the original iPhone first appeared, its 3.5-inch screen was larger than anything out there. Even with the incremental 3GS, iPhone still had larger-than-average display real estate.
But screens on other Android phones are now regularly 4-inches and larger. In 2011, no new smart phone claiming to be cutting edge should have a screen of "just" 3.5 inches.
Non-buying advice
Perhaps if you add up all these incremental 4S improvements you can arrive at a rational upgrade sum.
I just don't think the improvements add up, especially after you subtract no 4G and the same, suddenly small, 3.5-inch screen.
So, should anyone buy an iPhone 4S?
Well, I will or, rather, I already have, even though I was up most of the night trying to pre-ordering it (if you eschew my "don't buy" advice, use one of the less crowded carrier sites rather than the mobbed Apple online store, which I finally gave up wrestling with after 90 minutes I'll never get back).
This is not a "do as I say, not as I do" situation. It's my job to get and tell you about the new iPhone. Maybe I'll even change my mind and make a "buy" recommendation once I get my grubby geek fingers on it.
iPhone 4S alternatives
If you are quivering and drooling after your first iPhone, opt instead for the $99 8 GB iPhone 4. You'll still get all the advantages of the iOS 5 operating system and iCloud at half to a quarter of the price of the 4S.
If/when iPhone 5 appears in less than a year from now (fingers crossed), the $99 you spend now won't seem as big a waste of money.
3GS owners have the toughest decision. 4S actually is a significant performance upgrade over the 3GS in camera/video, processing speed and battery life.
But if you already own an iPhone 4, there is little reason to upgrade to a 4S.
Unless you've got a broken screen, or your spouse or child is begging you for your iPhone hand-me-down, try and hold out a few more months to ascertain if iPhone 5 is impending sooner rather than later.
P.S.
Black Turtleneck Friday, the homage to Steve Jobs being organized and promoted on Facebook, has been rescheduled for next Friday, Oct. 14, to coincide with the availability of the iPhone 4S. I'm afraid I jumped the gun – I wore mine all day yesterday.