Is iPhone 5 with 4G LTE Reason Enough for Lawyers to Upgrade?
The new iPhone 5 is expected to be unveiled September 12 and all signs point to it having access to 4G LTE as part of the deal.
If you're already on the iPhone bandwagon chances are the new model will look attractive but do you actually need to upgrade your phone?
No one knows that kinds of additional features the phone will have but assuming the only real plus is the 4G LTE (we know we're underselling the potential upgrades), would it still be worth it for attorneys to upgrade?
That depends on how you run your practice.
The benefit of 4G LTE is speed, pure and simple. While iPhone doesn't currently support the feature, smartphone companies with 4G LTE access have considerably faster upload and download speeds.
In some cases 4G LTE can be as much as 10 times faster than 3G, according to iPhone J.D.
Faster is often better especially for lawyers who are on a time crunch. The question is whether this speed makes a noticeable difference in your work.
For downloading and uploading briefs and pleadings you might not see a big difference in the speed of 4G since text documents don't take very long to move around the internet. That of course changes if the documents are regularly over 30 pages - bigger files take longer to load.
If your smartphone use skews more towards video then you probably want to seriously consider upgrading to 4G LTE.
No, we aren't suggesting that you're watching YouTube clips when you should be working, we mean if you video-chat with clients or hold virtual meetings using your phone.
Streaming video or audio, which also includes getting in MCLE credits or other professional training, takes more power and 4G LTE can help you get it.
If you are considering upgrading, check that your provider offers 4G LTE it near you. While Sprint, Verizon, and AT&T have fairly wide coverage, it's not available everywhere.
Chances are some people will get the new iPhone just because it is new, regardless of any added features. But if you're an iPhone enthusiast and use a lot of bandwidth in your work, you might want to consider upgrading to the iPhone 5 for the 4G LTE. That is, if it actually has it.
Related Resources:
- The 4G LTE iPhone Will Cost You a lot More with a Data Share Plan (Yahoo)
- Lawyers and iPhones: Some 300K US Lawyers Use iPhone (FindLaw's Technologist)
- Top 5 iPhone Apps for Lawyers on the Go (FindLaw's Technologist)