iPhone4 to iOS6

I have the 4 as well and did the upgrade to iOS6.

Phone calls: No different really, looks a bit different. Have some different options on incoming calls, you can choose to be reminded later or to reply with a message rather than answering.

Calendar: the same.

Maps: Google maps doesn't have turn by turn on the iPhone either. Turn by turn means a voice telling you what to do next. Google maps doesn't do that. Apple maps looks pretty much the same to me. Except now you get pics of your destination a bit easier and you can get reviews easier. I haven't seen a downside to the Apple maps yet, but I don't use them all that often unless traveling. If you want voice turn by turn get the free MapQuest app, works well and is free.

Everything else is pretty well the same, no huge differences, some things look a bit different.

No disadvantage I guess.

You won't get Siri by doing the upgrade. 

You shouldn't lose anything in the process. I didn't lose anything, nothing moved around on me. Easy process, no bugs that I have found so far.

Personally I'd say it's all about the maps.  The other features are nice upgrades and worth it, but the maps seems to be the only sticking point.  The new apple maps program does have turn by turn, but it doesn't have street view and the mapping is still a little buggy.  The 3d maps feature is really cool on the new phone, but I still like google street view better.

So, if I were in your shoes I'd go to the apple store and spend some quality time with the new map software on the iphone 5 and see if you like it or not.  Search for several places you commonly go to.

Based on the results of the test you should feel a lot more confident about upgrading or not.

I upgraded my wife's 4s to OS6.  Nothing was lost, everything was basically the same except for the advertised improvements.  Wife is happy.

BUT BUT BUT...

I had some scary moments.  I decided to upgrade using Itunes instead of Wifi.  Plugged the phone in, it asked if I wanted to upgrade to OS6, and of course, I said YES...

Took 30 minutes to download the 912mb file, then started the upgrade.  When it was done, I got an "error" message and gave some advice how to fix...  The phone shuts off, and when it starts, it started like a BRAND NEW PHONE.  Everything was gone.  My wife has TONS of vital information on it and was leaving for LA in an hour.  I almost threw up with panic.

Itunes then gave me the "recovery" option.  Joy.  Panic probably increased.  RECOVER????  Great.  Thankfully, the recovery file was dated just moments before it tried the upgrade.  It must have done that as a safety measure before swaping OS.  I figured if I could AT LEAST get the phone back to where it was, I wouldn't be getting that divorce for messing up her phone.

Well, after the recover, I noticed it was now OS6.  So it recovered AND upgraded.  Then it took about 20 minutes to update all the apps.  She had 9gig of pictures on the phone and it took almost 24 hours for the phone to get them back from the cloud I guess OR rebuild them from the SD card?

She grabbed the phone and then hit the road for LA.  I checked in over the next 24 hours to make sure everything seems ok.  Her phone is  her lifeline for a lot of things.  It was a VERY tense 24 hours, and scary as hell 60 minutes after the crash...  But everything seems perfectly fine and it's been 4 days since the adventure.

Just a "fun" story.

Yeah, I haven't really noticed a big upside.

The two things I was excited about were turn by turn voice directions and facetime over cell rather than wifi. Both things the 4s got and greedy Apple decided not to give to the 4.

That pushed me over the edge, I am going to jailbreak my 4 so I can have those two things as well as tethering. Pretty lame that they would deliberately not give stuff to the 4 that it is more than capable of handling.

If you already have a 5 then you won't need to upgrade.  

Yeah, I haven't really noticed a big upside.

The two things I was excited about were turn by turn voice directions and facetime over cell rather than wifi. Both things the 4s got and greedy Apple decided not to give to the 4.

That pushed me over the edge, I am going to jailbreak my 4 so I can have those two things as well as tethering. Pretty lame that they would deliberately not give stuff to the 4 that it is more than capable of handling.

I've got a 4 and upgraded.  I'd say that the upgrade is worth it (especially since it's free).  It's got a few nice little features that don't seem significant at first, but make the phone just a bit slicker.  Like being able to 'favorite' email senders, so that you don't need to wade through your daily special discount emails and files them into one starred folder.  Favorited emails show up on your home screen. 

I also tend to listen to podcasts or music from my phone, without watching the screen.  Now you can open up your podcast, play it, and turn off the screen and it will keep playing the audio through bluetooth or the audio jack.  nice.  before you had to double click the button and then re-select play, and then turn it off.

I did have a problem with GPS location (for any app) right after the upgrade.  I did a power-off, and restarted and it's been fine since.  You don't get Siri or Turn-by-turn.  the new map program seems to work fine for me.  pretty much the same as the old google- although I know there are still issues with some addresses.

Oh- and being able to reply to a phone call with a quick 'I'll call you back" message is a nice feature.  and there's a new way to insert photos into emails that wasn't obvious at first. 

upgrade.  go for it.

Hey, does that work on the Ipad to?  the panoramic?

I agree!! argh! I truly dislike red circles. I've pretty much removed them on all of my apps! But "Settings" isn't an option in "Notifications"

I read through most of the updates. And I see no reason to update on a 4. A 4S absolutely, due to the Siri improvements, but iOs 6 won't give a 4 the use of Siri.

Although I may eventually upgrade if I can't get rid of that DARN RED CIRCLE!! (Seriously, they bug me.)

And Frank in St. Louis - MapQuest app is a WAAAY better app to use for directions. (For iOs 5, atleast.) It actually changes the map and "next/upcoming" as you drive, you don't have to push the forward button...that has never made sense to me.

From: http://www.apple.com/ios/whats-new/

Panorama is available on iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, and iPod touch (5th generation).

It's actually beginning to make me mad that a phone I bought a year ago (practically) is sooo out of date. I realize that is how technology is, but of the 10 (maybe?) phones that I've had this is the first one that I've felt that way... weird.

Something else to play with tonight...  The list is getting longer.  giggity.