“The most beautiful thing we have ever made” is how Apple describes its new baby. As the Apple fever grips the world, delivery times have gone up to two weeks already. Experts predict unprecedented demand and expect iPhone 5, in essence the sixth iPhone model, to become Apple’s best selling product.
If you’ve been following this closely, you would have seen the countless jokes going around regarding iPhone 5. I like the one that says, “The new smart phone can print out French fries and turn water into wine.”
Comedian Zach Braff tweeted, “How do you tell if someone has the new iPhone 5? Don’t worry; they’ll let you know…” That is so true. Apple smartphones have become the must-have fashion accessory for the vast army of loyal fans. It’s huge to be able to get their hands on the latest.
This frenzy over an Apple release is nothing new. It happened with the previous iPhones and it was bound to happen with this handset that comes with a 4G and a 4” screen.
As has been the case with Apple, their marketing precedes their products. Apart from the marketing budget, it’s the exemplary marketing techniques that make a huge difference. Some creative genius in the marketing department came up with an absolute marketing doozy, “the ocean looks bluer and kids look happier” through the iPhone 5.
Did Apple break new ground with the new iPhone
Let’s take a serious look at the iPhone 5
Design
Dubbed the “lightest and thinnest iPhone ever,” rumor goes that this one is feather weight and easier to hold. It weighs 3.95 ounces and the thickness is 0.30 inch, making it 20 percent lighter and 18 percent thinner than the iPhone 4S. In fact, people in the know say that it’s not just the design; this one is an entirely different phone.
I like the fact that Apple replaced iPhone 4’s glass back with metal. Hopefully this should prevent it from falling frequently and cracking, unlike the earlier versions. I’m not sure how this changes things aesthetically, but it certainly is more practical.
Screen
It has subtly expanded to a larger 4” screen that is easy on the eyes. Apple uses “Retina Display,” which is the same high-definition technology it used in the previous models. Although, the resolution is the same as before, the pixel count is 1136×640 and has a 16:9 aspect ratio.
iPhone 5 is the first to feature integrated touch and with pixels on the display working as touch electrodes, it eliminates the need for a separate layer, making the display slimmer. Photos are bound to look lusher on this bigger and better screen, and Apple promises that wide-screen movies can be enjoyed better on this one with 44 percent better color saturation than iPhone 4S.
Camera
The 8MP iSight camera on this phone is said to have been redesigned with the best resolution at 3,264×2, 448 pixels. The size is smaller than the one on iPhone 4S. According to Apple, the panorama shots capture 240 degrees of landscape that gives out a 28MP photograph.
iPhone 5 also has a 1.2MP front-facing camera with a lens made from sapphire crystal that offers good results. It can shoot 720p HD video and has an illuminated sensor at the back. FaceTime will work over 3G networks, but AT&T and a few others have mentioned restrictions for that feature. So, you’ll need to check on that.
The feature list includes a hybrid IR filter, an f2.4 aperture and a five-element lens. It offers the ability to launch photography apps 2.1 times faster. This iPhone contains an image signal processor in the A6 chip that will reduce spatial noise. A small filter improves performance in low-light and helps capture photos faster.
What excites me the most is the ability to take photos even while shooting video.
Audio
iPhone 5 comes with three microphones as opposed to two: on the front, on its rear and on the bottom. It has a wideband audio feature that is new that produces natural-sounding voices. The noise-canceling feature may also be improved in this iPhone.
Processor
For iPhone 5, Apple used its very own A6 SoC, designed for power efficiency and fast performance. We don’t have any information on the clock speeds, memory bandwidth or GPU details yet.
iOS 6
iPhone 5 will come with iOS 6 installed. It includes interesting features, like an Siri updates, Apple Maps app, shared photo streams, Passbook and FaceTime over 3G. Imagine being able to reply to an incoming call with a text message or receive a reminder about the call later. iOS 6 has this and much more and will be ready for download on September 19.
Battery
Apple boasts that the iPhone 5 will give: 3G talk time – 8 hours; browsing over 3G – 8 hours; LTE browsing – 8 hours; video playback – 10 hours; music playback – 40 hours; Wi-Fi browsing – 10 hours; and standby time – 225 hours. We will just have to wait for the actual results to see if Apple lives up to these promises.
Apps
All the software works the same on iPhone 5 as before. The best part is that all the apps are still relevant on the new iPhone. Developers will of course have to take the larger screen into consideration when creating the next versions.
LTE and Carriers
You can browse the web, download a movie, or stream content. iPhone 5 works with certain 4G LTE networks in the United States, Canada, Australia and Europe. LTE helps switch between different networks automatically. On carriers without LTE, iPhone 5 runs on dual-band 3.5G HDPA+.
Pricing
The price for all the iPhone 5 models is the same as their predecessors with a two-year data and calling plan. It starts at $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB, and $399 for 64GB.
Apple is also pricing its iPhone 4S 16GB model at just $99, a 50 percent reduction. It will also continue distributing an 8GB model of iPhone 4 …for free. There is a commitment of two years to a mobile carrier for all the prices, along with the free iPhone 4. In the U.S., it’s going to be AT&T, Verizon and Sprint.
Pre-orders are being taken in-store with a $50 deposit. Apple says it has double the amount of preorders than it had for iPhone 4S. The world waits for September 21st, when sales of the new handset are expected to start in the US, the UK, Australia, Germany, France, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore. The next stop for Apple on September 28th is 22 other countries.
For those who don’t believe in blind devotion, it’s a good idea to wait for a few days for the actual user reviews on iPhone 5 before taking that all important decision.
Tags: Apple
