Last week, Apple proudly unveiled the latest incarnation of the iPhone. For those of us who are not Apple fanatics, it is easy to realise that these changes are incremental.For most other companies this would not be much of a problem, but for Apple, which heavily emphasises on its ability to release innovative products, this is somewhat disappointing. 

 

On the other hand, one could just as easily argue that Apple has simply improved on existing innovation and made a good product better. By not including a gigantic screen or technology that is not used in most of the world (i.e NFC), Apple has stuck to its guns and released a wonderful, pragmatic product that will be a value for money.

 

I think both sides have a few valid points: for the most part, the iPhone 5 features incremental changes but I must admit that these changes are quite practical; it has avoided the temptation of building bigger just for the sake of it. So I’m glad it stuck to its tech-guns on that one.

 

 

Pros

All-round hardware improvements

4” Screen upgrade

4G LTE enabled

Improved Interface (including Siri)

 

 

Cons

New design renders older accessories obsolete

Screen size is still smaller than top-tier Android phones (adapter sold separately)

Overall changes are incremental (especially hardware)

 

 

 

 

 

Hardware

 

 

 

The iPhone 5 features an amazing 4” ‘Retina’ display with a 1136-by-640-pixel resolution at 326 ppi. The screen also features a fingerprint-resistant oleophobic coating on front. However, while its display has got bigger, it has managed to slimmer than ever: 123.8 mm X 58.6 mm X 7.6mm.

 

Also, the iPhone 5 is only 112 grams. Overall, it is 20% lighter and 18% thinner than the iPhone 4S. I know many people who love the bigger screens on the HTC One X and the Samsung Galaxy 3.

 

However, I for one, think that the decision to stick with 4” is actually quite sensible since you can hold the phone quite firmly with one hand. Oversized screens may look good on paper but they are not easy to carry around, especially if you don’t have large pockets.

 

Much of the design features remain the same: the volume and sleep/wake button are still located on the upper left side of the phone. However, the headphone jack has been relocated to the bottom. In addition, Apple has now designed a much smaller Lightening connector port and redesigned the speaker area.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The new connector is said to be faster but it also requires consumers to either buy a new set of accessories or buy an adapter to continue using their old accessories. 

 

The iPhone boasts a new A6 chip, which Apple claims is twice as fast as the A5. It also features 1GB RAM. As usual, there are three different variants: 16GB, 32GB and 64GB. If you need more space, there is always iCloud. The battery is also improved and can provide up to 8 hours of talk time on 3G.

 

It also features a brand new 8MP iSight camera with a whole bunch of features include panorama, face detection, etc. The front-side camera is a 1.2MP.

 

 

 

There are other features including Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, Wi-Fi, three-axis gyro, accelerometer, proximity sensor and an ambient light sensor.

 

4G technology is also enabled but unfortunately, that will not be of much use in Sri Lanka. The iPhone, unlike high-end Android phones, does not feature NFC but I am not too worried about that because you cannot use it in Sri Lanka or many other parts of the world; no point paying extra for a feature that has no real purpose. 

 

 

 

Interface

 

 

 

 

One of the reasons the iPhone will always appeal to users is because of the amazing ecosystem it has created over the years and the iPhone 5 is designed to make the best use of that too. The new iOS 6 will feature many improvements that bring out the best in the new iPhone and there are some interesting things to note.

 

 

 

Siri, for one, has been upgraded and apparently, now it can handle more languages and is more accurate. Hopefully, this would help transform Siri from a bit of a novelty to something that is actually useful.

 

Another interesting change is the fact that Apple has ditched Google Maps in favour of its own Maps, which seems great but from what I’ve read, it is not as great as Google Maps. [FYI: Google Maps is the most widely used app for both iOS and Android].

 

 

 

Is it worth it?

 

 

The iPhone 5 is certainly better than the last version and I admit that it has sensibly made upgrades that do not compromise its usability. However, this is not exactly revolutionary and the reality is that the iPhone 5 is now neck-to-neck with its Android competitors.  It is no longer automatically the best smartphone in the world. 

 

For hard-core Apple fans it's certainly worth the money, but then again, these are same kind of fans who would rush to buy the next version of the iPhone even if the only change is that of its name (e.g. iPhone 5S).

 

If you are not a hard-core fan, then this is not worth the money because the changes are incremental and moving to a new platform would require you to change your whole arsenal of iPhone accessories or pay for an adapter, which is quite unfair on Apple’s part. The best thing to do would be to wait for the next version of the iPhone, which might be worth it.

 

 

 

 

By Navam Niles