Today Apple announced its new iPhone, named iPhone 5. It is more an evolution than a revolution, but it features some long awaited specs: LTE, better battery, thinner and lighter. Pre orders will start on Friday, September 14th, and shipping one week later, on the 21st.
It was a very typical Apple event from the Tim Cook era, with him opening the event right on time, then handing over the topics to their experts. Apart from the iPhone 5, Apple also announced a new lineup of iPods and a new version of iTunes for October, which I will not comment. Nothing mind blowing about the event itself, apart from the Foo Fighters gig in the end.
Now, let’s talk a bit about the iPhone. The new iPhone 5, like I said, is an incremental improvement over the last generation model, the iPhone 4S. It’s thinner and lighter. The most noticeable change, though, is the screen size, which by consequence made the iPhone 5 bigger than the iPhone 4S.
It features a larger 4” screen, while maintaining the same width as its predecessor, so the phone can be easily handled with one hand. The screen aspect ratio changed to 16:9, which means video will look better (no black borders), but also means the apps designed for the 4:3 aspect ratio will be letterboxed, with black borders on the side. Well, at least until the developer updates the app to take advantage of the large screen. The screen is not 720p as some would have expected, but it has a 1136×640 resolution. I suspect this is because of manufacturing reasons: it may use the same panel as the iPhone 4S, just cut slightly larger (hence the reduction of pixel density from 330 to 326 ppi). This is a classic move in Tim Cook’s supply chain book. Touch sensors are also integrated into the display, so it can be made thinner.
Other noticeable changes are the back aluminum and glass body. Why not fully made of aluminum? My guess is because that would interfere with antenna performance, since the two glass ‘windows’ are located exactly where the antennas are. I personally don’t like the white model, but the black one looks gorgeous (and it’s the one I’m getting).
Next, LTE. The iPhone 5 will support LTE connectivity, but there’s a catch: since three is no standardization of frequencies for LTE around the world, 3 models of the iPhone 5 will be released:
- A1428: GSM model, supports LTE on bands 4 and 17 (AT&T in the U.S.).
- A1429: CDMA model, supports LTE on bands 1, 3, 5, 13 and 25 (Verizon and Sprint in the U.S.).
- A1429: GSM model, supports LTE on bands 1, 3 and 5 (some European and Asian countries).
This means that if you buy your iPhone 5 abroad, you may not get LTE support in your home country. Or, you will not have LTE support when travelling internationally. This sucks, but at least you have a UMTS/HSPA+ fallback. Another welcome wireless feature is the 802.11a/b/g/n dual band support. For me, it means I can shut down the 2.4GHz wireless network at home.
Inside, the iPhone 5 has a new A6 processor, which Apple says is twice as fast as the previous A5. My take on this: I do not care. As long as the phone is snappy, it can have gnomes and fairies working on the inside if Apple so desires. This new processor will probably be great for gamers, though.
The battery is improved as well, and Apple claims 8h of LTE browsing. This I’ll have to see for myself, even though the last time I doubted about the battery life claims, I got a pie in the face. 😛
Oh, and before I forget… the iPhone 5 uses an Apple-designed nano-SIM card. This means that, if you are an international traveler like me and have different SIM cards for different countries, you’re screwed. At this point, I do not know if you can cut a regular SIM or a micro-SIM to fit the nano-SIM tray. I will update this text when I have that information.
Now, to the stuff most people care about, starting with the camera. Like the iPhone 4S, the new iPhone 5 also has an 8 megapixel camera. This is actually good, since cramping too many pixels in a flea-sized sensor is a stupid idea. For a camera this compact, the best approach is to deal with problems in software, and this is exactly what Apple is doing: improved noise reduction, better low-light performance, face detection, in-camera panorama stitches. These are features that will get more attention of regular consumers than worthless technical blah-blah.
The iPhone 5 has an extra microphone for better noise cancellation and improved voice recognition (maybe this will make Siri suck less). The speaker is also improved, with a 5-magnet transducer for better frequency response. But it’s still mono, sorry.
And last, the iPhone 5 has a new 8-pin connector that replaces the jurassic, Firewire-era 30-pin connector we are used to. There is an adapter to ensure compatibility with older accessories, but no one mentioned prices. I’m guessing 10 bucks.
To summarize, I’ll borrow a phrase from Wired’s Mat Honan: the iPhone 5 is completely amazing and utterly boring. From an industrial design perspective, it’s awesome (okay, the black model is). But from an user perspective, this isn’t a phone that will change your life. Or make you go ‘wow’. It’s exactly like what Apple always do once a product reaches maturity: incremental upgrades every year, with possible leaps every now and then. In other words, I expect the iPhone product line to behave like the Mac from now on.
This is not a bad thing at all. In fact, I find it funny that some people have a pathological need for Apple/Google/Microsoft (or whatever company you wish to name) to make breakthroughs every 12 months. From a technical standpoint, this is unlikely. And from a business perspective, it would be stupid. Take the iPhone case in the U.S., for instance. Most consumers are tied to 2-year contracts. Do you think they would be happy to see a very cool iPhone coming up every year and being unable to upgrade? Not to mention that a 100% redesigned iPhone every year would be a supply chain nightmare, and that’s a no-no in Tim Cook’s rulebook. By driving the iPhone product line the way they are doing it, Apple can keep a steady supply of units to the market, maintain high margins without raising prices by having a very efficient supply chain, and steadily grow their user base.
And there is also the fact that smartphones may be reaching a steady-state by now. Maybe that’s why I think the iPhone 5 and the recently announced Motorola Razr phones are boring. Maybe it’s time to move on and revolutionize another market. iTV anyone?