Apple has taken its phone up another notch, put in a new operating system and a bigger screen. Is it worth swooning over?
They’ve been doing it year after year — a new phone, lighter, thinner, smarter. But has the novelty worn out? Is it worth shelling out more for a new-new iPhone when some say that it lacks the Wow Factor? Apple has been steadily producing its machines, no doubt innovating in its stable like few do. However, is there something called iPhone Fatigue? The new iPhone’s screen is half-an-inch longer. Is it worth paying so much more for?
The ear phone socket has moved down from the top, which many users are grumbling about.
For those of us who buy an Apple product year on year, there is no
question. An article like this will not make an iota of difference to
our purchase decision. But for others? Let us give you a couple of
pointers before you ask your kind uncle across the Atlantic to send you
one, or take a plunge into the grey market. I have discussed key factors
below but please bear in mind that being in India, you have to be
careful with your purchase as the iPhone5 is not naturally built for
this market. So there are many pitfalls.
FORM FACTOR
Well, obviously, this cannot go wrong, right? The first time I held it, the phone felt amazingly light. The screen is brighter and sharper, though the specs are the same as the predecessor 4S. The curved edges bring a new dimension, and the taller screen adds another line of icons and even lets you view your full week’s calendar in landscape mode. The earphone socket has moved from the top to the bottom of the phone — which some hate, but others love. The 30-pin dock connector has made way for a new lightning connector a quarter its size — and rendered most of the old docks useless without a convertor. The width is unchanged from the 4S, but feels more pleasant for one-handed use.SOUND QUALITY
There is new technology here, what apple calls beam-forming directional microphone system,m, for higher quality sound. You canan experience the noise cancellation systemystem working — I had a friend call me while standing in front of an air-r-cooler. Amazingly, no ambient soundnd filtered through in the call, thoughugh his voice seemed slightly flattish.sh. There are no calldrop issues thatthat dogged former iPhone models. ls.Apple hass also bundled a new set of headphoneshones it calls EarPods, which has receivedceived mixed reviews. Personally I preferrefer the Bose SIE2 for both music andnd answering calls, so I won’t commentent on these.
CAMERA
The specs aree unchanged from the 4S, but Applee has replaced the plastic lens with aa sapphire crystal lens, which brings greater clarity to the pictures. Thee camera remains at 8 megapixels, butut pictures taken using the same subjectject and same settings show visiblee difference between iPhone 5 andd 4S. The iPhone5 can also shoot a fantastic 28MP panorama. The front-ront-facing camera is noww 1.3 MP, allowing g high-definition video calls.PERFORMANCE, BATTERY LIFE
One catch with a thin and light phone is the impact on the battery. In my limited test of the iPhone 5, I saw a battery life similar to the 4S. Performance is much faster with the new A6 processor, and you can easily work on photo editing and movie editing and 3D graphs on spreadsheets.THE NANO SIM
The biggest change is that the SIM card: the iPhone5 needs a really small SIM card, smaller that the micro SIM of the previous generation. This is not available with any of the Indian telecom providers. This, in turn, implies a need for surgery. The catch is that if you damage the SIM card while cutting, you will need to purchase a newone.
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