You might be right. I did buy into the speculation, that it must be A15. I believe they mentioned dual core, but is the 4S not only 800MHz, so a smaller process could allow them to run it at 1.6 GHz and still be A9 and so double the performance. But typically they's need to find some power savings elsewhere, in order to pull that off.
Well there is 1.6GHz Quad-core Exynos 4-series around. TI OMAP 4470 dualcore with up to 1.8GHz (only seen it at 1.5GHz in the wild) all Cortex-A9 on 45nm. Tegra 3 T33 quad core at up to 1.6GHz at 40nm TSMC. Your definitively possible to double the performance of the old A5. A5X has roughly double the GPU-power already. A TI OMAP4470 definitively has double to power of a TI OMAP3340 Cortex-A8 for example though they are at the same process. On 32nm HKMG it's definitively achievable to double the performance of the old Intrinsity/Samsung A5. Interesting to see which, and to see if they release European versions of their hardware for that matter, 800MHz LTE and 2600MHz LTE is pretty much available in most countries here.
iPhone 5 is disappointing. Oh boy, LTE that Droids have only had for 2 years. Apple on the cutting edge.
Even the "bigger" screen, which is the one thing iPhone desperately needed, seems like kind of a gyp. It's not wider, only taller. And whats with the goofy non standard resolution? Apple being Apple? Just doing dumb crap cause they're the king? Doesn't bode well imo. Why not just do 720P like everybody else? especially if you ever want to do say, a real 4.3" screen in the future, then your PPI will start to suffer, or you'll have to make life harder for app makers and switch rez yet again.
All that said, it's probably less disappointing than say, the 4S was, and that sold billions, so I imagine this will do fine.
Presumably the goofy nonstandard resolution is to keep backwards compatible with previous models and all their apps with letterboxing while using the 16:9 AR.
To add to that, apple seems to be pretty consistent about backwards compatibility of resolution, doubling it when they have to increase it. I don't know, I guess they put enough demands on people who develop for their platform that they decided to be kind and not require them to redo the graphics for a new release.
My hope is that in the aftermath of the MBP Retina and this nonstandard resolution (not that Apple is a stranger to nonstandard specifications) Apple might actually have some proper pixel-agnostic vector-based support for OS widgets and might push others like Microsoft to do the same.
So Cortex A15s and 150Mbps WiFi are standard in Android phones I can buy today? And that level of GPU performance? And LTE in that weight and with that battery life?
But sure, interpret this as you wish. There's none so blind as will not see.
I think he was referring the the main 2 new features of the iPhone5 .4 inch screen and 4G, both of which were available over 2 years ago on Android. The CPU and GPU are definitely crazy fast , but they were already fast.
Its defintely a step up, but nothing amazing. It will be jsut like the last year. iPhone releases with high end specs, but only once a year. 3 months from now Android phones will have a new generation out that beat it, and the iPhone will have another 9 months to go for a refresh.
The main thing about a smartphone is the screen. You know, the part you look at and interface with - more important than anything else by far. That is where the new iPhone loses me. Its bigger, but still too small.
Wow Apple really got you perfectly brainwashed.... Luckily a lot of people realize there is a LOT better choices than than between an iphone and an ipad....seriously
See this is the problem with Apple zombies, I clearly killed the weak argument about screensize and going from mini iphone to ipad and the reply has no value or offers anything to validate their views.
When has Apple ever been the first to adopt new wireless technology? The first one was EDGE, remember? Apple waits until it is refined. In this case, they are the first with the Cortex A15, and with Qualcomm's 28nm process, which is why it doesn't need a super-sized battery to get decent battery life with LTE.
As for the screen size, they have stated why they won't go wider. It's part of the design philosophy. Bigger isn't always better. When Motorola or Samsung come up with a phone with details like a sapphire camera lens or diamond-cut aluminum, let me know. Apple isn't about ticking boxes on a checklist. They are about designing the little things just right.
Sapphire lens means less scratches on the lens and it is much more durable. Also the price of the iPhone has not changed in 4 years I doubt it will change soon....
Its not wider so that you can still operate the phone with only your thumbs. Thats the entire point of the form factor. And LTE has been on droids, but its also been battery crushing and barely relevant until recently due to the rollout schedules. Both of which don't apply to the 5, now.
Apple designs phones to be used, not because they check boxes. If you want to sacrifice usability to have a big screen or standardized resolution or whatever else, Android has you covered and all your particular oddball needs. Someone will make a weird phone to fit it.
But Apple designs the best phone they can for the user to actually use. Thats the point.
Clearly the guy has never used a phone with a larger screen and doesnt realize its not only better for high def movies, games and apps but far more useable as well.
Large screen Android - you get a large screen and useablity, no "sacrifice" at all.
iPhone - The "sacrifice" is the tiny screen. 4 inch is better, but not good enough.
And people ignored that because the iPad is not a phone. I'm not necessarily among the "bigger screen is always better" crowd, but to suggest that an iPad is a logical way to solve their desire for a larger than 4" screen ON THEIR PHONE is silly.
Actually, there is a disadvantage of the large screen of the g3 and other larger droids in that you need two hands to operate it if you need to hit the top corners. I'm glad apple have put some thought into the aspect ratio and justified it with usability. For movies I would have thought the new iPhone will be even better than my old galaxy as the aspect ratio means fewer black borders and will actually be srgb colour accurate which drove me insane with the galaxy 3.
I found life without something as pedestrian as iTunes was almost unbearably bad on the g3 and playing/copying music was such a weakness I'm surprised nobody has called out Samsung on it already, either that or Android users have just become used to the relative complexity of the software as a 'feature'
Well my real life use of my S3 lasts all day for my purposes which includes video calls, some games and browsing. if you take any phone including the one in this article and go full bore it will kill the battery much quicker than an average user. Oh and if I get worried about running out of juice I can pop in a back up battery.
I have an HTC One S, Galaxy S III, and iPhone 4S. (as well as older iPhones and Android phones, and WP7s)
I use the One S with CM10 (custom ROM with mostly stock Android 4.1 UI) because I like the superior Google integration. But the iPhone is the most usable, stable, consistent, and has the best battery life. No contest.
Why do you think most reviewers who get to play with all of the different phones use iPhones?
I always recommend the newest iPhone to my less tech saavy friends. People who like and buy Apple products aren't brainwashed, they're just people who've actually used Apple products without preconceived biases.
"Its not wider so that you can still operate the phone with only your thumbs. Thats the entire point of the form factor."
Even in landscape it's easy to operate a large smartphone with thumbs only.
The main reason Apple didn't increase the size is because it would offer lower pixel density, and they spend the last years arguing that the higher the pixel density, the better. They also want the device to remain small and pocketable. They are pretty much alone in the high end + small display smartphone market so I think it's not a bad strategy.
they could have made 1280x720 resolution on a 4.5 inch screen which is exactly 326 ppi, so I don't think that's the issue here. But I think screen of Iphone 5 is perfect for large crowd in general and i use tablets to watch movie or play games. I liked galaxy s3 but after holding I felt I would drop it while using with one hand since I'm used to using Iphone. Many of us have small palm.
I think what the poster meant was that the size is so you can operate the phone one handed (typing with one thumb). I don't think there's any phone out there that you can't type on with two thumbs.
Aghhh, Apple apologists like you drive me crazy. I've owned an iPhone for 5 years and I am a short guy with small hands. A taller iPhone will be harder to use than a wider iPhone. When holding my phone with one hand my thumb easily reaches the 1/2" beyond the left and right side of the screen while it barely reaches the top as is. Sure I can stretch it, but it isn't a natural movement.
Face it, this wasn't Apple designing the best phone for everyday use. This was design by committee. The engineers responsible for adding LTE needed more space so they wanted the phone bigger (because thicker wasn't an option). The App Store executives didn't want to break App Store compatibility so they kept the horizontal resolution the same to easily letterbox old apps.
I mean come on, when the thing came out of the floor for the first time my first impression was "Who the heck brought the candybar phone?" It looks ridiculous.
So you mean to say all phones with 16:9 aspect ratio are candybar phone? Including galaxy s3 etc? And about reaching top left or right corner, you can hold the iPhone bit above the bottom edges since width is unchanged but mainly the typing with one hand is great as before..
The SoC piques my interest the most with this phone. I'm eager to see if this is a straight Cortex-A15 design or more of a Krait-like hybrid. The S4 Pro is a beast after all.
It's great that Apple didn't skimp on the SoC since A15s will likely be shipping Q4 and it would be silly to start the year off behind the competition.
Unfortunately we can never get a clean benchmark of the Apple chips since the compiler toolchain and underlying software, kernel, etc. play a huge role in performance.
Except for the part where as of now we're only guessing it's an A15 chip. A single slide claiming double the performance could simply be an indicator that it is a quad core A5 with needed OS improvements for multi-threading or it's running at a higher clockspeed.
a dual core A15 is nice, but saying it's the best SoC, when then S4 pro on phones (LG, Xiaomi) have already been announced for recent release is just flat out wrong.
Because as someone who develops software for the iOS platform, I am very grateful that they didn't change both dimensions, thank you very much. My apps currently happen to be screen size independent, but lots of apps aren't (and may not make sense to be). This allows apps from day 1 to work without some horrible scaling. Also as someone with human size hands, I can't reach the far side of one of these ridiculous sized phones. If I wanted a tablet at that moment I would use my iPad; however I am using a phone, which generally means one hand, which means my thumb has to reach. Sorry, wider phones are a fail ergonomically.
While it is true that droids have had LTE, their chips weren't universal, so you had to pick your network ahead of time (now why is 2012 LTE they couldn't fix this in general for LTE is beyond me, although it is better than the 3G world was). Also this chipset uses a lot less power (i.e. battery) than the generation from some time back, so no objection that they waited; I will take battery life any day over some theoretical speed difference (I say theoretical because I don't find 3G particularly slow for anything I do on my phone while walking around town - I am a heavy user, but rarely when out and about, and everywhere I go has WiFi).
Adding LTE before Qualcomm's 28nm chip (which was JUST released) would have resulted in half the battery life. This is why LTE on Android phones outside of the giant ones is do terrible. Apple didn't want to compromise on battery life or size, so they waited. Great timing too, given that LTE is finally showing up in more places. Two years ago it was a battery chugging feature with limited coverage.
<quote>Oh boy, LTE that Droids have only had for 2 years. Apple on the cutting edge.</quote>
The original iPhone shipped with EDGE instead of 3G, for a reason. Same reason why the iPhone 4S shipped w/o LTE. It wasn't ready. It's not about being first, necessarily, it's about making the "right" engineering choices for most people. Bringing advanced technology when it has been done right. The iPhone 5 uses the Qualcomm MDM9615M with the new 28nm process so that it has 8 hours of "LTE Browsing Time" as defined at: http://www.apple.com/iphone/battery.html
And that is with a mere 5.45 Whr battery. The Droid Bionic with the extended battery which is 10.2 Whr lated 5 hours in Anandtech's web browsing test. On the standard 6.6 Whr battery, the Droid Bionic lasted a mere 3.2 hours. Apple doesn't want to ship crap like that, especially when LTE networks themselves were just rolling out. As AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon finish up their LTE rollouts and people's early generation LTE handsets get LTE instead of 3G service, they'll see a huge drop in battery life.
The HTC Thunderbolt gets all of 2.872 hours on LTE. Again, Apple doesn't ship that crap. If you wanted LTE that bad, then great! You go enjoy. Most people want phones that last most of the day.
Amazing battery life? Pretty sure they said that with the 4 and 4s, and both turned out to offer fairly average uptime.
Most of the applications are basically the same on Android too. iOS developers can't afford to ignore developing for Android and that increases on a daily basis.
Fastest SoC for now... Android will over take it before Christmas I suspect. HTC's event is on the 19th.
Fastest SoC? We dont know that yet. Krait/Snapdragon S4 is very similar to A15, and if the iPhones A15 is clocked low then current Krait phones could be faster.
Amazing battery life? Benchmarks or STFU.
I'll admit it has the most apps atleast.
So same old design, same old extremely dated looking iOS, not even a 720p res display, no NFC, still no expandable memory, pretty much the same camera, and not even a standard Micro USB connector so Apple can charge $29 for their proprietary adapter crap. YAWN.
Old design? not really, it's significantly different if you see and hold it and not have cheap feel of s3, you don't need 720 display on 4 inch since it's already fetching very high ppi, NFC is still not mainstream, iphone 5's camera is still better than latest android counterparts however lumnia's could be better camera and get a 64gig if you want more space. Only thing I can agree on is not going for micro usb, because then Iphone will not have exclusivity in accessories. And Apple's evil genius idea to make millions by selling the adapter alone that costs $30 so all old accessories don't go obsolete.
I really hope they do some serious decoupling of the body and screen. Still, nice looking update and a logical continuance of their designs. BTW, I bet that this isn't an arm 15, but either a 1.6GHz dualcore on separate power planes and which aggressively changes clocks (maybe something interesting from the intrinsity folks), or, less likely, a quadcore. The arm 15 wouldn't be twice as fast unless clock speeds increased and I don't think apple will be first to market with that design. The gpu is a different story. I doubt it's Rogue but I also doubt it is a 543mp4 since those are huge and use tons of power. Is it just an upclocked 543mp2 at a lower process node? Also glad to see apple finally jumped on the integrated touch layer screen bandwagon. That should help outdoor use.
Anandtech:
Do you know if this is using the liquid metal that apple licensed oh so long ago?
Finally jumped on the integrated touch layer bandwagon? The technology JUST came to market. This will be the first phone using it that will have any (US) market success at all.
As for the processor, ramping up Arm 9 voltages to hit those clock speeds you are talking about would result in worse battery life, not better. Apple is claiming better in a thinner package AND with LTE. Not very many people thought they would be first to market with this new architecture, but that's why it's called a surprise.
Give credit where it's due. There are some legitimately new things in this phone. Can't wait to see the benchmarks.
I think this phone addresses the major points. It's a bit bigger, lighter, faster. Minor IOS updates.
And as such, it'll be a great phone.
The tech side of me finds it boring though. It's too bad I think the Lumina 920 is a bit heavy versus other phones, as it certainly seems to be the most interesting device coming out. And, IOS works, it's nothing special, not particularly cool in any way, but is windows phone 8 going to be a good day to day device or will it be cool, but somewhat frustrating day in and day out?
OK, I read over the patent and misunderstood what was being done. I thought they were merely integrating the touch sensor with the outer glass as has been done for years. Apparently they've wedded the actual sensor to the LCD itself to the point where it looks as if the subpixels and capacitive sensors share voltage gates (I only skimmed the patent so I may've missed some details). Regarding V concerns on power, if this at a lower process node and is introducing high-k gates apple SoC then it seems possible they could get both a major performance increase and still draw less power if the clocks ramp up sufficiently. Of course you'd only get this power advantage on race-to-idle conditions and not something continuously stressful like complex games, but I'm guessing they didn't claim the later case would improve. So, no, I don't think there is yet any reason to think they are using arm 15 other than for masturbatory speculation purposes. Also, it seems possible they might be using the brand new quadcore qualcomm APQ krait with adreno 320. That might be the simplest explanation and would explain why they're using a separate baseband chip.
It can't be quadcore qualcomm since Apple designs/modifies its own SoC chip based on ARM processors. The only two options are quad-core A9 or dual-core A15. A15 provides numerous micro-architectural features for power efficient performance.
Moving to a new node (32nm in this case, most probably) reduces static power considerably over 45nm, especially with the high-K gates. Also, the tech node is targeted for about 15~20% improved performance at same dynamic power.
Apple doesn't have to design/modify their SoC, and in this case, they would be stupid to do so unless they actually are rocking arm 15. Going with the new qualcomm s4 pro and simply renaming it A6 makes most sense to new since, as I understand it, TI is the Arm launch partner for the new architecture. However, perhaps as long as Apple never calls it arm cortex 15, it may not matter to Arm/TI.
Clearly they are out today for both camps. Today's announcement is an iPhone that is an upgrade to the 4S and compelling features to what is currently on the market from the Android team. There are some items that bring Apple's phone back into competiveness - ahem"4G"ahem. I own an iPhone 4 and the new design covers a lot of the bases I was requiring of my next phone. Yes 4G. 4G didn't truly matter till the last two months as Verizon hadn't covered where I live and work till then. The dual WiFi is nice and will be put to good use. First to beating Samsung and TI to A15's is pretty impressive. Honestly, I was cool with a shrunk iPad 2 SoC and upped MHz. With the iPhone 4 and the Cortex A8 most things behave well, but it certainly can be sluggish. My biggest complaint with the 4 is like of AirPlay Mirroring, which is hardware dependent.
A lot of the features I am looking forward to are covered by software and can be had for me on the 19th without any dollars or waiting for vendors to approve the distro. I got my iPhone on iOS 4 and will see it on 6 soon. Turn-by-turn is a big deal; and yes it has been on Android phones for a while now.
Truth is I upgrade when the I am eligible to upgrade and that is pretty much every two years. I am not eligible till October. A non-4G iPhone 5 would have made the decision extremely tough for anyone who wasn't a diehard. I've been working my 4G hotspot to death and will be happy to not carry it around in my pocket. Brian, do you have that in your cargo pants?
This is a great phone for loyalists. Good for those who are on the fence between camps. I have some money and time investment in Apple, so basically my business was Apple's to lose.
Windows phone 8 with an Xbox gaming ecosystem would be tempting to me, as long as screen mirroring and apps came online/materialized.
"though it's always hard to tell whether this is any faster than the previous generation"
Try capturing HDR. It's REALLY obvious that capturing HDR is slow on a 4, and it's still so slow as to be obvious and irritating on a 4S. So the question is, on a 5 is it fast enough that it's no longer painful?
I actually like the 5's tall but narrow form factor... Even though I've been using larger phones for the last two years; three EVOs, two 4.3", one qHD, latest being 4.65" and 720p obviously. My newest EVO was a huge improvement in pocket feel (thinner) but it's wide enough that it made me aware I'd never want a larger phone no matter how sexy and high tech. I'd even go back to 4.3" if I could still get something that's 720p.
I think it's kinda comical they're letter boxing old apps tho. It's no worse than on screen menu button bars and what have you (HTC/ICS, thankfully they found a more elegant solution), but I'm not sure they would have ever gone down that route during the Jobs era.
I should add I have average sized hands but really long/thin fingers... 4.65" phones have to be unusable with one hand by a large cross section of the population, mostly because of how wide they are rather than how tall... You don't need to reach the top edge of the screen very often, but it's easier on a narrower phone since you tend to stretch out your thumb diagonally.
The end result is the IPhone will still be favored by a lot of people due to size alone, regardless of funky app letter boxing, and other OEM are shooting themselves in the foot by not having more high end but smaller (4" or even 4.3") devices. The One S (on one US carrier, with a meh display) and the new mid size RAZR are the only that come to mind on the Android camp.
All other comments aside, this screen size/resolution is retarded. I'm an American male, the current iPhone screen sizes literally cramp my thumb(s). A taller screen with no width increase does nothing for me. Until I use it, I anticipate it being the OPPOSITE of this alleged 'more usable' model. I Ergonomics aside, I want more usable screen real estate. Browsing the web, etc is just annoying at the curret dimensions. I do not see a taller screen fixing this issue at all. which is why come November I'll be lookin at the Nokia 920 or holding my nose at an Andriod handset despite my preference for anything else. My iPhone 4 is just showing its age too vividly these days and I can't see myself going 12 months or longer on this absurd screen despite the other features and app ecosystem that Apple brings to be table.
As an aside, kudos on Lightenin being reversible. I'd prefer micro-USB but its about time someone made a connector with some common sense. When Apple dropped he FireWire compatibility from he 30 pin connector people cried, but we're over it in months. Changing will suck for some hardware transitions, but big picture, this is the right move.
Right move would've been micro USB/MHL... But that doesn't make economic sense for Apple. At least people get a reversible connector out of the deal, should be pretty sturdy too, to magnets instead of clips would've made it perfect (it'd probably raise accessory cost too much).
I'm curious about the new buds being included, first time I've ever seen bass drivers in an ear bud stem.
I actually hate the micro USB, so many crappy micro USB cables that don't clip or stay connected well and premium ones are too expensive. The new lightning cable does not require flipping around.
I absolutely understand the economic reasons for not going with micro-USB. I'd do the exact same thing in their shoes. But I'm not, I'm a consumer :) I'd just as soon see this become a standard if it were (is) USB3. The only thing that bugs me is the exposed pins. A minor point admittedly, but still valid.
As for the complaint about the cost of cables or not clipping.... all I can say is, does not compute.
I look forward to any HTC surprises next week (not expecting any, much like today) but per my original post, this taller screen is still retarded and may or may not bite them in the long run. With vector graphics I don't think a change down the road is out of the question, but I just don't understand the display choice. It's like Apple is being different is being different for the sake of being so. In this case, it has more than likely cost them a sale.
With the lack of innovation of anything that has to do with the phone itself,. I can't see myself staying in the iOS camp for this year.
I think the Galaxy SIII is just plain too big. I like the width of the iPhone. Perhaps they could go a tad wider, but only a tad (perhaps to make the keyboard easier to use in portrait). They don't need to put some 4.8" monster screen. That's too big IMO.
I thought the same cause I don't have large hands. I got the S3 and it's actually better for about everything. I can operate it with 1 hand without a problem.
I noticed that the glass screen isn't as exposed as with the 4/4S. Do you think it's significant enough of a difference that will help reduce the amount of cracked iPhones?
I see so many flames against Apple's products and the company itself. Maybe it's just the "cool" thing to do on the forums. But even though Apple isn't on the bleeding edge when it comes to the latest technologies, they are on the bleeding edge in how they use and offer those features. For example, they are finally adding 4G to their phone, and some see that as horrible when other companies have been doing it for a couple years. But in all honesty, I had an HTC Thunderbolt when 4G just came out and the battery didn't last more than 1 hour. That's pathetic. When Apple finally got around to getting 4G in their phone, they did it with a phone that still can yield 8 hours of use. I don't own any Apple products, I'm not some Apple zealot, but I do give credit where credit is due. Apple makes the best looking, and most tightly integrated phone out there. Microsoft's new Windows Phone is second to Apple in that regard. Android on the other hand, which I use, is just not as organized and fluid as either of the other companies products. All the Android phones look and feel like crap in your hands compared to Apple's iPhone. They are mostly cheap plastic and snap together components. Some credit and less hate needs to be given to Apple. I challenge anyone to put a phone next to the iPhone and say the iPhone looks, feels, and performs worse. You don't have to have the most memory, highest clock speed, most cores, etc to have the best phone. It's not always about raw numbers. I would argue Apple can squeeze more performance out of a dual core CPU running at 1 GHz than an Android phone running a quad core CPU at 2 GHz. That's overly exaggerated, but the point is made.
Hi Brian & Anand, does it annoy you too, that some phones can be charged (for example in a car) and still drain their battery when running demanding apps, such as navigation? It does bug me and I realized there is no information regarding this very practical use case.
Would it be possible for you to measure how much current a phone draws when charging an empty battery and how much it draws when running demanding software at the same time (may be your battery drain test). Then report the two different currents and how much the battery charge does increase over 1h, 2h.
I'd also like to see reviews of quality chargers, essentially the power supplies for phones. It would be nice to see similar quality measures then for PC power supplies. This is especially true for car chargers, as that is the scenario where this should occur most often. But at home it could be a similar scenario if I use my phone to watch a movie while I hope it is charged afterwards.
According to the announcement and images on the Apple web site, the black version has a black anodized back cover capped with black on the ends, while the white model features a raw aluminum cover with white on the ends. The images posted here show a raw aluminum cover with black ends. Is this just a pre-release color scheme?
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bill4 - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
lolmavere - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Can't wait to hear more about your guys' A6 analysis. That might be the deciding factor on whether I upgrade.tipoo - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Can't wait for Chipworks or someone to look at it under a microscope, I want to know if it's really A15, or quad A9, or just higher clocked dual A9.Conficio - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
You might be right. I did buy into the speculation, that it must be A15. I believe they mentioned dual core, but is the 4S not only 800MHz, so a smaller process could allow them to run it at 1.6 GHz and still be A9 and so double the performance. But typically they's need to find some power savings elsewhere, in order to pull that off.Well in a few weeks we all know.
Penti - Friday, September 14, 2012 - link
Well there is 1.6GHz Quad-core Exynos 4-series around. TI OMAP 4470 dualcore with up to 1.8GHz (only seen it at 1.5GHz in the wild) all Cortex-A9 on 45nm. Tegra 3 T33 quad core at up to 1.6GHz at 40nm TSMC. Your definitively possible to double the performance of the old A5. A5X has roughly double the GPU-power already. A TI OMAP4470 definitively has double to power of a TI OMAP3340 Cortex-A8 for example though they are at the same process. On 32nm HKMG it's definitively achievable to double the performance of the old Intrinsity/Samsung A5. Interesting to see which, and to see if they release European versions of their hardware for that matter, 800MHz LTE and 2600MHz LTE is pretty much available in most countries here.RichardKirschb - Sunday, September 16, 2012 - link
If you are not in a hurry then you could rent it at rent a cell or gizmotakeout or something and see if it agrees with you
bill4 - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
iPhone 5 is disappointing. Oh boy, LTE that Droids have only had for 2 years. Apple on the cutting edge.Even the "bigger" screen, which is the one thing iPhone desperately needed, seems like kind of a gyp. It's not wider, only taller. And whats with the goofy non standard resolution? Apple being Apple? Just doing dumb crap cause they're the king? Doesn't bode well imo. Why not just do 720P like everybody else? especially if you ever want to do say, a real 4.3" screen in the future, then your PPI will start to suffer, or you'll have to make life harder for app makers and switch rez yet again.
All that said, it's probably less disappointing than say, the 4S was, and that sold billions, so I imagine this will do fine.
EnsilZah - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Presumably the goofy nonstandard resolution is to keep backwards compatible with previous models and all their apps with letterboxing while using the 16:9 AR.EnsilZah - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
To add to that, apple seems to be pretty consistent about backwards compatibility of resolution, doubling it when they have to increase it.I don't know, I guess they put enough demands on people who develop for their platform that they decided to be kind and not require them to redo the graphics for a new release.
My hope is that in the aftermath of the MBP Retina and this nonstandard resolution (not that Apple is a stranger to nonstandard specifications) Apple might actually have some proper pixel-agnostic vector-based support for OS widgets and might push others like Microsoft to do the same.
Spivonious - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
psst...Microsoft has had that since Vista.paudoauldstock - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
Ha! Laughable!name99 - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
So Cortex A15s and 150Mbps WiFi are standard in Android phones I can buy today? And that level of GPU performance? And LTE in that weight and with that battery life?But sure, interpret this as you wish. There's none so blind as will not see.
retrospooty - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
I think he was referring the the main 2 new features of the iPhone5 .4 inch screen and 4G, both of which were available over 2 years ago on Android. The CPU and GPU are definitely crazy fast , but they were already fast.Its defintely a step up, but nothing amazing. It will be jsut like the last year. iPhone releases with high end specs, but only once a year. 3 months from now Android phones will have a new generation out that beat it, and the iPhone will have another 9 months to go for a refresh.
The main thing about a smartphone is the screen. You know, the part you look at and interface with - more important than anything else by far. That is where the new iPhone loses me. Its bigger, but still too small.
Spongebob31 - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Screen too small? Get an iPad - problem solved.shaolin95 - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Wow Apple really got you perfectly brainwashed....Luckily a lot of people realize there is a LOT better choices than than between an iphone and an ipad....seriously
TeeJay2000 - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
So the only reason people like Apple products is that they are brainwashed? Do you scare your friends sometimes?shaolin95 - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
See this is the problem with Apple zombies, I clearly killed the weak argument about screensize and going from mini iphone to ipad and the reply has no value or offers anything to validate their views.Too easy...
PeteH - Monday, September 17, 2012 - link
I think it's fairly obvious that the response about getting an iPad if you think the iPhone's screen is too small was intended as a joke.Now take that fanboy crap back to gizmodo, the engineers are trying to have a conversation about actual technical issues.
KPOM - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
When has Apple ever been the first to adopt new wireless technology? The first one was EDGE, remember? Apple waits until it is refined. In this case, they are the first with the Cortex A15, and with Qualcomm's 28nm process, which is why it doesn't need a super-sized battery to get decent battery life with LTE.As for the screen size, they have stated why they won't go wider. It's part of the design philosophy. Bigger isn't always better. When Motorola or Samsung come up with a phone with details like a sapphire camera lens or diamond-cut aluminum, let me know. Apple isn't about ticking boxes on a checklist. They are about designing the little things just right.
Mike0 - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
Nobody needs a sapphire camera lens or diamond-cut aluminium, though. It's adds nothing in terms of design. It's tinkering for tinkering's sake.The only thing it adds to the phone is a reason to bump up the price.
joelypolly - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
Sapphire lens means less scratches on the lens and it is much more durable. Also the price of the iPhone has not changed in 4 years I doubt it will change soon....Cygni - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Its not wider so that you can still operate the phone with only your thumbs. Thats the entire point of the form factor. And LTE has been on droids, but its also been battery crushing and barely relevant until recently due to the rollout schedules. Both of which don't apply to the 5, now.Apple designs phones to be used, not because they check boxes. If you want to sacrifice usability to have a big screen or standardized resolution or whatever else, Android has you covered and all your particular oddball needs. Someone will make a weird phone to fit it.
But Apple designs the best phone they can for the user to actually use. Thats the point.
dagamer34 - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Battery life has been pretty good on the HTC One X and Galaxy S III.retrospooty - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Clearly the guy has never used a phone with a larger screen and doesnt realize its not only better for high def movies, games and apps but far more useable as well.Large screen Android - you get a large screen and useablity, no "sacrifice" at all.
iPhone - The "sacrifice" is the tiny screen. 4 inch is better, but not good enough.
Spongebob31 - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Again, I've said this before if you want a bigger phone, get one from Android or Microsoft. If you want a bigger screen on an iOS device, get an iPad!woofersus - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
And people ignored that because the iPad is not a phone. I'm not necessarily among the "bigger screen is always better" crowd, but to suggest that an iPad is a logical way to solve their desire for a larger than 4" screen ON THEIR PHONE is silly.robinthakur - Sunday, September 16, 2012 - link
Actually, there is a disadvantage of the large screen of the g3 and other larger droids in that you need two hands to operate it if you need to hit the top corners. I'm glad apple have put some thought into the aspect ratio and justified it with usability. For movies I would have thought the new iPhone will be even better than my old galaxy as the aspect ratio means fewer black borders and will actually be srgb colour accurate which drove me insane with the galaxy 3.I found life without something as pedestrian as iTunes was almost unbearably bad on the g3 and playing/copying music was such a weakness I'm surprised nobody has called out Samsung on it already, either that or Android users have just become used to the relative complexity of the software as a 'feature'
vision33r - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Negative. They have been advertised as great but all forums with HTC and S3 owners don't get anywhere near advertised.emarston - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
Well my real life use of my S3 lasts all day for my purposes which includes video calls, some games and browsing. if you take any phone including the one in this article and go full bore it will kill the battery much quicker than an average user. Oh and if I get worried about running out of juice I can pop in a back up battery.RichardKirschb - Sunday, September 16, 2012 - link
You need to rent the iphone5 and the others need to rent the S3. Then you bith will be at peace. try rentacell or gizmotakeoutiLoveiOS - Friday, September 14, 2012 - link
Really? Seriosly?I have those you mentioned... seriosly? SERIOSULY?
orionb - Friday, September 14, 2012 - link
I have an HTC One S, Galaxy S III, and iPhone 4S. (as well as older iPhones and Android phones, and WP7s)I use the One S with CM10 (custom ROM with mostly stock Android 4.1 UI) because I like the superior Google integration. But the iPhone is the most usable, stable, consistent, and has the best battery life. No contest.
Why do you think most reviewers who get to play with all of the different phones use iPhones?
I always recommend the newest iPhone to my less tech saavy friends. People who like and buy Apple products aren't brainwashed, they're just people who've actually used Apple products without preconceived biases.
zorxd - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
"Its not wider so that you can still operate the phone with only your thumbs. Thats the entire point of the form factor."Even in landscape it's easy to operate a large smartphone with thumbs only.
The main reason Apple didn't increase the size is because it would offer lower pixel density, and they spend the last years arguing that the higher the pixel density, the better. They also want the device to remain small and pocketable. They are pretty much alone in the high end + small display smartphone market so I think it's not a bad strategy.
Locateneil - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
they could have made 1280x720 resolution on a 4.5 inch screen which is exactly 326 ppi, so I don't think that's the issue here. But I think screen of Iphone 5 is perfect for large crowd in general and i use tablets to watch movie or play games. I liked galaxy s3 but after holding I felt I would drop it while using with one hand since I'm used to using Iphone. Many of us have small palm.iLoveiOS - Friday, September 14, 2012 - link
This is so true. No argument. They just don't know the company's principle.PeteH - Monday, September 17, 2012 - link
I think what the poster meant was that the size is so you can operate the phone one handed (typing with one thumb). I don't think there's any phone out there that you can't type on with two thumbs.chripuck - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
Aghhh, Apple apologists like you drive me crazy. I've owned an iPhone for 5 years and I am a short guy with small hands. A taller iPhone will be harder to use than a wider iPhone. When holding my phone with one hand my thumb easily reaches the 1/2" beyond the left and right side of the screen while it barely reaches the top as is. Sure I can stretch it, but it isn't a natural movement.Face it, this wasn't Apple designing the best phone for everyday use. This was design by committee. The engineers responsible for adding LTE needed more space so they wanted the phone bigger (because thicker wasn't an option). The App Store executives didn't want to break App Store compatibility so they kept the horizontal resolution the same to easily letterbox old apps.
I mean come on, when the thing came out of the floor for the first time my first impression was "Who the heck brought the candybar phone?" It looks ridiculous.
Locateneil - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
So you mean to say all phones with 16:9 aspect ratio are candybar phone? Including galaxy s3 etc? And about reaching top left or right corner, you can hold the iPhone bit above the bottom edges since width is unchanged but mainly the typing with one hand is great as before..iLoveiOS - Friday, September 14, 2012 - link
you use your thumb for typing dude. WTH.menting - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
being wider causing one to not be able to use their thumbs is just an excuse, because making it longer will have the same effect.iLoveiOS - Friday, September 14, 2012 - link
not true.SilverRubicon - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Nothing has changed with Apple, it's not about the specs of the phone. It's about the usability and the ecosystem.Tegeril - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Except for the part where it now, ostensibly, has the best SoC of any phone on the market.jwcalla - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
The SoC piques my interest the most with this phone. I'm eager to see if this is a straight Cortex-A15 design or more of a Krait-like hybrid. The S4 Pro is a beast after all.It's great that Apple didn't skimp on the SoC since A15s will likely be shipping Q4 and it would be silly to start the year off behind the competition.
Unfortunately we can never get a clean benchmark of the Apple chips since the compiler toolchain and underlying software, kernel, etc. play a huge role in performance.
chripuck - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
Except for the part where as of now we're only guessing it's an A15 chip. A single slide claiming double the performance could simply be an indicator that it is a quad core A5 with needed OS improvements for multi-threading or it's running at a higher clockspeed.menting - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
a dual core A15 is nice, but saying it's the best SoC, when then S4 pro on phones (LG, Xiaomi) have already been announced for recent release is just flat out wrong.henryhbk - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Because as someone who develops software for the iOS platform, I am very grateful that they didn't change both dimensions, thank you very much. My apps currently happen to be screen size independent, but lots of apps aren't (and may not make sense to be). This allows apps from day 1 to work without some horrible scaling. Also as someone with human size hands, I can't reach the far side of one of these ridiculous sized phones. If I wanted a tablet at that moment I would use my iPad; however I am using a phone, which generally means one hand, which means my thumb has to reach. Sorry, wider phones are a fail ergonomically.While it is true that droids have had LTE, their chips weren't universal, so you had to pick your network ahead of time (now why is 2012 LTE they couldn't fix this in general for LTE is beyond me, although it is better than the 3G world was). Also this chipset uses a lot less power (i.e. battery) than the generation from some time back, so no objection that they waited; I will take battery life any day over some theoretical speed difference (I say theoretical because I don't find 3G particularly slow for anything I do on my phone while walking around town - I am a heavy user, but rarely when out and about, and everywhere I go has WiFi).
iLoveiOS - Friday, September 14, 2012 - link
This is true! 1,000,000 Likes for this.KoolAidMan1 - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Adding LTE before Qualcomm's 28nm chip (which was JUST released) would have resulted in half the battery life. This is why LTE on Android phones outside of the giant ones is do terrible. Apple didn't want to compromise on battery life or size, so they waited. Great timing too, given that LTE is finally showing up in more places. Two years ago it was a battery chugging feature with limited coverage.tech01x - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
<quote>Oh boy, LTE that Droids have only had for 2 years. Apple on the cutting edge.</quote>The original iPhone shipped with EDGE instead of 3G, for a reason. Same reason why the iPhone 4S shipped w/o LTE. It wasn't ready. It's not about being first, necessarily, it's about making the "right" engineering choices for most people. Bringing advanced technology when it has been done right. The iPhone 5 uses the Qualcomm MDM9615M with the new 28nm process so that it has 8 hours of "LTE Browsing Time" as defined at: http://www.apple.com/iphone/battery.html
And that is with a mere 5.45 Whr battery. The Droid Bionic with the extended battery which is 10.2 Whr lated 5 hours in Anandtech's web browsing test. On the standard 6.6 Whr battery, the Droid Bionic lasted a mere 3.2 hours. Apple doesn't want to ship crap like that, especially when LTE networks themselves were just rolling out. As AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon finish up their LTE rollouts and people's early generation LTE handsets get LTE instead of 3G service, they'll see a huge drop in battery life.
See http://www.anandtech.com/show/4910/motorola-droid-...
The HTC Thunderbolt gets all of 2.872 hours on LTE. Again, Apple doesn't ship that crap. If you wanted LTE that bad, then great! You go enjoy. Most people want phones that last most of the day.
B3an - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
YawnKoolAidMan1 - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Fastest SoC, amazing battery life, best applications, YAWN.Standard Bean response
Mike0 - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
Amazing battery life? Pretty sure they said that with the 4 and 4s, and both turned out to offer fairly average uptime.Most of the applications are basically the same on Android too. iOS developers can't afford to ignore developing for Android and that increases on a daily basis.
Fastest SoC for now... Android will over take it before Christmas I suspect. HTC's event is on the 19th.
B3an - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
Standard fanboy response.Fastest SoC? We dont know that yet. Krait/Snapdragon S4 is very similar to A15, and if the iPhones A15 is clocked low then current Krait phones could be faster.
Amazing battery life? Benchmarks or STFU.
I'll admit it has the most apps atleast.
So same old design, same old extremely dated looking iOS, not even a 720p res display, no NFC, still no expandable memory, pretty much the same camera, and not even a standard Micro USB connector so Apple can charge $29 for their proprietary adapter crap. YAWN.
Locateneil - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
Old design? not really, it's significantly different if you see and hold it and not have cheap feel of s3, you don't need 720 display on 4 inch since it's already fetching very high ppi, NFC is still not mainstream, iphone 5's camera is still better than latest android counterparts however lumnia's could be better camera and get a 64gig if you want more space. Only thing I can agree on is not going for micro usb, because then Iphone will not have exclusivity in accessories. And Apple's evil genius idea to make millions by selling the adapter alone that costs $30 so all old accessories don't go obsolete.iLoveiOS - Friday, September 14, 2012 - link
:)db4williams - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
*Yawn* Same tired design.iLoveiOS - Friday, September 14, 2012 - link
You should apply as a designer, yeah?GotThumbs - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
So far the only comparisons I see/hear is to Apples older hardware. I would hope that the new Iphone is better than the last generation.I'm looking forward to reading an actual hardware/benchmark comparison to other manufactures newest phones.
Comparing all of the past Iphone genrations would be a weak review IMO.
Best Wishes,
GotThumbs - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Also some real world testing of bandwidth when NOT in Apples controlled demo environment would also be helpful to anyone thinking of upgrading.redeemer777 - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Wow really fast and smooth time to sell off the SG3DerekZ06 - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
If the battery life is great and the phone can be dropped without breaking the screen, I'll buy.iLoveiOS - Friday, September 14, 2012 - link
You're funny. :)tuxRoller - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
I really hope they do some serious decoupling of the body and screen.Still, nice looking update and a logical continuance of their designs.
BTW, I bet that this isn't an arm 15, but either a 1.6GHz dualcore on separate power planes and which aggressively changes clocks (maybe something interesting from the intrinsity folks), or, less likely, a quadcore. The arm 15 wouldn't be twice as fast unless clock speeds increased and I don't think apple will be first to market with that design. The gpu is a different story. I doubt it's Rogue but I also doubt it is a 543mp4 since those are huge and use tons of power. Is it just an upclocked 543mp2 at a lower process node?
Also glad to see apple finally jumped on the integrated touch layer screen bandwagon. That should help outdoor use.
Anandtech:
Do you know if this is using the liquid metal that apple licensed oh so long ago?
jamyryals - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Finally jumped on the integrated touch layer bandwagon? The technology JUST came to market. This will be the first phone using it that will have any (US) market success at all.As for the processor, ramping up Arm 9 voltages to hit those clock speeds you are talking about would result in worse battery life, not better. Apple is claiming better in a thinner package AND with LTE. Not very many people thought they would be first to market with this new architecture, but that's why it's called a surprise.
Give credit where it's due. There are some legitimately new things in this phone. Can't wait to see the benchmarks.
andrewaggb - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
I think this phone addresses the major points. It's a bit bigger, lighter, faster. Minor IOS updates.And as such, it'll be a great phone.
The tech side of me finds it boring though. It's too bad I think the Lumina 920 is a bit heavy versus other phones, as it certainly seems to be the most interesting device coming out. And, IOS works, it's nothing special, not particularly cool in any way, but is windows phone 8 going to be a good day to day device or will it be cool, but somewhat frustrating day in and day out?
Going to need to wait for some reviews I think.
tuxRoller - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
I don't know, the new xiomai (spelling?) looks even more interesting.An f/2.0 sensor, new SoC, and looks fairly nice. Plus, it's cheap.
tuxRoller - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
OK, I read over the patent and misunderstood what was being done. I thought they were merely integrating the touch sensor with the outer glass as has been done for years. Apparently they've wedded the actual sensor to the LCD itself to the point where it looks as if the subpixels and capacitive sensors share voltage gates (I only skimmed the patent so I may've missed some details).Regarding V concerns on power, if this at a lower process node and is introducing high-k gates apple SoC then it seems possible they could get both a major performance increase and still draw less power if the clocks ramp up sufficiently. Of course you'd only get this power advantage on race-to-idle conditions and not something continuously stressful like complex games, but I'm guessing they didn't claim the later case would improve.
So, no, I don't think there is yet any reason to think they are using arm 15 other than for masturbatory speculation purposes.
Also, it seems possible they might be using the brand new quadcore qualcomm APQ krait with adreno 320. That might be the simplest explanation and would explain why they're using a separate baseband chip.
theos83 - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
It can't be quadcore qualcomm since Apple designs/modifies its own SoC chip based on ARM processors. The only two options are quad-core A9 or dual-core A15. A15 provides numerous micro-architectural features for power efficient performance.Moving to a new node (32nm in this case, most probably) reduces static power considerably over 45nm, especially with the high-K gates. Also, the tech node is targeted for about 15~20% improved performance at same dynamic power.
tuxRoller - Friday, September 14, 2012 - link
Apple doesn't have to design/modify their SoC, and in this case, they would be stupid to do so unless they actually are rocking arm 15. Going with the new qualcomm s4 pro and simply renaming it A6 makes most sense to new since, as I understand it, TI is the Arm launch partner for the new architecture. However, perhaps as long as Apple never calls it arm cortex 15, it may not matter to Arm/TI.TeeJay2000 - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Great points. I think the benchmarks will surprise many.Aikouka - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
did you inadvertently post Anand's phone number in that photo where you're making a phone call?Might have been something that you meant to blur out!
skiboysteve - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
might not want to leave anands number on that screen shotpeople are weird and might call
eanazag - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Clearly they are out today for both camps. Today's announcement is an iPhone that is an upgrade to the 4S and compelling features to what is currently on the market from the Android team. There are some items that bring Apple's phone back into competiveness - ahem"4G"ahem. I own an iPhone 4 and the new design covers a lot of the bases I was requiring of my next phone. Yes 4G. 4G didn't truly matter till the last two months as Verizon hadn't covered where I live and work till then. The dual WiFi is nice and will be put to good use. First to beating Samsung and TI to A15's is pretty impressive. Honestly, I was cool with a shrunk iPad 2 SoC and upped MHz. With the iPhone 4 and the Cortex A8 most things behave well, but it certainly can be sluggish. My biggest complaint with the 4 is like of AirPlay Mirroring, which is hardware dependent.A lot of the features I am looking forward to are covered by software and can be had for me on the 19th without any dollars or waiting for vendors to approve the distro. I got my iPhone on iOS 4 and will see it on 6 soon. Turn-by-turn is a big deal; and yes it has been on Android phones for a while now.
Truth is I upgrade when the I am eligible to upgrade and that is pretty much every two years. I am not eligible till October. A non-4G iPhone 5 would have made the decision extremely tough for anyone who wasn't a diehard. I've been working my 4G hotspot to death and will be happy to not carry it around in my pocket. Brian, do you have that in your cargo pants?
This is a great phone for loyalists. Good for those who are on the fence between camps. I have some money and time investment in Apple, so basically my business was Apple's to lose.
Windows phone 8 with an Xbox gaming ecosystem would be tempting to me, as long as screen mirroring and apps came online/materialized.
name99 - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
"though it's always hard to tell whether this is any faster than the previous generation"Try capturing HDR. It's REALLY obvious that capturing HDR is slow on a 4, and it's still so slow as to be obvious and irritating on a 4S. So the question is, on a 5 is it fast enough that it's no longer painful?
Impulses - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
I actually like the 5's tall but narrow form factor... Even though I've been using larger phones for the last two years; three EVOs, two 4.3", one qHD, latest being 4.65" and 720p obviously. My newest EVO was a huge improvement in pocket feel (thinner) but it's wide enough that it made me aware I'd never want a larger phone no matter how sexy and high tech. I'd even go back to 4.3" if I could still get something that's 720p.I think it's kinda comical they're letter boxing old apps tho. It's no worse than on screen menu button bars and what have you (HTC/ICS, thankfully they found a more elegant solution), but I'm not sure they would have ever gone down that route during the Jobs era.
Impulses - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
I should add I have average sized hands but really long/thin fingers... 4.65" phones have to be unusable with one hand by a large cross section of the population, mostly because of how wide they are rather than how tall... You don't need to reach the top edge of the screen very often, but it's easier on a narrower phone since you tend to stretch out your thumb diagonally.The end result is the IPhone will still be favored by a lot of people due to size alone, regardless of funky app letter boxing, and other OEM are shooting themselves in the foot by not having more high end but smaller (4" or even 4.3") devices. The One S (on one US carrier, with a meh display) and the new mid size RAZR are the only that come to mind on the Android camp.
ascian5 - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
All other comments aside, this screen size/resolution is retarded. I'm an American male, the current iPhone screen sizes literally cramp my thumb(s). A taller screen with no width increase does nothing for me. Until I use it, I anticipate it being the OPPOSITE of this alleged 'more usable' model.I
Ergonomics aside, I want more usable screen real estate. Browsing the web, etc is just annoying at the curret dimensions. I do not see a taller screen fixing this issue at all. which is why come November I'll be lookin at the Nokia 920 or holding my nose at an Andriod handset despite my preference for anything else. My iPhone 4 is just showing its age too vividly these days and I can't see myself going 12 months or longer on this absurd screen despite the other features and app ecosystem that Apple brings to be table.
As an aside, kudos on Lightenin being reversible. I'd prefer micro-USB but its about time someone made a connector with some common sense. When Apple dropped he FireWire compatibility from he 30 pin connector people cried, but we're over it in months. Changing will suck for some hardware transitions, but big picture, this is the right move.
Impulses - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
Right move would've been micro USB/MHL... But that doesn't make economic sense for Apple. At least people get a reversible connector out of the deal, should be pretty sturdy too, to magnets instead of clips would've made it perfect (it'd probably raise accessory cost too much).I'm curious about the new buds being included, first time I've ever seen bass drivers in an ear bud stem.
vision33r - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
I actually hate the micro USB, so many crappy micro USB cables that don't clip or stay connected well and premium ones are too expensive. The new lightning cable does not require flipping around.ascian5 - Wednesday, September 12, 2012 - link
I absolutely understand the economic reasons for not going with micro-USB. I'd do the exact same thing in their shoes. But I'm not, I'm a consumer :) I'd just as soon see this become a standard if it were (is) USB3. The only thing that bugs me is the exposed pins. A minor point admittedly, but still valid.As for the complaint about the cost of cables or not clipping.... all I can say is, does not compute.
I look forward to any HTC surprises next week (not expecting any, much like today) but per my original post, this taller screen is still retarded and may or may not bite them in the long run. With vector graphics I don't think a change down the road is out of the question, but I just don't understand the display choice. It's like Apple is being different is being different for the sake of being so. In this case, it has more than likely cost them a sale.
With the lack of innovation of anything that has to do with the phone itself,. I can't see myself staying in the iOS camp for this year.
KPOM - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
I think the Galaxy SIII is just plain too big. I like the width of the iPhone. Perhaps they could go a tad wider, but only a tad (perhaps to make the keyboard easier to use in portrait). They don't need to put some 4.8" monster screen. That's too big IMO.emarston - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
I thought the same cause I don't have large hands. I got the S3 and it's actually better for about everything. I can operate it with 1 hand without a problem.vulcz - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
I noticed that the glass screen isn't as exposed as with the 4/4S. Do you think it's significant enough of a difference that will help reduce the amount of cracked iPhones?fhaddad78 - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
I see so many flames against Apple's products and the company itself. Maybe it's just the "cool" thing to do on the forums. But even though Apple isn't on the bleeding edge when it comes to the latest technologies, they are on the bleeding edge in how they use and offer those features. For example, they are finally adding 4G to their phone, and some see that as horrible when other companies have been doing it for a couple years. But in all honesty, I had an HTC Thunderbolt when 4G just came out and the battery didn't last more than 1 hour. That's pathetic. When Apple finally got around to getting 4G in their phone, they did it with a phone that still can yield 8 hours of use. I don't own any Apple products, I'm not some Apple zealot, but I do give credit where credit is due. Apple makes the best looking, and most tightly integrated phone out there. Microsoft's new Windows Phone is second to Apple in that regard. Android on the other hand, which I use, is just not as organized and fluid as either of the other companies products. All the Android phones look and feel like crap in your hands compared to Apple's iPhone. They are mostly cheap plastic and snap together components. Some credit and less hate needs to be given to Apple. I challenge anyone to put a phone next to the iPhone and say the iPhone looks, feels, and performs worse. You don't have to have the most memory, highest clock speed, most cores, etc to have the best phone. It's not always about raw numbers. I would argue Apple can squeeze more performance out of a dual core CPU running at 1 GHz than an Android phone running a quad core CPU at 2 GHz. That's overly exaggerated, but the point is made.Conficio - Thursday, September 13, 2012 - link
Hi Brian & Anand,does it annoy you too, that some phones can be charged (for example in a car) and still drain their battery when running demanding apps, such as navigation? It does bug me and I realized there is no information regarding this very practical use case.
Would it be possible for you to measure how much current a phone draws when charging an empty battery and how much it draws when running demanding software at the same time (may be your battery drain test). Then report the two different currents and how much the battery charge does increase over 1h, 2h.
I'd also like to see reviews of quality chargers, essentially the power supplies for phones. It would be nice to see similar quality measures then for PC power supplies. This is especially true for car chargers, as that is the scenario where this should occur most often. But at home it could be a similar scenario if I use my phone to watch a movie while I hope it is charged afterwards.
Thanks in advance for the consideration.
noblemo - Friday, September 14, 2012 - link
According to the announcement and images on the Apple web site, the black version has a black anodized back cover capped with black on the ends, while the white model features a raw aluminum cover with white on the ends. The images posted here show a raw aluminum cover with black ends. Is this just a pre-release color scheme?7amdi - Saturday, September 15, 2012 - link
so guys can we make a comaprison between the s3 and the iphone 5 now ???cuz iam so puzzled about the s3 and the iphone 5
RichardKirschb - Sunday, September 16, 2012 - link
Very in depth article, kudos to you allhansu - Friday, September 21, 2012 - link
its a dual core 1.02 ghz processor in iphone 5,sucks but the phone is fast ,
ill buy a lumia 920 thats a awsome phone