iPhone 5
The iPhone line has been one of the most successful product lines (if not the most successful) and is a name that is synonymous with everyone. When the iPhone 4 came out, everyone thought that its design was so perfect that Apple would probably never change it by a lot. These people were right as of the iPhone 4s's and iPhone 5's unveiling. This year's iPhone 5 has a design much like the 4 and 4s's with a glass front, a back that is mostly aluminium, and glass pieces at the top and bottom. This design is also a two tone design with a dark grey aluminium and black glass design on the black version, and a very light grey aluminium and white glass design on the white version. The iPhone 5 is also the thinnest iPhone ever at 7.6mm thick. We have not put the iPhone 5 in our grubby mitts, but the aluminium and glass design looks like it will feel very good in the hand. The iPhone 5's premium aluminium and glass design also addresses the fact that most premium smart phones do not have premium designs but cheap ones instead *cough Samsung cough*.
Another big feature in the iPhone 5 is its brand new 4 inch Retina display. This new Retina display has a resolution of 1,136 x 640, which has included more vertical pixels to compensate for the 4 inches of real estate. This pixel resolution amounts to exactly the same PPI (pixels per inch) as the iPhone 4s at 326 PPI. This display will probably give the same wow factor as the previous Retina displays did with deep blacks, bright whites, no staggering, great color reproduction, and fantastic viewing angles. This display will probably be as incredible as the previous Retina displays.
In terms of speed, the iPhone 5 has made a huge leap forward, we think. The iPhone 5 finally has LTE connectivity to deliver incredibly fast data speeds. LTE data is supported on Verizon, Sprint, and AT&T on the carrier subsidized models, while the unlocked model will support LTE on certain carriers around the world and HSPA+ 850/900/1900/2100 bands. Contradicting to many rumors, the iPhone 5 will not be released on T-Mobile and the unlocked model does not support T-Mobile's 1700MHZ AWS band. We would have liked to see iPhone either on T-Mobile to make it on all of the top four U.S. carriers, or at least have the unlocked model support the 1700MHZ band. The iPhone 5 also has Apple's brand new A6 processor. We have not heard of any details on the processor, but Apple says it is two times faster than the iPhone 4s's processor. We have not tested the iPhone 5's performance yet so we will have to wait and see if Apple's claim is true. Reportedly, the A6 processor is 22 percent smaller than the previous processor and it is supposed to be more energy efficient. The iPhone 5 is supposed to have a battery life of 8 hours of talk time, and, 10 hours of battery life while on WiFi. Despite these nice numbers, this is including the LTE data that the iPhone 5 has. The iPhone 5 looks like it will deliver admirable performance, but we will have to test it ourselves to see if it can stand toe-to-toe with the other smart phone flagships.
As for the iPhone 5's camera, not much has changed. It is essentially the same 8 megapixel, 1080p, f/2.4 lens that we saw on the iPhone 4s. The only difference between the iPhone 5's lens and the iPhone 4s's lens is that the iPhone 5's lens has a sapphire lens covering rather than the glass covering, to allow the iPhone 5 to be much thinner than the 4s. The 4s's camera offered amazing detail, great low-light performance, and vibrant colors, but it is just not the best camera on a smart phone anymore. Not to say that the iPhone 5's camera is going to be bad, but it's just not the best camera anymore. Unlike the rear-facing camera, the front-facing camera as been upgraded to a 1.2 megapixel resolution. We are a bit disappointed with the iPhone 5 not having an improved camera, but it still has a fantastic camera.
As for software, the iPhone 5 has the same iOS 6 that was previewed at WWDC. We will not go too deep into this (here's our WWDC article ), but we will talk about it. iOS 6 is mostly like iOS 5, but it has many new features. Passbook, Apple's own navigation system that actually is good enough (Maps), and Siri on more than the iPhone 4s are some new features. Passbook is almost like Google Wallet, but it can handle movie tickets, boarding passes, etc. also. Despite the inclusion of Passbook, the iPhone 5 sadly does not include NFC. Maps is Apple's new navigation system and it looks very promising. The graphics and interface are great but until we test it for ourselves, Google Maps is still better.
As for pricing, the iPhone 5 is still the same price as the 4s was before; $200 for 16GB, $300 for 32GB, and $400 for 64GB. As for the unlocked versions, it starts at $650 and goes up in price according to the amount of memory. The interesting tidbit with the unlocked version is that there are no pre-orders up for it in the U.S. The pre-orders for Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon are up, but not the unlocked version. If the unlocked version comes up on the online Apple Store in your country, tell us in the comments below. Overall, the new iPhone 5 is great but it should have had more improvements. The other star of the Apple show was the brand-new fifth generation iPod Touch.
Fifth Generation iPod Touch
Last year, Apple disappointed us by not releasing the fifth generation iPod Touch. This disappointed some buyers (including us because we bought the fourth generation last year) but most people were still focused on the iPhone 4s at the time. This year, Apple has released the fifth generation with many new features. Some of these new features are new hardware, software, and some surprising twists. Let's dive into the new fifth generation iPod Touch.
The biggest change with the fifth generation iPod Touch is that it has very colorful hardware. The new iPod Touch comes in five different colors. This Nano-esque arsenal of colors includes silver, black, blue, yellow, pink, and the (Product) Red color. We like this great abundance of colors, but there is one problem. The only color that you can get with a black glass front is black, while all the colors come with white glass panels. Apple should have at least given the buyer a choice between white or black glass to satisfy the consumer. The white glass does look great, but it does turn yellow with dust and dirt over the years. The backs of the new iPod Touches are made of the same aluminium that is used on the MacBooks. We have not handled the iPod Touch ourselves, but we think that this will feel great in the hand. The new iPod Touch's design is a refreshing, fun change, but we would have wanted the ability to chose black glass on the colored backs.
The fifth generation iPod Touch shares the same 4 inch Retina display as the iPhone 5. This 1,136 x 640 panel offers the same great features as the iPhone 4s, iPhone 5, and the fourth generation iPod Touch with great viewing angles, deep blacks, vibrant colors, bright whites, and no staggered text. We adore the Retina displays and they are only getting better.
The iPod Touch's performance has also been improved in the fifth generation with the inclusion of Apple's A5 processor. This is the same dual-core processor that is found on last year's iPhone 4s and it probably has the same 1GB of RAM. We have not seen any benchmarks on the iPod Touch, but a dual-core 1GHZ processor and 1GB of RAM are our assumptions. The new processor will probably offer brisk performance and a big improvement over the fourth generation iPod Touch.
Another big improvement in the new iPod Touch is the brand new 5 megapixel iSight camera. This 5 megapixel, f/2.4, 1080p camera with LED flash is rocking the same iSight moniker as the iPhone 5 and the new iPad. With the fourth generation iPod Touch, the VGA camera offered grainy pictures and could only get a decent picture in good lighting. The fifth generation iPod Touch hopes to fix its successor's problem with the brand new camera. We have not tested the camera for ourselves, but based on the new iPad's camera it will probably offer great performance, vivid colors, and similar performance to the iPhone 4. We are very welcoming to this upgrade after seeing many Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter pictures very grainy and bad from the fourth generation iPod Touch's camera. Overall, the fifth generation iPod Touch's new camera is a welcomed, and fantastic improvement.
As for software, the fifth generation iPod Touch has iOS 6 like the iPhone 5. The biggest change in software from the fourth generation is that the iPod Touch finally gets Siri. Sadly, the fifth generation iPod Touch is the only iPod Touch that will get Siri. The usual iOS 6 features will also come in the fifth generation iPod Touch like Passbook, Maps, and Facebook integration. We like iOS 6, but it will not be our operating system of choice until it gets a better UI.
The fifth generation iPod Touch is a fantastic piece of hardware and still reins the music player throne. The only problem we have with it is its pricing. At $300 for the 32GB version and $400 for the 64GB version, the new iPod Touch is very pricey. Apple could have at least offered a $250 16GB version or better yet a $200 8GB version. We think that more people would upgrade from the fourth generation to the fifth if Apple had cheaper pricing on this new model. $300 is fine for a 32GB model, but there should be cheaper models that offer a smaller amount of memory. This is our only gripe with the new model, but it is an important issue.
Alongside the new iPod Touch and the iPhone 5, Apple released a new Nano and more colors to the Shuffle. The new Nano has a 2.5 inch multi-touch display, new software, and a new design. The new display is a touchscreen display that has a 432 x 240 resolution to watch all of your movies that you can now load on it. The fifth generation Nano had video playback capabilities, but the sixth generation Nano skipped out on that for a smaller profile. The fifth generation Nano was very nice (we had one ourselves), however we considered the sixth generation as a downgrade. The new Nano is what the sixth should have been with its curved glass front and aluminium back. This design is somewhat Nokia Lumia-esque with the flat glass and curving back material, but it is not copying it entirely. The Nano also includes a home button to compensate for the new software. This new Nano software is basically a dumbed-down version of iOS, and looks like it will handle well on the touchscreen. The Nano comes in green, yellow, black, silver, purple, blue, pink, and the (Product) Red color. Like the iPod Touch, the colored versions are only available with a white glass front, and the black version is the only model with a black glass front. We are very pleased with the new Nano, but it should have been the successor to the fifth generation Nano. The new Shuffle's only change from the previous version is that it has more colors now. The new Shuffle has different shades of blue, pink, purple, yellow, green, and (Product) Red than last year's Shuffle. Other than the new colors, the Shuffle is the same Shuffle that we saw last year.
The new iPod line is absolutely fantastic. The iPod Touch has the new, colorful, aluminium design, the new Nano has a refreshing design, and the Shuffle has brand-new colors. We are pleased with every single new iPod and have very few gripes with them. The main gripes are the expensive pricings of the iPod Touch and the iPod Nano. Want more information on the brand-new iPod line? Check out the source links below for more information.
Sources: Engadget iPhone 5 Hands-On, Engadget iPhone 5 Announcement, Engadget iPod Touch Hands-On, Apple: Fifth Generation iPod Touch, Apple: Seventh Generation iPod Nano, Apple: Fourth Generation iPod Shuffle
Pictures from the Engadget source links above and Apple.com
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