iPhone 5 review
engadget.com
engadget.com
By itself, no public transportation directions in Maps should be a deal-breaker for anyone living in a big city. How Apple could have allowed such a huge feature regression from the 4S/iOS 5 to get into the final version of the iPhone 5 is beyond me.
You will probably be able to jailbreak and replace the Maps app with the older version. That may not come out for a month or two though.
I know that doesn't really solve the issue for other apps, but I bet a good amount of address-clicking comes from the browser.
As far as the article goes, I wonder why Engadget didn't list the new maps as a con. Certainly sounds like one, even in their own words.
Apple is a great company and their really driving themselves into the ground (well, maybe not yet) with all these frivolous patent troll lawsuits (claiming shape patents, suing a grocery store in Eastern Europe), Sandboxing app, rigorous Nazi-like App store tactics (they claim quality here, yeah my ass, there are probably 300,000 of the 500,00 apps which are pure garbage). It's got to end somewhere.
Anyway, back to Maps. It's a bad move, I've been playing with Maps on iOS6 since the first Beta, I don't know what they're thinking (or even if they're thinking) and it shows the character of that company.
The lightning adaptor is also bullshit - since now everyone will have to spend $100s on adaptors and new chargers. The 24-pin, while dated, worked and was just fine. I haven't played with the new connector yet - but it looks to me like it's easy to disconnect. I remember the older 24-pin connectors had clamps so to speak on the side to lock them in place and the current ones do a good job of staying put. This connector seems very fragile and flimsy and I see it disconnecting all over the place. Again, can't make this call until I play with the device.
It's the same logic with the "new" MagSafe 2 connector. Get outta here. The Mag Safe was just fine. There was nothing wrong with (aside from maybe, the ridiculous price tag). $30 for an adapter is obscene. These things cost $1.99 to produce in China (probably less) and Apple is simply milking the fanboys and corporate "we don't care we'll buy anything Apple because it looks cool" clients. I would know, I'm the one buying $100k of Apple products every year for the company I used to work for. It's really something.
BTW, the iPhone 5 is the iPhone 4Stretched. Bigger screen and a A6 process. Come on. The 4S has an A5X, I bet the performance benchmarks are negligible between the two. Software and the placebo-effect will do a hell of a job convincing the normal user that it "feels faster."
They could have done a lot more with this phone, they didn't because they didn't have to. I don't blame them.
Kinda like VGA ports on notebooks.
>This connector seems very fragile and flimsy and I see it disconnecting all over the place >The 4S has an A5X, I bet the performance benchmarks are negligible between the two
Read the article.
Stated right after you appear to have made the call. Ballsy.
> The 4S has an A5X, I bet the performance benchmarks are negligible between the two.
I'll take that bet. "The iPhone 5's A6 processor appears to be roughly twice as fast as any chip in an existing iOS product, if results posted by Geekbench prove to be accurate." http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57513867-37/iphone-5-bench...
Again, isn't that the point?!
I've had both, and I'd rather have to plug it back in occasionally than have my $2k MBP smashed on the floor.
Perhaps because turn by turn is a bigger feature for most people so the net of + turn by turn - public trans is not on net a huge feature regression.
Most of the people reviewing this phone live or at least work in big cities and none of them cited it as a deal breaker.
That question is left unanswered. May be that is because the audience won't like the answer...
Nowadays iPhones and flagship Androids have gotten good enough that the pain of switching ecosystems far outweighs any benefit to be gained by switching ecosystems.
Thank heavens. Because we all know how judging phones by letter grades, percentage points, and benchmark scores is so useful.
Not sure I agree. Most people I know ended up with their phone because that's what was popular at the time, or because it was pushed into their face, or it was reasonably inexpensive, or it was what their company handed out. They use it, play games, might use a specific app here and there, and might use the more advanced ecosystem features but more than likely those confuse them. They use it because they're used to it by this point, and not much more. Meaning changing wouldn't be the end of the world.
Personally I have an iPhone (and iPad) and have a good number of apps, though I regularly use very few of them and am enamoured with even less. I'm not necessarily invested in the ecosystem -- I wouldn't mind throwing away most apps I paid for since they were $1 and because I don't even use most of them any more, and the ones I do care about are most likely available on alternative ecosystems. It also doesn't help that my backups in iTunes fail 90% of the time and the bulkiness and slowness of iTunes does not often lead to a positive experience. I'm not saying alternative ecosystems would be all roses, just that this is my experience and that it prevents me from becoming overly attached.
smartphone costs a few thousand dollars to own over a couple of years. Cost of apps is bust a small portion of that cost.
(btw, I'm not at all saying there aren't good replacements, just that you have to learn about which ones these are. The same argument could be made with regards to switching from Android to iOS).
That being said, if I had a free upgrade, I'd take it, but I wouldn't pay any money for it.
I'd actually be more interested in a new iPad (please call it the iPad 4...'The New iPad' is a ridiciously stupid name) with a better processor for playing Madden NFL type games.
BTW..the most curious thing I saw out of the Apple news the day the iPhone 5 was announced was the new Nano. http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_ipod/family/ipod_...
I can't believe they are using those round icons. Does that strike anyone else as odd? It doesn't fit with anything else they are releasing and, IMO, looks pretty terrible.
I'm surprised they didn't release a smaller iPad to compete with the new Kindle Fire HD, which looks pretty damn good actually.
Check out my post above this one on my thoughts on Apple.
I don't know much about hardware, would it have been possible to use the standard micro USB connector and still provide those features?
From the article:
> the adapter will provide the power and analog audio that the vast majority of docks and accessories (and cars) in the world need
http://www.pcworld.com/article/247507/usb_30_to_reach_smartp...
Apple didn't use Lightning for the users, they did it for the lock-in with the accessories (in the future).
Essentially, his conclusion is that micro USB can't support everything Apple wants the connector to do.
I charge at 2A and it's not burning. Yes you read right. Many modify their chargers to charge at 2A. Also most computers charge them at 0.5A as it's the standard (yes, some charge at 1A).
There no function micro USB cannot do due to less pins, because its 100% digital.
But then, those are just nitpicking and lightning is just fine here.
There's however actual advantages to micro-usb:
- it supports USB3, which is faster than lightning
- everyone and their dog have micro usb cables
- every phone with micro usb works on every device, dock, what not, that has a micro usb and uses usb standards for storage, audio, etc.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Connector_USB_3_IMGP6033_w...
No, I can't just use an adapter - I have a head unit in my car that gives me some fantastic functionality, integration with the GPS, Pandora, iPod, iTunes. I thought "Great, I can upgrade, use the adapter..." - sorry, no can do. The adapter doesn't support "iPod Out" which means no remote control of devices.
Same for my bedside alarm clock, and it having the ability to wake me with my playlist, or control tracks from the console, no more 'remote control' for it.
So so so frustrated.
According to the article, and it's probably true, the limitation is on phone's end, not the port.
>every phone with micro usb works on every device, dock
Lighting is cleary better for docks, it's two side, slide-in design with lock. I hate using micro-usb every time when I charge my kindle.
Spend any time with an iPad or iPhone, try plugging it in in a dark room, and you'll curse Apple for having such a lame 30-pin connector.
Problem solved, finally. In fairness, it's hard to make a 30-pin connector reversible. And Apple probably didn't want to annoy legions of customers by switching until they had something that was incontrovertibly better, and that they could hang their hat on for a good long time.
The real question is: why does micro-USB suck so badly? The standards committee could have gotten it right all those years ago. They just didn't bother.
Apple bothers. I appreciate this, so I send them some money every few years.
It worked. I was happy that it was there, and I thought it was clever-ish at the time. But it was more clever than smart. Smart is designing a connector that is easy to plug in, aligns itself, and can be done in either polarity.
That's what Apple did -- the obviously right thing that no one else had bothered to do.
Also, consider that micro-USB sucks for auto-insertion (docks, etc). It wasn't designed for it. Apple has never been shy abut breaking with common practice if they see a benefit for the product, and a few ruffled feathers won't stop them.
Strong reversible or universal connections are the way to go—and none of the USB standards are it. By universal, I mean like the nearly-ubiquitous circular plugs, but not the circular plugs—as I have yet to find one that is quality on both sides of the equation. I had a laptop die because of one of those plugs, and it wasn't the male part of the plug, but the female part. The female receptacle was slowly but surely pushed off the motherboard.
I think it'd be far better to completely remove the opportunity for doing it wrong in the first place.
If you'll permit me to rant a bit here, why is it that IT people seem to so frequently respond to some non-optimum feature of software or hardware with a response that comes down to "but it's possible to work around it" as if that was the only legitimate option? Does this also happen in other fields?
(with most other connectors, the powered side is recessed or the contacts are protected somehow)
Can anyone explain what the deal is?
I fully agree with the OP here, the back looks bad. I don't get it. The all-glass back on the 4S was really nice. Had a certain allure and design sense to it.
Apple this time around:
Tim Cook: "Hey Jony, let's make the back uglier by anodizing the steel and let's see how many we can sell before we release the 5S next year."
Jony Ive: "Alright Tim, I bet we'll sell more than the 4S with an uglier case, you're on"
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57515524-37/initial-iphone...
I found David Pogue's early review hilarious if only because, reading between the lines, it boils down to: David Pogue has spent thousands of dollars on third party Apple dock gadgets and does not appreciate compatibility being broken.
I'm also waiting to hear better estimates for battery life -- why is talktime the best standard when no one I know talks for 8 hours on a bill, let alone a charge? I love the data/cpu usage shackles Apple has put on apps, but iOS 6 better let me turn off LTE with less than 6 taps!!
I wouldn't count on that. It wouldn't even surprise me if they didn't provide a setting to do that at all, after all, there is no way to turn of 3G in the settings.
You might have to jailbreak to get that capability.
There is on my 4S running iOS6 (and I'm sure it was there on my old 3GS...) :-
Settings > General > Mobile > Enable 3G (toggle switch)
http://gdgt.com/apple/iphone/5/
They'll add more to the list as they become available.
Tim Cook: "Couldn't go with that one, they're stupid, but not that stupid."