iPhone 5 review: Apple iPhone 5 hands on impressions: It doesn't look it, but it's incredible
# One of the more striking things about holding a new iPhone model is
how your old iPhone, which seemed perfectly sleek and adequate just an
hour earlier, can suddenly feel slow, clunky and heavy. It's a neat
trick, one that Apple is betting on to help it ship new units to
exsisting iPhone owners in the coming year.
# After the Apple press
event, we were given some hands-on time with the upgraded iPhone 5, as
well as the iPod touch and iPod nano. Here are our first impressions of
the taller, lighter iPhone 5, which we tested next to a crusty,
pratically fossilied iPhone 4.
# The iPhones and iPods were laid
out on tables in the dim, windowless hall at the Yerba Buena Center for
the Arts. Protective Apple employees made sure the devices weren't
pilfered, wiped off journalists' finger prints and visibly flinched
every time someone dropped a phone (which happened quite a few times
while we were there).
# From the front, the iPhone 5 looks just
like the iPhone 4 and 4S. It actually takes a moment to register that
it's taller (holding it next to a previous iPhone model helps bring it
home). The display is the same retina display found in the iPhone 4,
iPhone 4S and now, the new iPod Touch, but is now 4-inches instead of
3.5-inches.
Then you pick it up. The phone is incredibly light, and that weight
is its most striking and memorable feature. It feels almost delicate in
the hand, naked without some sort of protective case to prevent it from
snapping in half. Of course, the iPhone is not nearly that fragile. The
body is made out of the same aluminum found in MacBooks, as well as
glass. It feels expensive, not like a plastic device that could break
easily. (We look forward to the inevitable drop tests.)
# On their
own, thinner and lighter are interesting selling points. Yes, it feels
incredible in the hand, but the iPhone 4 wasn't exactly weighing anyone
down, and consumers weren't clamoring for a thinner smartphone. On the
other hand, Apple prides itself on delivering features people will want
before they know they want them. There has been demand for more screen
real estate, and on that front the iPhone 5 delivers, but it might still
not be enough for those hoping for a 4.5-inch screen like what's found
on many Android devices.
# The new iPhone has a faster, A6
processor. It did feel zippy as we flipped through the new Passbook
feature, watched movies and scrolled through websites, however these
tasks weren't exactly lagging on the iPhone 4. Games were a great place
to see the processor in action, where detailed graphics are rendered
incredibly fast.
# Also noticeably speedy was the new panorama
feature in the camera app, which processed a 360-degree image of the
room almost instantly. For many similar third-party apps, there's a
short wait time while the images are stitched together.
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