 By Sam Richardson
The Design
The new model looks very similar to the iPhone 4S but is thinner, by 18%, and lighter, by 20%. It is also taller with a larger screen, at 4 inches corner to corner. The glass back casing has been replaced with a new single piece of aluminium. The new casing makes the phone look much sleeker and gives a different feel to the previous models.
There is another change with the headphone port being moved to the bottom alongside the new dock connector. This new ‘Lightning’ dock connector has been replaced to save space on the handset. It will ensure faster transfers and charging but obviously many people have an issue in that all previous accessories with the docking connector are now unusable; unless the user is willing to pay for an adaptor at £25. Apple had to make this change at some point to save space and they were always going to sell an adaptor separately so I don’t have too many complaints about it.
With the larger retina display screen it adds another row of apps onto the home screen. This change was much needed as the amount of apps that people use is ever increasing and now they are more easily accessed. The screen also gives the apps more room to work with which will make them look even better.
The Insides
The new model is powered by an A6 processor, which is an upgrade from the A5 in the iPhone 4S and the A5X in the latest iPad. Apple says that the A6 edition is twice as fast as that of the previous iPhone model.
Apple have introduced 4G within this model. This new ultra fast connection will only be available on new network Everything Everywhere (EE), that itself is launching in the next few weeks. No other operator is likely to have 4G capabilities until well into the new year due to some bungling by Ofcom. The 4G should be mightily fast and especially in these early uncongested times before the likes of Vodafone, O2 and Three are able to provide the service. All of you lucky Orange and T Mobile customers due an upgrade will get this through EE.
Another space saving feature is the introduction of an even smaller Nano Sim in place of the Micro Sim. Any network should provide you these over the counter and free of charge if you purchase the phone.
The Camera
Although the camera is the same 8MP edition from the iPhone 4S, Apple says that performance will be improved by the new A6 processor. The iPhone 5 also has a better low light performance and a new panorama mode which will upset many apps built specifically for that.
What’s missing?
There were plenty of rumours and desires for this phone and they were never all going to be fulfilled. The two most optimistic and desired were Near Field Communications (NFC) and wireless charging. One day an NFC phone could replace your wallet but it doesn’t look like Apple are willing to make the leap as of yet. As for wireless charging, Apple ignored it because it still means plugging something in to charge, even if it’s not into the phone itself.
Prices
The iPhone 5 is released on the 21st September and sim free will cost you £529 (16gb), £599 (32gb) and £699 (64gb). These prices will of course be far lower with a contract and each provider will vary according to price plans.
Summary
All in all, the iPhone 5 is a phenomenal piece of technology that is a significant upgrade from the iPhone 4S, although it doesn’t make the 4S look outdated. Anybody still using the iPhone 4 or a previous model should upgrade, but the 4S will do me for now.
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