The iPhone 5 impressions

It’s finally here.  The new iPhone or as they prefer to call it The iPhone 5.    We practically got what everybody was expecting, thanks to all the post Steve Jobs leaks.   Everything, absolutely everything was exactly as the leaks suggested.  Even the accessories were spot on, names and everything.  This was a major disappointment to the usual excitement an event like this used to have going in to it.  This time, we were sent home with nothing but confirmed material.    I remember the time you knew an Apple event was coming and didn’t know what product was to be showcased.   Everything seems robotic at this day and age, with almost everything that was leaked coming out as the truth.  Yes, I know every year that passes will make everything more difficult to secure, but make no mistake, when Jobs was around he managed to keep everything as secret as possible, didn’t an Gizmodo employee get searched when he got his hands on an iPhone 4?   Man, times change.

As for the phone itself, it was kind of a disappointment to many because it seemed so much like the iPhone 4, just larger.  Well, let me tell you something, many that are having hands on time with the phone are telling us that its much different than its predecessor when you have it in your hand, and its easy to see why if you take a closer look.  A thinner, larger, lighter phone will make a real difference when you hold it in your hand.  Design wise its kind of the same, but there are some clear differences that will show up once you hold the phone in your hand.  The fact that only the front is glass is going to make a huge difference, there is also the lower part of the phone with the new connector.   Differences like this will show up when you get it in your hands.  It will be very difficult to grasp all the details from simple pictures as it looks almost the same as the one preceding it.

New Mic and Speakers should also be felt until used.   An improved camera will probably take some time to experience, but still, all these things are real upgrades to the phone.  I actually like that they kept the core design of the phone mostly as an evolution instead of a revolution.   It works, its sexy, its cool and it looks good every time around.   As for the improved chip and graphics, well, this is what we should be worried about.  New software needs extra horse power.  The thing is that most software creators will push the chip to the max and sooner than later we’ll continue experiencing slowdown but with more modern apps.     As for the new EarPods, well, again, until experiencing them first hand we can’t say if they are an obvious improvement.  We think that anything different from what we have today is an improvement.       The new connector, named Lightning doesn’t make any sense to me.   Its just a different design that will probably only reduce costs for Apple.  Why name it Lightning if it doesn’t have USB3 or Firewire capabilities, let alone Thunderbolt?     I expected it to be at least twice as fast as the last connector in order to make sense for the everyday user.     Again, where is Steve?

Tim Cook doesn’t have the marketing skills of Steve Jobs and that makes presentation a little underwhelming.  The iPhone 5 would have been sold by Jobs in a way that everybody right now would be salivating.    Except we are met with a lot of people who are hating and complaining.  That is Apple’s fault for not keeping their closets tightly closed and letting things leak.  The magic is instantly gone.  The presentation of a product is tarnished when everybody knows what it looks like.      The new iOS 6 is my most anticipated product though, as its the real thing i’ll be using day in day out.

As for the other announcements, it seems to me that the iPod Touch is now marketed for a new audience: kids.   Its a gaming device for teenagers, all those versions with different colors remind me of the old way Apple used to do stuff, didn’t like it at all.   The iPod nano is also one of the ugliest products Apple has ever released.   The circular icons reminded me of the PSP Vita, are they getting sued?  Funny how they sort of copied how a gaming system does its stuff when they market for that particular audience.   All companies are the same.    The new iTunes is something i’ve been waiting for a while and it didn’t disappoint.  I like the new integration with iCloud and the new designed interface.  This was a Highlight for me.    Many will hate because its their nature, for my part I got what I expected and that was the disappointment.

Grading the products

iPhone 5: B+  : Cool design, excellent new features.  Lacks wireless charging and extra fast sync cable.

iPod Touch 5th Gen: A-:  Loved it, it just has the right differences to tell it apart from an iPhone.  Colors suck though

iPod Nano:  D-:  Ugly!  Didn’t like the new interface, lack of WiFi inexplicable.

iTunes:  A :  Looks great and its free!