• We should now be fully online following an overnight outage. Apologies for any inconvenience, we do not expect there to be any further issues.

The Official iPhone 5 Thread

Page 8 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

Capt Caveman

Lifer
Jan 30, 2005
34,543
651
126
I don't really see what else they could have added?

Wider screen? I'd like that but only if it marginally increased the width. I would never get a 4.5-4.6 inch screen because they are ridiculously sized imo. NFC? don't really care about that until it is widely adopted.

I think they could have done a number of things. A slightly wider screen, NFC, using a micro-USB connector(something they even talked about doing), built-in inductive charging, 128gb capacity, better camera are just a few items.

With the money and size of this company, coming out with a product once a year, I would want it to be best in class, not playing catch-up.

And iOS6? How about some widgets, improved notifications, active icons, etc.

Where was there any innovation?

I found this article that follows the same line - Ho-hum. The iPhone 5 isn't going to wow anyone
 
Last edited:

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
81
I guess my biggest thing is if you are "upgrading" to 2 4s's for 99 each vs 2 5's for 199 each is that you are upgrading to old tech and locked in for 2 more years.

I would never sign a new contact on something that is already a older model.

Over the next 2 years basically it would cost you 8.33 a month just to get the 5's over the 4s's.

This is the part that I keep coming back to as well. I am not 100% sure what I am going to do.

And Ronnie Lott is the man, my HS football number :).

Agreed!

MotionMan
 

Ashenor

Golden Member
May 9, 2012
1,227
0
0
This is the part that I keep coming back to as well. I am not 100% sure what I am going to do.



Agreed!

MotionMan

If you are dead set on a 4s and not upgrading i will give you mine, still has best buy warranty on it if you want to keep that and is a white 32g like new :). I will trade ya plus give you the price for a new iPhone 5.
 

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,154
1,799
126
Does anyone in the US even care about NFC? Cuz in Canada it's completely irrelevant.
 

MotionMan

Lifer
Jan 11, 2006
17,124
12
81
If you are dead set on a 4s and not upgrading i will give you mine, still has best buy warranty on it if you want to keep that and is a white 32g like new :). I will trade ya plus give you the price for a new iPhone 5.

Trade for what? And who pays what?

MotionMan
 

Ashenor

Golden Member
May 9, 2012
1,227
0
0
Trade for what? And who pays what?

MotionMan

Basically i will give you my 4s 32g and $200 or whatever it costs with tax for the 5, and mail you my phone and the money or paypal whichever you prefer.

So you would end up with a 32g 4s for free basically, and it saves me from trying to buy a 5 out of contract.
 

Kaido

Elite Member & Kitchen Overlord
Feb 14, 2004
51,638
7,273
136
Does anyone in the US even care about NFC? Cuz in Canada it's completely irrelevant.

I've only ever seen it at convenience stations and fast-food drive-throughs. The new credit cards have chips in them that you just bop against the reader.

I'd imagine the reasons that Apple didn't go with NFC include (1) lack of existing marketplace hardware (like 4G...they waited until it was a majority rather than a minority), (2) the security issues related to hacking NFC, and (3) their Passport system uses server-based authentication, which ties into the specific vendor's networking system for verification (ex. airport boarding passes). Sort of makes sense. Would have been a cool feature though!
 

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,154
1,799
126
I've only ever seen it at convenience stations and fast-food drive-throughs. The new credit cards have chips in them that you just bop against the reader.
We have that too, but that's not NFC per se. They're RFID chipped credit cards, like PayPass. I use that for my gas and groceries... which basically makes NFC in my smartphone superfluous.
 

slashbinslashbash

Golden Member
Feb 29, 2004
1,945
8
81
An iPad charger is not really a true USB 2 port. It's a charger.

If you have a standard USB 3 port on your computer, it would provide much more power to a USB 3 device than a standard USB 2 port would.

On new Macs, their USB 2 ports can provide more than 0.5 A, but that's because they're overspec'd.

So what's the big deal then? It's already established that the iDevices can accept more power than standard USB2 provides. USB3 provides more power in the same connector and pinout. Why wouldn't an iDevice be able to take advantage of that greater USB3 power, even if the connection is not technically USB3?

Personally I am very happy with the iP5 announcement and will be getting one for sure (big upgrade over my 3GS). I don't see what people are bitching about. This is a massive upgrade in terms of hardware (probably the fastest smartphone out there) great battery life, just in time for LTE rollout in more areas, and I have no problems with the standard hand-sized form factor. Yes I wish that 32GB was standard, but other than that I don't see anything at all to complain about.
 

Eug

Lifer
Mar 11, 2000
24,154
1,799
126
So what's the big deal then? It's already established that the iDevices can accept more power than standard USB2 provides. USB3 provides more power in the same connector and pinout. Why wouldn't an iDevice be able to take advantage of that greater USB3 power, even if the connection is not technically USB3?
AFAIK, a standard USB 3 port in USB 2 mode will provide only USB 2 levels of power, unless it's a non-standard implementation of the port.

So like I said, with USB 2, it's hit and miss. You just never know. With USB 3, you know.
 

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
Moderator
Sep 15, 2004
12,089
45
91
why is the unlocked iPhone 5 price so high compared to the iPad?: $649 vs. $499

Because it is itty-bitty compared to the iPad, and itty-bitty is harder to make than not itty-bitty. Also they are able to sell them at that price, so why not maintain their awesome, ridiculous, unheard of profit margins.
 

TridenT

Lifer
Sep 4, 2006
16,800
45
91
Yeah, I'm on the fence right now. I don't like that it's still $299 for the 32GB version. I might just downsize and go with the 16GB. (Sitting at 32GB iPhone 4) The iPhone 4, while great, is, as other users have said, getting a bit long in the tooth. I might stick with the iPhone 4 though. I'm not really in need of anything the iPhone 5 has.

My iPhone 4 seems slow right now because it's jailbroken and runs some stuff that makes it slower. (LockInfo, for instance) If the iPhone 5 has some kind of LockInfo functionality built in... (Show reminders on the screen, show calendar events that are upcoming, etc.) then I might just buy it. But I doubt they will. :(
 

buckshot24

Diamond Member
Nov 3, 2009
9,916
85
91
Because it is itty-bitty compared to the iPad, and itty-bitty is harder to make than not itty-bitty. Also they are able to sell them at that price, so why not maintain their awesome, ridiculous, unheard of profit margins.
The ipod touches should be more expensive than ipads then.
 

TheStu

Moderator<br>Mobile Devices & Gadgets
Moderator
Sep 15, 2004
12,089
45
91
The ipod touches should be more expensive than ipads then.

Touche salesman. Unless of course they all cost pretty much the same to manufacture and they are just upping their profit margins on the iPads and iPhones.

The iPod Touch does tend to hang about .5-1 generation behind though.
 

Kev

Lifer
Dec 17, 2001
16,367
4
81
A lot of people I know with iphone 4's and a few people here have reported that their 4 is getting sluggish. Why is that? Wasn't it blazing fast 2 years ago? There's only been one iOS update since then. And my friends are non-jailbreakers.

I'm just curious because I have a 4S, and wondering if that's going to turn into a slow piece of crud in 10 months and make me upgrade again. I currently don't plan on upgrading, I can't imagine needing to pay another couple hundred dollars for an upgrade over the 4S when it already does everything I could imagine needing it for.