Apple iOS 5 Review
by Vivek Gowri, Andrew Cunningham, Saumitra Bhagwat & Brian Klug on October 18, 2011 3:05 AM ESTIn iOS 5, we see Apple taking what some competitors have done better and implementing them in its own way. The parallels between iMessage and BlackBerry Messenger are impossible to ignore, same with the new iOS notifications and Android’s pull-down notification shade. iCloud brings cloud-based information and data storage to iOS, something that has always been one of the cornerstones of Android. Between the new feature-completeness and the new UI refinements, iOS 5 ends up being more polished, more convenient, and more useful than it has been in any previous iteration.
There are a few larger themes to note with this release. Apple is starting to realize what is possible with the iPad’s larger screen, with the emphasis on gestures for OS navigation and tablet-friendly UI refinements. In iOS 5, they’re pretty low-key, but this has the potential to be a big influence on the UI/UX design going forward. I’m excited to see where Apple goes with this in the future. The other trend here is Apple’s continuing march towards turning iOS into a fully PC independent platform. iOS users now have more control over the OS, with untethered device setup, wireless software updates, wireless sync, and even simple things like removing songs and making new folders for photos, all capable without the device ever being plugged into a PC. In fact, since updating to iOS 5, I have yet to plug my iPad into my iTunes machine. Apple is using iOS to try and usher in the Post-PC era, and this is the first serious shot at it. At this point, someone with light computing requirements could conceivably have an iPad as their only computing device and get away with it. Considering where we were just two years ago, when saying that about any UMPC-like tablet would have gotten you some really funny looks, this is truly impressive.
Despite the PC/Mac independence however, there's another very important unifying aspect to iCloud: it makes adding and adopting new Apple products even easier. If you're already a Mac user it'll make the move to an iPhone or iPad more seamless, and the same works in reverse. I should also add that if Apple simply develops an iMessage client for OS X (or ideally, opens it up for third party developers to use) then it will have a messaging service that works over IP and can follow you across smartphone, tablet and Mac. Tie in FaceTime (and perhaps an audio-only equivalent?) and you've got a powerful communications platform.
Apple still has relatively small marketshare in the grand scheme of things (% of total computers and total phones sold), making iCloud a clear play to convert some of the non-Apple users. It's a very smart strategy, one that can influence users to remain within the Apple product family rather than look elsewhere for their needs. It's very reminiscent of Microsoft from the 1990s, but in a far more consumer focused sense. I don't know that the iCloud strategy is enough to sell Apple products on its own, but it may make pulling people away from Apple much more difficult.
I find myself coming away from iOS 5 very pleased by what it brings to the table. It fixes the single biggest issue with iOS dating back a few generations and integrates a few new features very seamlessly without changing the feel or polish of the OS. However, at the same time, I find myself wishing Apple had tried something more daring with the design of iOS 5, especially in light of the significant redesigns Microsoft and Google are in the process of giving their mobile platforms. But iOS has definitely been a success for Apple, so you can’t fault it for not messing with what has worked so well thus far. This is, of course, only part of the story. The rest is with the hardware side - half written already with the iPad 2, and the other half set to come in a few days time with the iPhone 4S.
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Aikouka - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
Have you guys noticed any weird issues with WiFi sync? It seems that whenever I would unplug my phone, iTunes would start freaking out because it couldn't find the phone. That's pretty obvious why... it's no longer on the network since iOS only keeps WiFi alive while plugged in. It would constantly pop up an error about being unable to find my iPhone or iPad.Not to mention leaving "Open iTunes when this device is connected" would cause iTunes to constantly open up... even when closed. Turning this off caused my device to enter some weird limbo state with iTunes. Plugging it in gave me an error, "Another iPhone has sync'd with this computer." The only options were to restore or setup as a new iPhone. A little Googling revealed that the only option was to hit setup as new iPhone and quickly unplug the cable.
It worked, but now my device just comes up as "Apple iPhone" instead of how it used to.
I really don't like iTunes.
kezeka - Thursday, October 20, 2011 - link
I just straight up cannot get it to function with my iPad 2 and MBP. I have tried pretty much everything I can think of without any luck. Not that it bothers me that much, I would just like to have it working to simplify the syncing of the two.name99 - Thursday, October 20, 2011 - link
There are two things you might want to try.(a) Shame on Apple for not making this clear, but you have to go to iTunes and, while the phone is plugged in, toggle the "Sync with this phone over WiFi" checkbox. It is not set by default, and when you try to sync on your phone, the phone gives a useless error message rather than telling you this setting needs to be toggled.
(b) You have to ensure that your phone in on the correct wifi network. If you have a modern Airport base station and have a guest network setup, you must ensure that the phone is NOT on the guest network --- best is to tell the phone to forget the guest network. This makes perfect sense --- the whole point of the guest network is to contact the outside world, without allowing you to contact machines on the local LAN.
StormyParis - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
Guys, I think devoting graphs to gains of 0.1s is... mmmm.... we French say "sodomozing flies". I think the coclusion is 1- don't do graphs for irrelevant sutff (especially, not lots and lots fo thm) 2- a 0.1s improvement is not forth more than a "slightly speedier" comment in passing, and 3- those times are so low to start with, lobel them "very good", and talk about some interesting ?I know benchmarking is fun and all, but we're well past the point of irrelevance.
dingetje - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
hmmm we dutch say f**king Ants.it seems u french are way more pervy than us ;)
cjs150 - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
In depths of northern England we go for sheep - but I think that is a lifestyle choice rather than pithy phrase describing graphs!!Samoht - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
interesting.. in danish it's called flyf**king. Maybe the translation from french to danish didn't carry all the way over ? Or maybe we do not need the specifics;-)Kristian Vättö - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
What they show is that there is no difference, which is kind of their point.grkhetan - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
I didn't know AnandTech did software reviews... I have been coming here every day since the last 3-4 days to see the iPhone 4S review, but finally I see here is an iOS5 review. But even this was high quality as your hardware reviews are -- I love how you go into detail of everything and don't cut back on prose. With hardware your reviews are unmatched in the industry considering your technical depth.Anyway, nice review and great coverage. However, when is the iPhone 4S hardware review coming out?
Blaze-Senpai - Tuesday, October 18, 2011 - link
Go read an iPhone 4 hardware review; it's basically the same thing. The only (physical) changes are minute and you'll get different bar charts.