The iPhone 5 Review
by Anand Lal Shimpi, Brian Klug & Vivek Gowri on October 16, 2012 11:33 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Apple
- Mobile
- iPhone 5
The last significant redesign of the iPhone platform came in 2010 with the iPhone 4. It was an update that literally touched all aspects of the device, from SoC to display to baseband and of course, chassis. Last month’s launch of the iPhone 5 is no different in magnitude. The sixth generation iPhone makes some of the biggest changes to the platform since its introduction in 2007.
Visually the device begins by evolving the design language of the iPhone 4/4S chassis. From the launch of the iPhone 4 it was quite obvious that Apple had picked a design it was quite proud of. Thus it’s not too surprising that, from a distance, the iPhone 5 resembles the previous two iPhone models. We’ll get into material differences shortly, but what make the iPhone 5 design such a radical departure is its larger display.
All previous iPhones have maintained the same 3.5-inch, 3:2 aspect ratio display. With the rest of the world quickly moving to much larger displays, and with 16:9 the clear aspect ratio of choice, when faced with the decision of modernizing the iPhone platform the choice was obvious.
The iPhone 5 embraces a taller, 4-inch, 16:9 1136 x 640 display opting to lengthen the device instead of increasing its area in both dimensions. The result is a device that is distinctly an iPhone, albeit a modern one. The taller display doesn’t do much to make desktop web pages any easier to read as a result of the width staying the same. Those longing for an HTC One X or Galaxy S 3 sized device running iOS are out of luck. Reading emails and typing are both improved though as there’s now more room for lists and the keyboard no longer occupies as much of the display. The taller device can be more awkward to use if you have smaller hands, but the added screen real estate is honestly worth it. Once you get used to the iPhone 5’s display, going back to the older models is tough.
The taller chassis went on a diet as well. The iPhone 5 is now considerably thinner and lighter than its predecessor, which is yet another factor that contributes to it feeling more modern.
Internally the device changes are just as significant, if not more, than those on the outside. The iPhone 5 includes LTE support, which in areas where LTE networks are deployed can be enough reason alone to warrant an upgrade.
The iPhone 5 also includes a brand new SoC from Apple: the A6. For the first time since the introduction of the iPad, Apple has introduced a major branded SoC on an iPhone first. The iPhone 4 used the A4 after it debuted on the iPad, and the 4S picked up the A5 months after the iPad 2 launched with it. The A6 however arrives first on the iPhone 5, and with it comes two of Apple’s first, custom designed CPU cores. We’ve always known Apple as a vertically integrated device and software vendor, but getting into CPU design takes that to a new level.
| Physical Comparison | ||||
| Apple iPhone 4S | Samsung Galaxy S 3 (USA) | HTC One S | Apple iPhone 5 | |
| Height | 115.2 mm (4.5") | 136.6 mm (5.38" ) | 130.9 mm (5.15" ) | 123.8 mm (4.87") |
| Width | 58.6 mm (2.31") | 70.6 mm (2.78") | 65 mm (2.56") | 58.6 mm (2.31") |
| Depth | 9.3 mm ( 0.37") | 8.6 mm (0.34") | 7.8 mm (0.31") | 7.6 mm (0.30") |
| Weight | 140 g (4.9 oz) | 133g (4.7 oz) | 119.5g (4.21 oz) | 112 g (3.95 oz) |
| CPU | Apple A5 @ ~800MHz Dual Core Cortex A9 | 1.5 GHz MSM8960 Dual Core Krait | 1.5 GHz MSM8260A Dual Core Krait | 1.3 GHz Apple A6 (Dual Core Apple Swift) |
| GPU | PowerVR SGX 543MP2 | Adreno 225 | Adreno 225 | PowerVR SGX 543MP3 |
| RAM | 512MB LPDDR2-800 | 2 GB LPDDR2 | 1 GB LPDDR2 | 1 GB LPDDR2 |
| NAND | 16GB, 32GB or 64GB integrated | 16/32 GB NAND with up to 64 GB microSDXC | 16 GB NAND | 16, 32, or 64 GB integrated |
| Camera | 8 MP with LED Flash + Front Facing Camera | 8 MP with LED Flash + 1.9 MP front facing | 8 MP with LED Flash + VGA front facing | 8 MP with LED Flash + 1.2MP front facing |
| Screen | 3.5" 960 x 640 LED backlit LCD | 4.8" 1280x720 HD SAMOLED | 4.3" 960x540 Super AMOLED | 4" 1136 x 640 LED backlit LCD |
| Battery | Internal 5.3 Whr | Removable 7.98 Whr | Removable 6.1 Whr | Internal 5.45 Whr |
There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to the new iPhone. Whether it is understanding the architecture of the A6 SoC or investigating the improved low light performance of the iPhone 5’s rear facing camera, we’ve got it here in what is easily our most in-depth iPhone review to date. Let’s get started.
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grkhetan - Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - link
You dont "need iTunes" per se to use the iPhone any more. However, it is required if you sync music. However, I use iTunes Match -- so I dont need to use iTunes sync for anything... However I need to use iTunes to upload my music to the iTunes Match servers but thats it. I am happy to say with iCloud and iTunes Match -- "syncing" my iPhone is something that is no longer required at all.Touche - Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - link
One doesn't need iTunes, except one does...however, you don't, however you need it...but happily, you don't require it at all, except you do.Hmm...
grkhetan - Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - link
Touche, iTunes is not required to use the phone if you dont need music/videos using the default player. (You could play them from streaming services like Spotify/Pandora, etc or store it in dropbox).But if you need to play music using the default music player -- you need to use iTunes to sync the music over. BUT if you use iTunes Match, then you dont need to use "iTunes sync", but you need iTunes to upload the music to iTunes Match servers. This itself is not painful at all in my opinion -- the main burden with iTunes was the "sync"
phillyry - Sunday, October 21, 2012 - link
I'm sorry but I'm going to have to agree with Touché here.Please don't backtrack/double back to justify the fact that you do in fact need iTunes on an iPhone and need to sync it. Wired or wireless it's still a sync - it just goes through iCloud when done wirelessly.
Lets not confound the matters of whether the use of an iPhone is pleasant or not with whether you need to use the generally unpleasant iTunes sync. Apple's lockdown on sync methods sucks for the users freedom of access to their own device but, despite that, the device is still great to use.
ThreeDee912 - Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - link
Basically, if you want to put your own media on your iPhone, you'll need iTunes to sync or upload with iTunes Match.You can do everything else on the phone itself.
darkcrayon - Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - link
No, you don't need iTunes to put media on your iPhone. You do need it to put media in the stock Music or Videos app. If you don't want to use those there are many apps that let you supply your own music via wifi copy to the iPhone or by downloading them directly from the web if you have such a source.I don't have any issue with iTunes though so I just use that.
steven75 - Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - link
Funny, I know people who have switched the other way and are hugely relieved to be free of the bloatware, nervous anticipation of "will my phone ever get updated?", and crappy plastic hardware.In summary, anecdotes are fun and enjoy what ya got.
KPOM - Thursday, October 18, 2012 - link
Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Also, don't complain when Samsung decides your phone is "too old" for the latest update. I resisted the iPhone as long as I could. I even had a Nexus One for over 18 months. But once Google decided that its former flagship, which was released 6 months after the iPhone 3GS, was 'too old" to get any OS after Gingerbread (which it got about 3 months after Gingerbread devices came out) I decided I could no longer put up with Google's tactics. Plus, it's nice no longer giving away all my personal information to Google just for the privilege of using their bloated copycat OS.Spunjji - Friday, October 19, 2012 - link
No. Now you're giving it to Apple for the privelege of using their bloated copycat OS instead.Seriously, I was following you write up until your final crock-of-shit statement. All smartphone operating systems use your data, and they all borrow from each other.
Leyawiin - Wednesday, October 17, 2012 - link
"POOF!"Hate the commercials, but that guy makes me laugh.