iPhone 5...disappointment? Putting in a pre-order?

I for one am disappointed. Though, I did sort of expect only this incremental upgrade. But, at the same time. I would have wanted at least a 4.7" screen and widgets (a la Android). Guess I'll have to wait for the iPhone 7 or 8 now that I'm likely going for a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 now...

There's nothing about the iPhone 5 that makes me wanna put in my pre-order for one. It's just a 4s with a marginally larger screen. Now you can see one more row of apps. WOW!!

An iPhone 5 is probably a pretty good upgrade for someone still using an iPhone 3!

Not everyone gets every new generation iPhone when they are released. Since you are not thrilled with the iPhone 5…you will probably fall into this category. Thus you may end up going from an iPhone 4 to the iPhone 6 when released.

Since the iPhone 5 doesn't have any new features or abilities that you find necessary to motivate an upgrade…think of all the money you will save not upgrading!

- Nick

Some people seem to be missing the new and much faster CPU, new Wifi and other new Internals. Check some of the other reviews and you might find it's not just a 4" screen and new Dock connector.

Upgrading from an iPhone 3 to a 5? Sure if you have your heart set on owning an iPhone. For the sake of owning one.

I mean, I thought the 4s was (is) a great phone in all respects...EXCEPT the pitifully small 3.5" screen. Still no Android type widgets (e.g. date/time/weather on home screen). All Apple has to do in my book was to give us a 4.8" 16:9 HD screen w/ widgets. I would be ordering an iPhone 5 without hesitation.

Perhaps in 3 years when my Samsung Galaxy Note 2 contract runs out we'll see an iPhone 8 or 9 with dramatic changes. How about a 5.8" screen to one up the Note 2? Perhaps not. All I'm asking for is at least a 4.8" screen w/ android type widgets.

Travis...I saw the Tekzilla "Live" iPhone 5 YouTube video...so I'm aware of the other features. The increase in WiFi will likely only be marginal. Better camera? (remember we're using a PHONE to take photos...will never compare to a DSLR system). sRGB? No video formats support it...does the iPhone 5 shot in camera RAW? I think not. Etc.

BDD888 said:

Upgrading from an iPhone 3 to a 5? Sure if you have your heart set on owning an iPhone. For the sake of owning one.

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You're going to be in the same boat buddy! If you don't get the iPhone 5 (as you seem to be indicating)…then you'll be someone going from an iPhone 4 to an iPhone 6!

iPhone 3 to iPhone 5…or iPhone 4 to iPhone 6. In either case…it's skipping a generation.

Or like you said…you may be going from an iPhone 4 to an iPhone 7 or iPhone 8! Which would make my suggestion of someone going from an iPhone 3 to an iPhone 5 seem "normal".

- Nick

I never said CAMERA. I said CPU.

The screen size will never increase significantly from what it is now. 4.8" is quite large and demands that it be used with two hands and as Jony Ive put it during today's keynote, the whole idea is to be able to use the phone with one hand.

As far as widgets go, that's a software thing that has NOTHING to do with the iPhone itself. Should the iOS team decide to implement it they would/could with any of the iPhones that are out there..

Having said that, I for one am glad that you can't have that all clutter on iOS. Android has ruined this entire thing for people with a perception that putting a whole bunch of things all floating/blinking/updating on the screen is somehow a good or nice thing, it isn't..

One hand operation for many things = iPhone.

Two handed or two hands with a tool for Galaxy S3 / Note.

You can jailbreak an iPhone legally to get the Weather like an Android if you just gotta have that.

The Apple stuff actually works and the devices work well with each other. The Android world is more about free-standing devices and many Apps are of lower quality.

The one hand / two hands / two hands + tool thing remains to be figured out in the marketplace.

Stanley said:

The one hand / two hands / two hands + tool thing remains to be figured out in the marketplace.

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It was and was universally rejected. How quickly people forget about first gen PDA devices like the Newton, Palm and PocketPC. Evidently Samsung didn't get the memo.

I have to chuckle about the huge screens that are coming out, increasingly larger on Android devices. I agree that the 3.5" screen on the iPhone feels a bit small. But 4.8"? C'mon... where does it stop? I have to believe these people are using holsters, because I sure as **** wouldn't want a beast like that in my pocket.

First and foremost, it needs to be a really good phone (and that means pocketable). Those who feel the need for a huge screen would probably be better served by something like a PS Vita or some other toy. In short, you're trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

BDD888 said:

It's just a 4s with a marginally larger screen.

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What an uneducated statement.

cwa107 said:

It was and was universally rejected. How quickly people forget about first gen PDA devices like the Newton, Palm and PocketPC. Evidently Samsung didn't get the memo.

I have to chuckle about the huge screens that are coming out, increasingly larger on Android devices. I agree that the 3.5" screen on the iPhone feels a bit small. But 4.8"? C'mon... where does it stop? I have to believe these people are using holsters, because I sure as **** wouldn't want a beast like that in my pocket.

First and foremost, it needs to be a really good phone (and that means pocketable). Those who feel the need for a huge screen would probably be better served by something like a PS Vita or some other toy. In short, you're trying to fit a square peg in a round hole.

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I thought so too. But the big screens sell well. Let's see how that holds up.

The only improvement I really cared about was LTE. I was hoping for a little widerscreen, but oh well.

I have to say, the 4.65" screen on my Galaxy Nexus is perfect. I use it one handed every day.

I have fat thumbs, and still manage to press the wrong key on my Nexus, so I am a little worried with the new iPhone not being any wider.

I'll have to try it out, but I am seriously considering switching to the iPhone. I have never had one, and have had Android phones for years.

BDD888 said:

There's nothing about the iPhone 5 that makes me wanna put in my pre-order for one. It's just a 4s with a marginally larger screen. Now you can see one more row of apps. WOW!!

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http://www.cultofmac.com/190505/the...s-really-an-iphone-4s-video/#vanilla-comments

Correct. If you need a new phone, then obviously you want to put your money in the latest model, but this one (5) doesn't do much more than an older model. I suppose that if you are a smart phone junkie, and your life revolves about it, then by all means get one. (For a disclaimer, I'm not, but I have plenty of friends who are. Friends who almost need emergency oxygen if they suddenly discover that their phone is somewhere else)

My first one was/is a 3gs and as far as I can tell is that, except for talking back to me, it does everything that the latest 4 model does. At least, when I am with friends, I have never had to ask, "I need to do something that my iPhone 3 won't do. Can I borrow your 4s for a moment?"

However, I fully understand the need for the latest and greatest. I will have a new Air the day it is available even though this one is perfectly adequate, and will have a new MacPro the second that the Apple store announces it, even though it won't do anything my current Mini won't.

To me, most of the announcement was just hype, phonewise. If you need and want a small portable computer, it might be fine, but, In fact, it looked like they were really struggling to try to differentiate the new phone from the old ones.

The truth be known, I am kind of hoping that the new phone bombs and that - maybe - it might make Apple transfer some engineering horsepower back to the Mac/OSX line and fix some of the problems that are cropping up from lack of attention.

Just my opinion. I expect that others will have different outlooks.

I like how much faster the new phone operates.

Just watch some of the hands-on videos from yesterday.

The brighter screen, thinness, battery life, etc are also nice.

iOS 6 is very nice. Maps looks excellent and will run it's best on the 5.

I'd love to know just what, EXACTLY, is it that people actually expected. NFC? When it's not well supported yet in retail, has security concerns that need ironing out, and isn't exactly a standard yet?

Is it wireless charging? Something that is slow, horribly energy inefficient, does not completely negate the need for wired charging or connectivity, and would add more bulk and complexity to the device?

An even larger screen? So you can have an extra column of icons in addition to an extra row? How do these monsters even fit in a pocket? They don't even fit in my hand, and I have rather large hands.

Widgets? That has nothing to do with the hardware and everything to do with the OS. Apple may yet add support for them at some point, though everything they have ever done with the iPhone and iOS suggests they are committed to energy efficiency. Live widgets wouldn't be in the spirit of that.

If battery life isn't your priority, then fact of the matter is you aren't the customer Apple is catering to, no more than I am interested in a Samsung or HTC with poor battery life, among other deal breakers. People complain that Apple is "late to the game" with LTE, while conveniently ignoring what a battery drain LTE has been on every other phone on the market. Heck, most of those phones HAVE to be so big because they need to accommodate a bigger battery. Apple has the patience to wait until the tech is better balanced and is something I and many others happen to appreciate. As for the rest of the iPhone 5, it's faster across the board, dramatically so in some respects. The camera, I suspect, will once again prove to be best-in-class. The screen has been improved in color accuracy and other aspects. They shaved more weight off, yet still has really great battery life despite all the upgrades to the components. And people aren't impressed? *** is wrong with you people?

One Hand Use

Raz0rEdge said:

The screen size will never increase significantly from what it is now. 4.8" is quite large and demands that it be used with two hands and as Jony Ive put it during today's keynote, the whole idea is to be able to use the phone with one hand.

As far as widgets go, that's a software thing that has NOTHING to do with the iPhone itself. Should the iOS team decide to implement it they would/could with any of the iPhones that are out there..

Having said that, I for one am glad that you can't have that all clutter on iOS. Android has ruined this entire thing for people with a perception that putting a whole bunch of things all floating/blinking/updating on the screen is somehow a good or nice thing, it isn't..

Click to expand...

I totally agree about screen size!

I have been using a basic talk and text phone along with an iPad 4G for Internet use. I did not have an iPhone because of the lack of 4G, now I will buy the iPhone 5 and discontinue the iPad use on the Verizon network and use it strictly in a wi-fi scenario. If I find myself missing the screen size of the iPad, it is a $10/month add-on with the shared data plan of Verizon.

The key in my mind of the iPhone is the small size and portability along with being able to use it with one hand! I have no interest in 5" phone screens, if I need 2 hands, that is why I have an iPad with a 9.7" screen!

This iPhone 5 has all the features I want and could use for the next couple of years and I am looking forward to getting one...

JPH675 said:

I totally agree about screen size!

I have been using a basic talk and text phone along with an iPad 4G for Internet use. I did not have an iPhone because of the lack of 4G, now I will buy the iPhone 5 and discontinue the iPad use on the Verizon network and use it strictly in a wi-fi scenario. If I find myself missing the screen size of the iPad, it is a $10/month add-on with the shared data plan of Verizon.

The key in my mind of the iPhone is the small size and portability along with being able to use it with one hand! I have no interest in 5" phone screens, if I need 2 hands, that is why I have an iPad with a 9.7" screen!

This iPhone 5 has all the features I want and could use for the next couple of years and I am looking forward to getting one...

Click to expand...

You know the internet over the iPhone 4s is not actually hugely slower than a Galaxy on LTE. In fact the YouTube I saw showed faster upload speeds, important for pics and cloud. I'm sure the new iPhone will do net faster of course.

If you look over at theverge, they show a list of 29 or 30 hardware improvements. The screen is brighter, battery life is longer, color saturation is up 44%, thin, light, etc.

There is only one thing that disappoints me about the iPhone 5, and I know it sounds stupid, but it's the color. When I learned that it would be aluminum I immediately began fantasizing about the silver-gray color of my MacBook Pro, and how great they would look together. Do you think there's any chance this would ever be an option, or is there a reason they will stick with only the black or white choices?

Lefty Loco said:

There is only one thing that disappoints me about the iPhone 5, and I know it sounds stupid, but it's the color. When I learned that it would be aluminum I immediately began fantasizing about the silver-gray color of my MacBook Pro, and how great they would look together. Do you think there's any chance this would ever be an option, or is there a reason they will stick with only the black or white choices?

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Seems like it, but then again, you can always just snap a case on it, and they tend to come in any color you can think of...

My iPhone 4 is so well built that I really don't feel the need to upgrade to an iPhone 5. The wife and I will test out the iPhone 5 and see if the upgrades are worth switching up to.