The First iPhone 5 Reviews Are In

Here are a selection of snippets from the tech pundits who received early iPhone 5 handsets for review.

John Gruber, Daring Fireball →

Really great review. Thoughtful, relevant, and doesn't shy away from the potential negatives. 

Is it worth devoting the first 750 or so words of this piece to the iPhone 5’s surface appeal? I don’t know how else to convey the niceness of this thing. This iPhone 5 review unit is the single nicest object in my possession. I own things that cost and remain worth more (e.g. my car). But I own nothing this nice. It sounds hyperbolic to put it that way, but I offer this observation with no exaggeration.

Charles Arthur, The Guardian →

Very positive review. And he practically raves about the improvements to Siri. 

Like statisticians poring over Olympic outcomes, they declared too that it didn't break any records – not the biggest screen, not the world's thinnest phone, not packing the most features. But as anyone who watched the Games would tell you, it's not the record-breaking that matters; it's the experience.

MG Siegler, TechCrunch →

No surprises to discover that MG is a fan.

Those worried about the talk of “disappointment” surrounding the iPhone 5, I suggest you simply go to an Apple Store starting on Friday and try it for yourself. My guess is you’ll immediately recognize just how ridiculous all that bluster actually is. The iPhone 5 is the culmination of Apple doing what Apple does best. This is the smartphone nearly perfected.

David Pogue, New York Times →

He likes the updates, is impressed with the camera, but thinks Apple may have shot themselves in the foot by changing the dock connector.

The camera is among the best ever put into a phone. Its lowlight shots blow away the same efforts from an iPhone 4S. Its shot-to-shot times have been improved by 40 percent. And you can take stills even while recording video (1080p hi-def, of course).

Walt Mossberg, Wall Street Journal →

Walt says Apple has taken an already great product and made it better, overall.

The world’s most popular smartphone becomes significantly faster, thinner and lighter this week, while gaining a larger, 4-inch screen—all without giving up battery life, comfort in the hand and high-quality construction.

Other Reviews

And for a complete listing of all the reviews out there, iMore is keeping track.

The iPhone 5: What You Need To Know

As expected, Wednesday saw Apple announce their latest update to the iPhone - the iPhone 5. There are countless blog posts being written and innumerable articles going up on tech sites around the world. As usual though, I want to gear this post towards those who'll never go near a tech site and just want the essential information, free of geek speak and irrelevant details. So here's the bullet points:

  • The new iPhone is thinner, lighter, and faster
  • It has a taller screen (width is the same), allowing for extra row of apps on screen
  • The camera has, once again, been improved
  • There's a new Panorama feature for taking panoramic shots
  • The dock connector is now smaller and goes in both ways
  • The battery life has been improved
  • There's a new chip allowing for connection to high speed mobile broadband AKA 4G or LTE (coming soon to the UK)
  • It comes with new 'EarPods' that are the result of 3 years R&D into the best possible earphones
  • Pricing is the same as with the iPhone 4S and will vary depending on the mobile network you go with

In summary, it's yet another solid, evolutionary update from Apple. If you have the iPhone 3GS or 4 and you're contract is up or up soon, you'll be delighted when you get this upgrade. If you have the 4S, it won't feel so dramatic but, as is always the case with Apple, it's the little things and astonishing attention to detail that keeps customers raving about the iPhone and - by some distance - being the most satisfied of all smartphone owners. Whilst there is very little in this update that will wow the geeks, for the rest of us we'll be more than happy with this incredible phone in our hands.

For all the details about the iPhone 5, you can check out the Apple website.

New iPhone Coming In September

I don’t typically spend a lot of time writing about Apple rumours as so many of them turn out to be hogwash. Rene Ritchie at iMore.com has a good track record though and his latest article seems perfectly reasonable:

iMore has heard that Apple is planning to debut the new iPhone at a special event on Wednesday, September 12, 2012, with the release date to follow 9 days later on Friday, September 21. This information comes from sources who have proven accurate in the past.

This would make for the new iPhone coming one month earlier than the 2011 release which was announced in early October.

What’s also interesting is that the long rumoured iPad Mini is expected to be announced at the same event. A new iPhone and a new, smaller iPad will make for a bumper holiday quarter for Apple that will no doubt cause their so-called recent disappointing quarter to be quickly forgotten.

Where as the iPhone 4 and 4S shared an almost identical external design, the new iPhone is expected to have a brand new look. Leaked images would seem to indicate evolution rather than revolution in the design changes though.