The big day finally arrived. The iPhone 5 was finally unveiled by Apple at an event in San Francisco, US. iPhone 5 has a lot of new hardware and some added features.
The iPhone 5 will in all probability, break all its previous sales records. It will increase the profits and revenues that are flowing into Apple. In a way the iPhone 5 is a safe bet.
iPhone 5 Features
- The iPhone 5 will have a bigger 4 inch retina display screen. It will be weigh only 112 grams and with thickness at 7.6 mm it is the thinnest iPhone ever.
- A6 processor which Apple claims is 20% faster than A5.
- The primary camera is 8 megapixel with Panorama and Autofocus. The front camera is a HD camera which would be useful for Facetime.
- The phone will ship with iOS 6. It will include features like Facebook integration and also more importantly in-built Maps app which will replace Google Maps.
- Availability: The phone will start getting shipped form 21st September. The pre-order bookings begin from 14th September onwards.
- Prices for iPhone 5: $199 for 16GB, $299 for 32GB and $399 for 64GB
Link: iPhone 5 Specs
Where is the magic?
People expected a phone that was taller and also slimmer. It was expected to have no NFC support and a slightly wider display screen. Apple did not disappoint and all rumours about the phone were indeed real. The only problem was there was nothing really surprising about iPhone 5. The changes to the phone were predictable.
Apple had this uncanny knack of focusing on the future. It bet on the iPhone, even at the risk of overshadowing it’s own successful iPod back in 2007. It did the same with iPad by reinventing a gadget which previously thought to be just a small niche product.
But today Apple is in a different place. It is now the world’s most valued company. It was the iPhone which made Apple all those billions in profits. It seems like Apple is scared to do anything radically different with it’s most popular product. It is now behaving like any other large technology company with a super-duper hit product or service.
It sort of reminds me of a Microsoft in the late 90s which was too scared to change things with Windows at its height or even a Nokia which refused to see the touch-interface as the future 5 years ago.
The magic that marks the difference between a good product and a compelling product is missing with the iPhone 5. That magic had a name and it was Steve Jobs.
What are your views on the iPhone 5?
6 Comments
Just checked the prices for UK (starts at GBP 529), which should be almost similar to what it will be in India. And it is absurd! Definitely not worth all the new features (which as said is not all that exciting).
It is expected to cost around 49k in India. With nothing surprisingly new, I’d rather buy an LED Tv instead 😛
@Sreejesh: Not sure about 49K. But price is also one reason I never opt for Apple products. I rather spend that extra on things something else.
this phone is not something special like 4s,
4s was having many things advanced such as siri etc,
but this one is not having any unique feature.
@Mitesh: I agree. I doubt iPhone 4S users might upgrade to iPhone 5 at all. But users with iPhone 4 or less might find it a good purchase.
I liked it when Steve jobs stuffed crazily random features in next iPhone.